Enter it as a comment below. Please try to make them enjoyable to read, meaning: very clear. We don’t need to learn the material in the article, so no outlines. We just want to learn what business ethicists are writing on at this very moment, how they are doing it, and what your impression is of their topic and methods. (Specific questions are in the post two below).
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Shannon Himes
30 November 2010
Dr. Baker
“Consumer Ethics: The Role of Self-Regulatory Focus”
Journal of Business Ethics
By: Tine De Bock and Patrick Van Kenhove
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about: Personal consumer’s judgments about unethical consumer practices and the influence of self-regulation.
Thesis: “As more research should be done examining personal factors possibly influencing consumers’ judgment of unethical consumer activities (i.e., consumer ethical beliefs; Vitell, 2003), the aim of the present study is to enrich the consumer ethics field by investigating the impact of consumers’ self-regulatory focus on their beliefs concerning various unethical consumer practices.”
My words: What are the personal reasons that consumers have for determining what is unethical?
Structure/Parts: Abstract, Introduction, Theoretical background, Hypotheses, Study 1, Study 2, Discussion, Limitations/ Suggestions for future research, BIS/BAS Scales, Consumer Ethics Scale (broken into benefits and excuses/reasons)
There are headings and sections that break up ideas and supporting evidence.
What is philosophical about the thesis? The fact that consumers make the decisions and therefore it is impossible to determine every judgment and categorize or explain it is philosophical because there are unclear elements. The only clarification is from the categorization of desires, needs, and goals of the consumer.
What does not seem philosophical? The research studies provide factual data, which while applying to the philosophical claim, is not philosophical in and of itself. The data has a dependent variable which controls the situation. It is proven even with these mathematical and scientific calculations that no two consumers are identical; therefore, their needs and desires cannot be specifically attained.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play? The article attempts to understand the reasons behind consumers’ unethical behavior, which is important to companies and marketing theorists. The purpose is to limit consumer misbehavior because this can create high costs for businesses. This can be accomplished by designing systems, structures, and priorities.
What account of ethics is used? Consumer Ethics- the reasons behind consumer choices, the affects of desires and needs on decisions, both ethical and unethical.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. “Building on the hedonic principle which entails that people approach pleasure and avoid pain, Higgins’ regulatory focus theory posits that two distinct motivational orientations, shown by bio-psychologists to have distinct physiological bases regulate this goal-directed behavior.”
~ These types are promotion and prevention that explain the desires, needs, and decisions of consumers.
2. “The theory proposes that individuals’ behaviors are guided by a need for nurturance in a promotion-focused mode of self-regulation.”
~Promotion focused means that the outcome and benefits are essential; therefore, one would try not to make mistakes in the first place. An example of promotion is when a parent praises a child for good behavior and does not praise them for bad behavior.
3. “Within the prevention system, individuals’ actions are guided by a need for security.” ~Prevention focused people would also try not to make mistakes, but for the reason that mistakes would cause a loss and be consequential. Prevention is when a parent punishes a child for bad behavior, but does nothing if there is good behavior. So, the action is in the presence or absence of action rather than action in both cases.
4. “Consumers nurtured in strong uncertainty avoidance countries are less likely to tolerate deviations from society-based norms or ideals, and attempt to take control of unpredictable situations by maintain rigid codes of beliefs and behavior, such as ethical norms and standards.”
~ Uncertainty avoidance is rejecting the unknown. It is natural to be reluctant to change, so societies rooted in tradition are more likely to become stricter than to reform to new ideas.
5. “This preference for conservation is likely to correspond with an “ethical compass” viewing unethical consumer practices as being similar to breaking traditional patterns of behavior, and the violation of expectations and norms.”
~This means that these types of consumers have an open mind so they are more likely to change, which affects their judgment on ethics.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be? Individual variables can mess up the data collected, making the argument invalid in some aspects, such as specific justifications for shoplifting or other bad consumer behavior. Other than ethics and morality, consumers may have other reasons for bad behavior, which are not discussed in this article.
Business ethics journals begin with a philosophical idea then use supporting evidence to back up their claim. The authors use many common sense examples to increase understanding, while maintaining a scholarly element by using important buzz words. The data or research that supports their claim comes from credible sources.
If I was working in business this article would help explain consumer behavior, specifically unethical decisions. It shows psychological aspects of nurture vs. nature arguments (promotion vs. prevention) that prove why actions manifest the way they do.
My paper is similar to this because it discusses ethical practices; however, mine focuses on the corporations’ unethical practices rather than individual consumers. Also, my paper has research to back up my philosophical claim.
Wonderful job! This is exactly how to do it! Yea!
Dr. Jennifer Baker College of Charleston
~Title of article: The Responsibility and Accountability of CEOs: The Last Interview with Ken Lay
~Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
~Author: O.C. Ferrell
~The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about: Ken Lay, as his situation relates to the role of the CEO in developing an ethical corporate culture.
~What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*. What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)? “To improve the understanding of the role of top management and criminal prosecutions in developing an ethical organizational culture”
~Put in your own words: This article will examine the influence a CEO has on the ethical standards of his or her company.
~What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have? Introduction, Enron and Ken Lay, The interview with Ken Lay, Ken Lay’s beliefs and defense at the end, Significance of the Lay and Skilling convictions, Legal and ethical outcomes in the prosecution of Lay and Skilling, Preventing another Enron, Ethics and public policy research questions, Conclusions.
The paper goes from broad to specific, focusing first on the background of the Ken Lay situation, moving to his thoughts, then finally the actual outcome and present day positions.
~How did you figure out this was the structure? By skimming over the headings of each section.
~What is philosophical about the thesis? The actual impact of the CEO himself is philosophical because, most likely there are many other factors playing into the ethics of a business. It cannot be set in stone the actual leverage a CEO has on his or her employees and company morality.
~What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical? The physical outcome of Ken Lays case and the legislation in place today to guide businesses towards morality.
~What understanding of the justification of the market is at play? This article attempts to determine the true impact of a CEO on the ethical ranking of a company. By placing restrictions on what a CEO can say about the financial state of his or her company, ethics is brought back into the market as well as protection for the stakeholders.
~What account of ethics is used? Company ethics. This article deals directly with the ethics inside a business hierarchy from the CEO to the employees. Their actions have a direct effect on the stakeholders of that company.
~Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. “There were no allegations of knowledge or participation in ordering or creating a specific fraudulent event.” What this sentence is trying to communicate is that Ken Lay was not aware of his unethical behavior, and was never informed he was participating in a type of fraud. Lay insists that he was simply staying optimistic to save the company morale, and in turn, the company itself.
2. “The Supreme Court ruled that the honest services law could only be used for bribes and kickbacks, not for conduct that is ambiguous or vague.” Here, the article is explaining the reasoning of the Supreme Court. The actions of Lay were obviously not straight forward enough for a serious conviction, for this to have happened he would have had to participated in activity such as bribing.
3. “The ‘‘honest services’’ statute, the backbone of the prosecution’s arguments, had originally made it a crime to not act in the best interests of a company’s constituents and employers.” The original statute was extremely broad, and made it fairly easy to be convicted of wrongdoing. However, the Supreme Court decision weakened this law by requiring action such as a bribe or kickback to take place.
4. “Ethics is more than the character of a few individuals; it requires resources and proactive management associated with under- standing and preventing misconduct.” This principle was demonstrated throughout the article. Lay, for example, could not have prevented his misconduct alone. He was never informed by a board of directors or other top management officials of his wrongdoings. For the entire company to practice ethical behavior, the members of the company must work together to enforce regulations and guidelines.
5. “A strong combination of an effective corporate ethical culture and legislation to provide compliance on high-risk issues, in addition to business ethics education, appears to be a sound approach to eliminating unethical and illegal conduct” To ensure that ethics are maintained within a business, the author believes that both governmental (outside influence) legislation and internal responsibility is necessary.
~If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be? The other side of this argument would be that Lay truly did break the law by saying what did about his company during its secretive downfall. It would be argued that the CEO should take responsibility for tricking the stakeholders into thinking the business was flourishing.
~If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say? Business ethics journals start with a broad topic then argue for or against a more specific point. They back up this argument with real-world examples and previous research. The argument is not always black and white, and can sometimes easily be argued the other way based off of different points of view.
~If you were working in business, how would this article help you? This article would help me by giving me a foundation of knowledge on the honest services law as well as the Supreme Court ruling. Lay’s situation also serves as a good example, demonstrating how a CEO must be extremely careful of his or her actions- especially when speaking on behalf of the company.
~How is your paper like and unlike this one? My paper is like this one in that I mix philosophical ideas with facts and research. However this article focuses on internal ethics of a company while my paper focuses more on the ethics of relationships between companies.
~If you were writing a study guide for us on this article– assume we need to learn it for a test and that we know everything you listed above- what else would this cheat sheet (study guide) include? It would include the Lay trial, the Supreme Court ruling of the case, Lay’s personal opinion on the matter and legislation in place today to assist in making sure CEO’s practice ethically sound behavior.
Title of Article: “The Debate Over the Prohibition of Romance in the Workplace”
Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
Author: C. Boyd
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about:
Why an organization might want to manage workplace romance and how to deal with and approach dating within the company.
What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*. What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?
“This article deals with this general ethical issue – the degree to which an employee’s sexual activities are a private matter, and the degree to which an employer may legitimately constrain an employee’s liberty in matters of romance. This article will explore the various ethical arguments for and against the prohibition of workplace romance.”
Put it in your own words.
When does someone’s relationship with another employee start to affect the company? When can a company prohibit workplace romance? What are the ethical arguments for and against the prohibition of workplace romance?
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?
Abstract // Introduction // Reasons to prohibit workplace romance // Ethical issues of banning romance // Consequences of banning romance // Conclusion
How did you figure out this was the structure?
I looked at the headings and divided the paper up into sections as I was reading it.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
The fact that it links personal issues to business.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
Boyd presents a lot of data (statistics, specific cases, etc.) which is not philosophical; it makes it seem more like a research paper.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
This paper looks at how an employee’s personal life can begin to affect the company as a whole.
What account of ethics is used?
This paper discusses ethics within a company.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. “In this case the organization feels that it has a moral duty to generally protect its employees from sexuality in the workplace, and specifically to prevent the possibility of adultery by married employees.” – Morality is one reason for a company to prohibit workplace romance; by prohibiting it, not only will a company protect its employees but their families as well.
2. “The prime reason for such a ban is the fear of the abuse of the power differential between superior and subordinate.” – A company may ban workplace romance, especially between an employee and someone superior to him in rank (such as a CEO or a boss), since the superior may begin to favor the employee in the workplace and abuse his power.
3. “There is a fear of a conflict of interest arising from such romances such that coworkers lose productivity because of resentment of any preferential treatment given to the subordinate partner in the romance.” – Workplace romance between a superior and subordinate may cause workers to lose productivity because the superior may allow the subordinate to get away with working less than before.
4. “The issue of protecting female employees from male romantic overtures has emerged to be the most contentiously debated topic within the workplace romance literature.” – One of the ethical issues involved with the ban of workplace romance is the protecting of females from male employees.
5. “The main consequence of a universal ban on workplace romance would therefore be to deny the workplace as the main venue where one might meet one’s future life partner.” – The main repercussion of not allowing employees to date within a company is that it denies them the opportunity to find a spouse in the workplace.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
Boyd is completely for workplace romance, but those who are against it reason that it should not be allowed because of moral or religious grounds, an inherent conflict of interest, productivity grounds, and fear of sexual harassment lawsuits.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like – what would you say?
Business ethics journals are very straight forward: the writer presents his thesis very clearly and the rest of the paper consists of him arguing for or against the certain topic.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
This article relates not only to those working in business, but to anyone who has a job and comes in contact with other people because of it (clients, coworkers, etc.). It helps you, as an employee, decide whether or not a workplace romance you are having is affecting the company you are working for (positively or negatively).
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
My paper is similar to this because both talk about a topic that relates to everyday life – while Boyd discusses the ethics of workplace romance, I talk about the ethics of tipping. What makes mine different is that Boyd talks about specific cases that arose from his issue while I do not.
If you were writing a study guide for us on this article – assume we need to learn it for a test and that we know everything you listed above – what else would this cheat sheet (study guide) include?
Boyd’s stance on the issue: “The social costs of banning workplace romance are just too great, given that firms must already have policies that deal with the wider range of employee behavioral problems to which workplace romances contribute a very small amount.”
In other words, dating within an organization should be allowed since the cost of banning it is too great and the problems that arise from them are only a small fraction of the problems an organization faces
Title of the Article: The Debate Over the Prohibition of Romance in the Workplace
Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
Author: C Boyd
Abstract: At first it discusses companies discourage romantic relationships in order to prevent female sexual harassment and protect employers from harassment claims. The article argues against banning workplace romance because many relationships that begin in the workplace end up in long-term partnerships or marriage.
Thesis: The article deals with this ethical issue– The degree to which an employee’s sexual activities are a private matter, and the degree to which an employer may legitimately constrain an employee’s liberty in matters of romance.
In my own words: Employees romantic/sexual activities take place in their own private life, and are not up to the employer to dictate.
Structure/Parts of the Paper: Abstract, Introduction, What is the phenomenon?, outright prohibitions, legal arrangements based on fear of harassment lawsuits, ethical issue involved in banning romance, protecting the employee them employer, marriage vs. harassment as an outcome, should organizations promote workplace romance?
The sections are broken up with headings provided describing the following information.
Philosophical: It allows the reader to determine whether they agree with the business standpoint (no romance because it could damage business relationships) or the ethical point of view (companies should not be able to control employees private lives, which includes relationships).
Not philosophical: A lot of the writing talked about specific cases instead of delving into the issue or topic at hand. Although some examples were great and useful for the discussion, there should have been more commenting and less case overview.
Account of Ethics: Company ethics-the article discusses relationships in the workplace—whether it’s CEO’s misbehaving or regular office workers—and decides if they impact business or if company’s should let it be.
5 complex statements:
1. “It is conceivable that some business organizations with explicit religious origins might have morals-based codes for employee behavior.” Some companies that are founded by religious people or affiliated with a religion may have regulations on whether employees can date, especially gay employees.
2. ‘‘Classical organizational theory holds that sexuality and other ‘personal’ forces are at odds with productivity and out of place in organizational life.’’ Traditionally it is said that dating in the workplace causes employees to be distracted and spend too much of their time not working so productive is damaged.
3. “The literature reports that bans on dating between employees at different levels of an organizational hierarchy are more common than bans on dating applied to all employees.” In many companies relationships are not banned between employees on the same level, but they are prohibited between the levels (meaning a CEO and his secretary and the like). Some believe preferential treatment can arise from this, causing problems in the workplace between other employees.
4. “If corporate sexual harassment policies are not sincere attempts to mitigate harm to female employees, then what are the origins of such policies?” Some believe that Americans may not be sincere in their effort to prevent harm against female employees because they will not enact other legal policies such as maternity. This asks what are the origins of sexual harassment policies if they are not to prevent harm, perhaps to benefit or protect the company?
5. “The literature is clear in distinguishing that the employer who bans dating is primarily afraid of sexual harassment claims arising from an established dating relationship rather than from any relationship that has not started yet.” Employers that ban relationships in the workplace are more afraid of harassment claims coming from those who are already dating rather than two people who may begin to.
“Other” side: Since this article is in favor of allowing employees to have romantic relationships in the workplace, the other side is banning them. It is said that relationships distract employees, cause favoritism, and create animosity between workers. All of the above statement would be bad for business, therefore hurting productivity and the bottom line.
Describing Articles: I did not think this article was very difficult to read. It was broken down into sections and clearly explained, making it both easy and interesting.
Working in Business: This article would give me information on dating in the workplace I may not have known before. If my company had a no-dating policy, it might persuade me to look into changing it.
Paper is like/unlike: My paper is not like this article because the topic of the article is romance in the workplace, which is nothing like what my topic is. Also, it states many more cases and examples.
Study guide: I would include some specific examples, such as the AT&T and Walmart cases, to give the reader instances where relationships have happened or been banned in the workplace.
Title of article: Principles and Practices for Corporate Responsibility
Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly
Author: Patricia H. Werhane
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about: Principles for corporate responsibility and how well they can be applied in different non-western settings.
What is the thesis? What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?: “Each of these sets of guidelines is written from a Western rights-based perspective. Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in non-Western cultural or religious settings would have difficulties operating under these guidelines, then, where other kinds of principles take precedence.”
Put in your own words: There are many sets of principles and rules for corporate responsibility such as the GEE and UNGC, but these principles are based upon a western context which cannot necessarily be applied in different part of the world with different contexts and cultures.
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?: The paper is broken up into two parts. The first part is examples of how difficult it is to apply the principles of the UNGC or GEE to their own operations in different parts of the world. The second part is examples of how these principles are based upon what she calls a “western right based” approach which may not be able to function in contexts with differing values.
How did you figure out this was the structure? : The author stated when she said she would provide examples of two sorts of problems within the article.
What is philosophical about the thesis?: The discussion of ethical principles and how they cannot be applied in the real world.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical? Lack of detailed explanation of some of the concepts included, such as what exactly constitutes a western right based approach, was not philosophically rigorous. I found the dichotomy between western thinking and non western thinking contained in the article unexplained and lacking any sort of philosophical backing.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play? The article does not make its justification explicit. The article attempts to challenge western principles of business ethics which the author maintains cannot necessarily be applied elsewhere. Since it does not state its own principles of business ethics but merely challenges those of others, it is difficult to determine the exact means by which the market is justified in the eyes of the author. It does depict the players of the market as self interested and takes into account effects on stakeholders when evaluating ethical conduct.
What account of ethics is used? : The author uses the GEE and UNGC as examples of ethics, but points out that they are flawed and fail to take into account non western contexts. The author suggests the possible existence of universal ethical guidelines for behavior, but suggests such standards have not yet been developed.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. “But I urge that we look at how to operationalize them in diverse settings and under various conditions, recognizing that even the best companies sometimes have to take moral risks and be content, as Herbert Simon once suggested, to be satisficers.”:
It is difficult to apply principles under the wide variety of settings that occur within the global marketplace. It is necessary, within some contexts, to take actions which could be considered morally objectionable by western standards in order to operate within non western markets.
2. “Or should MNEs isolate themselves from these countries that engage in practices not in keeping with the Western notions of individualism and human rights? While not endorsing paternalistic domination, might there be a way to embed respect for the community in a declaration, which respects collective as well as individual rights?”:
When making the decision about how to operate in countries with differing cultural mores or laws regarding human rights and individualism, there may be an alternative to simply avoiding such countries or endorsing cultural norms such as the domination of women by men.
3. “Sometimes religion or a religious leader trumps individual rights. How can these sets of principles address these substantive normative differences in priority between the individual and the community?”:
Not all countries have place the same value on individualism as exists in the west. In some contexts such as religious nations, community concerns such as religion may be held as more important than individual rights. It is important to determine exactly how principles can operate in contexts where the community is given a higher precedence over the individual than in the west.
4. “There is a moral risk of non-engagement, since perhaps that company could make a positive difference for workers, the environment, and for the economy, and an equal risk of engagement and becoming complicit in corrupt activities”:
Both refusing to operate and operating in ethically challenging contexts poses risks. By refusing to operate in such conditions, one risks not helping many stakeholders who could benefit from one’s involvement in the market. However, by operating in ethically challenging contexts, one risks condoning and participating in unethical conduct.
5. “One of the reasons, I will argue, is the challenge, for companies that take these principles seriously—and many do—of whether and how to operationalize these principles in everyday practices in global markets”:
Many people take ethical codes seriously, but one of the reasons they fail to implement them is that it is very difficult to do so in the daily operations of companies existing in hugely different contexts from those who formulated such ethical codes.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be? : The dichotomy between western and other worldly ethics is false. What is ethical does not depend upon context, and anything which is ethically suspect in the west is just as ethically suspect in any non-western nation or context.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say?: Based upon this article, I would say they are interesting, enjoyable to read, and not too dense. However, my general knowledge about what is in academic journals would lead me to believe many articles might be much less enjoyable to read and much more dense than this one.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?: It would help me to understand that many business ethics principles are difficult to apply in contexts outside of the western world. However, without a set of ethical principles to replace those criticized, this article would not help me that much working in business.
How is your paper like and unlike this one? My paper is highly unlike this one. It relies on empirical survey data, is well written, and has a more awkward structure. They address very different issues. The biggest similarity is that they are both concerned with business ethics.
If you were writing a study guide for us on this article– assume we need to learn it for a test and that we know everything you listed above- what else would this cheat sheet (study guide) include? I would concisely state the article’s conclusion: the business ethics principles currently formulated cannot easily be applied in a global context, and it is necessary to formulate new ones which take into account the necessity of acting within ethical grey areas and taking moral risk.
Title: The Limits and Prospects of Business Ethics
Author: George G. Bernkert
Journal: Bus. Ethics Quarterly
Thesis based on Abstract: “This paper discusses different forms that business ethics has taken in relation to the goal of businesses acting ethically. In the end, it maintains that a major challenge current business ethics faces is the lack of an account of business organizations as they ethically develop and change both individually and systemically within social and political conditions.”
Thesis in own Words: It seems the paper’s goal is to discuss different routes that have taken to being ethical. It also tosses out the idea that a major problem to business ethics is the lack of understanding of what a business is.
Structure of the Paper: The paper is broken up into 4 major sections: the introduction, rational argument and imagination, legal and civic perspectives, and social and political perspectives. The structure was easy to figure out because it was broken down easily.
Philosophy in the Thesis: The thesis is philosophical because it asks if business ethics really exists in one true form that can be measured since the purpose of a business can’t be uniformly defined.
What isn’t Philosophical: This paper didn’t really search for an answer to any specific, philosophical question. It more or less questioned the validity of the field, so because it doesn’t search for an answer it could be seen as not being truly “philosophical.”
Justification of the Market: The market of virtue has caused change in corporate practices, but due to the competitive nature of business virtue can still only have a limited impact.
Account of Ethics: “The paper states that much of the argument of business ethics has relied on rational argument and conceptual clarification.” In other words it states that ethics has tried to use rational logic for something that it cannot be applied to. The paper argues against the concept of true practical business ethics, so it doesn’t rely on one count of business ethics to help define a topic, however it does specifically mention the previously state account of business ethics.
Complex Statements:
1. Business ethics, as a normative undertaking, seeks to provide ethical insight and guidance to individuals in business, businesses as organizations, and to society.
Bus. Ethics tries to provide guidelines for individuals, society and organizations to follow.
2. And yet the development of business ethics has been limited by the lack of adequate attention paid to an account of ethical change and moral development in business organizations and the capitalist system.
Bus. ethics hasn’t evolved as much as it could’ve due to a lack of understanding because bus. ethics hasn’t always been taken seriously.
3. If rationality plus self-interest is insufficient for our views of economies, rationality plus ethics is insufficient for our views of an effective business ethics.
If our typically understanding of how the economy works, doesn’t work for all then having differing opinions of ethics doesn’t qualify as true bus. ethics.
4. We need a normative theory of organizational (business) and systemic (capitalism) moral change tied to an account of how these changes occur.
To have a true definition of what bus. ethics are there has to be an understanding of what business is for and the moral change that needs to take place.
5. However, both Vogel and Reich propose different forms of external constraints on business so as to direct their actions in socially and ethically justifiable directions.
This simply sums up that Vogel and Reich agree on which way they want the field of bus. ethics to proceed in.
“Other side”: The concepts to have a successful definition and direction of bus. ethics are already in place in the workplace and the whole structure of bus. ethics does not need to be reevaluated and changed.
What ethics journals are like: They discuss what needs to be changed in the morals of how businesses operate and what is the most logical, yet ethical way to go about causing these changes.
How this article helps: It would help teach future employees that I might oversee how they should view business ethics.
Paper comparison: My paper takes on a specific topic of business ethics and argues why this is the wrong way to go about doing things. This paper argues that the whole concept of business ethics isn’t a sound theory since no one theory can be defined, therefore the papers are not very similar at all.
study guide: the way business ethics is taught needs to be changed in order for real ethics to change in the actual business world, other than that what is already given is a thorough review of the article
THIS WAS DONE BY PATRICK FOOS AS WELL AS ALEX HUFFMAN!!
Title of article: Metaphors and the Application of a Corporate Code of Ethics
Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
Author: Simone J. van Zolingen and Hakan Honders
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about:
How a corporate code of ethics (CCE) implemented in local government has influenced the behaviors of its employees. The employees provided metaphors for existing and desired CCEs to improve the effectiveness of the CEE.
What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*. What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?
The existing CCE was characterized by the respondents in negative terms by using many negative process-directed metaphors, and a few negative content-directed metaphors. However, the desired CCE was described predominantly in positive terms, by using both process- and product-directed metaphors.
Put in your own words:
Employees who used metaphors to describe the existing CCE typically chose negative terms to describe the implementation of the CCE and the subject, rules, and guidelines of the CCE. Employees generally gave positive metaphors for the desired CCE to describe the implementation of the CCE and what the CCE should add to the behavior of employees.
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?
The paper introduces the problem, introduces research questions and method, and then finds results. The results are then further divided into metaphors for the current CCE and the desired CCE. The journal ends with a reflection.
How did you figure out this was the structure?
The structure was easy to follow because of the use of Section Titles and also the paper was divided so that the problem was introduced, then the problem was investigated, and then the results were shared.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
This paper seemed to be much more research based than philosophical but the examination of metaphors given by employees had a philosophical side as well as the way the metaphors were divided into either negative, positive, or neutral. Also, the reflection is philosophical because it discusses the importance of the discoveries made by the research.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
The amount of research along with the large amount of percentages and data given by the article. It is structured more like a science research paper than a typical philosophical paper.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
There is no mention of the justification of the marker. This article dealt mainly with metaphors and the CCE.
What account of ethics is used?
I feel like there was no account of ethics used because this was very research based rather than ethics based. I’m not positive but based on the article, it is hard to find an account of ethics.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
” Furthermore it should be questioned whether or not a positive opinion on an employee of a CCE is an accurate measurement of effectiveness when used exclusively, as in the research of this article.”
-The opinion of an employee should probably not be taken as the sole measurement of the effectiveness of a CCE.
“This prevents knowledge and experience that already exists concerning integrity risks from being lost or from not being systematically disseminated to other departments:
-This exchange of ideas prevents knowledge and experience concerning risks taken by employees because of integrity from being lost or not shared with other departments.
“These metaphors say something about the contribution the CCE has made to the behavior of the respondents in situations involving integrity risks.”
-These metaphors acknowledge the effect of the CCE on employees when responding to situations that risk integrity.
“To the employees, the CCE is not goal but as a way to communicate and to make implicit values and norms visible.”
- For employees, the CCE is not something to accomplish but rather a way to communicate and make values visible.
“This process of sense making is continuously being influenced by social interaction between people resulting in new constructions of reality.”
-People’s interaction influence the process of making sense which results in new versions of “reality.”
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
This article would be difficult to give another side to but I think people could argue that this article depicts a very small group of people and may not be accurately applied to other cases.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say?
This was not a typical journal so I would describe it as similar to reading a research paper.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
I don’t really think so because the research done was not incredibly applicable seeing as it only examined one office and not all employees responded to the questionnaire.
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
My paer is unlike this one because I do not have any research completed for my article. I did not conduct an experiment and publish results. However, mine will be similar because it too will discuss why my “results” are important.
Amanda Martin
Title of Article: Metaphors and the Application of a Corporate Code of Ethics
Journal: Journal of Business Ethics
Authors: Simone J. van Zolingen and Hakan Honders
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about:
The corporate code of ethics and how it affects the behavior of employees, middle managers and managers and how they can possibly be changed.
What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*. What is in in the author’s own words?
From the difference between the existing CCE and the desired CCE, it can be concluded that there is a gap between the existing and desired CCE.
Put it in your own words:
The existing CCE and desired CCE do not match up in the eyes of the the employees, middle managers, and managers.
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?
The structure of the paper is very straightforward. It identifies the problem, then states the method used to research the problem, performs the research, reports the results, then gives a conclusion based on the results of the research.
How did you figure out this was the structure?
The parts of the paper are listed in headings. It was quite easy to follow.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
The thesis is not actually philosophical. This paper is actually more science based that philosophical based.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
The entire paper is based off of research, facts, and statistics. These really do not have a large play when dealing with philosophy as they do in a science paper.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
This paper did not deal with the market at all. It focused on the metaphors of the CCE and how employees responded to the CCE.
What account of ethics is used?
I don’t believe there to be any ethics used in this paper as it is entirely based off of research.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us:
“People construct their own reality in an active way within a certain context, and subsequently they make sense of that context.”
People will interpret things the way they see fit, then make sense out of these interpretations.
“By using metaphors, people can structure their own reality and by using new metaphors, they can even find the power to create a new reality.”
By using metaphors to describe things, people can create their own way of saying things and by using new metaphors, they can even create new things all together.
“The aim of this article is to gain theoretical insight into the relationship between the metaphors employees give of the existing and desired CCE of local government X, and into the functions of this CCE with the purpose of maximizing its effectiveness.”
The purpose of this research is to look at the relationship between the words employees use to describe the existing and desired CCE and also into the purpose of the CCE when maximizing effectiveness.
“The importance of the correcting function of the CCE signifies that the respondents find it important that the CCE enables them to call each other to account concerning the compliance of the CCE”
The correcting function of the CCE shows that the surveyor’s think it is important the the CCE lets them to challenge one another about abiding by the CCE.
“The direction of the metaphors has been based on the explanation that employees give for their metaphors of the existing CCE and of the desired CCE.”
The metaphors that the employees give regarding the existing CCE and desired CCE are categorized by the explanation they give for the metaphors as either positive, negative, or neutral.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
This topic is not really arguable enough to have another side, but a hole in the research is that the survey was only taken from one small business.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like-what would you say?
I don’t believe that this article is like the other articles in business ethics journals. This article takes the form of a research paper instead of an ethical paper.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
It would give me some insight as to how employees feel about the CCE although it is only one survey taken from one business so it cannot be held accountable for how most employees feel about the CCE.
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
My paper has to deal with consumers and how they are manipulated by advertising and marketing so it does not have to do with this article. Also, my paper is based solely off my ideas and did not require any research unlike this article.
If you were writing a study guide for us on this article–assume we need to learn it for a test and that we know everything you listed above-what else would this cheat sheet include?
I would post the results of the survey and state the recommendations the authors give to the employers when creating the CCE.
Title of article: Ethics and Network Organizations
Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly
Author: Robert A. Phillips
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about:
What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*. What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?
As value chains become longer with increases in outsourcing and subcontracting, the challenges of fixing responsibility become more difficult. Using concepts from the literature on social networks, this paper considers issues of diffusion of responsibility and plausible deniability in such relationships.
Put in your own words:
With the more sources and customers that a product has comes a difficulty in determining which business that effected the product is reliable and responsible for the products effects (whether good or bad). This article talks about how different businesses deny their responsibility for certain actions and how they place the responsibility for their products effect on either an upstream source or downstream customer.
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?
The structure of the paper is very clear. The author broke the paper down into sections based on the different ways companies deal with responsibility of actions by upstream and downstream sources. He breaks part of his article into sections about the three varieties of denial.
How did you figure out this was the structure?
I figured out this was the structure because the author made it very clear and gave the sections headings and explained what he was going to do clearly in his abstract.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
This thesis is philosophical because it questions the ethicality of business practices and the responsibility businesses have for their products.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
The parts of the paper that were just relaying facts did not seem very philosophical and seemed more like a report.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
The understanding of who is responsible for what and the creation and function of networks in the market are both at play in this article.
What account of ethics is used?
The account of ethics used is that companies should take responsibility for their products to a certain extent. They should find out everything they possibly can know about their sources and where their products will go downstream and act accordingly. They should not, however, be held accountable for things they cannot control. Only the parts of their network that they control should be their responsibility.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. Social control encompasses self-regulation with a moral dimension in combination with control as jointly determined by and diffused across multiple participants.
- Society controls what individuals believe to be moral therefore influencing how they regulate themselves.
2. In such situations, companies disavow responsibility by asserting that, even when they know of a pernicious activity, and even when it benefits them or the venture, there is little or nothing they can do about it because they cannot control this other powerful actor.
- This is referring to businesses who purposefully do business with even bigger organizations so that they do not have to take responsibility for any questionable effects of a product because they could not control what the bigger organization chose to do.
3. Density is the ratio of the actual number of links between nodes over the maximum number of possible links.
- Density is the ratio of the number of connections a person or business has over the maximum number of possible connections it could have. For example a business does dealings with six other businesses but could be doing business with 100. The density would be 6:100.
4. Each relationship began as a relatively arm’s-length relation, then evolved into a relationship structured by the expectations and obligations established in the first phase.
- Every relationship two people or businesses has starts as a mutual trade of goods or services with the participants’ only thought being about what they were giving and what they were receiving. Eventually, however, relationships become more involved and certain details about what is expected surface and become issues.
5. Today, in the age of the virtual, network organization, the challenge of diffused responsibility is magnified considerably.
- In today’s world, where businesses have dealings with a huge number of different sources and customers, it is harder to tell who is actually responsible for the effects of a product.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
The “other side” of this article would say that its ok for businesses not to take responsibility for what goes on upstream and downstream and that their only concern is the direct effect their actions have. It would say that anything indirect or done by a source or customer is his or her own fault and the middle-man cannot be held accountable.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say?
I would tell my friend that business ethics articles are very specific and focus on one topic. Also, I would say that sufficient evidence is used to make points and that often times big names in the field of business ethics are dropped and the author assumes the reader’s knowledge of him or her. Overall however, with a basic knowledge of business terms I would say that these articles are not difficult to read nor are they unenjoyable.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
If I were working in business, this article would help me to look at my business practices and see if I was making moral decisions about who I did my upstream and downstream business dealings with. It would also help me focus on how much I really knew about my sources and whether or not I was denying my role in certain actions.
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
My paper is like this one because I also talk about downstream business associates. My paper is about the ethics of selling products that could have potentially harmful effects on customers. Also, I cover whether or not a CEO can just turn a blind eye to the effects of his or her product or to what extent he or she must warn consumers of and take responsibility for the effects.
If you were writing a study guide for us on this article– assume we need to learn it for a test and that we know everything you listed above- what else would this cheat sheet (study guide) include?
This study guide would also include a thorough description of the three varieties of denial, as well as a good explanation of the roles different actors play in a network and their relationships with other actors.
Title of article: The Limits and Prospects of Business Ethics
Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly 20:4 (October 2010)
Author: George G. Brenkert
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about:
In today’s society, business ethics have become difficult to define with so many political and social changes. What was once considered ethical may no longer be so and vice versa. This paper will discuss these issues in the workplace and how they should be dealt with.
What is the thesis? What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?
“We should be concerned about how ethical change can be brought about in these (and all) businesses so as to avoid future crises and scandals and foster higher levels of ethical behavior in general. Only if we are able to provide this analysis will our normative ethics fulfill the practical task it has taken upon itself.”
Put in your own words:
We can only expect businesses to act ethically if there is a logical explanation of business ethics.
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?
This article is in the structure of an academic journal, which groups the key points together. It begins as general and becomes more specific. The parts of the article are the abstract, introduction, rational argument and imagination, legal and civic perspectives, social and political perspectives.
How did you figure out this was the structure?
These were the headings of each key topic discussed in the article. The main components of the paper were summarized in the abstract and expounded upon in the subsequent paragraphs.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
It is questioning the realm of business ethics, which is a philosophical in and of itself.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
All the citations of the other experts makes it more similar to a research paper than a philosophical work.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
There is not a clear understanding. The paper itself says that there needs to be a justification of the market and what policies need to be enacted in order to create an ethical business atmosphere. The author ends on the same note that he began the paper with showing he has not reached a conclusion which makes it philosophical.
What account of ethics is used?
It is a meta-analysis of various accounts. All accounts are used rather than focusing on a single account.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1) “Even if business ethicists can rationally defend what businesses should be doing, unless we can relate this to how businesses can come to operate in those ways, our normative arguments will lack power…”
• It doesn’t help to point out what’s wrong unless you can also show how to make it right; otherwise, it’s just an empty complaint.
2) “Business ethics as a field of inquiry has made important advances…and yet the development of business ethics has been limited by the lack of adequate attention paid to an account of ethical change and moral development in business organizations…”
• Though the concept of business ethics has grown in the sense that it is increasingly recognized as a field, little has actually been done to show HOW the idea(s) of business ethics SHOULD/CAN be properly implemented
3) “Still, the main assumption remains that the major problem we face is an intellectual or theoretical problem that requires resolution through the work of academicians and deans…one must wonder why we haven’t seen more change in the business world to this point given the variety of ethical theories and frameworks that business ethicists and management theorists have come up with.”
• The common misconception is that experts must solve “business ethics” like a riddle; with all these proposed epiphanic solutions, it’s ironic that none of them have been put to use.
4) “If rationality plus self interest is insufficient for our views of economics, rationality plus ethics is insufficient for our views of an effective business ethics.”
• If logic combined with greed does not equate to economics, then logic combined with the opposite of greed does not equate to the opposite of economics
5) “Even if we are certain we know what they should be doing, unless we can relate this to how businesses can come to operate in those ways, the normative arguments will lack power…”
* Same as #1; criticism is moot if not constructive.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
The author provides the audience with all the perspectives with other experts’ views and compatible examples for each.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say?
Business ethics journals are vague, ambiguous, cyclical, thought provoking, circumlocutive, and relentless.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
It would inspire me to consider external views and adjust my ethical considerations accordingly.
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
The author asks himself questions throughout and revisits the thesis periodically. The article differs from my paper in that he is inconclusive and leaves the reader wondering, while mine definitive.
If you were writing a study guide for us on this article– assume we need to learn it for a test and that we know everything you listed above- what else would this cheat sheet (study guide) include?
I would highlight the key points in a concise manner and add important specific details that best sum up what the author is trying to convey within each heading.
Completed by Kristen McLinko and Aaron Jacobson
Marketing’s Consequences: Stakeholder Marketing and Supply Chain Corporate Social Responsibility Isses
Business Ethics Quarterly (October 2010)
By: N. Craig Smith, Gudio Palazzo, and C.B. Bhattacharya
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about: the harm done indirectly by consumers as a result of marketers masking their company’s lack of practicing corporate social responsibility (CSR) by marketing how they communicate CSR.
Thesis: The harm-doing by consumers is in certain key respects a new topic, triggered in particular by the conditions under which products are made in globally expanded supply chains. (Their words)
My Words: Little attention has been paid to the ethical harm done when consumers (unknowingly) buy products that have been made in foreign countries under unethical conditions (slave labor, sweat shops, etc).
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?: It starts with discussing the negative affects of marketing in general, narrows towards the use of CRS as a marketing ploy, then shows how consumers react to such tactics, shifts to how stakeholders approach marketing’s consequences then concludes with the what their findings mean (the implications of them) and how they developed their theory.
How did you figure out this was the structure?: the article is broken down into different sections with titles and they actually have a paragraph where they tell you how the article is organized.
What is philosophical about the thesis?: it deals with the issues of ethical damage done by buying products made under unethical conditions.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?: There isn’t much that isn’t philosophical.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?: The article understands that shareholders have some responsibility as to how a corporation should be run.
What account of ethics is used? The article clearly believes that corporations have some level of social responsibility.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. “Critically, technology, while facilitating these expanded global supply chains, has also made knowledge of their harmful consequences much more readily available through the internet, despite their lack of proximity”
The same technology that allows corporations to move their production to foreign countries also allows for consumers to learn about how corporation may be exploiting foreign laborers, even though the consumers cannot see it firsthand.
2. “Through brand communication, in particular, corporations can influence the perception of value alignment, thereby creating stronger ties between companies and their customers than ever before, which indeed has been one of the claims of Klein”
Corporations can manipulate how their brand is portrayed via marketing ploys in an attempt to gain loyalty from consumers, hoping that consumers will blindly buy their brand’s products, going off how the brand has been marketed and not doing any research of their own.
3. “The article argues that more adequate attention to the harmful upstream effects of downstream marketing and consumption decisions requires greater attention to stakeholder marketing and marketer efforts to help create responsible consumers”
Stakeholders need to pay closer attention to how they market their products and how marketing affects what consumers purchase. Essentially, stakeholders are responsible for the actions of consumers.
4. “When Wal-Mart was facing criticism on various fronts (working conditions in supplier factories as well as in its stores; environmental problems; etc), the company reacted with a major PR campaign, presenting itself as a good corporate citizen in the communities where it operates.”
When Wal-Mart came under fire it tried to answer criticism not by addressing the problems but by falsely representing their brand via marketing,
5. “Consumers can express their self-concepts and identities through brand preferences, and strong brands create strong emotional ties with consumers.”
Consumers will buy products from brands that they connect to or relate to and in doing so they make a statement as to what ideals they hold.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?: That consumers, not the corporation, should be held accountable for the products they buy.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say?:
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?: The section on consumer reactions to CSR marketing would be helpful when considering how to market my product.
How is your paper like and unlike this one? An obvious difference is the subject matter. My paper and this article share a similar structure.
Quick question: do we have to bring a copy of our article to class?
“Consumer Ethics: The Role of Self-Regulatory Focus
Journal of Business Ethics
Authors: Tine De Bock and Patrick Van Kenhove
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about: the influence of self-regulatory focus on consumer ethical beliefs. What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*.
“The present study investigates the influence of self-regulatory focus on consumer beliefs”
What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?
“As more research should be done examining personal factors possibly influencing consumers’ judgement of unethical consumer activities the aim of this study is to enrich the consumer ethics field by investigating the impact of consumers’ self-regulatory focus on their beliefs concerning various unethical consumer practices.”
Put in your own words:
This is a study of personal motives in which consumers control their actions in accordance to ethical and unethical practices.
What is the structure of the paper? What parts does it have?
Abstract, Introduction, Theoretical background: self-regulatory focus, Hypothesis (states 2 hypothesis), Study 1- methodology, sample, measures, independent variables, dependent variables, and results, Study 2- methodology and results, and Discussion. Within the article the authors also include tables and matrixes in which to provide data and statistics for the reader.
How did you figure out this was the structure?
The sections are clearly broken up to help the reader understand the point of each section, making their data and reasoning more easy to understand.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
The fact that consumers are individuals who make their own decisions and live up to their own set of ethics. The ethics can differ from person to person and it is hard to say if one person is right in their specific decision making and if one is wrong. Every individual has different factors of motivation to take into consideration.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
The fact that the authors use certain systems to categorize the actions and motives of individuals. The categories listed in the article seem relatively broad. Human actions are more complex than the broad categories listed. But the authors use these categories to create statistics to back up their hypothesis.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
The point of this article is to better understand the reasoning for consumer actions, whether ethical or unethical.
What account of ethics is used?
Consumer Ethics. It is a study of the motives behind decisions and actions of the consumer and whether their resulting actions are ethical or unethical.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
1. “Under a promotion focus, the individual’s strategic inclination is to approach matches to end states s/he would like to achieve”- The article goes on to further describe the promotion focus. It says that they are motivated by “eagerness” and want to avoid “errors of omission.” The fact that they usually are more eager brings up the fact that they are consequently more likely to take greater risks. Taking greater risks relates to having lower ethical standards. It also points out that promotion focus are more “open to change” and therefore are more willing to break traditional rules in order to achieve change. This is summer up in the hypothesis when it says that the promotional focus is more likely to “tolerate unethical consumer practices.”
2. “A prevention focus fosters a strategic inclination to avoid mismatches to desired end states.” This focus group is the opposite of the promotion focus. This group is more likely to think about their actions and the consequences that might result before actually taking action. They are generally less open to change and are more focused on stability and security. They are more likely to thoroughly evaluate situations before acting. All of these aspects correlate to a low risk person who is more likely to not tolerate unethical actions.
3. “Building on the hedonic principle which entails that people approach pleasure and avoid pain, Higgins’ regulatory theory posits that two distinct motivational orientations, shown by biopsychologists to have distinct physiological bases, regulate this goal-directed behavior.”- This has to do with the two different focus groups addressed in this article: promotion focus and prevention focus. Each of these two groups of people encompass certain qualities that approximate the probability that they will be more likely to be ethical or unethical in their consumer behaviors.
4. “Research consider these two foci to develop since childhood and more specifically, to derive from parents’ different styles in terms of regulation.”- Essentially this is saying that the way a child is raised is a strong factor in the type of person they will become. The article goes on to explain circumstances such as if a parent rewards a child for good actions and punishes a child for bad actions. This positive and negative reinforcement from a parent helps instill a sense of what is right and wrong in a child that will carry over into adolescence and adulthood.
5. “Regulatory focus theory suggests that ideals tap into the promotion system, while oughts tap into the prevention system.”- Ideals are described to be “hopes, wishes and aspirations” and oughts are “obligations, duties and responsibilities.” The ideals correlate with promotion focus because it is more a system of want and desire than anything else. Those who fall under this category are more likely to disregard ethics. Oughts correlate to prevention because they are for more rational people who will think through their actions because they are more responsible and do not want to face negative consequences by disregarding ethics in order to obtain something.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
The evidence that the authors provide us with could be skewed due to the fact that in their study very general categories are used to measure the groups’ responses. Again, the human thought process is more complex and complicated that just four categories.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say?
First, business ethics articles cover a wide range of subjects. Many different things could fall under the category of business ethics. Second, it takes a very critical and careful reader to fully understand many business ethics articles. Sometimes it is good to re-read articles to fully understand them because they tend to delve deep into the subject. Also when reading business ethics journals it is good to keep in mind that there could be another side to the article than what is presented. Many authors may write an article so as to only present the reader with their own opinion. So it is best to keep an open mind when reading articles so that you are open to other opinions.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
This article would help me by pointing out that consumers sometimes can be unethical, having their own intentions in mind. By splitting consumers into two categories, promotion and prevention, it is easier to understand the motives of consumers and if they are more likely to take “high risk” actions (more likely unethical actions) or are less likely to take risky actions (more likely to be ethical).
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
My paper addresses companies themselves more than consumers. However it does discuss the ethics of running a big company and motivations in being ethical or unethical.
Katie Rahn
Professor Baker
Business Ethics
Title: Exploitation and Sweatshop Labor
Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly April 1st, 2010
Author: Jeremy Snyder
1. The abstract makes me think that this article will be reviewing theoretical sweatshop labor and discussing the different situations in which it occurs. Also he will be revealing specific reasons why it is wrong.
2. Thesis (Author’s Words): In this review, I aim to accomplish three goals. First, I will provide an overview of the many different uses of the charge of exploitation in business practice through an examination of the uses of the term in the literature on sweatshop labor. While it is often not clear what kind of moral wrong is assumed to take place when the charge of exploitation is used, I will demonstrate that many distinct types of exploitation, connected to distinct moral wrongs, are used in the literature on sweatshop labor and elsewhere in business ethics. Second, I will discuss which of these senses of exploitation are defensible as identifying clear moral wrongs that take place in the context of business and, specifically, sweatshop labor. As I will argue, not all uses of the charge of exploitation are capable of persuasively identifying clear moral wrongs. Third, I will apply the lessons learned from my exploration of exploitation in sweatshop labor to other specific areas of business.
3. Thesis (My Own Words): First he will define sweatshop labor and then define why, specifically, it is morally wrong. Finally he will apply it to business practices.
4. The article is divided up into the aforementioned sections from the thesis. The parts are “Exploitation as Unfairness”, “Exploitation as the Mere Use of Others”, and “Lessons for Accounts of Exploitation in Other Areas of Business”.
5. I can tell, because there are titles like “Exploitation as Unfairness” with sub sections like micro and macro fairness, then a comparison of micro and macro fairness.
6. The thesis is philosophical because he begins looking at the theoretical exploitation by qualifying it with being voluntary and mutually beneficial.
7. An unphilosophical part could be when they are discussing using extraterritoriality in a business sense. Since there are usually multinational corporations which are involved in these exploitative operations, they can choose where to base the company, ie in a country which will not regulate their actions.
8. Justification of the Market could be “Corporations and their members can be said to have a moral duty to look to the interests of their stakeholders, independent of whether these actions are conducive to greater profits. That is, the social responsibility of corporations toward their stakeholders might conflict with the narrower stockholder interest in profit maximization”
9. This account of ethics is used “The justification for this more expansive social responsibility can take many forms, including Kantian justifications.”
10. Statements
10.1. “Even if the right of states to limit immigration means that these restrictions on employment are morally permissible, they create an element of unfairness in the market for these migrant’s labor, placing a considerable bargaining advantage in the hands of the sole legal employer.” There are many laws in place about immigration which inherently are unfair and create the opportunity for exploitation.
10.2. “Each of these accounts of exploitation will focus on the absolute needs of exploited sweatshop workers, but are tied to different forms of wrongdoing with different remedies if exploitation is to be avoided.” These accounts can only avoid exploitation by being aware of the basic needs of the worker.
10.3. “While the critics of some accounts of macro fairness exploitation are right to note that it is unreasonable to hold individual employers responsible for rectifying all of the disadvantages created by global injustice for their employees, they are wrong to conclude that global injustice does not give rise to exploitable vulnerabilities.” It is unreasonable to place all of the blame on individual employers, who cannot be expected to fix the entire problem, much of the issue can be blamed on global policy.
10.4. “When coercion is used in a relationship or one party is harmed against a baseline of no interaction at all, it is much more likely that the moral force of the relationship will permit interference in the interest of the exploitée or the full consideration of moral reasons will weigh against the permissibility of the action for the exploiter.” With coercion or a previously wronged group, there is a good chance that someone will step in on the side of the exploitée.
10.5. “Given the potential for hypothetical fair market interactions to break down and for background injustice to create bargaining asymmetries, fairness exploitation is and will remain a danger in business relationships.” In this world it is difficult to follow the straight and narrow, which inherently leads to unfairness.
11. The other side would say that the opportunities which these exploitavie companies provide, are steady and the only possibility which the locals often have. It is the best option and encourages development.
12. I would describe Business Ethics articles as very in depth with many different opinions that all usually support the thesis.
13. This article could help me decide what types of labor to use in my company.
14. This paper is similar to mine because it puts the thesis at the beginning and clearly states it, but it is unlike mine because it clearly defines each subcategory as they go.
15. I would be sure to summarize each sub heading for a general idea.
Tony Wilder
Business Essay Analysis Essay
Title of article: FOR-PROFIT CORPORATIONS IN A JUST SOCIETY: A SOCIAL CONTRACT ARGUMENT CONCERNING THE RIGHTS AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF CORPORATIONS
Journal: “ Business Ethics Quarterly
Author: John D. Bishop
The abstract gets you to expect the paper will be about:
Abstract: This article develops contractarian business ethics by applying social contract arguments to a specific question: What are the pre-legal (or moral) rights and responsibilities of corporations? The argument uses a hypothetical social contract to show the existence of for-profit corporations in democratic capitalist societies is consistent with Rawls’s fundamental principles of justice. Corporations ought to have recognized their rights to be autonomous, to pursue private purposes, and to engage in economic activities. Corporations have a responsibility to respect the freedom and human rights of all people, and not to interfere with government programs that ensure people have the education and training they need to find and keep corporate employment and that
provide a safety-net that prevents destitution. If corporations have any other rights and responsibilities, those rights and responsibilities need to be established by actual social contracts, probably in the form of legitimate democratic processes
(taken from article)
What is the thesis? Identify it *very clearly*. What is it in the author’s own words (find it!)?
The purpose of the present article is to show the extent to which a hypothetical social contract argument can establish the right of corporations to exist and to have their definitional rights recognized.
Put in your own words:
The thesis states that corporations ought to be assured of certain legal rights and that there are two levels of such rights: rights that pertain to all corporations and rights for specific corporations.
What is the structure of the paper?
The structure of the paper is an introduction, four argumentative sections, and a conclusion segment.
What parts does it have?
It has an introduction introducing the purpose of the argument, then proceeds to The Nature of Corporations and Their Definitional Rights, The Nature of the Hypothetical Social Contract Argument, A Hypothetical Social Contract about Corporations, Actual Social Contracts Regarding Corporations, Conclusion.
How did you figure out this was the structure?
It was broken up into very apparent categories.
What is philosophical about the thesis?
The thesis is philosophical in the sense that is both a hypothetical proposal and that it does not necessarily try to impress its view on the reader, at least explicitly. Rather, it focuses more on introducing a new perspective to the often-discussed topic of corporations.
What, in the paper, does not seem philosophical?
He makes all these assumptions in a certain part of the article and does not allow for any countering arguments. For example, he makes the assumption that contractors know all about “basic economics of capitalism and free markets, the nature of organized business production, and the nature and impact of allowing the creation of autonomous private corporations”. Bishop intentionally leaves certain definitions vague saying that he would make his argument too complex, which, to me, seems like somewhat of a cop out or maybe he is trying not to clutter his essay. For example, he does not include government owned corporations saying that it would “make the hypothetical situation too complex”.
What understanding of the justification of the market is at play?
I was nor entirely sure for this one. I had trouble identifying which one he used.
What account of ethics is used?
I was honestly not sure. He mentions contractarian business ethics, which analyzes topics from a “pre-legal standpoint.
Type up five complex statements in the article, and decipher them for us.
It may seem odd to examine the pre-legal rights of corporations given that corporations are entirely a creation of the law—corporations do not and can not exist prior to the laws that create them.
Bishop examines corporations from pre-legal viewpoint in the sense that Locke viewed people’s right’s as pre-law. The statement means that there are certain guarantees for corporations despite the fact that they are a fabrication of society.
Any social contract that establishes the rights and responsibilities of corporations must be a contract amongst the real people of society—a contract about corporations, but a contract that corporations are not a party to.
He is saying that if there is a social contract regarding the actions of a corporation needs to be made by the people, not between corporations and people.
Whether rational individuals in this initial position would agree to extend rights to autonomous corporations would depend on the perceived benefits and possible harms judged relative to Rawls’s principles of justice.
Rawls, argues that each person ought to have equal access to basic liberties and that social inequalities must most benefit the disadvantaged. His principles are the criteria that Bishop uses to argue that corporations do, in fact, meet the aforementioned criteria.
If everyone benefits from autonomous corporations, or if corporations promote Pareto efficiency (i.e., some people benefit and no one is harmed), then everyone would support their introduction.
This sentence means that if autonomous corporations benefited everyone, than there would be no opposition to the creation of corporations. Of course, one must remember that corporations’ motive often do not coincide with society’s goal.
But the contractors will not know if they are job dependent on corporations (by which I include not only corporate employees, but also employment in a broad sense that includes contractors, consultants, agents, owners and employees of business which supply corporations, and so on), whether they are benefit dependent on corporations (for pensions, health care, and so on), and/or whether they are dependent on income from investments in corporations.
This lengthy sentence illustrates the fact that most jobs are in some way or another dependant upon corporations.
If you had to give the “other side”, what would it be?
Corporations should not be granted any special clearances.
If you were describing to a friend outside of class what articles in business ethics journals are like- what would you say? These articles are complex, interesting, and applicable in the right context.
If you were working in business, how would this article help you?
It may not necessarily provide me with any real help, but it does provide insight into the complexities of what constitutes a corporation and as to whether or not a corporation is deserving of certain legal rights.
How is your paper like and unlike this one?
My paper is not quite similar. My paper is not as sophisticated or engaging. My paper is more opinion based.
Sorry that it is late I had troubles with the internet…
Eric Bannerot
Title: Principles and Practices for Corporate Responsibility.
Journal: Business Ethics Quarterly
Author: Patricia H. Werhane
Patricia H. Wehane’s Abstract: “The first issue of Business Ethics Quarterly was launched in 1991. At that time there were few general principles that could serve as guidelines for global business. However, since 1991 a plethora of such principles have been developed to serve as guidelines and evaluative mechanisms for global corporate responsibilities. But operationalizing these principles in practice has been a challenge for most transnational corporations and even for smaller, more local enterprises. This is because, in some cases, the principles ask too much of companies. In other cases, the principles are ambiguous. And in still other cases, the principles, written by and large from a Western, rights-based perspective, cannot be operationalized in some cultural or religious settings. In this paper I will outline a series of dilemmas multinational enterprises face in the global market place, even when they sincerely sign on to one or another set of principles. These problems are not insurmountable, but in the imperfect world of commerce, require that our expectations of corporate responsibilities be satisficing rather than absolutist.”
Thesis: “In this essay I shall give some examples of these two sorts of difficulties, in practice, of adopting such principles. These difficulties are not insurmountable, but the imperfect world of commerce requires our expectations of corporate responsibilities to be satisficing rather than absolutist.”
Thesis (my words): Our market requires the public’s expectations for corporate responsibility to exist instead of being required for all corporations because so many of the guidelines for operating corporation are unavoidable within most businesses.
Structure: The way Patricia Werhane wrote the article makes her paper very well organized, while containing a strong structure. First, she introduces her article with a clear overview of what she is going to talk about in her article. Then she follows the abstract by her introduction and her thesis, which sets up the argument for the rest of the article. The introduction perfectly sets up the rest of her paper by introducing the guidelines put in place by the government that are alike yet conflicting. Werhane uses these guidelines throughout the article setting up real and theoretical examples to prove that companies cannot possibly abide by all the guidelines simultaneously. By using her numerous examples, she later concludes her article by making the reader reflect upon her excellent examples within the paper to believe her claim.
Finding the structure: I analyzed the article word by word, and looked for how Patricia Werhane specifically set up her points throughout the article to establish a strong foundation to her argument within her paper. From the analysis I interpreted her main points in the article as an outline, which gave a clear view of the structure of the paper.
Philosophy behind thesis: The philosophy behind the thesis is that how can someone determine how much corporate responsibility a company can or should have to abide by the guidelines put in place. Also, that how can someone be environmentally and human friendly at the same time if the solution for one conflicts with the other.
Not Philosophical: The non philosophical aspect of the article remains within the very clear yet dry quotes that she uses from the guidelines set in place for corporations on how they need to operate and conduct their business.
Justification of the market: The article talks about how the rules set forth for western companies fail to fit into the global market because they specifically deal with local problems. Therefore, the article claims that the rules need to create a more guidelines that are applicable to the global market not just the local market.
Type of ethics: Patricia Werhane uses virtue ethics to analyze her examples and prove her thesis. She gives an in-depth ethical and economical analysis about how companies cannot comply with all of the highly recommended guidelines for businesses.
Statements:
1. “All these sets of standards—and there are others—articulate voluntary guidelines both for responsible behavior and for what is unacceptable practice, and many of them overlap in intent and in content.”
The guidelines set in place overlap and conflict with each other, so companies cannot possibly follow the rules.
2. “Multinational enterprises (MNEs) operating in non-Western cultural or religious settings would have difficulties operating under these guidelines, then, where other kinds of principles take precedence.”
Since the guidelines were developed in America, it is hard for international companies to follow these strict guidelines that do not necessarily apply to their businesses.
3. “There is a moral risk of non-engagement, since perhaps that company could make a positive difference for workers, the environment, and for the economy, and an equal risk of engagement and becoming complicit in corrupt activities.”
Companies should at least try and make a valiant effort to abide by the suggested rules considering that their lack of efforts can result in tremendous problems that could potentially hurt their company. Moreover, if companies at least try to follow the guidelines, they make a healthier and safer workplace for their employees.
4. “Suppose that you are a sweatshop worker who desperately needs that job. The union urges you to organize, become a member and protest, but you will be fired if you do that.”
Sometimes employees do not stand up for their rights for a company to change because they are scared of being fired, so companies need to always act in the best interest of the employees to prevent emotional problems between the employees and the company.
5. “One of the future directions for research in business ethics and corporate responsibility is to develop truly global guidelines that account for moral risk-taking and cultural differences without compromising the intent of the present standards.”
Businesses need to develop guidelines that remain much more applicable to global markets that addresses fixable global problems for all cultures and races, instead of just creating a set of guidelines for the American market.
The other side: Companies can and should comply with all of the guidelines even though the task will be a financial burden. Companies should only not abide by the guidelines if fixing the problem at hand remains completely impossible; however, companies should not make people and the environment suffer just because they try to cut overall costs of excess spending.
Description of a business ethics article: Articles within a business ethics journals try to describe how companies need to conduct their business, giving numerous examples and reasons for why and how their thesis is correct. They are much like a typical essay but have an ethical analysis along with the regular analysis.
Working in business: If I were working in business, I would use this article to show that my company needs to try to make a valiant effort to comply with all of the guidelines, but not all of them if it is a tremendous financial burden.
Comparison: My paper uses many examples to prove how unethical tipping is within restaurants. I have a very similar structure to this article, and ethically analyze businesses.
Contrast: My paper asses tips as unethical, while this article asses what businesses can ethically consider breaching the guidelines without being problematic.
Extra:
1. The article focused on Global Economic Ethic (GEE) and United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) as the main quoting sources. They prove that companies cannot operate a business that does not breach any ethical problems and.
2. Businesses need to make sure that they protect the safety and reputation for their employees before they worry about the environment.