Business Ethics
Simply put, ethics involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing -- but "the right thing" is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of business ethics literature. Most ethical dilemmas in the workplace are not simply a matter of "Should Bob steal from Jack?" or "Should Jack lie to his boss?" Many ethicists consider emerging ethical beliefs to be "state of the art" legal matters, i.e., what becomes an ethical guideline today is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Values, which guide how we ought to behave, are considered moral values, e.g., values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how these values are applied are sometimes called moral or ethical principles. The concept has come to mean various things to various people, but generally it's coming to know what it right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right -- this is in regard to effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Note that many people react that business ethics,
The Benetton family's holding company, Edizione Holding, includes companies operating worldwide in various sectors: textile-apparel, sports equipment and accessories, highway and commercial catering; infrastructures and services for transportation and communication; real estate and agriculture and others (for details look at the organization's chart). Edizione Holding's total aggregated turnover reaches 13,000 billion lire (more than 5.7 billion dollars). The average number of personnel in the Group exceeds 30,000 units. The Benetton Group "constitutes the traditional and innovative "heart" of the system". Many were outraged, claiming that Benetton wants to "(...) increase its sales on the backs, on the misery, on the fates of condemned men and women, and their slaughtered victims" (Garfield 2000). It is difficult to guess if the Mr. Benetton or Mr. Toscani have anticipated the outcome of the campaign. In Europe, the issue has not initiated such strong reactions, but in the U. S. the company got a crushing blow. Within weeks of the first ads, Benetton was hit by a lawsuit from the state of Missouri, along with boycotts organized by National Organization of Murder Children etc. All the controversy proved to be lethal to Benetton's contract with Sears, Roebuck & Co. Many people are used to reading or hearing of the moral benefits of attention to business ethics. However, there are other types of benefits, as well. The following list describes various types of benefits from managing ethics in the workplace. The ads may be perceived as psychoactive and therefore ethically incorrect (e.g. the "Death Row" campaign had enormous negative impact on relatives of the murders' victims). · Ethics programs promote a strong public image. Note that 90% of business schools now provide some form of training in business ethics. Today, ethics in the workplace can be managed through use of codes of ethics, codes of conduct, roles of ethicists and ethics committees, policies and procedures, procedures to resolve ethical dilemmas, ethics training, etc. Business ethics can play a pivotal role on how a company can perceive itself to the public audience. In a society where customers come first it is extremely important for company to display a solid righteous persona about itself in order to maintain its customers loyalty and to build pillar in its marketplace. When organizations stray away from what society believes is inappropriate it can lead to a backlash of negativity. Gap is a perfect example of a company that is leading the way in retail, but has received harsh criticism for its ethical behavior. There are several topics that can play into the ethical integrity of a company, such as diversity, loyalty, and equality. All three of these you could state play in the role of human rights. Social norms determine what is ethically right or not. In some societies what may be considered ethically right could be ethically wrong in another society. In determining what is right and what is wrong we have to look at the issue from the eyes of the beholder. Most people would agree that organizations have some sort of responsibility to its community and people to achieve a better way of life. With the increasing pressure on companies along with its unclear organizational values it is easy to see why unethical behavior frequently occurs within organizations. Many of the workers employed by the garment industries are children. At least 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work worldwide. Many human right activists along with politicians have heavily crusaded against the use of child labor in the world economy. The use of child labor is abundant in third world countries, where labor laws are quite relaxed.
Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 4712
Approximate Pages = 19 (250 words per page double spaced)
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