Analysis of Business Ethics Readings - Literature review Example

? Business Ethics Business Ethics Week 4-8 readings revolve around the relationship between the business world, individuals and the community at large. Business ethics plays a critical role in ensuring kind of a balance between self-interests and the societal interests by making sure that actors in business do not become driven by self interests. Business ethics ensures that business economic interests serve the larger good of the society and all business activities result in positive effects on the society. The concept of corporate social responsibility emerges as the key tools applied to ensure that business or individual business actors’ interests are balanced with the societal interests. Business ethics requires the view of all business activities through the moral values lens to determine their acceptability in the society. For smooth business operations, all business actors must understand various issues such as the personal aspects of business including family, sex, marriage and friendship, individual rights, and the moral values ascribed by society within which the business operate. This paper entails discussion of chapters covered between week 4 and 8 and identification of different sources of information with information relevant to the readings. “It’s Not My Problem”: The Concept of Responsibility (Chapter 8) The concept of responsibility is applied in business in different ways in which every actor in the business world has a role to play. The different forms of responsibilities in the business field include consumer responsibility, corporate responsibility and shareholder responsibility. The view of these responsibilities through the business ethics lens converts them into moral responsibilities and prima facie obligations. In this case, all business actors are obliged to ensure fulfillment of such responsibilities in orders for the business undertakings to have constructive ends or positive impact on the society. Lange and Washburn (2012) have explored the meaning irresponsible behavior in the business world to divert attention from what corporate social responsibility implies, to what business actors do that is against the expectation of responsible behavior. The information covered by the two authors closely relates to information covered in this chapter in which much emphasis has been put on the different responsibilities and the misunderstanding of the responsibility concept in business. According to Lange and Washburn (2012), business responsibility is deeply rooted in the external expectations and the perception of the people experiencing the business activities. The survival and success of a business organization or venture greatly depends on the widespread external perception as to whether the organization acts in socially responsible manner and the ability to meet external expectations. Nevertheless, it is important to understand that the responsibility concept in business does not imply going against self-interests in the business venture but the need to strike a balance between self-interests and societal interests. The greatest dilemma in business ethics revolves around the conflict of responsibilities, where individual’s power may be limited by external expectations or responsibilities. Social Responsibility and the Stakeholder (Chapter 9) Social responsibility in the business world refers to the different roles that businesses and actors in the business world have by virtue of operating within the society. The concept of corporate social responsibility encompasses the social concerns of stakeholders and the economic interests of business owners and shareholders. The corporate world and the society directly depend on each other, where the society cannot function in absence of economic and social roles of corporations while at the same time corporations cannot exist without the society. The stakeholder approach in business social responsibilities ensures that business owners commit to serve broader interests, in addition to the business economic and financial interests. Business organizations and other business actors have a duty to their stockholders as well as the society within which the business activities take place. Social responsible business organizations have the interests of the broader society at center of their operations. This involves the responsibility to undertake and not undertake some activities which affect the community positively or negatively respectively. Rivoli and Waddock (2011), explores the dynamism in the application of the corporate social responsibility concept in the business world. The question on what should be considered responsible behavior in the corporate world remains a great dilemma for many corporations and business owners. The perception of corporate responsible behavior changes overtime despite a move to institutionalized as well as legislate some activities as either responsible or irresponsible. Owing to the basis of business ethics on the societal moral values, an activity perceived as responsible behavior in one area may be perceived as irresponsible in a different area or society. Frequent shifts in the societal norms and expectations translate to change in view of some activities as socially responsible to normal behaviors (Rivoli &Waddock, 2011). In some cases, business organizations are compelled to adopt certain practices by virtue of being adopted by other corporate within the same market. This triggers profitability questions which organizations are expected to foster sustainable profitability while at the same time meet social corporate responsibilities. Human Rights and International Business (Chapter 11) Although much attention has been directed towards the issues of corporate responsibility through the focus on business external forces such as the environment, social and sustainability issues, corporations also have a responsibility to respect human rights. The concept of rights in business encompasses both contractual and legal rights in which the latter is guaranteed by the legal frameworks in the area of operation (Hamann, 2009). Every individual has human rights irrespective of their role, occupation, race, gender, and citizenships among other individual differences. Human rights in many cases are considered inalienable with few circumstances under which they may be denied. Despite, the lack of a common ground on human rights in the business world, all human beings have certain freedom rights which should not be interfered with by the corporate world, individual or even the government. Such rights are dubbed negative rights that every institution, government or business must strive to respect. On the other hand, corporations need to recognize positive rights which entail certain good deeds associated with the society such as the individual right to enter into a contract as well as making profits in case of a business venture. However, such rights have limitation despite under which they may not be recognized. In many cases, some privileges are often confused for individual rights hence the need for the business world to delineate between rights and privileges. The article by Hamann (2009), closely relates to the reading in this chapter as it explores the interaction between the corporate world and human rights. According to Hamann (2009), international human rights law applies to both public and private-sector corporations in which all organizations have the corporate responsibility to respect and safeguard stakeholder and stockholders from any form of human rights violation. Freedom and Power: Privacy and Pressures in the Workplace (Chapter 12) Smooth operations in the business world require significant freedom from interference by governments or political institutions. The concept of freedom has contributed significantly to the widespread concept of globalization characterized by establishment of free markets. Free markets are believed to present the greatest opportunity for the realization of freedom in the business world. Limitation of power and authority in business affects the ability of business owners and employers to manage their operations effectively. Coercion on the other hand is perceived as an instrument for propagating injustice in business world, where stakeholders lack the freedom of choice. The act of whistle-blowing depicts significant freedom in the business world despite the various challenge involved such as the struggle between loyalty and responsibilities to the society. According to Bennett and Locke (1998), all employees are entitled to a significant level of privacy, although the right to privacy has been greatly compromised in many working environments. The article by Bennett and Locke (1998) explores the right to privacy in workplace and some of the limitation associated with its implementation. In this case, the article closely relates to the information covered in this chapter. The right to privacy applies to employees, employers and business owners in which all these stakeholders are protected from any form of intrusion. According to Bennett and Locke (1998), courts have focused on defining the limitations to the right of privacy where they examine whether employees are justified to intrude employees’ privacy. Intrusion cases are common in working environment, especially under circumstances where the employers demand specific information about someone’s life during the recruitment process. The Personal Side of Business: Friendship, Family, Sex and Marriage (Chapter 14) The business world consists of a social component rather than the mere focus on business activities and profitability. Business remains an important part of the society in which people now define themselves in terms of their occupation and associate with people with similar business visions or ideas. The connection between the society and the business world best explains the emergency of business ethics to control the interaction between the two. The relationship between work and friendship remains a widely contested issue in which, in some case friendship is seen as an enemy to business and vice versa. Although, sex, and romantic love are considered unacceptable in the business world and workplace in general, they form an inevitable part of the society within which businesses operate hence the need for mechanism to control the extent in which they occur. These forms of relationships in the business world pose a great threat to efficiency and effectiveness owing to disruption to the smooth run of business operations. Attempts have been made to establish clear sexual policies especially concerning sexual harassment in a move to curb incidences of extreme intimacy in the business world. Another important concern includes the relationship between family and business, where the family unit of society is purported to have significant influence on the business world. Eddleston and Powell (2012), address the need for a work-family balance from a gendered perspective. The article is important as it presents empirical findings on the gender differences on the issue of work-family balance. According to Eddleston and Powell (2012), women tend to create work-family synergies in a move to achieve the work-family balance while men use family support to sustain their work-family balance. From a personal experience, women tend to commit themselves more in achieving the work-family balance as opposed to men entrepreneurs who seek family support in their business rather than provide support to the family by achieving a balance between their work and business. The Meaning of Work (Chapter 13) Work has become a central phenomenon in our society with almost every member of the society described by their occupation or what they do in the business world. Work ethics has been associated with the shift from the view of work as a curse to an important aspect of life. Work is currently viewed a rewarding activity as well as an enjoyable thing to indulge in. The dignity currently bestowed in work is attributable to the concept of work ethics characterized by certain rights and duties associated with work. Some of the rights associated with work include the right to be hired or fired without prejudice, fair treatment, and right to safe and healthy working conditions among other rights. Employees have the duty to abide by company policies, respect employers and cooperate with other workers. Hilgert (2009), in his article explores the international labor laws which encompass some the rights entitled to employees and the employers. According to Hilgert (2009), employees have the right to strike, non-majority representation, picket, form unions, as well as participate in boycotts. The right to strike emerges as the most exercised employees’ right as people push for respect of other rights in the business world. Conclusion Readings from week 4-8 focus on the interaction between the society and the business world with great emphasis on the mechanism established to guide the relationships such as legal frames and norms. The business world emerges to have a great role to play in the society in terms of social, economic and legal responsibility. The concept of work-family balance forms a key concern for different entrepreneurs with different scholars emphasizing on the need for the balance due to the interrelationship between the two phenomena. References Bennett, S & Locke, S. (1998). Privacy in the workplace: A practical primer. Labor Law Journal 1, 781-787. Eddleston, K. & Powell, G. (2012). Nurturing entrepreneurs’ work-family balance: A gendered perspective. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, 10 (11), 513- 541. Hamann, R. (2009). A point of departure in muddy waters, protect, respect and remedy: A framework for business and human rights. Environment, 51 (3), 52-56. Hilgert, J. (2009). Mapping the boundaries of human rights at work: Questioning how the ILO defines labor rights and social justice. Labor Studies Journal, 34(1), 21-38. Lange, D. & Washburn, N. (2012). Understanding attributions of corporate social irresponsibility. Academy of Management Review, 37 (2), 300-326. Rivoli, P & Waddock, S. (2011).” First they ignore you…”: The time-context dynamic and corporate responsibility. California Management Review, 53(2), 87-103. Read More