Description
This popular text on Business Ethics introduces the reader to the ethical concepts that are relevant to resolving moral issues in business; imparts the reasoning and anaytical skills needed to apply ethical concepts to business decisions; identifies moral issues specific to a business; provides an understanding of the social, technological, and natural environments within which moral issues in business arise; and supplies case studies of actual moral conflicts faced by businesses.
The ethical landscape of business is constantly changing and this edition has been revised to keep pace with those changes most effecting business: accelerating globalization, constant technological updates, proliferating of business scandals.
Features
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Do you combine theoretical concepts with real life cases in your course?
- NEW! Sixteen completely new or revised end-of-chapter cases. NEW CASES: Slavery in the Chocolate Industry; Enron's Fall; Unocal in Burma; GlaxoSmithKline; Bristol-Myers Squibb, and AIDS in Africa; Archer Daniels Midland and the Friendly Competitors; The Ok Tedi Copper Mine; Gas or Grouse; The Ford/Firestone Debacle; Should Kroger Pay Now for what Ralphs' Employee Did Then; Wal-Mart Women; and Who Should Pay. UPDATED CASES: Playing Monopoly; Microsoft; AIDS and Needles, and The Gap.
- Reflects the most current ethical issues in the business world.
- NEW! Seventeen completely new short cases for the "On the Edge" sections of the chapters. New short cases: WorldCom's Whistleblower; Was National Semiconductor Morally Responsible?; Gun Manufacturers and Responsibility; Working for Eli Lilly and Company; Conflict Diamonds; ExxonMobil; Amerada Hess; Marathon Oil in Equatorial Guinea; Napster's, Grokster's and StreamCast's Revolution; Brian's Franchise; etc.
- Updates the book to incorporate new ethical issues.
- NEW! ABCNews Business Ethics Video CD-ROM (ISBN 0-13-193009-5). Prentice Hall with ABC News is pleased to provide this collection of videos from ABC News' award-winning programs that relate the concepts of business ethics to real-life stories and events. The programs present substantial content that will work well in the classroom and give the student a deeper understanding of the application of Business Ethics in the workplace. The programs included are: Enron; Unocal; AIDS; Microsoft Antitrust Trial; To Drill or Not to Drill; Ford and Firestone; Ralph's; Saipan. The videos are available on CD-ROM and a copy of the CD-ROM is included in every new copy of the book.
- NEW! Added color, graphs, pictures, and other visual materials.
- Increases the interest of visual learners.
- NEW! Study questions at the beginning of each chapter.
- Encourages students to think ahead about the issues of the chapter.
- NEW! Definitions of key terms in the margins and in the glossary.
- Ensures complete understanding of the material.
- NEW! Summaries in the margin of the basic ideas discussed in the text.
- Helpsstudents learn to assess what the core issues are.
- NEW! Updated discussions of globalization, technology, and recent business scandals.
- Reflects the business ethics issues most relevant to today's businesses.
- NEW! End-of-chapter web resources.
- Directs students to where they can find more information.
- A two-chapter introduction (Part I)to basic ethical theory. Thefundamental view here is that ethical behavior is the best long-term business strategy. Chapter 1shows how we accept ethical standards and how such standards can be incorporated into our moral reasoning processes. Chapter 2 critically discusses four types of moral principles: utilitarian principles, principles based on moral rights, principles of justice, and the principles of an ethic of care.
- Two chapters dedicated to markets and price (Part II).
- Two chapters dedicated to environmental and consumer issues (Part III).
- Two chapters dedicated to employee issues (Part IV).
- Each chapter in Parts II-IV devotes several pages to laying out the empirical information that the decision-maker must have if he or she is to apply morality to reality. For example, the chapter on market ethics provides a neoclassical analysis of market structure; the chapter on discrimination presents several statistical and institutional indicators of discrimination; the chapter on the individual in the organization relies on two models of organizational structure.
- Gives students the real world information they need to apply a moral theory.
- Covers the abstract and the concrete. Each chapter sets out the conceptual materials needed to understand and address some particular type of moral issue and includes short and long cases that describe real business situations in which these moral issues are raised.
- Improves students' ability to reason about moral matters.
What support materials do you use in your course?
- Instructor's Manual with Tests-Provides summaries, lecture and discussion topics, and additional resources for each chapter. Test materials include multiple-choice, essay, and short-answer questions.
- ABC NEWS Business Ethics Video CD-ROM-Includes eight segments from ABC News on topics relevant to the study of business ethics. In addition, each segment corresponds to a case in the chapters.
- Companion Website-Works with the text to provide students with additional study materials-including quizzes and primary source essay questions-and directs them to appropriate sources in business ethics available on the internet. Cases from the previous editions are included on the site as additional assignment material.
- Research Navigator-Helps students make the most of their research time. From finding the right articles and journals, to citing sources, drafting and writing effective papers, and completing research assignments, Research Navigator simplifies and streamlines the entire process.
New to this Edition
- Reflects the most current ethical issues in the business world.
- Updates the book to incorporate new ethical issues.
- Brings thecases to life.
- Increases the interest of visual learners.
- Encourages students to think ahead about the issues of the chapter.
- Ensures complete understanding of the material.
- Helpsstudents learn to assess what the core issues are.
- Reflects the business ethics issues most relevant to today's businesses.
- Directs students to where they can find more information.
Table of Contents
Part One Basic Principles
CHAPTER 1 Ethics and Business
Introduction
1.1 Business Ethics and Its Issues
Morality
Ethics
Business Ethics
Globalization, Multinationals, and Business Ethics
Business Ethics and Cultural Differences
ON THE EDGE: Business Ethics in Saudi Culture
Technology and Ethics
1.2 Moral Development and Moral Reasoning
Moral Development
ON THE EDGE: WorldCom's Whistleblower
Moral Reasoning
Analyzing Moral Reasoning
1.3 Arguments for and Against Business Ethics
Three Objections to Bringing Ethics into Business
The Case for Ethics in Business
1.4 Moral Responsibility and Blame
ON THE EDGE: Was National Semiconductor Morally Responsible?
Corporate Responsibility
ON THE EDGE: Gun Manufacturers and Responsibility
Subordinates' Responsibility
Cases for Discussion
Child Slavery in the Chocolate Industry
Enron's Fall[ABC Video CDROM]
Web Resources
CHAPTER 2 Ethical Principles in Business
Introduction
2.1 Utilitarianism: Weighing Social Costs and Benefits
Traditional Utilitarianism
Measurement Problems
Utilitarian Replies to Measurement Objections
Problems with Rights and Justice
Utilitarian Replies to Objections on Rights and Justice
2.2 Rights and Duties
ON THE EDGE: Working for Eli Lilly & Company
The Concept of a Right
Negative and Positive Rights
Contractual Rights and Duties
A Basis for Moral Rights: Kant
The First Formulation of Kant's Categorical Imperative
The Second Formulation of Kant's Categorical Imperative
Problems with Kant
The Libertarian Objection: Nozick
ON THE EDGE: Conflict Diamonds
2.3 Justice and Fairness
Distributive Justice
Justice as Equality: Egalitarianism
Justice Based on Contribution: Capitalist Justice
Justice Based on Needs and Abilities: Socialism
ON THE EDGE: ExxonMobil, Amerada Hess, and Marathon Oil in Equatorial Guinea
Justice as Freedom: Libertarianism
Justice as Fairness: Rawls
Retributive Justice
Compensatory Justice
2.4 The Ethics of Care
Partiality and Care
Objections to Care
2.5 Integrating Utility, Rights, Justice, and Caring
2.6 An Alternative to Moral Principles: Virtue Ethics
The Nature of Virtue
The Moral Virtues
Virtues, Actions, and Institutions
Virtues and Principles
2.7 Morality in International Contexts
Cases for Discussion
Publius
Unocal in Burma [ABC Video CDROM]
Web Resources
Part Two The Market and Business
CHAPTER 3 The Business System: Government, Markets, and International Trade.
Introduction
Economic Systems
3.1 Free Markets and Rights: John Locke
Criticisms of Lockean Rights
3.2 Free Markets and Utility: Adam Smith
Criticisms of Adam Smith
The Keynesian Criticism
The Utility of Survival of the Fittest: Social Darwinism
3.3 Free Trade and Utility: David Ricardo
Criticisms of Ricardo
3.4 Marx and Justice: Criticizing Markets and Trade
Alienation
ON THE EDGE: Napster's, Grokster's, and Streamcast's Revolution
The Real Purpose of Government
ON THE EDGE: Brian's Franchise
3.5 Conclusion: The Mixed Economy
Property Systems and New Technologies
The End of Marxism?
Cases for Discussion
GlaxoSmithKline, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and AIDS in Africa [ABC Video CDROM]
Accolade versus Sega
Web Resources
CHAPTER 4 Ethics in the Marketplace
Introduction
4.1 Perfect Competition
Equilibrium in Perfectly Competitive Markets
Ethics and Perfectly Competitive Markets
4.2 Monopoly Competition
Monopoly Competition: Justice, Utility, and Rights
ON THE EDGE: Drug Company Monopolies and Profits
4.3 Oligopolistic Competition
Explicit Agreements
Tacit Agreements
Bribery
4.4 Oligopolies and Public Policy
ON THE EDGE: Fixing the Computer Memory Market
The Antitrust View
ON THE EDGE: Oracle And Peoplesoft
The Regulation View
Cases For Discussion Playing Monopoly: Microsoft [ABC Video CDROM] Archer Daniels Midland and the Friendly Competitors
Web Resources
Part Three Business and Its External Exchanges: Ecology and Consumers
CHAPTER 5 Ethics and the Environment
Introduction
5.1 The Dimensions Of Pollution and Resource Depletion
ON THE EDGE: The Aroma of Tacoma
Water Pollution
Depletion of Species and Habitats
Depletion of Fossil Fuels
Depletion of Minerals
ON THE EDGE: The Auto Companies in China
5.2 The Ethics of Pollution Control
Ecological Ethics
Environmental Rights and Absolute Bans
Utilitarianism and Partial Controls
Private Costs and Social Costs
Remedies: The Duties of the Firm
Justice
Costs and Benefits
Social Ecology, Ecofeminism, and the Demands of Caring
5.3 The Ethics of Conserving Depletable Resources
Rights of Future Generations
Justice to Future Generations
ON THE EDGE: Exporting Poison
Economic Growth?
Cases for Discussion
The Ok Tedi Copper Mine
Gas or Grouse? [ABC Video CDROM]
Web Resources
CHAPTER 6 The Ethics of Consumer Production and Marketing
Introduction
6.1 Markets and Consumer Protection
6.2 The Contract View of Business' Duties to Consumers
The Duty to Comply
The Duty of Disclosure
The Duty Not to Misrepresent
The Duty Not to Coerce
Problems with the Contractual Theory
ON THE EDGE: The Tobacco Companies and Product Safety
6.3 The Due Care Theory
The Duty to Exercise Due Care
Problems with “Due Care”
6.4 The Social Costs View of the Manufacturer's Duties
ON THE EDGE: Advertising Death?
Problems with the Social Costs View
6.5 Advertising Ethics
A Definition
Social Effects of Advertising
Advertising and the Creation of Consumer Desires
Advertising and Its Effects on Consumer Beliefs
ON THE EDGE: New Balance and the "Made in USA" label
6.6 Consumer Privacy
Cases for Discussion Becton Dickinson and Needle Sticks
The Ford/Firestone Debacle [ABC Video CDROM]
Web Resources
Part Four Business and Its Internal Constituencies: Employee Issues
CHAPTER 7 The Ethics of Job Discrimination
Introduction
7.1 Job Discrimination: Its Nature
Forms of Discrimination: Intentional and Institutional Aspects
ON THE EDGE: Johnson Controls' Fetal Protection Policy
7.2 Discrimination: Its Extent
Average Income Comparisons
Lowest Income Group Comparisons
Desirable Occupation Comparisons
7.3 Discrimination: Utility, Rights, and Justice
Utility
Rights
Justice
Discriminatory Practices
on the edge: Wall Street: It's A Man's World
Sexual Harassment
Beyond Race and Sex: Other Groups
ON THE EDGE: Peter Oiler and Winn Dixie Stores
7.4 Affirmative Action
Affirmative Action as Compensation
Affirmative Action as an Instrument for Achieving Social Goals
Implementing Affirmative Action and Managing Diversity
Comparable Pay for Jobs of Comparable Worth
Conclusions
Cases for Discussion
Should Kroger Pay Now for What Ralphs' Employee Did Then? [ABC Video CDROM]
Wal-Mart Women
Web Resources
CHAPTER 8 The Individual in the Organization
Introduction
8.1 The Rational Organization
8.2 The Employee's Obligations to the Firm
Conflicts of Interest
Employee Theft and Computers
Insider Trading
8.3 The Firm's Duties to the Employee
Wages
Working Conditions: Health and Safety
Working Conditions: Job Satisfaction
8.4 The Political Organization
8.5 Employee Rights
Freedom of Conscience
The Right to Participate and Participatory Management
The Right to Due Process versus Employment at Will
ON THE EDGE: Employment at Will at Howmet Corporation?
Employee Rights and Plant Closings
ON THE EDGE: Swingline Moves
Unions and the Right to Organize
8.6 Organizational Politics
The Ethics of Political Tactics
8.7 The Caring Organization
Cases for Discussion Gap's Labor Problems [ABC Video CDROM]
Who Should Pay?
Web Resources
Author
Manuel Velasquez is the former Director of Santa Clara University's Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. He is now chair of the Department of Management at the Leavey School of Business at SCU. He is the author of numerous scholarly articles on Business Ethics.
FAQs
What are the characteristics of moral standards according to Velasquez 2011 )? ›
Moral standards should be preferred to other values including self-interest. The moral standards should always be maintained even if they conflict with self-interest. Moral standards are not established or changed by the decisions of the authority. Moral standards are felt to be universal.
What are business ethics PDF? ›Business Ethics is a subject that deals with moral guidelines and good corporate governance. Companies are supposed to set high standards and adhere to certain common business practices.
What are the concepts of business ethics? ›Business ethics refers to implementing appropriate business policies and practices with regard to arguably controversial subjects. Some issues that come up in a discussion of ethics include corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, social responsibility, and fiduciary responsibilities.
What is the best ethical theory for business? ›The three main business ethics theories are deontological theory, utilitarianism, and norm theory. One of the largest influences of modern business ethical principles is Kantian theory, which is a type of norm theory. The majority of professional ethics are based on doing what is best for the group.
Do you believe that businesses and the people conducting business activities should be morally responsible for their actions? ›It is not just defined for the individual but also for the group of people. Thus, an organization indeed has a collective morality which should be uniformly realised by every individual working within the organization and hence giving rise to moral responsibility.
What is business ethics and its importance? ›Business ethics is the system of moral and ethical beliefs that directs the behaviors and operations of an organization and its personnel. Business ethics inform a company's values and goals, as well as how it runs its day-to-day operations.
What are the importance of ethics? ›Ethics is what guides us to tell the truth, keep our promises, or help someone in need. There is a framework of ethics underlying our lives on a daily basis, helping us make decisions that create positive impacts and steering us away from unjust outcomes.
What are the factors influencing business ethics? ›- Personal Code of Ethics. A man's personal code of ethics that is what one considers moral is the foremost responsible factor influencing his behavior.
- Legislation. ...
- Government Rules and Regulations. ...
- Ethical Code of the Company. ...
- Social Pressures. ...
- Ethical Climate of the Industry.
- Personal responsibility. Each person who works for a business, whether on the executive level or the entry-level, will be expected to show personal responsibility. ...
- Corporate responsibility. ...
- Loyalty. ...
- Respect. ...
- Trustworthiness. ...
- Fairness. ...
- Community and Environmental Responsibility.
The principles are beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy, justice; truth-telling and promise-keeping.
What are the 3 main theories of ethics? ›
There are generally three philosophical approaches, or what may be considered the science, to ethical reasoning: utilitarian ethics. deontological ethics. virtue ethics.
Which ethical theory is the best? ›One might raise the objection that character is developed via the process of decision making, and we may need help at first to do this. In light of this, it is clear that utilitarianism is the best normative moral theory in terms of helping us to make moral decisions via a distinct method.
What is the purpose of ethical theories? ›Ethical Theories are attempts to provide a clear, unified account of what our ethical obligations are. They are attempts, in other words, to tell a single “story” about what we are obligated to do, without referring directly to specific examples.
How can business ethics be improved? ›- Be a Role Model and Be Visible. Employees look at top managers to understand what behavior is acceptable. ...
- Communicate Ethical Expectations. ...
- Offer Ethics Training. ...
- Visibly Reward Ethical Acts and Punish Unethical Ones. ...
- Provide Protective Mechanisms.
First, ethics refers to well-founded standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do, usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific virtues.
How can effective and ethical management provide a better business environment? ›Having a code of ethics helps your company define and maintain standards of acceptable behavior. A good ethical framework can help guide your company through times of increased stress, such as rapid growth or organizational change, and decreases your firm's susceptibility to misconduct.
What is the need and importance of ethics in management? ›The objective of ethical management is to build cooperation, encourage team cohesion, but also recognition between employees and their superiors. It is a management approach in the broadest sense of the term, in which additional virtuous notions are integrated, such as morality, justice, virtue and respect.
What are the benefits of ethical decision making? ›Ethical decisions generate and sustain trust; demonstrate respect, responsibility, fairness and caring; and are consistent with good citizenship. These behaviors provide a foundation for making better decisions by setting the ground rules for our behavior.
What is the importance of ethics as a student? ›It helps categorise discipline, honesty and integrity in our actions performed during the day. Acting as a guideline to influence behaviour and making the right choice, it is easier for individuals to abide by rules and act responsibly with ethics. Ethics in education helps run the system smoothly.
What are the characteristics of business ethics? ›- (i) A Discipline:
- (ii) Ancient Concept:
- (iii) Personal Dignity:
- (iv) Related to Human Aspect:
- (v) Study of Goals and Means:
- (vi) Different from Social Responsibility:
- (vii) Greater than Law:
Which is more important values or ethics? ›
Ethics are consistent, whereas values are different for different persons, i.e. what is important for one person, may not be important for another person. Values tell us what we want to do or achieve in our life, whereas ethics helps us in deciding what is morally correct or incorrect, in the given situation.
How ethics affect your daily life? ›Ethics teaches us what we ought to do, not what we do. We ought to treat others with kindness, compassion, respect, and so on. In other words, an ethical person practices applying virtues, our character traits, in making everyday decisions. Virtues are the positive traits of character that inform our ethical being.
How important is ethics and social responsibility in the business? ›Social responsibility programs can boost employee morale in the workplace and lead to greater productivity, which has an impact on how profitable the company can be. Businesses that implement social responsibility initiatives can increase customer retention and loyalty.
What is the Velasquez method? ›Four precepts about business ethic, proposed by Velasquez, are approach of utilitarianism, principle of rights, principle of justice and principle of care. Approach of Utilitarianism means that decisions or policies should be evaluated base on the estimation of benefits and costs to society.
What do the three theories of moral nihilism moral skepticism and moral subjectivism have in common aside from their rejection of universal moral values? ›What do the three theories of moral nihilism, moral skepticism, and moral subjectivism have in common, aside from their rejection of universal moral values? They have poor problem-solving capacities.
What is the discipline that examines one's moral standards or the moral standard of a society to evaluate their reasonableness and their implications of one's life? ›Ethics is the study of morality. about what is right and wrong, or good and evil. are morally right and wrong, as well as the values placed on what is morally good or bad.
Which of the following is a stage of moral reasoning in Kohlberg's theory? ›Kohlberg identified three distinct levels of moral reasoning: preconventional, conventional, and postconventional.
What are the 4 ethical models? ›Four broad categories of ethical theory include deontology, utilitarianism, rights, and virtues. The deontological class of ethical theories states that people should adhere to their obliga- tions and duties when engaged in decision making when ethics are in play.
What are the two theories in ethics that give focus on the role of feeling on morality? ›There are two broad categories of ethical theories concerning the source of value: consquentialist and non-consequentialist. A consequentialist theory of value judges the rightness or wrongness of an action based on the consequences that action has.
What are the three main arguments of moral relativism? ›Harman's Argument for Moral Relativism
(1) A moral demand applies to a person only if it is rational for her to accept that demand. (2) It can be rational for different people to accept different demands 'all the way down. ' Therefore (3) Different moral demands can apply to different people 'all the way down.
What are the two types of ethical relativism? ›
There are two main forms of ethical relativism: cultural relativism and ethical subjectivism. In short, ethical relativists believe that moral ideas are only a matter of societal norms or personal opinion, and are not binding upon others.
What are the 7 business ethics? ›What are the business ethics principle? There are seven principles of business ethics including accountability, care and respect, honesty, healthy competition, loyalty, transparency, and respect for the rule of law.
What is the importance of ethics as a student? ›It helps categorise discipline, honesty and integrity in our actions performed during the day. Acting as a guideline to influence behaviour and making the right choice, it is easier for individuals to abide by rules and act responsibly with ethics. Ethics in education helps run the system smoothly.
What are the 3 C's of business ethics? ›When the Rainmaker internalizes and responds with these three powerful transforming pillars of Ethics, Character, Competence and Collaboration then they will live out what is right, ethical, logical, reasonable and pragmatic.
Why is Kohlberg's theory of moral development important? ›Researchers continue to explore how moral reasoning develops and changes through life as well as the universality of these stages. Understanding these stages offers helpful insights into the ways that both children and adults make moral choices and how moral thinking may influence decisions and behaviors.
What are the 3 levels of Kohlberg's theory? ›- Level 1: Preconventional level. At the preconventional level, morality is externally controlled. ...
- Level 2: Conventional level. ...
- Level 3: Postconventional or principled level.