Business And Ethics Essay Research Paper Business

Business And Ethical motives Essay, Research Paper

Business and Ethical motives

University OF LA VERNE

VAFB, CALIFORNIA

ECBU 346

Business Communication

FEBURARY 12, 1997

BY DOUG RONING

From a concern position, working under authorities contracts can be

really moneymaking. In general, a steady watercourse of orders keep coming in, gross

additions and the company continues to turn. There are a few obvious ruins

to working with authorities contracts ; a higher quality is to be expected every bit good

as extended research accompanied by accurate and complete certification are

normally required. If one portion of the procedure fails to execute right it can

cause minor defects every bit good a jobs that can transport some serious reverberations ;

For illustration the instance of the failed computing machine bit at Company X. When both the

employee and company are found at mistake, the inquiry arises of how extended

should the reverberations be? Is the company as a whole liable or make you look

into single employees within that company? From an ethical position 1

would hold to look at the available information of both the employees and their

higher-ups along with the function of others in the state of affairs. Next you would hold

to analyse the concluding result from a corporate position and so analyze the

corporate duty as a whole in order to happen a declaration for instances such

as this.

The first mitigating factor involved in the Company X instance is the

uncertainness, on the portion of the employees, on their responsibilities that they were

assigned. It is possible that during the testing process, an employee

couldn & # 8217 ; t separate between the parts they were to prove under authorities

criterions and commercial criterions. In some instances they might hold even been

misinformed on the concluding merchandise that they tested. In fact, ignorance on the

portion of the employees would to the full pardon them from any moral duty for

any harm that may ensue from their work. Whether it is decided that an

employee is to the full excused, or is given some moral duty, would hold to

be looked at on an single footing.

The 2nd mitigating factor is one of menaces that an employee might

suffer if they do non follow through with their assignment. After the bogus

testing was completed in the Company X labs, the certification section besides

had to distort paperss saying that the parts had more than met the

authoritiess proving criterions. From a legal and ethical point of view, both the

examiners and the authors of the studies were simply moving as agents on direct

orders from upper direction. The authors of the studies were good cognizant of the

state of affairs yet they acted in this mode on the direction of a supervisor.

Acting in an ethical mode becomes a secondary precedence in this type of

environment. As stated by Alan Reder, ? if they [ the employees ] feel they will

suffer requital, if they report a job, they aren & # 8217 ; t excessively likely to open

their mouths. ? ( 113 ) . The workers knew that if the studies were non falsified

they would come under oppugning and possibly their occupation would be in hazard.

Although working under these conditions does non to the full pardon an employee from

moral mistake, it does give a starting point to assist contract down the individual or

section that issued the original petition for the unethical Acts of the Apostless.

The 3rd mitigating factor is one that possibly encompasses the bulk

of the employees in the Company X instance. We have to equilibrate the direct

engagement that each employee had with the faulty parts. Therefore, it has to be

made clear that many of the employees did non hold direct engagement with the

proving sections or with the parts that finally failed. Even employees,

or sub-contractors that were straight involved with the production were non

aware of the ignorance on the portion of the testing section. For illustration, the

electrical applied scientist that designed the faulty computing machine bit could hold stated

that it was tested and it did so run into the needed authorities trials. Besides,

for the employees that handled the portion after the testing procedure, they were

covering with what they believed to be a piece of equipment that met authorities

criterions. If the portion was non tested decently, and did finally neglect, isn & # 8217 ; T

the proving section more morally responsible than the interior decorator or the

assembly line worker that was in charge of put ining the bit? In big

corporations there may be several proving sections and in some instances one may

be held more responsible than another depending on their engagement. A procedure

like this can function as a double intent for happening irresponsible employees as

good as those that are morally excused.

The 4th extenuating factor in instances of this nature is the step of

the earnestness of the mistake or mistake caused by the merchandise. Since Company Ten

was repeatedly being added to the list of sanctioned authorities contractors, one

can safely presume that the degree of earnestness, in the sentiment of the

contractor blessing commissions, is non of monumental importance. Yet a individual

has to inquire how this instance would hold been different if it caused the loss of

life in a military scene. Possibly the reverberations would hold taken consequence

much faster and been more rigorous. The fact that Company X did non do a

decease does non do them a safe company. They are still to be held responsible

for any mistakes for which their merchandises cause, no affair the extent.

As for the resistance to the delegation of moral duty,

extenuating factors and pardoning factors, most would reason that the corporation

as a whole should be held responsible. The executives within a corporation

should non be forced to convey out all of the employees responsible. A company

should be reprimanded and be left entirely to transport out its ain internal

probe and reverberations. From a concern jurisprudence position this is the

ideal instance since a corporation is defined as being a separate legal entity.

Furthermore, resistance would reason that this declaration would profit both the

company and the authorities since it would non trouble either party. The

original declaration in the Company X instance was along these lines. The authorities

for good removed Company X from its sanctioned contractors list and so

Company X set out to extricate the web of wrongdoing from within. This allowed

for a comparatively speedy declaration every bit good as an ideal scenario for Company X.

In response, one could reason that the whole corporation has no ethical motives or

even a construct of the word. A corporation is merely as moral and ethical as the

employees that work for it. All employees, including top ranking executives are

working towards the promotion of the company as a whole. All employees,

including the sub-contractors and assembly line workers, are in some portion

morally responsible. Every employee should hold been clear on their employment

responsibilities and aware of which parts were intended for authorities usage. Uncertainty

is non an alibi for moral duty in the instance of the workers. Besides, the

fact that some employees failed to move in an ethical mode gives even more

moral duty to that employee. While some are decidedly more morally

responsible than others, every employee has to transport some load of weight in

this instance. In fact, when the authorities reached a concluding declaration, they

decided to further enforce reverberations and certain employees of Company X were

banned from future work in any authorities office ( Velazquez, 54 ) .

Looking at the instance from the point of view of Company X, the result was

favourable sing alternate stairss in which the authorities could hold taken.

As explained before, it is ideal for a company to be able to carry on its ain

probe every bit good as it & # 8217 ; s ain penalty. After all, it would be best for a

company to find what specific sections are responsible instead than

holding a tribunal of jurisprudence seeking to make up one’s mind which employee is to be blamed. Yet,

since there were ethical issues of dishonesty and secretiveness involved, Company X

should hold conducted a thorough analysis of their employees every bit good as their

ain patterns. It is through such attempts that a corporation can raise the

ethical criterion of everyone in the organisation.

This instance brings into light the whole issue of corporate duty.

The two sides that must finally be balanced are the ego involvements of the

company, with chief end of maximal net income, and the impacts that a corporation

can do on society ( Sawyer, 78 ) . To farther strengthen this demand, one could

argue that there are really few concern determinations that do non hold an affect on

society in one manner or another. In fact, with the huge figure of turning

corporations, society is being affected on assorted foreparts ; everything from H2O

taint to air bag safety is going a major concern. Every determination

that a concern makes is gauged by the fiscal duty to their

corporation alternatively of their societal duty to the local community. This

was pointed out on assorted occasions as the chief ground why Company X falsified

their studies. The cost of reingineering of the faulty portion did non outweigh

the loss of concern. In the sentiment of the executives, they were moving in a

reasonable mode. After all, no executive wants to believe of themselves as

morally irresponsible.

The inquiry that of course arises, in debating corporate duty,

is what types of cheques and balances can be employed within a company to guarantee

that a corporation and all of its agents act in an ethical mode. Taking the

illustration of the Company X instance, one can detect many failures in moral

duty. Company X would hold to reexamine its employees, peculiarly the

supervisors, for basic ethical values such as honestness. For illustration, finally

it was the widespread disproof of the proving certification that caused the

ruin of Company X, non the unity of it & # 8217 ; s imployees. In the lineation of

the instance it is ne’er mentioned that the employees initiated this thought, it would

seem that it was the supervisors that gave the order to distort the paperss.

Through unfastened communicating, a company can decide a assortment of its ethical

quandary. As for the fiscal facets of the corporation, it has to make up one’s mind

whether the long term effects that a rebuke can hold outweighs their underside

line. In other words, corporations have to get down traveling off from the idea

of instant net income and get down recognizing both the long term effects and benefits.

These long term benefits can include a stronger sense of moralss in the work

force every bit good as a better overall illustration to society.

In decision, I agree with the usage of extenuating factors in finding

moral duty. A company, as defined by jurisprudence, is merely a name on a piece

of paper. The company acts and conducts itself harmonizing to the employees that

work for it. I use the word employee because in ethical thought at that place should

be no differentiation of rank within a company. There are times when executives can

be held straight responsible and at the same clip, there are instances where

employees are moving unethically without the executives cognizing. Neither rubric

of executive or employee are ever morally perfect. Therefore, when a company

has acted irresponsibly, its employees must be held apt in a proportionate

sum. As for the hereafter of moralss in concern I would theorize that if

employees started to believe more in long term benefits and net incomes, many of the

ethical quandary that we face today would be greatly reduced. As mentioned

before, concerns today uses the mensurating stick of profitableness. We need to

emphasis the importance of puting ethical weight on all major concern determinations.

Oppositions would reason that this is a long term program that require excessively

many extremist alterations. Besides, there is no manner that an industry broad criterion can

be set due to the huge differences in corporations.

In response, I would reason that although there are no industry criterions

that are executable, but it is possible for every company to analyze their

patterns every bit good as the attitudes of their employees. There will be a figure

of companies that will support that are making all they can to do certain their

employees are cognizant of their moral values. Yet other companies will happen that

they do hold countries that need betterment. It is stairss like these that flicker

alteration in an organisation. Once a few companies start to see the benefits, it

can assist to promote other companies to follow suit. After all, as seen in the

instance of Company X, errors in one section can do the impairment of an

full corporation. When a corporation realizes the costs involved with

determinations such as this, the alterations required to rectify are little in comparing.

Plants Cited

Pava, Moses. ? Corporate Duty and Financial Performance. ?

Quorum Books, March 1995.

Reder, Alan. ? In Pursuit of Principle and Profit. ?

G.P. Putnams Sons Publishing, 1995.

Sawyer, George. ? Business and Society: Pull offing Corporate Social Impact. ?

Houghton Mifflin Publishing, Feburary 1993.

Velazquez, Manuel. ? Business Ethical motives: Concepts and Cases. ?