phase 3 internship YWCA

Business Ethics Overview

“The ability to anticipate and deal with business ethics issues and dilemmas has become a

significant priority in the twenty-first century. In recent years, a number of well-publicized

scandals resulted in public outrage about deception, fraud, and distrust in business and a

subsequent demand for improved business ethics, greater corporate responsibility, and laws to

protect the financially innocent. The publicity and debate surrounding highly publicized legal

and ethical lapses at well-known firms highlight the need for businesses to integrate ethics and

responsibility into all business decisions. On the other hand, the majority of ethical businesses

with no or few ethical lapses are rarely recognized in the mass media for their conduct, mainly

because good companies doing business the right way do not generate media interest. Highly visible business ethics issues influence the public’s attitudes toward business and destroy

trust. Ethically charged decisions are a part of everyday life for those who work in organizations

at all levels. Business ethics is not just an isolated personal issue; codes, rules, and informal

communications for responsible conduct are embedded in an organization’s operations. This

means ethical or unethical conduct is the province of everyone who works in an organizational

environment, from the lowest level employee to the CEO. Making good ethical decisions are just as important to business success as mastering

management, marketing, finance, and accounting. While education and training emphasize

functional areas of business, business ethics is often viewed as easy to master, something that

happens with little effort. The exact opposite is the case. Decisions with an ethical component

are an everyday occurrence requiring people to identify issues and make quick decisions. Ethical

behavior requires understanding and identifying issues, areas of risk, and approaches to making

choices in an organizational environment. On the other hand, people can act unethically simply

by failing to identify a situation that has an ethical issue. Ethical blindness results from

individuals who fail to sense the nature and complexity of their decisions. Some approaches to

business ethics look only at the philosophical backgrounds of individuals and the social

consequences of decisions. This approach fails to address the complex organizational

environment of businesses and pragmatic business concerns." By contrast, our approach is

managerial and incorporates real-world decisions that impact the organization and

stakeholders... It is important to learn how to make decisions in the internal environment of an organization to

achieve personal and organizational goals. But business does not exist in a vacuum. As stated,

decisions in business have implications for investors, employees, customers, suppliers, and

society. Ethical decisions must take these stakeholders into account, for unethical conduct can

negatively affect people, companies, industries, and society as a whole... The field of business

ethics deals with questions about whether specific conduct and business practices are acceptable.

For example, should a salesperson omit facts about a product’s poor safety record in a sales

presentation to a client? Should accountants report inaccuracies they discover in an audit of a

client, knowing the auditing company will probably be fired by the client for doing so? Should

an automobile tire manufacturer intention ally conceal safety concerns to avoid a massive and

costly tire recall? Regardless of their legality, others will certainly judge the actions in such

situations as right or wrong, ethical or unethical. By its very nature, the field of business ethics is

controversial, and there is no universally accepted approach for resolving its dilemmas.” Source: O.C. Ferrell, Fraedrich, John, Ferrell, Linda Ethical Decision Making and Cases Cengage Learning 2017 (P.3)