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Ethics and Business Corruption

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Submitted By Ash1899
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Ethics and Business Corruption

Tutor: Jeremy St. John

Ash Khan (23757175)

Yan Che (24584193)
Li Junyi (21771138)
9/21/2012

Introduction:
Corruption is defined as wrongdoing on the part of an authority or powerful party through means that are illegitimate, immoral or incompatible with ethical standards. Business corruption has been one of the major ethical issues facing the world in modern times and there has been a lot of debate in regards to the motives of the companies that participate in it. Some even argue that corruption is not solely down to lack of honesty but more as a tool that is required to survive in the current market due to increased competition, market conditions etc. In this paper, we would try to develop a knowledge based framework to understand the motives and consequences of business corruption through an ethical perspective. In analysing the ethics of business corruption, this paper will focus on 3 different ethical theories; Kohlberg’s theory of cognitive moral development, Consequentialism and Deontological ethical theories. Each theory represents different standpoints and arguments in as to the motives behind business corruption.
Literature Review:
Transparency International, the leading anti-corruption nongovernmental organization, “has chosen a clear and focused definition” of corruption as “the misuse of entrusted power for private gain” (Transparency International, 2008a). According to Professors Dunfee and Hess, there are four reasons why business corruption has been so widespread; competitive necessity, wide spread extortion, independent actions of employees acting against corporate policies, the view that bribery is justified because they respect local culture (Bishara 2009). In the early 2000s, the list of major U.S. firms engaged in large-scale corporate fraud included Enron, WorldCom, Tyco,

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