Business Ethics and Values - Case Study Example

?Question In the present scenario, the need to disclose the acts and omissions by Tony Thin (TT) are dictated by the need to maximize happiness andreduce the suffering by the persons concerned. In the case study or scenario provided, the relevant stakeholders will include Tony Thin (TT), Fern Fitness Diet Company (FF), Pauline Packer (PP) who manages The Brisbane West News and the overweight people who want to lose between three to five kilograms per week. TT also goes against the norm of utilitarianism in that while he thinks his purpose in life is to make people feel good and happy, he has failed in this ideal through the fraudulent Energy Band that has been found by the Consumer Affairs department to be fictitious and fraudulent. It would be ethical to disclose what TT is doing under the Kantian ethics that stresses the principles of universal acceptability and respect or the criterion of reciprocity. It is already confirmed that what TT is producing is counterfeited from the produce of FF. Moreover, the alleged drug or diet produced by TT has been made using cheap substances that make him reap maximum profits that are not comparable to the combination that can be derived from the genuine ones produced by FF. The implication of this under the Kantian utilitarianism is that there is need to disclose the productions of TT, as he neither respects the needs of his customers nor does he produce a diet worthy of reciprocation from his clients. The production by TT must be disclosed for violating the principles of reciprocity in that despite the fact that his child is sick and needs expensive treatment, his production does not guarantee his patients a successful treatment therapy. For the Kantian utilitarianism to have held any ground for him to warrant a non-disclosure of his activities, TT should have endeavored to compare the needs of his client as compared to the plight of his daughter in the spirit of reciprocity. Fisher and Lovell (2008) argue that at any given time, a person must know when to apply the ethical virtues and how to use them. Under the present scenario, TT has exhibited rashness or recklessness in his behavior by offering substandard diet and Energy band to his customers and therefore under the ethical virtues, his activities should be disclosed to the authorities, as they do not take care of the interests of the clientele. It would be an act of courage and magnificence as well as an act of honor for me as a journalist to disclose the misdemeanors and misrepresentations of TT to the authorities in line with the reasoning of Aristotle of what virtue is. This is coupled with the fact that disclosing his activities will be seen as a virtue of truthfulness and magnanimity to protect the clients that TT serves. The need to report TT is further compounded by the fact that he is boastful and malicious in that he only focuses on taking his daughter to an expensive hospital at the expense of others who he may harm through his sub-standard diet and Energy Band (Aristotle, 1955). There would also be need to disclose the lies and misrepresentations peddled by TT through his diets. This could be hinged on Gilligan’s (1982) virtue of care and wisdom, vice of deficiency and the vice of excess or appeasement as used in moral reasoning. Through this reasoning, there would be need to disclose the activities of TT, as they lack any care or wisdom in their undertaking. This is whereby TT is only concerned about the need to generate money to take his daughter to an expensive hospital, as opposed to giving his clients the right therapy or diet to help them live a healthy lifestyle. It would also be important to report him for the wrong that he is committing to his clients in order to appease them for the excesses that TT may have committed to them. Question 2 As an investigative journalist who has been approached by TT for a relationship in exchange for compliments, it is important to reject the offer and advances. Based on Low and Queensland University of Technology (2012), I am at the fourth stage in Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development where as a journalist am faced with a careful balance between social contract as compared to individual rights. I will consider the society as a whole and ensure that the rule of law is followed to ensure that the standards set by the society are set and followed to the latter. It would therefore be unethical to accept the advances of TT for a relationship despite the fact that I may gain from his propping or compliments in my professional undertakings as Brisbane West News and in the eyes of PP. I will therefore refuse the advances for a relationship from TT as well as not accept the offer that he would talk positively about Brisbane West News and me to my employer PP in general. The justification for picking this stage is that it emphasizes the fact that there is need to follow the rule of law and standards set by the society. These include amongst other factors not having an illicit affair or relationship and following the right procedure in a quest to attain promotion and business at work. Further, through the strict adherence of the norms and the order that the society requires us to and respecting authority and responsibility, we will have a prosperous society. For the aforementioned reason based on Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development fourth stage of development, I will decline the advances from TT neither will I accept his compliments at my place of work in exchange to a relationship request Question 3 (a) (i) Newspapers have a social responsibility to expose people such as TT for developing fictitious and dangerous diets. This is based on the invisible-hand argument that posits that when each one of us in this case the newspaper and the society in the free-market economy acts to promote our economic interests, there is the invisible hand to promote the general good. Therefore, if the newspaper is allowed to report the misdemeanor committed by TT, it will serve and yield the greatest interest to the society. Also, the let-government do it is of great importance in making the newspapers report the ills of TT as through a system of laws and incentives, the newspaper has an obligation to report the lies peddled by TT. (ii) An example of corporate social responsibility in Australia is by Woolworths, which has committed to the well-being of the environment using ‘green bags’ which have been used instead of the plastic bags that greatly pollute the environment (Woolworths Limited, 2008). AGL which is an Australian energy company is also involved in CSR through its program ‘energy for life’ community investment program that pays the energy bills during winter for shelters for the homeless in the states of New South Wales (NSW), Victoria and South Australia (Joanne, 2008). Through these programs, these companies have also benefitted positively in the eyes of the society. (b) Brisbane West News has adopted the ethical approach of corporate social responsibility (CSR) action that focuses on ethics as the most important factor of its actions (Garriga and Mele, 2004). Through its motto or slogan that states “Without fear without prejudice we serve our readers”, the paper has instilled on its journalists the culture of making accurate and honest reports notwithstanding the fears that may present to them in the course of their duty. The reporting neither discriminates alongside any member of the society nor does it favor any individual. The proprietor also believes that for the newspaper to be beneficial to the whole community in solving their issues, it must report truthful matter in order that the business to attract advertisers with great virtues and ethical standards amongst them. References Aristotle (1955). The Ethics of Aristotle: The Nichomachaen Ethics. (rev. ed) (J.K. Thomson, trans.). New York: Viking. Fisher, C. M., & Lovell, A. (2008). Business ethics and values: individual, corporate and international perspectives. New Jersey: Pearson Education Ltd. Garriga, E., & Mele, D. (2004). Corporate Social Responsibility Theories: Mapping the Territory: Journal of Business Ethics Vol. 53: 51–71 Gilligan, C. (1982). In a different voice: psychological theory and women's development. Cambridge, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. Joanne. 2008. Corporate social responsibility, ActNow. [Online]. Available at http://www.actnow.com.au/Issues/Corporate__social_responsibility.aspx Low, R. & Queensland University of Technology 2012, Business law and ethics : course code BSB111, 2013 ed, Pearson Australia, French's Forest, N.S.W Woolworths Limited. (2008). Australia's Leading Retailer Woolworths' Sustainability Strategy, ICMR, IBS Center for Management Research. [Online]. Available at: http://www.icmrindia.org/casestudies/catalogue/Business%20Ethics/BECG087.htm Read More