Literature Review of Taobao (Chinese company, similar to ebay) in business ethical implications - Essay Example

Ethical Framework Ethical dilemmas are extremely common in businesses. Business people are often faced with a dilemma of either doing the right or act in their own self interest. This self interest is the profit motive of an organization. Many businesses act egoistically. Egoism is an old ethical concept which states that every decision taken by a person or an organization is taken on the motive of self interest (Kaler 2000). The decisions are taken on not what is good for the society but what it good for the business itself.

This is complete violation of utilitarianism concept. The utilitarianism concept states that business should always act in a way that is good for the society. The collective benefits to the society of any decision should be greater than the collective negative effects arising from this decision. (Tsalikis & Seaton 2006) Many auctioning and online web stores like eBay or Taobao use the egoism concept in making their decisions. They give little or no heed to the utilitarianism aspect of their decision.

In other words these businesses take important decision not for the benefit of the society, but to promote what is good for them (Glasgow 1971). This can lead to problems and many people suffer because of their egoistic approach. They may make their financial statements more ostentatious using this approach, but entire society suffers as a result of this approach. (Aasland 2004) However, many times eBay and Taobao provide validity to their decision making approach by tell to the public that they have responsibility to maximize the wealth of their shareholders and as a result of this some decision based on the egoism methodology are necessary to be taken.

Since these decisions bring more profit to the business, the shareholder’s wealth gets maximized as a result of these decisions (Murphy 2004). In other words, the people managing these businesses are acting as agents of principal shareholders and they have no other option but to promote the interest of the shareholders. Some ethical schools of thoughts accept this reasoning, but again there should be balance between what is good for the society and what is good for the business itself. No business has a right to destroy the society on the pretext of its responsibility to the shareholders.

(Schminke & Wells 1999) This brings us to the question of ethical consumerism and value of trust. Many consumers operating on these websites do not reflect the ethical consumerism approach. Consumers and businesses on this website often cheat other users of the website through hacking or by providing the false information and later not giving the due money for their purchase. This is not right under any ethical definition. Many sites do not create stringent rules and regulations for users registration on their websites fearing that it may reduce the traffic on these website and hence they are not promoting ethical consumerism.

Many websites register user on the basis of trust which is breached more often than not. (Micewski & Troy 2007) It can be concluded from the research review that the ethical frameworks governing these websites are really weak. There is a need of stringent law making to improve the moral standards of this sector so that users of these websites and consumers are not cheated. (Sterba 1979) Works Cited Aasland, D 2004, On the Ethics behind "Business Ethics", Journal of Business Ethics, vol 54, no. 1, pp. 3-8.

Crane, A 2001, Unpacking the Ethical Product, Journal of Business Ethics, vol 30, no. 4, pp. 361-370. Driscoll, C & Starik, M 2004, The Primordial Stakeholder: Advancing the Conceptual Consideration of Stakeholder Status for the natural Environment, Journal of Business Ethics, vol 49, no. 1, pp. 60-70. Glasgow, WD 1971, Ethical Egoism Again, Ethics, vol 82, no. 1, pp. 64-71. Kaler, J 2000, Reasons to Be Ethical: Self-Interest and Ethical Business, Journal of Business Ethics, vol 27, no. 2, pp. 43-54. Micewski, E & Troy, C 2007, Business Ethics: Deontologically Revisited, Journal of Business Ethics, vol 72, no. 1, pp. 17-25.

Murphy, K 2004, The Role of Trust in Nurturing Compliance: A Study of Accused Tax Avoiders, Law and Human Behavior, vol 28, no. 2, pp. 187-209. Regis Jr, E 1980, What is Ethical Egoism?, Ethics, vol 91, no. 1, pp. 50-60. Schminke, M & Wells, D 1999, Group Processes and Performance and Their Effects on Individuals Ethical Frameworks, Journal of Business Ethics, vol 18, no. 4, pp. 370-380. Shah, D, McLeod, D, Kim, E, Lee, S, Gotileb, M, Ho, S & Hilde, B 2007, Political Consumerism: How Communication and Consumption Orientations Drive "LifestylePolitics", Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol 61, no. 1, pp. 217-235.

Sterba, J 1979, Ethical Egoism and Beyond, Canadian Journal of Philosophy, vol 9, no. 1, pp. 43-54. Tsalikis, J & Seaton, B 2006, Business Ethics Index: Measuring Consumer Sentiments toward Business Ethical Practices, Journal of Business Ethics, vol 64, no. 4, pp. 105-117.