商业伦理(英文版)(新视界商务英语系列教材)

Chapter 1 Outline of Business EthicsLearning Objectives1. Analyze ethical dilemmas.2. Explain the role of businesses ethics.3. Describe the basic nature of business ethics.4. Evaluate the foundations of business ethics.5. Differentiate between moral and non-moral standards and norms.6. Identify types of stakeholders.7. Brainstorm the relationship between business ethics and law.8. Discuss the relationship between business ethics and corporate social responsibilityMini-case In 2015, the former owner of the Peanut Corporation of America[1], Stewart Parnell, was sentenced to 28 years in prison when found guilty of multiple felony counts for conspiring to hide that his company’s products had salmonella contamination. Over a two-year period, nine people died and 700 customers became seriously ill from consuming the company’s food. Under Parnell’s direction, Peanut Corporation executives falsified lab test results on their products, explicitly stating that the food was safe to eat.QuestionAre the actions taken by the owner of the Peanut Corporation ethical?1. Definitions of Ethics Ethics are the inner-guiding moral principles, values, and beliefs that control or influence a person’s behavior. People use ethics to analyze or interpret a situation and then decide what is the “right” or appropriate way to behave. At the same time, ethics also indicate what is inappropriate behavior and how a person should behave to avoid doing harm to another person. Ethical principles are guides to moral behavior. For example, in most societies lying, stealing, deceiving, and harming others are considered to be unethical and immoral. Honesty, keeping promises, helping others, and respecting the rights of others are considered to be ethically and morally desirable behavior. Such basic rules of behavior are essential for the preservation and continuation of organized life everywhere. Ethical ideas are present in all societies, organizations, and individual persons, although they may vary greatly from one to another. Your ethics may not be the same as your neighbor’s; or what is considered ethical in one society may be forbidden in another society. In this view, the meaning given to ethics would be relative to time, place, circumstance, and the person involved. In that case, the logical conclusion would be that there would be no universal ethical standards on which people around the globe could agree. However, for companies conducting business in several societies at one time, whether or not ethics is aligned can be vitally important. Examples of Unethical Behaviors What do we mean when we say that someone has acted unethically? Ethical standards are not the standards of the law. In fact, they are a higher standard. Sometimes referred to as normative standards in philosophy, ethical standards are the generally accepted rules of conduct that govern society. Ethical rules are both standards and expectations for behavior, and we have developed them for nearly all aspects of life. For example, no statute in any state in America makes it a crime for someone to cut in line in order to save the waiting time involved by going to the end of the line. But we all view those who “take cuts in line” with disdain. We sneer at those cars that sneak along the side of the road to get around a line of traffic as we sit and wait our turn. We resent those who tromp up to the cash register in front of us, ignoring the fact that we were there first and that our time is valuable, too. If you have ever resented a line cutter, then you understand ethics and have applied ethical standards in life. Waiting your turn in line is an expectation society has. “Waiting your turn” is not an ordinance, a statute, or even a federal regulation. “Waiting your turn” is an age-old principle developed because it was fair to proceed with the first person in line being the first to be served. “Waiting your turn” exists because when there are large groups waiting for the same road, theater tickets, or fast food at noon in a busy downtown area, we found that lines ensured order and that waiting your turn was a just way of allocating the limited space and time allotted for the movie tickets, the traffic, or the food. “Waiting your turn” is an expected but unwritten behavior that plays a critical role in an orderly society.