...organization commit to appeal fund or should behave in a socially responsible way, beyond the requirement of law because it is the right thing to do? It would seem logical that a company would benefit from socially responsible conduct such as renewable resources, promoting fair trade, empowering gender fairness in employment and support the community in which they operate. However, the translation of benefits into economic profits is not guaranteed. For some consumers the buying decision is influenced by the social image of the company but by the value they get from the trade. Various factors can be employed to measure the corporate social responsibility performance are Dow Jones Sustainability Index, SERM rating and EIRIS. Stakeholder Theory: What responsibilities or obligation does an organization owes to its stakeholders? How should an organization cater to the competing need of different stakeholders? What legitimate interests justify a group of people being regarded as stakeholders? Business and organization ethics? Issue | Classical liberal | Pluralist (A & B) | Corporatist | Critical | Status | | A is stakeholder perspective. B is ethical decision making | Interest of employees and states are represented equally | | Objectives | Meeting shareholders demands | Competing stakeholders objective | Mix of finance | | Financial targets | Reflects the...
Words: 1365 - Pages: 6
...of Business Law and Ethics Course of Study Your competence will be assessed as you complete the LWC1 objective assessment for this course of study. This course of study may take up to 10 weeks to complete. Introduction Overview There are the two major subdomains of study within the Fundamentals of Business Law and Ethics Course of Study: business law and business ethics. The exam covers 11 business law and ethics concepts, including the following: contractual relationship government regulation of business dispute resolution labor and employment law hiring and employment practices warranties, negligence, and liabilities Sarbanes-Oxley Act ethical issues in business ethical leadership ethics programs use of company resources You likely have had some experience with the legal system, either through your own encounters or merely through listening to the nightly news, and you have probably read or heard about various ethical and legal issues causing financial upheaval in today's business world. This background will serve you well in this study. Now you can expand on that experience, and perhaps refine and enhance your own views on these issues. Once you complete this course of study, you will have demonstrated a level of competence that you can immediately use in your work setting and career. Outcomes and Evaluation There are 10 competencies covered by this course of study; they are listed in the "Competencies for Fundamentals of Business Law and Ethics (LWC1) " page. You will...
Words: 8481 - Pages: 34
...January 14, 2012 Per manager of the quality assurance, the amount of lead in metal whistles was slightly above the limits of the U.S. legal standards. At the end of the week, a large shipment of the toy collection including those whistles is scheduled to schools in South America. It would cost $100k to reproduce and repackage those over leaded whistles. We should address this issue seriously and try to conduct a legal and ethical solution before customer’s complains. Otherwise, the company’s ethical reputation would be damaged and the sales revenue would be affected dramatically. After brainstorming and reverse brainstorming, with the consideration of different perspectives including product, planning, potential and people, I suggest the following three decision alternatives: 1) Since the lead is only slightly above the U.S. limits, we may continue the shipping without further notice to the public. Obviously, the advantage is that the shipment request will be fulfilled on time and the disadvantage is that the company may take the risk to lose the ethical reputation if it is released to the public. It would be no financial loss and no impact on the toy shipment. However, it could be tagged as unethical behavior if it is released to the public, which means it may affect the future sales revenue. In addition, it may cause some legal suits if there are any affected customers because of those toy whistles. 2) We recall the product immediately by reproducing and repackaging...
Words: 1425 - Pages: 6
...Section 1: Introducing business ethics. Key idea: Globalization, defined as deterritorialization of economic activities, can be seen as a key context for business ethics. The effect of this is that the more business become global, the more it has to cope with regions and countries where ethical values are vastly different, p. 17, 19, 24, learning outcome 1, 2. Question 1: In which of the following areas is it not evident that deterritorialization is particularly relevant to business ethics? 1. Legal issues 2. Cultural issues 3. Personal issues 4. Accountability issues Question 2: Globalization can be seen to affect all stakeholders of the corporation. Mention four of these, explain how they are affected and provide an example. * Shareholders: globalization provides potential for both profitability and greater risks. * Consumers: global products provide social benefits to consumers, but could also meet protests. * Government and regulation: globalization weakens governments and increase corporate responsibility. * Employees: globalization provides job through outsourcing of the production, but can also raise potential for exploitation of employees through bad working conditions. * Civil society: global business activity brings the company in direct interaction with local communities, thereby raising the possibility for erosion of traditional community life. * Suppliers and competitors: Suppliers in developing countries face regulation...
Words: 1089 - Pages: 5
...several ways organizations can attempt to tackle poor health habits of employees. The challenge for employers, however, resides in staying within legal and ethical boundaries when addressing such issues as obesity and smoking. Regulation of employee lifestyles by employers is becoming a more prevalent issue, but laws regarding this practice vary by jurisdiction. Organizations can protect themselves from legal trouble and ethical issues by implementing constructive programs aimed at improving the health of their workforces rather than engaging in discriminatory practices against overweight employees and smokers. Weight discrimination can be an issue in any industry so it is important that managers are aware of the laws regulating such practices. Obesity is a health problem and some employers assume that overweight employees will incur more illness-related absences and contribute to higher health care costs. Research shows that overweight employees are more likely to be subjected to discrimination in terms of hiring, treatment, and retention (Roehling, 2002, p. 177). While most states do not have laws protecting workers from discrimination based on weight per se, some protection is afforded under the Americans with Disabilities Act, where a certain level of obesity is considered an actual disability (p. 181). In addition to employment protection, if an individual qualifies as disabled, the employer must take necessary steps to provide reasonable accommodation of that person...
Words: 933 - Pages: 4
...Legal, Ethical Issues in the Work Environment: Employee Health and Safety Student’s Name Instructor’s Name Course Title Date Introduction In this paper ethical issue or situation, which will be discussed in regard to current, previous, or potential future work environment is "Employee Health & Safety", which in present had been the essential issue of government of every nation. In current unstable culture employers, unions, employees as well as government agencies interest in the health along with the safety associated problems has been enhancing because of enhancing number of the work associated injuries, illnesses along with deaths. In regard to National Safety Council, every workday the fatality happens every 2 hours and deliberating injury happens every 2 seconds. Those figures as well as approximation of the fatality along with injury demonstrates that number of company in the present and past were confronted several problems and also in coming future they would also continue towards confronting those types of ethical issues. All those types of approximations and costs, which organizations have been happening in regard to the employee health along with safety depicts that safety problems have not been the priority of companies and associations and because of such number of the legal issues in regard to the costs and the punishments have been experienced through companies. Thesis Statement Does in current several companies have been confronting ethical...
Words: 3057 - Pages: 13
...One of the main ethical dilemmas that a store manager working for Wal-Mart might be faced with is a conflict of interest. He/she has been placed into a situation where there is no right or wrong answer, but rather a right, and right answer. Does he choose the role of being a good manager, and risk the managerial position? Or does he act upon the “unethical” commands of his superiors in favor of keeping his job? Three underlying elements further complicating his decision to make ethical choices are discussed in this essay. These are identified as self interest, greed, and obedience to authority, and will be discussed using Ghillyer’s three-step process of analyzing the consequences, analyzing the actions, and making a decision where the ethical dilemma can be resolved, or at least diminished. Self interest could have been a contributing factor to his decision making, which resulted in a class-action lawsuit, costing the company $50 million. Self interest can be categorized under one of the three ethical theories, virtuous ethics, which places its value in living life according to the commitment to the achievement of a clear ideal. For example, “What sort of person would I like to become?” An ideal goal for the manager could be to provide a shelter, clothing, and food for himself and/or his family. These are the basic innate impulses or drives in human beings, that explain the well known evolutionary theory of Survival of the Fittest. In the Wal-Mart example, this is demonstrated...
Words: 1394 - Pages: 6
...Assignment 1: Employment-At-Will Doctrine Employment-at-will is the current employment practice performed in the United States. Employment-at-will states that an employer can terminate an employee for any reason; good, bad or indifferent. It also allows the employee to leave the employment of the company at any time and for any reason. Over the years following the adoption of the employment-at-will doctrine, there have been some exceptions applied that employers must follow when it comes to terminating their employees In the 1980s, employees started to lose more when terminated. This was due to the increase in the number of people working for someone else. Upon termination, employees were losing pension, insurance, and any other benefit they were receiving while employed. Employees started to become more and more dissatisfied with the employment-at-will doctrine and started to challenge it by bringing suits to the courts claiming Wrongful Discharge. (Employment at will, 2013) Many of these suits won and the courts created exceptions to the employment-at-will practice. These exceptions now make it difficult for an employer to terminate an employee without the individual trying to sue for damages. These exceptions can be broadly grouped into 4 categories. These are Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, “breach of contract by the employer, breach of an implied Covenant of Good Faith and fair dealing, and violation of public policy by the employer.” (Employment at will...
Words: 2237 - Pages: 9
...ability to influence businesses; thus, the relationship between companies and their stakeholders is a two-way street. Stakeholders provide resources that are more or less critical to a firm’s long-term success. These resources may be both tangible and intangible. Primary stakeholders are those whose continued association is absolutely necessary for a firm’s survival; these include employees, customers, investors, and shareholders, as well as the governments and communities that provide necessary infrastructure. Secondary stakeholders do not typically engage in transactions with a company and thus are not essential for its survival; these include the media, trade associations, and special-interest groups. Stakeholder groups and issues | Potential indicators of...
Words: 7314 - Pages: 30
...good/evil. * Business Ethics concentrates on moral standards as they apply to business policies, institutions, and behaviour * Corporate Social Responsibility refers specifically to a description and moral evaluation of the impact than an organization has on society * Ethics can be a business constraint “ethics costs” but also an advantage “ethics pays” 1970 – 1985: Rise of business ethics (academia) 1985 – 1995: Ethics into firms 1995 – 2000: Internationalization 2000 – 2012: Corporate Scandals and government regulation * Ethics Scandal Costs: Fines, lawsuits, prison, investor losses, bankruptcies, unemployment, and increased regulation * Market Morality: Will everyone invest their money as agreed or will greed effect them? * Parable of the Sandhu Ethics vs. the law Unclear over moral responsibility Easier to say what is morally right than to do it * Employees value health and safety ethics Consumers value product safety Shareholders want return on investment Need to look at environment * Macroenvironment: social, economic, political, technological factors * Our society is pluralistic in nature * Pluralism: there is diffusion of power among society’s many groups and organizations Decentralization and diversity of power * Strengths of Pluralism: prevents power concentration; maximizes freedom; diversified loyalties; provides safeguards; disperses individual allegiances. Has a set of built in checks and balances ...
Words: 8968 - Pages: 36
...Corporate Social Responsibility is analogous to Corporate Citizenship, which is defined as “The extent to which businesses are socially responsible for meeting legal, ethical and economic responsibilities place on them by shareholders.” Investopedia explains, “The aim is for businesses to create higher standards of living and quality of life in the communities in which they operate, while still preserving profitability for stakeholders.” (Investopedia, 2014) In today’s market, there are numerous applications of individual acts that define a Corporate Citizen and reflect positively and negatively on how a corporation is perceived. A corporation’s Social Responsibility level can be beneficial or detrimental to the sustained profitability and growth of the corporation. When corporations fail to acknowledge their own need for social responsibility, profitability and growth suffer. Implementation of socially responsible business practices and strategies show that a corporation is focused on helping and improving society and the environment. This social responsibility serves to increase profits and good will of shareholders in the long run. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) should be focused on four primary categories: • Environmental Impact • Ethical Leadership and Business Practices • Organizational Viability • Legal and Regulatory Compliance Environmental Impact For nearly 25 years, SunCoast Industries has been the industry leader in implementing eco-friendly business...
Words: 3274 - Pages: 14
... The amount of lead in the whistle is slightly above the legally acceptable limits in the United States for children ages 7 and younger. A large shipment of the collection is scheduled for delivery to schools in South America at the end of the week, just in time for the beginning of the school year. The approximate cost to reproduce and repackage the toy collection is $100,000. This report identify three possible ways to address the situation using a standard decision making process. The report will evaluate several considerations for each possible solution and make an ultimate recommendation. The impact of this decision on customer relationships as well as the role of social responsibility in the decision making process will be discussed. Finally, the report will identify possible actions the company can take to promote ethical decision making, as well as work towards identifying important components of a code of ethics for the company. A1. Decision Alternatives The situation has presented a complex ethical scenario for the company. A variety of problems can potentially arise, depending on how the situation is handled. Significant profits, customer relationships, and moral integrity are at stake. This section will identify three alternative strategies for addressing the problem. The first possible alternative would be for the company to cancel the shipment to South America, reproduce the whistles with appropriate levels of lead, and ship the newly repaired toy...
Words: 3569 - Pages: 15
...uncertainty about ethical obligations in particular situations or when considerations of ethics come into conflict with the practical demands of business. In deciding on an ethical course of action, we can rely to some extent on the rules of right conduct that we employ in everyday life. However, business activity also has some features that might limit the applicability of our ordinary ethical views. One distinguishing feature of business is its economic character which can be summarized as the conduct of buyers and seller and employers and employees. A second distinguishing feature of business is that it typically takes place in organizations which is a hierarchical system of functionally defined positions designed to achieve some goal or set of goals. Because business involves economic relations and transactions that take place in markets and also in organizations, it raises ethical issues for which the ethics of everyday life has not prepared us. Decisions making occurs on several distinct levels: the level of the individual, the organization, and the business system. The level of the individual represents situations that confront them in the workplace and require them to make a decision about their own well-being. The level of the organization can be identified as a decision which must be made by an individual acting on behalf of the organization bringing about some organizational change. The level of the business system can be summarized as a decision which can be...
Words: 8804 - Pages: 36
...Business Ethics and Legal Issues Name: Course: Tutor: Date: Abstract Antitrust laws are the legislations by state governments aimed regulating the way in which trade and commerce is carried out. This is possible through the prevention of illegitimate price-fixing and monopolies and facilitating fair completion. The net effect that is felt by the consumer is the production of high quality goods and services at prices that are affordable to all. Additionally, the public welfare and interest are well protected because it ensures that their demand is met by the firms who are engaged in the sale of goods and services. This is achieved by the provision of an ample environment for businesses to experience fair competition resulting in good business practices in all industries in the United States. This is achieved by cultivating the culture and the belief that the economy, the manufacturers, and consumers should mutually benefit from the effects of free and fair trading (Mankiw, 2008, p. 7). In its bid to create fair business environment antitrust laws mostly try to minimize cases of monopolization by various firms which may intend to create it through any possible merging. When firms merge, they reduce the competition within themselves and the net effect is that one company controls the whole industry and makes any decision regarding the prices of the products that it handles. This is where the antitrust laws come in place in order to protect consumers...
Words: 1946 - Pages: 8
...Ethics Case Study HCS 335 March 2, 2015 Victor Gibb Ethics Case Study Ethics is a branch of philosophy in which human actions are judged to be either right or wrong based upon a person's particular set of values, when these judgments are applied to a specific profession than they are referred to as professional ethics (Garret & Baillee, 2009). Personal and professional ethics often overlap and sometimes the two conflict. There are also scopes that apply to professional practice, and one must adhere to their scope and not practice outside of that scope. This paper will explore the ethical and legal concerns related to a case of whether or not a licensed practical nurse (LPN)/ certified medical assistant (CMA) should call in a refill for a prescription for a patient/friend of the doctor he works for. Jerry’s medical training does not qualify him to issue an order for a refill on the prescription for Valium because prescribing medications is not listed in the scope of practice for LPN’s/CMA’s in any state. LPN’s may administer medications but prescribing of medication is limited to medical doctors, physician assistants, nurse practitioners and psychiatrists (American Nurses Association, 2015). Jerry could take a verbal order to renew the prescription from the doctor if the doctor were available to give that order as an LPN (Fremgen, 2009). CMA’s are also not able to prescribe medications and are not able to take verbal orders to for medications; therefore Jerry cannot...
Words: 1210 - Pages: 5
