Business ethics
1. Assignment 1: Questions

1) Analyzing the ethical frameworks needed in decision making, which ones best align to the eight ethical principles of the Global Business Standards of Codex.

Without doubt, there always exists a dilemma when company decisions are being made. It is for this reason that ethical frameworks are utilized to ensure that appropriate decisions are made in the organization. Ethics.ubc argues that ethical frameworks act like “snake detectors.” They are there to ensure that “snakes” in the organization are easily recognized before they bite. In layman’s language, they offer guidance when making decisions. Some of the ethical frameworks put forward include: * The utilitarian approach * Rights approach * Fairness approach * Common good approach * Virtue approach

Utilitarian approach

This approach basically focuses on the consequences of a particular action (capsim.com). For example, it considers whether an action will eventually lead to greater good than other related actions. Therefore, the most ethical decision to be made will be that which will offer maximum benefits.

Rights approach

In this approach, the most ethical decision to be made will have utmost respect and protection for human rights (capism.com). In this case, people have the right to make their own decisions and everyone ought to be respected in the decisions they make.

Fairness approach

Just as the name suggests, fairness is an emphasis considered in this case. This implies that actions are considered in terms of their fairness to those who are affected. This approach postulates that ethical actions ought to fair and consistent in every way unless moral differences exist.

Common good approach

This approach assumes all individuals to be a part of a bigger community. In this case, people within the community share certain resources to fulfill their existing goals. As a result, the most viable ethical decision will protect and benefit the entire community.

Virtue approach

This approach reflects the type of an individual performing a certain action. For example, it will offer a judgment whether the individual is honest, faithful, trustworthy etc. In this case, an ethical action is that which portrays a good virtue about an individual or the community.
Despite the existing differences in the ethical frameworks as they gauge ethical actions differently, it can be argued that the following best align to the eight ethical principles of the Global Business Standards of Codex: * The utilitarian approach * Fairness approach * Common good approach

2) What are the deontological and teleological frameworks of business ethics? Give examples of them in today’s business environment.

In order to overcome any ethical dilemma, ethical questions have to be analyzed appropriately. Deontological and teleological frameworks help to answer ethical questions and ultimately aid in overcoming any existing ethical dilemmas.

Deontological ethical framework is also referred to as the duty based ethical framework. In this framework, more emphasis is placed on the actions that people carry out rather than the consequences of their actions (bioethicscourse.info). For example, people ought to perform the right actions and avoid doing the wrong things. This framework can also be termed as non-consequentialist simply because actions cannot be gauged as good or bad basing on their outcomes. In today’s business environment, there are those rules/commandments that should always be followed. For instance, a company might stipulate that properties should not be used for the wrong purposes or rather properties should not be stolen from the firm’s premises.

On the other hand, teleological framework focuses on gauging an action by its possible outcomes (bioethicscourse.info). As a result, the best action that would be considered would be the one that offers more positive results than negative results. Ethical actions that lead to more negative results than positive are ignored or rejected. For example, in a business environment it is imperative to consider how the design of a product will influence people in consuming the product.

3) Why were the three simple ethical test established in business ethics? Give examples of them. (Min: 200 Words)

Business decisions could easily impact on an organization either negatively or positively. It is for this reason that decisions ought to be made wisely by following the right procedure. Testing business decision guarantees validity on a certain decision. For example, it would be easy to comment whether the decision to be made is right or wrong prior to utilizing it.

The three simple tests to analyze a business decision include:

1. Transparency test 2. Effect test 3. Fairness test

1. Transparency test

This test analyzes whether the decision to be made can be exposed to other people in the organization. The individual making the decision should accept the fact that other people should know that a certain decision is being put forward.

2. Effect test
The people or the parties the decision being made will affect are considered in this test. There is no bias to those who are affected negatively or positively.

3. Fairness test
In this test, the people affected are taken into consideration. This test determines whether the affected people regard the decision as fair enough. Decisions regarded as unfair by those who are affected could be adjusted to ensure that fairness is embraced in the decision making process.

Therefore, with these three tests, it would be easy to judge actions carried out by businesses whether they are ethically right or wrong.

4) Why is it important to study ethics in business, and what is the foundation and history of business ethics and theory?

Business ethics foundation can be dated back to early 1800s. During this time, actions were also gauged according to their consequences (flatworldknowledge.com). In this era, economists such as John Stuart Mill proposed that for an action to be regarded as beneficial it should benefit the overall community (flatworldknowledge.com). Also, they went ahead to comment that actions harming the community ought to be avoided. From this, it can be argued that business ethics has been there over the years as people are inclined to doing justifiable actions that will benefit them and the entire society.
Ethics is all about the moral code of conduct. In business, it touches on the moral codes of making decisions and other business operations. Certainly, there is more to business than just making money; business owners have to focus on whether they are doing right or wrong (smallbusiness.chron).
The main benefit that can be derived by studying business ethics is the fact that an individual can learn the ways and means of enhancing business reputation. Also, by learning about the moral rights and wrongs in business, a business owner can become a better human being and skillful business person. A student also gets to understand some of the challenges that businesses go through in real life. Through this experience, they can be able to make better and improved decisions once they step into the shoes of business persons.

References
Colero. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from http://ethics.ubc.ca/papers/invited/colero-html/
Five Ways To Shape Ethical Decisions: Utilitarian Approach. (2011, December 23). Retrieved
January 6, 2015, from http://www.capsim.com/blog/five-ways-shape-ethical-decisions-utilitarian-approach/
Introduction to Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from http://www.bioethicscourse.info/lecsite/ethicsintro The Business Ethics Workshop, v. 1.0. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/1695?e=brusseau-ch01_s02#brusseau-ch01_s02 The Reasons for Studying Business Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from http://smallbusiness.chron.com/reasons-studying-business-ethics-18877.html 2. Assignment 2: Article Review 1

A framework for sustainable marketing
The article featured is titled “A framework for sustainable marketing.” It is written by Ross Gordon, Gerard Hastings, and Marylyn Carrigan. This article discusses they ways in which sustainable marketing can be achieved by employing three marketing sub-disciplines i.e. critical marketing, social marketing and green marketing. In relation to this, green marketing simply focuses on introducing new goods and services into the market. The goods and services to be introduced should be sustainable enough. In addition to this provision, the products and services should be marketed appropriately in the market. On the other hand, the idea of social marketing basically embarks on encouraging people and businesses to embrace sustainable behavior. Also, this marketing discipline takes time to assess the current impacts of existing marketing campaign on sustainability. Lastly, critical marketing discipline investigates the marketing principles uses, techniques and theory by employing a critical theory (Gordon et al., 2011). Sustainability is the key issue that the article focuses on throughout the entire critique.
As mentioned above, sustainable marketing is a goal that can be accomplished through the following ways: * Green marketing * Social marketing * Critical marketing
The main reason for initiating the sustainable marketing campaign is the fact that existing marketing systems are not sustainable. Also, the existing consumption patterns in the market are not sustainable. This campaign should also be embraced as it would ensure that people embrace the idea of new technologies being introduced into the market (Gordon et al., 2011).
The analyzed critique goes ahead to argue that sustainable marketing tries to find a reliable solution that will guarantee goods and services are marketed responsibly without having a negative impact on sustainability. For example, people ought to be encouraged to change their over-arching goal and also to refrain from over consumption of certain products. In other words, this can be differentiated in two ways i.e. wants and needs. In sustainable marketing, goods considered as needs are advocated through marketing. Those regarded as wants should not be marketed (Gordon et al., 2011).
Green marketing
This type of marketing can be defined as “the holistic management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying the requirements of customers and society, in a profitable and sustainable way” (Gordon et al., 2011). In layman’s language, marketers in this type of campaign try their best to ensure that sustainable consumption is embraced by people. A company implementing the idea of green marketing should do this right from the production of its goods to the supplying stage. Their main aim here should be focused on balancing the need to make profit in the organization as well as the overall perspective of protecting the environment it operates in. A good example provided is the Toyota Company releasing the Prius Model into the market. This is a hybrid car that generally earns the company profits while at the same time protecting the environment.
Social marketing
Social marketing works hand in hand with green marketing. As a matter of fact, sustainable marketing is only achieved when social marketing and green marketing are incorporated together. The idea behind social marketing is simply to change specific behaviors of consumers in order to benefit the general public (Gordon et al., 2011). The good thing about social marketing is the fact that it helps in winning people over, motivating them as well as empowering them within the communities they exist in. This implies that behavioral change can easily be obtained. Ultimately, an individual and the entire community would be benefiting through this type of marketing campaign. A good example of social marketing is the Bristol Cycle City venture. In this project, people are encouraged to cycle more and reduce car use. As a result, citizens benefit from minimal pollution effects, better traffic, safe roads and enhanced health (Gordon et al., 2011).

Critical marketing
This approach strictly focuses on theories used to study existing commercial marketing campaigns. In this case, research is done on existing marketing to determine whether they lead to sustainable marketing in the society. This infers that the benefit of marketing to the entire society is also not overlooked.

Conclusion
In conclusion, certainly, the idea of sustainable marketing is important to the entire community people exists in. Marketing campaigns should therefore focus on ensuring that there is a benefit to be achieved from the campaign being put forward. The example on how cycling can benefit the entire community applies to every nation. Ethically, this will depict that a certain organization yearns to earn profits while at the same time protecting the environment. The stakeholders being the general community will surely appreciate the idea of sustainable marketing. Also, companies will benefit considering the fact that they will earn a better reputation from the public. On a personal perspective, sustainable marketing is highly recommended in the society we live in today.

References
Marketing Theory. (2011). A Framework for Sustainable Marketing.

3. Assignment 3: Article Review 2

Read Case Study, “Bernie Madoff: How “One Big Lie” Can Destroy Thousands of Lives.” Summarize the overall viewpoint of the author, and discuss the major issues presented in the case. Answer the four “Questions for Thought" below:
Bernie Madoff affected the lives of many people in 2008. During this time his company was worth billions of dollars. His company was merely famous due to the Ponzi scheme that he was running to entice more investors to his side. When his company collapsed over 16,000 investors were affected simply because they relied on Bernie Madoff investment scheme to earn returns (edition.cnn.com). Earlier on Bernie had not informed his workers and customers that the company was mainly operated through the Ponzi scheme. This lie affected many people to this day considering the billions of dollars that had been invested in his organization.

According to investopedia.com Ponzi scheme is an investing scam that promises investors to gain high rates of returns and claims to have minimal risks. In this scheme, old investors gain the benefit of more returns if they invite new investors into the scheme. This is the scheme that Bernie utilized to run his company without revealing the truth to his workers and investors.

Ethically this is totally unacceptable considering the fact that his organization was never transparent in the way it earned its revenues. The benefit of the community was also not considered rather, thousands of people were affected by the means in which the firm invested its money.

1) Trust is extremely important in business transactions. Greed also plays a role in some business transactions. Discuss how these two concepts were intertwined in this case.

Bernie certainly gained the trust of his customers through the many promises that his investment proposal offered. His investment option offered better rates of returns as well as it offered less risks to investors. This is basically an attribute of the Ponzi scheme. The way in which Bernie earned more investors year after year depicts the importance of trust in business transactions. Unfortunately, his customers trusted his lies on how the company earned its revenues.
Greed is evidenced in the way Bernie yearns to take his company to greater heights at the expense of the community. He is greedy in the way he uses Ponzi scheme to earn quick profits to his company.

2) Describe a Ponzi Scheme. Find several examples of other ponzi schemes that have occurred in recent years.

Investopedia.com defines a Ponzi scheme as an investing scam promising investors extra ordinary high rates of returns with minimal risks to investors. Also, the scheme promises more returns to old investors who invite new investors into the scheme. The term Ponzi is from the famous Charles Ponzi who was the first individual to orchestrate the fraudulent activity in 1919 (investopedia.com).

In recent times, the noticeable Ponzi schemes are:

* Lou Pearlman case – Lou was famous for his music production in the 90’s. In addition to this he was involved in a Ponzi scheme where he stole over $300 million (therichest.com).

* Scott Rothstein case- Scott’s Ponzi scheme earned him $1.4 billion. This is one of the most famous Ponzi scheme in Florida’s history (therichest.com).

3) In this case, it appears that Madoff has many friends and family members who were involved in the fraud. Speculate about how likely it is that Madoff's own sons, who were employees of the firm , know nothing of the fraud as they stated.

Madoff’s sons Mark and Andrew benefited from the Ponzi scheme their father used to run the company they operated in. According to statements provided by Andrew regarding the case, it can be argued that they knew nothing about the fraudulent activity their father was involved in. The mere fact that they went to the authorities to report the Ponzi scheme proved their innocence being involved. Also, it is highly likely that Bernie avoided involving his sons for fear that things might fall apart.

4) Explain the ethical issues associated with running a family-owned business. Are these issues present at Madoff's firm?

Personal conflicts

Personal conflicts are part of ethical issues that are faced by most family owned businesses. These conflicts arise when certain practices and policies are not followed. For example, the informal management structure might hinder the success of a family owned business. Hiring of unqualified family members might also affect the organization negatively. This is something that was evident in Madoff’s company.

Side deals

This is the unethical way of carrying out external business operations without revealing them to other employees in the organization. The mere fact that Madoff’s company relied on Ponzi scheme to entice and manipulate its investors is true evidence of unethical side deals.

Partners

Family owned businesses also faces the ethical dilemma of choosing the right partners to work with. This could be due to discrimination from other businesses or rivals in the similar market.

References
Bernard Madoff Fast Facts - CNN.com. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/11/us/bernard-madoff-fast-facts/ Ponzi Scheme Definition | Investopedia. (2003, November 25). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from http://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/ponzischeme Amanda Lauren
10 Of The Biggest Ponzi Schemes In History. (n.d.). Retrieved January 6, 2015, from
http://www.therichest.com/rich-list/nation/10-of-the-biggest-ponzi-schemes-in-history/3/