Business Ethics

SM0381 Frequently Asked Questions 1. General Questions 2. Reflective Statement Questions * 10pt Arial, single line spacing. * Your Reflective Statements should not be going over one side of A4 per entry. 3. Ethical Dilemma Essay * “In my company’s ethical dilemma the company is faced with the dilemma of…”- Woah! Wait on there! Company’s cannot have ethical dilemmas, they are virtual legal entities; not people. They cannot think, reason nor have moral debates; they aren’t alive! The people within a company have ethical dilemmas, not the company itself. For example, Starbuck’s is not faced with an ethical dilemma regarding its tax bill (again, because Starbucks doesn’t think, it doesn’t exist apart from in a legal sense, it neither lives, reasons or has morals). However, Starbuck’s CEO and individuals on the Management team (and importantly it’s PR team!) are grappling with a tax dilemma. People have dilemmas, non-living virtual legal entities (i.e. companies) don’t. Make that mistake on the submitted essay and you’re in for a very low mark indeed! * “I don’t know what an ethical dilemma is!”- Lecture 3, slides 4-6. 141-142 of the core textbook * “I’m still not sure of what an ethical dilemma is and if my dilemma is a dilemma!”- OK. Questions to ask yourself: * Is my dilemma about an individual who is facing a problem? * Can I justify the problem as a business ethical problem in which an individual is faced with making a difficult ethical decision of some kind (i.e. a dilemma)? * Can I examine the dilemma and justify it as an ethical dilemma meeting the 4 performance areas (p.9) of the marking scheme? * Can I propose solutions to the dilemma meeting the 3 performance areas (p.10) of the marking scheme? * “I have focused on the internal marketing XYZ Corp have implemented within their organisation and spoken about the issues that can arise from it such a as health and safety and equal opportunities to