Ethics Paper MGT/498
Ethics Paper MGT/498
Professor:
The primary purpose of ethics and social responsibility is imperative to the way we do business and live amongst society. Ethics most commonly know as the rights and wrongs are principles and standards that establish what is know as acceptable conduct within an organization. Organizations have moral and legal duties to implement ethics when developing a strategic plan while considering stakeholders and consumers, they do not want to be lied to or cheated into buying a false product. Unethical companies will use aggressive sales tactics and mischievous ways, of doing business to sell, promote and profit from vulnerable consumers. Unethical organizations believe in these tactics not realizing that ethical and honest companies tend to be more profitable, reputable and operate amongst less stress from employees to managerial position. Social responsibilities are just as important as ethics but pertain to a greater scale; it’s an organizations obligation to make a positive impact rather than a negative one on society and the environment.
An example of a company that overstepped ethical and social responsibility boundaries is the oil and gas company BP p.l.c. In 2010, a massive oil spill broke out in the Gulf of Mexico that was caused by oil drilling conducted by this Company and its key contractors. This oil spill caused the death of eleven individuals and cost the company and its partners tens of billions of dollars in order to contain a blowout of the well, mitigate the damages caused and compensate all the individuals and businesses impacted by the spill.(The Telegraph). As a result of this oil spill, the US Government established an Oil Spill Commission which was put in place to investigate the reasons for this disaster. The report concluded that a number of separate factors contributed to the spill which included oversights and outright mistakes from BP and its contractors, Halliburton and
Professor:
The primary purpose of ethics and social responsibility is imperative to the way we do business and live amongst society. Ethics most commonly know as the rights and wrongs are principles and standards that establish what is know as acceptable conduct within an organization. Organizations have moral and legal duties to implement ethics when developing a strategic plan while considering stakeholders and consumers, they do not want to be lied to or cheated into buying a false product. Unethical companies will use aggressive sales tactics and mischievous ways, of doing business to sell, promote and profit from vulnerable consumers. Unethical organizations believe in these tactics not realizing that ethical and honest companies tend to be more profitable, reputable and operate amongst less stress from employees to managerial position. Social responsibilities are just as important as ethics but pertain to a greater scale; it’s an organizations obligation to make a positive impact rather than a negative one on society and the environment.
An example of a company that overstepped ethical and social responsibility boundaries is the oil and gas company BP p.l.c. In 2010, a massive oil spill broke out in the Gulf of Mexico that was caused by oil drilling conducted by this Company and its key contractors. This oil spill caused the death of eleven individuals and cost the company and its partners tens of billions of dollars in order to contain a blowout of the well, mitigate the damages caused and compensate all the individuals and businesses impacted by the spill.(The Telegraph). As a result of this oil spill, the US Government established an Oil Spill Commission which was put in place to investigate the reasons for this disaster. The report concluded that a number of separate factors contributed to the spill which included oversights and outright mistakes from BP and its contractors, Halliburton and
References: Carpenter, M. A., & Sanders, W. G. (2009). Strategic management: A dynamic perspective concepts and cases. (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. Wheelen, T. L., & Hunger, J. D. (2010). Concepts in strategic management and business policy (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education. BP p.l.c. (2012), Sustainability Review 2012, Retrieved from http://www.bp.com/content/dam/bp/pdf/sustainability/group-reports/BP_Sustainability_Review_2012.pdf BP p.l.c (2013), Investigations and Legal Proceedings, Retrieved from http://www.bp.com/en/global/corporate/gulf-of-mexico-restoration/investigations-and-legal-proceedings.html “BP Leak the World’s Worst Accidental Oil Spill”, The Telegraph, August 3, 2010. Retrieved from http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/7924009/BP-leak-the-worlds-worst-accidental-oil-spill.html National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling (2012), Chapter Four. Retrieved from http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/25576/chapter4.pdf