Preview

Business Ethica Case Study

Better Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1689 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Business Ethica Case Study
Project 1- Business Ethics Case Study As years go by more firms are beginning to recognize the benefits of improving ethical conduct. They are seeing an enormous correlation between business ethics and financial performance (Ferrell). There are numerous of examples that demonstrate that building an ethical reputation among employees, customers, and the general public pays off. For example, employee commitment and trust, investor loyalty and trust, and customer satisfaction and trust, which in the end creates profit (Ferrell). The reputation of a company can either benefit these three areas if they integrate ethics into the company as a whole, or prejudice if they decide to make bad ethical decisions. Today there are many cases when the company or employer is the one who is behaving in an incorrect ethical manner and not the employee. That’s what happened to an employee named Chantale Leroux in the case of Whistleblowing and the Environment: the Case of Avco Environmental. Chantale worked as a clerk for a small toxic-waste disposal company. The company was called Avco Environmental Services and had a contract to disposes of medical waste from a local hospital (MacDonald). Chantale one day comes across some documents that suggest that Avco has been disposing of some of the medical waste in a local municipal landfill (MacDonald). Chantale knew that what they were doing was illegal so she decided to gather the documents that suggest Avco has been doing this and takes them to her superior (MacDonald). What she has found is neither her concern nor his, and that as clerks, they are in charge of record keeping, not making decisions about where the medical waste gets dumped (MacDonald). Chantale confused and awed of what her superior has said to her takes a day to think things through. The next day she then decides to go to the company’s Operations Manager and lets her know what she had discovered. The Operations Manager annoyingly tells Chantale that it is not her


Cited: Ferrell, Odies C., Linda Ferrell, and John Fraedrich. Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. Australia: Houghton Mifflin, 2012. Print. MacDonald, Chris. "Whistleblowing & the Environment: The Case of Avco Environmental."Whistleblowing & the Environment: The Case of Avco Environmental. The EthicsWeb Bookstore, n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013. <http://www.businessethics.ca/cases/wb-env1.html>.
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Ethics of Penn Square Bank and the Dow Corning Bankruptcy
    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethics of Penn Square Bank and the Dow Corning Bankruptcy

    Ethics play a role in everyday business. Many company executives in an attempt to build a profitable organization and build individual wealth are confronted with ethical decisions daily. Penn Square Bank and Dow Corning have both made decisions in their business that started out making millions of dollars but ultimately cost them more than could have been imagined. Unethical decisions cause more than just cash to an organization, the loss of reputation could be even more detrimental.…

    • 850 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Eco 372 Week 3 Assignment 1
    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Eco 372 Week 3 Assignment 1

    Ethics is an extremely important aspect of the culture of a company. Ethics is a set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values. It is vital that each company adhere to an ethical code. Often times the morale of employees decrease for a variety of reasons. This decrease or lack of morale causes employees to begin to act in an unethical manner. Unethical behavior tends to be a common practice within some companies. “Larger companies sometimes decide that breaking laws and paying the fines involves lower costs than the financial gain made from breaking those laws” (Zeiger, n.d.) Despite the fact the unethical behavior occurs with the workplace, there are still several employees that are loyal to the law, the community and society as a whole. They report knowledge of illegal acts within the workplace. This group of people is known as whistleblowers.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Business Ethics Case Study
    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Business Ethics Case Study

    The key parties of this situation would be Stewart and myself. Even though I think telling Stewart about Waksal is unethical, following Baconivic’s orders and telling her would put her at an advantage because she would be able to sell her ImClone stocks before the rest of the shareholders could. Even though she could use the Waksal information for her advantage, she would be putting herself in jeopardy with the law. Following Baconivic’s orders would also make me look better in front of him and he could possibly help me get a higher positioned job in the future. For myself, if I know telling Stewart is unethical and I still do it, I am going against my own moral values. By doing so, I am complying with Albert Carr’s way of thinking about business and personal ethics being separate. I would be complying with Carr’s thinking because I would be following Baconivic’s orders even though it goes against my own values. If I don’t listen to Baconivic, I could risk losing my job at the company. By doing so, it could put a halt in my career.…

    • 607 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Monsanto Case Study
    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Monsanto Case Study

    References: Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell (2011) Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases pp 302-313…

    • 992 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    the civil action
    • 632 Words
    • 2 Pages

    the civil action

    The Civil Action (1988) is film that based on a true story of an environmental lawsuit, which took place in Woburn, Mass. In this movie, Jan Schlittman, a personal injury lawyer, agrees to represent a group of families whose children died from leukemia after a large corporation carelessly deposed toxic chemicals damaged the water supply for Woburn, Mass. This case becomes Jan’s obsession, even to the extent that he is willing to give up everything. When we look at the case in ethical way, we can find several individuals and entities acting unethically. In this paper, we are going to discuss three unethical activities and entity occurred in the movie, including the ways local tanneries deposed toxic chemicals, and try to cover it after the lawsuit has been filed; the defendant attorney’s behaviors throughout the movie; the judge’s position in the case.…

    • 632 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Are the Actions of People in the Workplace a Consequence of Individual or Organisational Characteristics? What Would Promote Ethical Behaviour at Work?
    • 4350 Words
    • 18 Pages

    Are the Actions of People in the Workplace a Consequence of Individual or Organisational Characteristics? What Would Promote Ethical Behaviour at Work?

    Conclusion A. Am I Walking My Ethical Talk? X. Discussion Questions XI. Case: Sears, Roebuck and Co.: The Auto Center Scandal XII. Short Case Teaching Notes - Discussion Questions 1.…

    • 4350 Words
    • 18 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    B Ethics Case Assignment
    • 593 Words
    • 2 Pages

    B Ethics Case Assignment

    References: Ferrell, O., & Fraedrich, J. (2015). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases (10th ed., p. 387). Stamford, CT: CENGAGE…

    • 593 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    The Enron's Ethics Breakdown
    • 2754 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The Enron's Ethics Breakdown

    It is perhaps the most compelling business ethics case in a generation—a textbook version of what can go wrong in an organization that lacks a true culture of ethical compliance. Investors and the media once considered Enron to be the company of the future, but as its demise suggests, it was in reality not a particularly modern business organization, especially in its approach to ethics. On the surface, at least, it appeared to reject progressive innovation in governance and ethics programs and instead sought to circumvent systems that were designed to protect the company and its shareholders. The purpose of this report is not to comment on the legal or political ramifications of the case but rather to focus on the business ethics issues raised by the conduct of the company’s directors and officers, its accountants, and lawyers as it is known to date. It is meant to be a reminder that simply having a detailed code of ethics on the books (as Enron certainly did) is not enough. Organizations need to infuse ethics and integrity throughout their corporate culture as well as into their definition of success.…

    • 2754 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Managing to Be Ethical: Debunking Five Business Ethics Myths
    • 10195 Words
    • 41 Pages

    Managing to Be Ethical: Debunking Five Business Ethics Myths

    The twenty-first century has brought corporate ethics scandals that have harmed millions of employees and investors, and sent shock waves throughout the business world. The scandals have produced “perp walks” and regulatory backlash, and business ethics is once again a hot topic. Academics and managers are asking: What caused the recent rash of corporate wrongdoing, and what can we do, if anything, to prevent similar transgressions in the future? Perhaps because everyone has opinions about ethics and personal reactions to the scandals, a number of pat answers have circulated that perpetuate a mythology of business ethics management. In this article, we identify several of these myths and respond to them based upon knowledge grounded in research and practice. Myth 1: It’s Easy to Be Ethical A 2002 newspaper article was entitled, “Corporate ethics is simple: If something stinks, don’t do it.” The article went on to suggest “the smell test” or “If you don’t want to tell your mom what you’re really doing . . . or read about it in the press, don’t do it.”1 The obvious suggestion is that being ethical in business is easy if one wants to be ethical. A further implication is that if it’s easy, it doesn’t need to be managed. But that suggestion disregards the complexity surrounding ethical decision-making, especially in the context of business organizations.…

    • 10195 Words
    • 41 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Business and Ethical Reasoning
    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Business and Ethical Reasoning

    In today’s society most people that work in a corporation often come across and have to deal with on the job ethical issues. “Ethics is a conception of right and wrong conduct. Ethical business behavior is demanded by business stakeholders, enhances business performance, complies with legal requirements, prevents or minimizes harm, and promotes personal morality” (Lawrence and Weber 2011). Ethic issues occur in all areas of business and at all levels of business management. I believe that ethical problems occur for certain reasons one being the selfishness of others. To help prevent unethical issues management must be able to recognize and help solve ethical dilemmas in the workplace. “Managers are key to whether a company and its employees will act ethically or unethically (Lawrence and Weber 2011). In some cases, managers and employees exhibit poor ethical behavior because the company doesn’t offer a clear model of ethics. Some businesses have no formal ethical policy documents and offer no guidance at all. Others have policies that are unclear, vague, inconsistent or not consistently enforced.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Anatomy Of A Corporate Takeover Summary
    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Anatomy Of A Corporate Takeover Summary

    The leaders of an organization or company must be determined to follow, a personal and business code of ethics. As a whole I believe we learn from examples, not by from what people tell us to do. The importance of ethics in business is that it sets the tone for a business’s success or failure. Ethical conduct is a very private matter, which requires that a person be honest and truthful in all business dealings. Since ethical behavior is so personal, it is unlikely to be given any acknowledgment. While there are many awards for corporate social responsibility, awards that recognize ethical behavior are rare. A well-communicated dedication to ethics sends a influential message that moral behavior is measured to be business essential. Companies, led by top management, are increasingly adopting ethical codes of conduct. As ethical performance comes to the forefront, more and more companies will be taking steps to make certain that the ethics of their corporation and its employees are…

    • 946 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Hand Hygiene
    • 2503 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Hand Hygiene

    Good ethics is the foundation of an organization’s character. It is what distinguishes it from the conglomerate of businesses in today’s society. Ethical behavior is the glue that bonds employees and customers to the organization. It is a code of conduct that guides an individual in dealing with others. Ethical issues have are a major concern in business because they have become more complex due to international business expansion and the diversified nature of large corporations. Government regulation and legal requirements have become more stringent in the effort to stem unethical practices in corporations. Finegan (1994) affirms, “the corporate world has come under increasing pressure to behave in a socially responsible manner” (p. 747). Organizations have come to realize that more is at stake if this behavior continues to consume the workplace.…

    • 2503 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Ethics of Wealth
    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Ethics of Wealth

    Velasquez, Manuel G. Business Ethics Concepts and Cases. Fifth Edition. Prentice Hall. 2002. Pages 91,93,97,176,177, 179.…

    • 1504 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics Auditing
    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Ethics Auditing

    (1) Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases, Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, Eighth Edition, p. 243…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ethics paper
    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ethics paper

    Many organizations in the world today want and expect to turn a profit just as well of having a successful business; with this they have to have ethics. A company that trades nationwide has several ways of earning revenue, but the company has the duty of the profits for their worker, stakeholders, and customers. However, not only ethics control the whole aspect of the organization, social ramifications plays apart in the business as well. If the company produces poor ethics it will reflect on other aspects of the organization. .…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More

Related Topics