Ethical Conduct In The Business World: “A Trust To Be Kep“

23 Pages 5819 Words

y, but the CEO now wonders if he should balance the welfare of the employees who would be thrown out of work against the interests of the shareholders. Should the CEO recommend the offer to the shareholders?

These hypothetical examples give some idea of the ethical dilemmas that arise at all levels in the business world. The individuals in these cases are faced with ethical questions in their relations with customers, employees, and members of a larger society.

Sometimes, the ethically correct course of action is clear, and hopefully individuals in their work act accordingly. But the answers are often not simple. The dilemma is most commonly presented when ethical concerns come into conflict with the practical demands of business, often involving the trade-off between lowering one's personal values in exchange for increased organizational or personal profits (Laczniak and Murphy, 1991:261).

The sales representative, for example, might feel an obligation to tell the prospective customer about the anticipated delays in delivery but fears loss of the order to his company and a big commission to himself.

The editor, although realizing that removing the team leader is unfair, might still feel that he has no choice but to remove the new employee as head of the team in order to get the job done.

The CEO, by virtue of his position, may think he has responsibilities to constituencies other than the shareholders. Does he? If so, does the CEO have a right to favor his own interests over those of his employees when making this decision?

In little more than a decade, the field of business ethics has grown from the interest of a few philosophers into an interdisciplinary area of study that has found a secure niche in both the liberal arts and the standard business curricula. Credit for this development belongs to many individuals--both philosophers and scholars in the social sciences and business--who have succeeded in relating ethi...