Managerial Ethics and Social Issues - Term Paper Example

Full Submitted Managerial Ethics and Social Issues Question Describe two business activities that are legal butunethical. Also, explain at least two sets of behaviors from the business worlds that are ethical but illegal. Answer: In the context of the free-market system two business practices that are considered legal yet unethical are copyright and subcontracting. Copyright is legal but unethical for three reasons: (1) it gives the copyright owner a great advantage over its competitors thus making the playing field uneven; (2) it denies the society full benefits of the product because not all could avail it; and thus, (3) it furthers the gap between the rich and the poor. Subcontracting is legal but unethical for three reasons: (1) it aims to protect the capital interest at the expense of labor; (2) it frees the capitalist from some labor responsibilities, denying labor some financial benefits; and most of all (3) it denies labor the sole instrument it has to protect its interest and that is the power to strike. On the other hand, two sets of behaviors from the business worlds that are ethical but illegal are honesty and principled disobedience. Honesty is telling the truth without reservation. Telling the truth is ethical, but in business it may not be necessarily legal. For example, non-disclosure contract or a confidentiality agreement prevents employees from revealing information about the industry they work in, even if the information could reveal illegal practices of the company. Principled disobedience – declining to follow superior’s command which is perceived detrimental to greater good – is ethical, but could be illegal, because the organization’s hierarchy requires a subordinate to follow his superior. Thus by doing so, the employee could be punished for insubordination. Question 2: Explain Kohlberg’s stages of moral development. Provide examples for each of the stages. Answer: Kohlberg’s six stages of moral development are categorized into three levels. The first level is the Pre-conventional Stages, the most basic level, which includes the first two stages: (1) Punishment and Obedience Orientation, and (2) Instrument and Relativity Orientation, is akin to childlike morality characterized by manipulation or shrewdness, as right and wrong is determined based on the consequence of the action – Right is rewarded; wrong is punished. Hence right and wrong is viewed from an egocentric perspective. (Lamb, Hair & McDaniel 79) For example, food chains avoid using plastics in serving food not necessarily because they are environmentalist, but because they fear that the public’s negative perception of plastic use could negatively affect their business. Or giving gifts is commonly practiced to get what companies want or to expedite required processes. The second level is the Conventional Stages, which include stage 3: Interpersonal Concordance Orientation, and stage 4: Law and Order Orientation, business decision making depends on what is legal and what is acceptable to others/society. For example, corporate social responsibility makes companies image better, making companies gain greater customers’ trust and loyalty. Thus companies are compelled to become more socially responsible. Or for child labor to be acceptable, permits to work should be acquired first. Finally, the last level is the Post-conventional, Autonomous, or Principled Stages, which illustrates the morality of a well-informed adult (Lamb et al. 79), includes stage 5: Social Contract Orientation, and stage 6: Universal Ethical Principles Orientation. At these last two stages, judgment of right and wrong is no longer dictated by laws and conventions, but by universal principles and by what is logical and consistent. For example, releasing grotesque pictures of a crime scene would attract more readers, which could mean more profits for news companies. But news companies’ belief in responsible journalism could prevent them from doing so, because they are more concerned with their integrity rather than greater profit. Question 3: Compare and contrast the following types of justice giving example of each. Answer: The three categories of justice – distributive, retributive, and compensatory – similarly seek to achieve just action/decision on the different aspects of society’s life in order to promote equality and fairness and achieve peace and order, but they are differentiated based on the nature of action that requires just action. Specifically, distributive justice seeks to balance the distribution of the nation’s wealth and needs to all its members. This type of justice is best exemplified in business through the fixation of wages, where employees with similar skills and experiences are categorized at the same level and paid at the same rate per/hour. As such this promotes distributive justice’s principle: “equals should be treated equally and unequal should be treated unequally, and there should be consistency in the treatment.” (Mandal 62) On the other hand retributive justice seeks to impose just punishment for any wrong doing or harm done on others or property and to give rewards to actions that deserve recognition. For example, promoting high performing employees in recognition of their contribution to the company, or suspending an employee who is a perennial late comer. In meting out punishment or reward, retributive justice demands that the just action should commensurate the act being responded to. Whereas, compensatory justice seeks to restore what has been wrongfully taken from others or to compensate the damage done against a person. An example of which is the ‘third party’ insurance of vehicle owners, where in any case of vehicular accident, the victim could be compensated even if the vehicle owner responsible for the accident is incapacitated to do so. However, this category of justice is limited because, not all losses can be restored or compensated, such as the loss of life or loss of reputation. (Mandal 64) Question 4: From our text and class lectures describe the following economics/political systems. Answer: a. Capitalism is an economic/political system in which material good are mass produced more than what the society needs, for the capitalist, who through privately owning the means of production exploits workers and gain greater profits. b. Communism is the ultimate stage of socialism that aims to establish a classless and stateless society founded on collective ownership of the means of production and with labor and produce equally distributed to the members of the society. Unlike in capitalism, communism produces only what is needed by the society. c. Fascism is an economic system that is also referred to as corporate state, because it establishes a significant level of government-centralized control but allows the operation of private companies. However government’s regulatory actions essentially exert greater control over private companies, providing convenient conditions for corruption. As such, economic programs are meant to pursue political goals. (Barnes 112) d. Socialism (modern day socialism) is an economic system, wherein the economy is centrally planned and industries are government-owned and controlled, generally disallowing private property. (Barnes 112) As such, the means of production is no longer owned by the capital but by the proletariat. Material goods needed by the society are collectively produced for collective consumption. Question 5: What is monopoly? How do they come about? In what ways do they threaten the morality of the market system? Answer: Monopoly is a market structure wherein competition is not possible because the monopolist prevents possible competitors’ entry. Thus the monopolist solely owns the market power and can dictate the price leaving consumers without any other choice for substitutes. (Jain & Khanna 380) Monopoly is established through the use rival companies of anticompetitive practices to drive competitors to the losing end, leaving them no other choice but to sell out to the rival companies. This would enable the rival companies to create gigantic trust and to dislodge competitors, giving them the capacity and favorable condition to monopolize the market. As such, monopoly threatens the morality of the capitalist market system by disallowing competition. For example, monopolistic markets can charge prices more than the product value, which is unjust. Also, since there is no competition, market efficiency declines, denying the society of better goods/services at lesser cost and denying them of choice. Question 6: From our text and class discussion come and contrast perfect competition, pure monopolies, and oligopoly. Give example of these types of firms/ industries. Answer: Perfect competition is a market model that essentially asserts that society can benefit best from the market if there are more competing forces in a leveled playing field as this allows greater freedom of choice. Essentially so, it is the dynamics of the market that determines the prices of commodities. An example of which is the free software, because it allows free entry and exit of anyone. On the other hand, monopoly and oligopoly are two authoritarian market models, as both impose market prices and both disregard healthy competition. Although oligopoly allows entry, but just like monopoly, it also restricts free competition by dominating the market. For example, one-third of the US radio business is controlled by the $4B corporations: CBS; Hicks, Muse, Tate, & Furst; Jacor; and Clear Channel Communications (Hiebert & Gibbons 75). However, unlike oligopoly, monopoly entirely prevents competition to solely own market power, for example the US Congress has granted the US Postal Service monopoly for some of its services thus preventing private companies to directly compete in those same areas (Baumol & Blinder 220). Question 6: What is Blackstone’s concept of environmental rights? What are the weaknesses of his theory? Are there any ways to answer these concerns? Answer: Blackstone argues that we should care for our environment not only because it benefits us, but because having a liveable environment is every man’s right. For example, oil spill harms marine life and endangers the livelihood of fishermen and the fish supply of the market, thus the shipping line causing this environmental disaster should compensate those harmed and restore the destroyed marine resources. Though, Blackstone’s absolute right approach to environment issue has provided justification for corporate environmental responsibility, it falls short in offering solutions to the dilemmas that environmental care may bring about. However, such dilemmas could be solved using the utilitarian framework. For example, logging causes flash floods killing hundreds of lives and destroying communities, thus it must be stopped or regulated. If the utilitarian approach cannot work, the practical approach of cost-benefit analysis can be applied. For example, it totally closing a polluting factory would mean the loss of jobs for thousands of workers; then calculating the cost and benefit would help determine the best remedy. (Mandal 219-220) Works Cited Barnes, Jeff. Children of Liberty. US: Xlibris Corporation, 2011. Baumol, William J. and Alan S. Blinder. Economics: Principles and Policy, 12th ed. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Hiebert, Ray Eldon and Sheila Jean Gibbons. Exploring Mass Media for a Changing World. New York, NY: Routledge, 2000. Jain, T.R. and O.P. Khanna. Managerial Economics. New Delhi: VK Publications, 2010. Lamb, Charles W., Joseph F. Hair and Carl McDaniel. Essentials of Marketing. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning, 2011. Mandal, S.K. Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, 2010. Rodman, George. Mass Media in a Changing World, 2nd ed. New York: McGraw Hill, 2008. Read More