Premium Essay

Digging Into Unethical Corporate Behavior

In:

Submitted By missbheyv
Words 1119
Pages 5
Research Ethics

Digging Into Unethical Corporate Behavior

In the textbook “Business Research Methods”, Cooper and Shindler (2011) define ethics as “norms or standards of behavior that guide moral choices about our behavior and our relationships with others” (p.32). Our culture and believes is what helps define and determine what is considered ethical, and what is unethical. “The goal of ethics in research is to ensure that no one is harmed or suffers adverse consequences from research activities.” (Cooper & Shindler, 2011).

In the past two decades, a parade of companies has imploded in the wake of unethical and fraudulent business practices, leaving investors shaken and scorched. Enron Corp. is perhaps most notorious. Executives embezzled funds from investors, and as Enron teetered on bankruptcy, it misrepresented its financials and may have even created a false energy crisis. Investors lost more than $70 billion.
The infamous Bernie Madoff, who was a well regarded and trusted financial investor and philanthropist to boot, fooled investors and got the best of the Securities & Exchange Commission. Madoff operated legal and illegal operations. His illegal entity ran a Ponzi scheme, using revenue from new investors to pay existing clients. Shareholder losses from Madoff’s actions amounted to $20 billion.

WorldCom and Tyco International have become synonymous with white-collar crime, thanks to unscrupulous behavior by a select few business executives within those companies. Bad executive behavior can lead to sales declines and tanking stock prices, and sometimes, a company’s demise. Enron brought down itself and a former “big five” accounting firm, Arthur Andersen.
Companies not in any danger of collapsing, but recently shown to have ethical lapses that could signal bigger problems within the company include Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Wal-Mart

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Paper Week 3

...plan that will incorporate what the company’s mission, vision and code of conduct as well as ethics is. That code of ethics and conduct is what the company expects from their employees and what a company will do if those policies are violated (McNamara). A code of ethics is a guideline of expectations and the values the company holds important. When a company has employees that question if something is wrong or not then the code of ethics can be a useful guide but doubles as an orientation tool to show employees what the repercussions are of violating those rules. In today’s failing economy it is obvious to see the repercussions of unethical behavior and how not just the company, the employees and the stakeholders are affected but how that failing of a major business ripples into the general population. There is no greater example of unethical behavior than the lesson that can be garnered from the company Enron. Exactly what was the problem with Enron and where did it all go astray with the greed that over took the Chief Operating...

Words: 767 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

The Reasons for and Solutions to the Bribery Issues Among Chinese Companies

...The Reasons for and Solutions to the Bribery Issues among Chinese Companies In September 2013, a former Politburo member, Xilai Bo, was sentenced to life imprisonment for embezzlement, bribery and abuse of power. With millions of dollars of bribery money, this Chinese communist leader got the punishment of spending the rest of his life in prison, and also brought influential stress and trust problem in China (The Economist, 2013). This incidence also have drawn international’s attention, with such negative reputation a question mark has been put on China’s trust worship, consequently is also weakening of China’s international position and power. Corruption has always been a worldwide focus, with bribery one of the leading problems existing in the contemporary world. Bribery is legally defined as “The offering, giving, receiving of something of value for the purpose of influencing the action of an official in the discharge of his or her public or legal duties” (U.S Office Of Government Ethics). Bribery in deed has helped tons of people achieve their goals in almost every aspect of people’s life: Kids can be permitted to good schools; companies can get privileges in trades; unqualified candidates can be selected for competitive positions. Bribery has brought the society unfairness, and cause disorder in socials reflecting in wealth gap and power distances. The uprising country China, specifically, is one of the world’s leading highly corrupted country. Not only within nation...

Words: 4256 - Pages: 18

Premium Essay

Ethics Paper

...that will incorporate what the company’s mission, vision and code of conduct as well as ethics is. That code of ethics and conduct is what the company expects from their employees and what a company will do if those policies are violated (McNamara). A code of ethics is a guideline of expectations and the values the company holds important. When a company has employees that question if something is wrong or not then the code of ethics can be a useful guide but doubles as an orientation tool to show employees what the repercussions are of violating those rules. In today’s failing economy it is obvious to see the repercussions of unethical behavior and how not just the company, the employees and the stakeholders are affected but how that failing of a major business ripples into the general population. There is no greater example of unethical behavior than the lesson that can be garnered from the company Enron. Exactly what was the problem with Enron and where did it all go astray...

Words: 815 - Pages: 4

Premium Essay

Global Business Law & Ethics

...provided advice that was ethically & strategically to be ignored … + Why is digging a shallow trench a poor choice? We have clearly seen in the course that the legal and ethical behavior of an organization and its employees should support the long-term business strategy. It is imperative that ‘sustainable growth’ is the driving force of any organization… and this should be based on the People-Profit-Planet structure we have reviewed in the course. If we look to the advice of Karl Mann’s boss we could analyze it as following: 1. Profit: the decision/advice will support the short-term goal of profits, but not in a foreseeable and sustainable way; the risk which is embedded in his advice (i.e. possible death of people) is too high for the corporation! If something happens with injuries of workers the reputation of the corporation is damaged as such that the long-term profit is at risk… 2. People: this is clearly not the right advice in order to prevent damages and injuries at the people side. He reckons there have been accidents with dead people before, and still advices to go down that route ..; clearly an unethical decision where he –on purpose- risks the life of his workers. This cannot be the intent of a good sustainable policy; we cannot talk about good “corporate social responsible behavior” here …. It’s crystal clear that this is unacceptable managerial advice, not at all in line with good corporate governance in the DVC Construction organization either. This level of management...

Words: 2726 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Whistle Blowers

... 2009-1-10-147 Jaheda Sultana 2009-1-10-029 Md. Anamul Haque 2009-2-10-108 Md.Mehedi Hasan 2009-1-10-073 Organizational behavior Course Code: MGT251 Section: 3 East West University 1. Do you believe that whistle-blowing is good for organizations and its members, or is it, as David Stetler believes, often a means to extort financial gains from companies? Whistle blowing means calling attention to wrongdoing that is occurring within an organization. The fact whistle blowers are good/bad for an organization depends on different situations whether a whistle-blowing will have a positive or negative result over the organization. That is it depends on what they're whistling about. If it has intention to get someone trouble then we have to think about the undesirable consequences it might happen for whistle blowing. On the other sense, if it is someone who is angry with the organization for other reasons and blows the whistle solely to cause harm or embarrassment to the company, then they're just a jerk. On the other hand, of it is related to protest against unethical deeds then it is ok. If whistle blowing is a means toward a positive end, then in the long run, we might want to consider it good for the organization as a whole, but not so for some of those within the organization who refuse to adhere to ethical behavior. However, I tend to believe that most whistle blowers are simply conscientious people who see injustice and want it to be corrected...

Words: 3621 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Seciton E

...Section E. The Ethical Code of Sirius XM Radio. As a reputable company, Sirius XM has a Code of Ethics designed to mimic that of any other company of similar size, “This Code of Ethics embodies the Company’s commitment to conduct business in accordance with applicable law and the highest ethical standards. It is intended to provide guidance to help recognize and deal with ethical issues, to provide a mechanism for the reporting of unethical or unlawful conduct, and to help maintain a culture of honesty and accountability.” (Sirius XM) Naturally there is a lengthy list of practices/employees covered under the Code of Ethics so we did a bit of research to find out if the company had any breaches in this Code or if they were solid on their resolve to stay one hundred percent ethical in all their business practices. Right off the bat we are going to look at the Employee portion of the Code of Ethics under the label ‘Fair Dealing,’ where it states that “The Company expects its employees and directors to compete aggressively in furthering the interests of the Company. It also expects them to do so fairly, ethically and in a manner that fully complies with all applicable laws and regulations.” This seems to be uniform with a generic Code from most companies with the small exception that Sirius has a cost cutting practice of placing their interns under an unpaid ‘education’ bracket. “The satellite radio broadcasting company, which posted 2013 revenue exceeding $3.5 billion, does...

Words: 1460 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Business Ethics

...Contents Assignment of monetary value 3 Whistle-blowing 9 Competitor Intelligence 13 Business Ethics 16 Is business ethics important, if so why? 16 Assignment of monetary value Utilitarianism and cost-benefit analysis are indispensable tools, in the situations where people have to make decisions. In a free society, individuals, or voluntary associations of individuals (whether corporations, nonprofits, households, or informal gatherings) often need to make decisions. Looking at the costs and benefits of individual decisions is important. The important thing to note here is, though, that different decision-makers may assign different costs and benefits to the same things, and thus come up with different courses of action. This is because different people have different preferences, different bases of experience, and different goals. Thus, there is no one-size-fits-all cost-benefit analysis, but the tools and principles of cost-benefit an analysis are useful to all. Some people are uncomfortable with the idea of applying cost-benefit analyses to things that are not usually measured in tangible monetary terms. There are two kinds of objections. One is the objection to any “apples to oranges” comparison. Second is the fact that some things get debased when valued in monetary or utilitarian terms. Both of these are valid criticisms, but in situations where we do need to make decisions, we really have no choice but to weigh different forms of cost and...

Words: 4461 - Pages: 18

Free Essay

Business Ethics and Economic Collapse

...Running head: CAUSE OF ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE UNETHICAL BUSINESS THAT LED TO IT Final Paper James Smith Hodges University GEB/PAD 6376 Dr. Forrer Week Due: 14 Due: 08/14/2011 Submitted: 08/10/2011 INTRODUCTION (Part 1) Why has the unemployment rate been above 12 percent for the last several years? Why have so many prior successful businesses closed in the last four years? Why have so many major corporations and publicly traded companies filed for bankruptcy? Why did a house that used to cost $200,000.00 just sell for $40,000.00? Why are foreclosures at the highest rate in US history? Maybe the question to ask is what has caused all of this? There are so many questions to be answered when it comes to the economic conditions in the United States. How did it get into the current condition? What were the signs of slipping into the crisis (economic indicators)? Whose actions were responsible? Was the responsible party also guilty of unethical behavior (big issue) or was it accidental. How long will it take for the economy to get back to being productive? In the past, America has been a very productive, successful country. There have been other recessions and a depression that have affected the U.S. but for some reason this current crisis was started by a completely different chain of events. What was the chain of events that triggered this...

Words: 3312 - Pages: 14

Free Essay

Competitive Intelligence Shannon

...Intelligence Collection XII. What Resources Are Used to Collect Information XIII. How Companies Utilized Collected Information XIV. Keeping Companies Secrets Secret a. Buildings b. Communication Systems c. Administrative XV. Conclusion I. ABSTRACT Intelligence gathering is considered commonplace in corporate America. Companies struggle to maintain the high ground within a competitive marketplace. One source for maintaining an elevated position is through information gathering on competitors, better known as Competitive Intelligence (CI). Collection of this information can be accomplished through numerous means. History has shown that the collection of CI is not a new practice, only that the methods used to collect the information have evolved over the past century. Intense pressure for turning profits, winning contracts, and avoiding expensive research and development costs drive the methods used in CI collection. With an increase in CI collection, companies are required to protect themselves from inside and outside intruders. II. PROBLEM STATEMENT Corporate America has become oblivious to the information being divulged concerning company trade secrets. Corporate intelligence or company espionage has become an all to commonplace art form. Due to increase pressure to meet production quotas, new product markets, and an increase in stockholder wealth, corporations have changed into a “win at all costs” approach towards business. This organizational behavioral change...

Words: 7080 - Pages: 29

Premium Essay

Mr. Wang

...1. What is the importance of identifying a number of alternative solutions to good decision making? A couple points to make: 1. Good decision-making starts with gathering the facts. You should seek out all available information. If you don’t you are handicapping your decision-making ability. 2. Understanding your alternatives is the key to “economic” decision-making. Decisions aren’t made in a vacuum. You have to consider your “opportunity costs” or what you are giving up when you choose one option over another. For example, what is the cost of going to college? The answer is NOT just the tuition. It is also the money you would have made if you would have been working instead of going to class. Understanding the pros and cons of each alternative is the basis for making a strong decision. One caveat: Sometimes marketers and other salespeople will try to take advantage of you by giving you a false set of choices. A car salesman may show you a $50k car and then show you a $35k car and claim it to be a good value relative to the first car. But he did not show you the first car to give you “more alternatives.” He showed it to you to warp your perception of “good value.” It is a best practice to identify at least three alternative solutions that will meet the requirements to solve the problem. Requiring a minimum of three alternative solutions forces the integrated project team to identify solutions that may not be obvious. It helps to prevent automatically adopting...

Words: 2285 - Pages: 10

Free Essay

Health South

...NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET Learner: MGT7019-8 THIS FORM MUST BE COMPLETELY FILLED IN Please Follow These Procedures: If requested by your mentor, use an assignment cover sheet as the first page of the word processor file. The assignment header should include the Learner’s last name, first initial, course code, dash, and assignment number (DoeJXXX0000-1) justified to the left and the page number justified to the right. Academic Integrity: All work submitted in each course must be the Learner’s own. This includes all assignments, exams, term papers, and other projects required by the faculty mentor. The known submission of another person’s work represented as that of the Learner’s without properly citing the source of the work will be considered plagiarism and will result in an unsatisfactory grade for the work submitted or for the entire course, and may result in academic dismissal. | | MGT7019-8 | Dr. Janis McFaul | | | Ethics in Business | Assignment 8 | | | ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Faculty Use Only ------------------------------------------------- Layla: ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- Paper- Health South: The Scrushy way Layla O. Mora ...

Words: 3554 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Gm520 World Bank

...The World Bank ------------------------------------------------- Top of Form Week 1: Business Ethics and International Responsibility - Discussion This week's graded topics relate to the following Terminal Course Objectives (TCOs): A | Given an organizational requirement to conform business practices to both the law and best ethical practices, apply appropriate ethical theories to shape a business decision. | I | Given specified circumstances of a business decision to expand to international markets, determine what international legal requirements or regulatory controls apply. | | Click on the links in the "Topics" section to view the discussion topics. Then, click "Respond" to add your thoughts to the discussion thread. | Topics | Introductions (not graded, but required) | The World Bank Situation (graded) | Ethics and Patent Rights Post 9/11 (graded) | Q & A Forum (not graded) | | The World Bank Situation (graded) | Class, please read Chapter 2, problem 5 from the Jennings text, p. 72. This week, we will discuss the Wolfowitz situation at the World Bank. Consider the questions at the end of the problem as you make comments in the threads this week. What are the ethics here? Was Wolfowitz trying to do the right thing? Does that make a difference ethically? Throughout the week, I will bring in further questions. Be sure to read the lecture and the international ethics article stated in your reading for the week as well. Rather...

Words: 19952 - Pages: 80

Premium Essay

Tyco Scandal

...Kozlowski joined the company in 1975 as an assistant controller. The company subsequently shifted its focus from growth to profits within its three primary divisions: fire protection, electronics, and packaging. Kozlowski joined Tyco's board in 1987 and became president and chief operating officer two years later. Kozlowski engineered a coup to become Tyco's chief executive officer (CEO) in 1992 and the chair of the board in 1993. He diversified the company, branching into health care. Tyco eventually became the second largest producer of medical devices in the United States. On December 5, 2001, the Tyco shares were trading for 59.76 on the NYSE. B. Identification of all individuals or firms who knew about, participated in, or condoned the behavior. The primary people that were identified for responsibility of the scandal were Dennis Kozlowski and finance chief, Mark Swartz. Kozlowski joined the company in 1975 as an assistant controller at Tyco. He worked in the company during a time of rapid expansion and moved to the board of directors in 1987, become CEO in 1992, and became chairman of the board in 1993. Kozlowski was known for his vicious acquisitions, and gained a lot of attention by his extremely lavish lifestyle. Mark Swartz was the Chief Finance Officer of the company and worked under Kozlowski. It was determined during trial that the two had worked synonymously in committing fraud, and working against the shareholders. Both of them ended up...

Words: 9473 - Pages: 38

Free Essay

Miss

...famously resistant armor. And now, to Jeremy’s amazement, human resources vice president Samantha Williams was informing him that she wanted to reprimand Knox for a breach of the SFS code of ethics. “If ‘brilliant’ is a synonym for ‘devious,’ maybe so,” said Sam, eyebrows raised. Sam was Jeremy’s friend and frequent ally, having helped him push through a reorganization of the sales force, including new incentive and commission structures. But she was also currently the chair of SFS’s ethics review board. “An ethics breach is an ethics breach. As our code states, ‘deceptive business practices’ are unethical. There have to be consequences. And you, of all people, should know that.” True enough, Jeremy thought. When he had arrived at SFS five years ago, on the heels of an embarrassing kickback scandal, Jeremy had been a driving force behind creating the corporate code of ethics. And now it was being wielded against his star sales animal, Fort Knox....

Words: 2503 - Pages: 11

Premium Essay

Ethics

...History & Development of Automotive Industry 4 Value Chain of the Automotive Industry 6 PEST Analysis 7 Political Factors 7 Economic Factors 9 Social Factors 9 Technological Factors 10 Stakeholder Interests 11 Shareholders 11 Domestic Part Suppliers 12 CAW/UAW (Employees) 12 Customers 12 Environmental Groups 13 Stakeholder Position Analysis 13 CEO 13 Customers 13 Competitors 14 Analysis of History of Recalls and Assessment of Ethics 14 History of Recalls 14 Potential for Improvement 16 Economic, Social and Environmental Impacts of the Global Automobile Industry 17 Utilitarianism 17 Feminist Ethics 18 Postmodern ethics 20 Kant’s categorical Imperative 21 Corporate Social Responsibility, Corporate Social Responsiveness and Corporate Social Performance 22 Conclusion 27 References 27 Appendices 29 Executive Summary Before only the wealthy could afford cars but this changed with the Ford Model T. This car was specifically targeted at average family household by making it affordable to own. By 1918, Model T was owned by half of American car consumers (LoveToKnow, 2014). Standards must be set for companies to not sell faulty cars. Regulations are set by The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration which lead to recalls when not met this can be very expensive for the company. Unions are also very costly when they are strong, thus Ford would look for areas where the union is weaker for location of its manufacturing plant...

Words: 9752 - Pages: 40