Business Ethics
- Explain why ethics is important in the business environment?
Ethics is important to a business simply because it allows individuals to make a moral judgement concerning what is actually right for the business (Hartman & DesJardins, 2013). This allows a company to be able to choose the right approach to in order to increase productivity.
- Distinguish legal responsibilities from ethical responsibilities.
There are very many differences between legal and ethical responsibilities but the main difference is, the law addresses all ethical dilemmas which are faced by the business. Legal responsibility is the process whereby business institutions abide to the law, through being transparent and honest in accountancy (Hartman & DesJardins, 2013). On the other hand, ethical responsibilities are the efforts made in order to meet the expectations of the shareholders in the business activities.
- Distinguish the ethics of personal integrity from the ethics of social responsibility.
Ethics of personal responsibility, is the character that one possesses, thus being able to follow the rules which govern him or her. On the other hand, ethics social responsibility is the ability to relate with other people in a work area, thus making it easier of people to relate well in a business institution (Hartman & DesJardins, 2013).
- Consider your own personal values and explain where they originates. Can you pinpoint their derivation? To what degree have you chosen your own values? To what degree are your own values products of your family, your religious or cultural background, or your age? Does it matter where values originate?
I am a person who follows the laws to the latter, and I obey whatever I am being told by my leaders or otherwise those who are older than I am. I obtained these values from my parents, the religion and school. In as much as I obey my elders, I also consider whatever I am being told if it will impact me positively or negatively (Hartman & DesJardins, 2013). My values are pin pointed to the religion, thus I can be able to follow values which are against the dictates of the religion. My age does not matter when it comes to my values, thus I am able to follow the values which are central to my religion and my cultural background.
- Some political philosophers understand the ethical foundations of legislatures to be utilitarian, while the ethic foundation of the judiciary is deontological. How would you explain this distinction? Do professionals such as accountants and lawyers have duties and obligations that other people do not? From where would such duties come?
Different people, working in different areas will tend to have different definitions of ethics in order to suit their area of work and study (Hartman & DesJardins, 2013). This consequently means that, even though accountants and lawyers have different definition of terms, they have almost the same duties. When it comes to political philosophers who believe that the ethical foundations of legislature should be utilitarian, the same applies to the judiciary, and the difference is only that they have different definitions.
- Consider how you evaluate whether a firm is “one of the good guys” or not. What are some of the factors you use to make this determination? Do you actually know the facts behind each of those elements, or has judgement been simply by the firm’s reputation? Identify one firm you believe to be decent or ethical and make a note of the basis for that conclusion. Next, identify a second firm that you do not believe to be ethical or that you think has questionable values and write down the basis for that alternate conclusion. Now, using the Internet and other relevant source, explore the firm’s cultures and decisions, checking the results of your research against your original impressions of the firm. Try to evaluate the cultures and decisions of each firm as if you had no idea whether they were ethical. Were your impressions accurate or do they need to be modified slightly?
Marble Tours and Travel Company, it offers different travel solutions to its clients, thus making it easy for people to be able to travel to different areas at ease. The firm has very good ethical values, since it works according to its mission statement. Moreover, its employees provide the best customer care service making it enjoyable to the clients. On the other hands, the company provides its clients with travel advice free of charge thus making the clients to fill free.
Nellie Tours and travel is also a travel company which provides transport solutions to its clients. The company does not uphold any ethical responsibilities, since the clients are treated in a very bad way. The company’s customer care representative is not active, thus one cannot be able to lodge any complaints (Hartman & DesJardins, 2013). Moreover, if you are not able to pay for the travel charges, you cannot be allowed to ask any questions concerning the company.
My impressions were accurate since I was able to point out the ethical problems that Nellie Tours and Travel Company had been facing. Moreover, I was also able to point our Marble’s ethical value clearly.
Reference
Hartman, L., DesJardins, J. (2013). Business Ethics: Decision-Making for Personal Integrity & Social Responsibility: McGraw-Hill Higher Education. ISBN: 978-0-07-802945-5
