Ethical perspectives

NORTHCENTRAL UNIVERSITY ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET

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MGT7019

Stephanie Lyncheski

Ethics in Business

Assignment 1 Paper- Ethical perspectives: Friedman vs. Drucker, Murphy

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Ethical perspectives Running head: ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

Assignment 1 - Ethical Perspectives Friedman vs. Drucker, Murphy Northcentral university MGT7019-8 Ethics in Business 05/20/2012

With no clear definition of what business ethics are, it becomes the responsibility of the beholder to discern or reach a plausible conclusion of what constitutes ethical behavior. When

Ethical perspectives looking at business ethics from a global perspective the water only gets muddier. Studies and perspectives on the subject provide no clear definition and when western and eastern social values are added in the mix, the gap between doing what is ethical and doing what is right stretches the abyss even further. Doing what is right for the organization and breaking the law

does not warrant unethical behavior but at the same time having a responsibility to society and to those that could inadvertently effected by not committing an unethical act. An example of this would be paying a bribe to foreign government for a contract that will prevent thousands of employees from becoming unemployed. The business broke the law and committed what would be in western culture, unethical behavior even though thousands were able to remain employed because of the action. Perhaps business ethics in America suffer from western morality which does not now or has ever been one shoe fit all. In Druckers written perspective entitled, What is Business Ethics? the author writes as to how ethics in its purest form is based on individual behavior and as such that which applies to the humble and the poor should also apply to the rich and powerful (Drucker, 1981). Drucker goes on to state that the opinions driven by western moralist that extenuating and aggravating circumstances which brought on the unethical behavior is questionable. Drucker states that before there can be reasoning of why the unethical behavior took place, there has to be an offense and if the rules for ethical behavior apply to everyone, than the crime of theft is theft and murder is murder and that the rules of ethical behavior must apply to everyone less the rich and powerful become exempt. Drucker further states that the fundamental rule that states that individual ethical behavior applies to all persons is not applicable in business ethics (Drucker, p.3). Some unethical behavior that is considered deplorable in a moral society could be considered acceptable under certain extenuating and aggravating circumstances such as paying a bribe to win a huge contract that will allow

Ethical perspectives thousands to remain employed. This would be an example of a Juniper of commerce falling on his sword for the good of society. The end result doesnt take away from the unethical behavior

but the act may have been warranted for the better good. It could be stated that that the unethical thing would have been to allow thousands to become unemployed and to allow the business to suffer. Turning slightly askew, we can get another perspective on business ethics by reading Milton Friedmans dogma entitled; The Social Responsibilities of Business to increase its Profits. The 1970 article published in the New York Times Magazine (Milton, 1970), reads liked a social manifesto on how the individuals that run corporations have the moral obligation to ensure that the businesses they lead do the right thing for society, the environment and the good of their fellow man. The article is a personal perspective and is just the opinion of the writer. Because the writing needs no validity, the author is free to write and publish his thoughts and state his opinions but unlike Druckers scholarly written article, this article reads like the ramblings of a first year college freshman hooked on phonics. Milton takes nothing into consideration except that the only ethical thing to do is to use the corporations ill gotten wealth to improve the status of the sick, the lame and the lazy and spend more than they have to on cleaning and protecting the environment. This can all be done according to Milton, if businesses would just pay their fair share of the tax burden. According to Milton it is up to the board of directors and the share holders of the company to ensure that the right person with the right agenda is placed at the head of corporate table to ensure that enough of the companys profits are put back into the government coffers which will ensure that the needs of society are met. No business can be held accountable for unethical behavior since no entity has the power or the will for decision making. The responsibility for ethical conduct falls to individuals. Ethics

Ethical perspectives are a product of societys norms that help us distinguish between what is acceptable and unacceptable behavior. One solution might be to look for guidance from within a corporate policy that can help to determine who is responsibility for accountability. For this to happen corporate responsibility must be bestowed upon someone or something. Patrick Murphy states that three things must first be stated for this type of responsibility to be anchored securely in place. Firmly state who is responsible for accountability, identify the stake holders for whom it is responsible and lastly, what it is the corporation is responsible for (Murphy, 2008, p. 246). With
the first two things in place, the individual who speaks for the stakeholders is identified. The third part is broader and the responsibility of the corporation may fall to many areas that the individual identified as responsible may have to address such as moral, ethical social and environmental concerns (Murphy, 2008).

Ethics in business is a highly debated subject and in a free market economy where what is ethical and unethical can quickly become blurred; the need for more studies and empirical research on the subject will need to done. Ethical behavior in business is subjective at best and when mixed with extenuating circumstances, doing what is right for the organization, individual survival instincts and cultural differences, what is ethical and what is unethical becomes more of moral dilemma left up to the individual responsible for accountability.

Ethical perspectives References

Drucker, P. (1981). What is business ethics? Public Interest, 63, 18-36. http://www.nationalaffairs.com/doclib/20080708_1981632whatisbusinessethicspeterfdru cker.pdf Online Periodica Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase its Profits. The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved May 19, 2012, from http://www.ethicsinbusiness.net/case-studies/the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-toincrease-its-profits/ Murphy, P. E. (2009). The relevance of responsibility to ethical business decisions. Journal of Business Ethics, 90, 245-252. doi:10.1007/s10551-010-0378-4