Business Ethics Resources

The university just wanted to solve the short-term brand headache of a faculty member’s controversial opinion, but it harms its brand in the long term. Please explore the tabs at the top of this guide and don’t hesitate to contact John, Ed or Kim in the Crocker Business Library if you have any questions. Strictly speaking, if the harm a person does to himself is of no consequence to any other party, this action remains beyond the scope of ethics. Its social responsibilities require business to see its purpose beyond profit which is its concern to the society, to the customers and environment. A strategic plan will allow you to create a roadmap for the business to follow.

You hear about the ideas of moral agencies, moral personhood and moral responsibility and they all go together in some kind of package. Powell, B. & M. Zwolinski, 2012, The Ethical and Economic Case Against Sweatshop Labor: A Critical Assessment”, Journal of Business Ethics, 107(4): 449-472. Another important approach to the study of business ethics comes from Kantian moral theory (D.G. Arnold & Bowie 2003; Bowie 1999). The ban, and whether it might be broadened, and whether it might be followed by other rash decisions, also represents to the business community a troubling signal of uncertain times ahead.

Therefore, by harming himself, the individual may also be creating a consequence to other parties, and the action is no longer beyond the scope of ethics: a person who harms oneself is to do harm to those who are dependent on their social connection to that person. And congrats to those athletes, officials, and sponsors who managed not to end up as fodder for the ethics professor’s classroom.

A $1000 award will be presented to a student at the Jack C. Massey College of Business Awards Event (April 10, 2017) whose winning essay was selected by the judges. Maslow’s theory was that there are a broad array of human needs that can be depicted as a hierarchy, such that the lowest level of need is of primary interest to the individual, and that it is generally the case that the individual will be inclined to fill his lowest level of need before seeking to fulfill needs on a higher level.

And at this, a working definition of obligation can be derived: obligation is the requirement for an individual to consider the consequences of an action to other parties in advance of undertaking that action. Public opinion is strongly opposed to it, and we believe business men are acquiring a higher standard of business ethics. As noted, in recent years the idea that the firm is something that can be owned has been challenged (Bainbridge 2008; Strudler 2017).