Business Law Ethics - Essay Example

Business Law Ethics Business owner have great say in determining moral philosophies of their business ventures. On the other hand, employees follow the instructions by implementing and attending to their respective duties, therefore, it is up to the business owner to build a work environment that supports ethical standards of their action or behavior (Cheeseman 24). Business law ethics is interpreted from three perspectives in that it entails to avoid behavior that may result in a consumer posting civil law suits against an organization or firm, keeping away from behaviors that are bad for the image of the company and lastly avoidance of breaking the criminal law in a person’s work. Businesses in most cases are usually concerned with these things because they entail reputation of the company and loss of money (Velasquez 43). Theoretically, businesses avert such concerns by assigning corporate lawyers and public relations personnel to escort workers on their daily activities. Morality in business is aimed to maintain and sustain the reputation of the company and build customers trust in the firm or company. Joshua Thompson who comes from Detroit has sued the AMC theatres company which the second biggest theatre Chain in the United States of America for charging more money on popcorns, candies and sodas by movie concessionaries. Thompson filed class law suit with an objective of trying to put to an end price gouging which is in itself unlawful and punishable under the Michigan consumer protection act. In addition, it is unethical for movie concessionaries to take advantage of people gathered in a movie theatre to sell them products at high price than normal due to the fact it is hard to depart from the theatre to go and look for outside while the movie is going on. Thompson filed the class-action law suit in Wayne county circuit court which blames and accuses AMC of going against the Michigan consumer protection act by hiking prices of snacks. According to the law suit, Thompson states that on December 26, he purchased for a coke and goobers chocolate peanuts at Livonia theatre for $ 8 which translates to eight times the $ 2 he paid for similar products at a nearby drug store and restaurant. The law suit seeks the county court to order for refunds for all consumers who were overcharged and a civil punishment taken against the theatre chain. Initially, Thompson who is an avid movie goer used to come with his own beverages and snacks because of the high prices that were charged on snacks and beverages sold in the movie theatre but he stopped coming with his own food after an advert that prohibited people from bringing their own food in the theatre. Additionally, Morgan asked Thompson, ‘can they do that?’ in his reaction, Morgan said yes they do that because it is a private property. On his part, Thompson did some research and came across a consumer protection act in Michigan drafted to prevent firms from overcharging their customers. Should the police get around this behavior, AMC theatre will have to face the Michigan law which prevents firms from overcharging their customers. AMC have all the reasons to worry because theatres get most of their money from concession sales and not movie tickets since majority of sales from movie tickets goes to studios in their first week of debut or release. More so, if Thompson succeeds in his law suit, AMC would soon experience lowest level of movie attendance and it is possible that such suits could make people theatre people squirm. It is rational to argue that businesses whether small or big are not bound by the morality or ethics other than following the law. In this sense, AMC has the duty to make profits in rightful manner that lies within the platforms of the State legal system, nothing less or more since failure to do so, it is seen as unethical. Ethically, AMC tired to make profits by going against the rules and regulation of the society both designed in ethical custom and the law in that it tried to harass and intimidate movie goers by overcharging them on snacks and beverages. Ethics is simply following and adhering to the law and customs, therefore, any deviation from this road is seen as reduction of ethics to abidance to customs and laws. In such a matter, the legal proceedings taken by Thompson are technocratic and obligatory but ethical act is a voluntary choice. Apparently, AMC did no adhere to laid down societal customs by trying to make profits by exploiting its customers. AMC should know that moral obligations in any business are restricted to what law demands. For any matter under consideration such as filing of class-action law suit against AMC, what counts as responsible marketing for AMC is against the statute put forward by Michigan that aim to protect consumers. In modern society, the accepted moral obligation supported by the society is those obligations that are already stipulated in the law. This includes honesty, fair treatment of consumers and safety of goods. More so, the binding moral force in businesses in society is the statute or law itself. In that, anything that goes beyond the law is not acceptable in society. Further, businesses are expected to abide by to morality derived from both the law and profit motive. Such tenets appeal to universal moral obligations that nobody should reject. The problem with such tenets is that they are too general and do not stipulate to people what is fair or violation of human rights. From the articles, it can be deduced that these principles support autonomy and broadly consent against harm. Unfortunately, AMC group of theatre was only driven by profit motive and did not care about financial status of its customers. From critical study of the article, it is reasonable to state that AMC theatres lack clear values and in turn will face hard times in that it will lose its kind customers and their loyalty to the company because it presents itself to customers as trying to exploit them without taking into consideration that consumers are protected by law against vices such as price gouging. It is evident that purchasing beverages and snacks at AMC theatre is a thriving business in that the price of fast food has been doubled. Arguing from ethical point of view, concessions are very significant in that in absence of concessions, AMC patrons would be paying more money for the movie tickets as it is. This shows that the company is caring and concerned about the welfare of the patrons. Due to increased consolidations and bankruptcies, AMC theatre is under pressure to hike prices of its services and goods which can be viewed as a move to reduce market saturation. This is legally correct because no business can operate to make losses. AMC Theatre Company should know that corporate ethics are perceived cynically with the aim to encourage good public relations and reduce legal liability. More so, corporate ethics aims to make companies and people comprehend how moral principles should be articulated and cement them into business practice (Shaw 77-78). AMC did not abide by such corporate code of ethics since it viewed it as mere good manner or prudence. Critical evaluation of the article, it is pragmatic that AMC theater charges high prices on snacks and beverages because it attempts to keep prices of tickets low, which gives more people a chance to enjoy the silver screen. More so, charging high prices on fast food is aimed at opening up the possibility for those people who are price sensitive to come and watch the movies. This in turns implies that more customers are streaming inn to come and watch the movie, giving the theatre an opportunity to make profits. Movie exhibitions depend on concession sales in order to keep their business operational since concessions represent 40% of profits that theatres make. Therefore, high pricing on fast foods at theatres make sense. The clear fact is that sales from concessions determine what type of movie people are willing to watch. People who come to theatres to watch movies whether bad or good eat less popcorn which means that they pay less than those people who are willing to see anything. It is rational that, if a business is determined to bring more customers to market, ticket prices should be kept lower in order to attract them. Charging high prices on fast food is the only way to make profits. According to Michigan consumer protection act, it is wrong for corporate bodies to overcharge or charge the consumers price that is grossly high or excess at which the same goods or services are sold (Cox n.d). Works Cited Cox, Mike. Laws Protecting consumers: Michigan Consumer protection Act, Act 331 of 1976. Michigan: Michigan Dept of Attorney General. Cheeseman, Henry. Business Law, 7th Edition. New York: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print. Cross, Frank, Miller, Roger and Clarkson, Kenneth. Business Law: Text and Cases - Legal, Ethical, Global, and Corporate Environment. Washington: Cenage Learning, 2010. Print. Beatty, Jeffrey. Business Law and the Legal Environment. California: South West College, 2008. Print. DeGeorge, Richard. Business Ethics. New York: Prentice Hall, 2009. Print. Emerson, Robert. Business Law. New York: Baron Educational series, 2009. Print. Ghilyer, Andrew. Business Ethics. Virginia: Career Education, 2009. Print. Hartman, Laura. Business Ethics: Decision-Making for Personal Integrity & Social Responsibility. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print. Shaw, William. Business Ethics: A Textbook with Cases. New York: Wadsworth Publishing, 2010. Print. Velasquez, Manuel. Business Ethics: A Teaching and Learning Classroom. New York: Prentice Hall, 2005. Print. Read More