Download 16 Ethics - Mark

Manning School of Business
Session16: Business
Ethics and Social
Responsibility
Dr. Mark H. Mortensen
66.490.211 and 212
Tues &Thurs 2:00 to 3:15
3:30 to 4:45
Mortensen Consulting Group
Today
1.
2.
3.
No assignment due
Attendance
Business Ethics
Assignment for next class
Corporate Governance
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Broader responsibility --
Private corporations have responsibility to
society that extend beyond making a profit
Do they?
3-3
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Social Responsibility
Milton Friedman
There is one and only one social responsibility of
business—to use its resources and engage in
activities designed to increase its profits so long
as it stays within the rules of the game, which is
to say, engages in open and free competition
without deception or fraud.
3-4
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Corporate Governance
Carroll’s 4 Responsibilities
–Economic
–Legal
–Ethical
–Discretionary
3-5
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Mortensen’s View
The order and strength of the priorities for
the five stakeholders, as decided by the
executives, sets the tone for a company:
 Customers
 Employees
 Stockholders
 Executives
 Society
3-6
Prentice Hall, Inc. © 2008
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Corporate Stakeholders
“Corporate Stakeholders”
Affect or are affected by the
achievement of the corporation’s
objectives
Prentice Hall, Inc. © 2008
3-7
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Corporate Stakeholders
Stakeholder Analysis –
–Primary stakeholder
•Sufficient bargaining power to affect outcomes
–Secondary stakeholder
•Indirect stake but are affected by corporation’s actions
–Stakeholder Input
•Determine whether input is necessary
Prentice Hall, Inc. © 2008
3-8
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Ethical Behavior
“business ethics”
–Argument that there is no such thing … it is an
oxymoron
Prentice Hall, Inc. © 2008
3-9
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Ethical Decision Making
BAD Corporate practices -–Massive write-downs and restatements of profit
[after having gotten the bonuses for making their
numbers]
–Misclassification of expenses as capital
expenditures
–Pirating corporate assets for personal gain
3-10
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Ethical Decision Making
Recent Survey Results -–70% distrust business executives
–Enron
–WorldCom
–Banks
Provocative Question --
–Why are businesspeople perceived to be
acting unethically?
3-11
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Reasons for Unethical Behavior
Perceptions caused by -–Not aware of impropriety
–Cultural norms and values vary
–Governance systems based on rule or
relationships
–Differences in values between
businesspeople and key stakeholders
3-12
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Reasons for Unethical Behavior
Allport-Vernon-Lindzey Study of Values -–Aesthetic
–Economic
–Political
–Religious
–Social
–Theoretical
3-13
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Reasons for Unethical Behavior
Most common reasons for bending rules -– Organizational performance required it
– Ambiguous or out of date rules
– Peer pressure – everyone else does it
– [Greedy #@%$(#s]
3-14
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Moral Relativism
“Moral Relativism” says that morality is
relative to some personal, social, or cultural
standard and there is no method for
deciding whether one decision is better than
another.
3-15
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Kohlberg’s Levels of Moral Development
1. Preconventional level
–Characterized by a concern for self
•Personal interest
•Avoidance of punishment
2. Conventional level
–Characterized consideration of society’s values
•External code of conduct
3. Principled level
–Characterized by adherence to internal moral
code
•Universal values or principles
3-16
Encouraging Ethical Behavior
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Guidelines for Ethical Behavior
Ethics
Morality
Law
3-17
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Encouraging Ethical Behavior
Codes of Ethics
–Specifies how an organization expects its
employees to behave on the job.
3-18
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Encouraging Ethical Behavior
Approaches to Ethical Behavior
–Utilitarian
•Judged by consequences
–Individual Rights
•Fundamental rights in all decisions
–Justice
•Distribution in equitable fashion
–Categorical imperative
•“golden rule”
•Means - Ends
3-19
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You will be faced with ethical
issues in your career


Doing your taxes
Getting that contract:
 Your
boss says “Do whatever it takes!”
 Your customer requires you to use an agency

Making your numbers at the end of a quarter:
 “Borrowing
revenue”
 Stuffing the channel
 Irrevocable contracts

Your colleague engages in unethical behavior.
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Strategy Bits
192 U.S. companies surveyed -–92% monitored employees use of e-mail/Internet
–26% monitored employees electronic activities all
the time
–Almost none had checks in place to protect
employees privacy
So be careful with unethical behavior, anyway.
3-21
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Strategic Management – Spring 2014