The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the legality and ethicality of the corporate governance activities that occurred in an ethics case presented in the text. The paper will provide relevant details regarding the legality of the activities, the criteria by which Sarbanes-Oxley would apply to this case, the ethicality of the activities, whether or not the activities were equitable to internal and external stakeholders, and the next steps representing best interest of all stakeholders.…
The company that I researched for unethical practices is Tyco International; the nature of the controversy was the fraud and scandals that Tyco international has gone through. In 1999 the SEC began to analyze Tyco’s accounting practices do to the company was standing in 28 million dollars in debt. They were able to pinpoint many areas that were not adding up with the amounts money was being taken and there was really no good explanation. They found out that the CEO at that time Dennis Kozlowski and the CFO Mark Swartz failed to disclose millions of dollars of low interest and interest free loans from Tyco. The company was so far in debt they almost had to file bankruptcy, the unethical behavior from the CEO and the CFO resulted in the shareholders lost millions of dollars because their shares went from $60 dollars down to $15 dollars. It is said that between the both of them they stole over $170 million dollars from the company.…
References: Ager, D., Andron A., & MacLeod W. (1994). Enron Corp. In D. Sharp (Ed.), Cases in Business Ethics (pp. 203-210). California: Thousand Oaks.…
Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their “code of ethics” not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program “Business Ethics and Compliance” might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business.…
Since the early 1970’s, several former Presidents and even our current President (Barack Obama), have made promises that we (The United States) would ultimately become an “Energy Independent” country. However, those promises have yet to be fulfilled thus far. In “The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence”, Robert Bryce intensely explains that our country’s energy independence has yet to occur because it is basically impossible. Furthermore, to halt trade with countries who have provided the United States with vital resources for countless years, in reality, would have an extremely negative impact on our country.…
Different people have different understandings of what constitutes ethical behavior. There are laws that help define what is legal and what is not, but the differences between moral ethics are not always clear. These types of moral ethics often lead to ethical dilemmas. According to Trevino & Nelson (2007), “it might surprise many people to learn that there were few laws protecting consumers before the 1960s. At the turn of the last century, consumers didn’t even have the right to sue a manufacturer for defective equipment.” (p. 217) No matter what type of business is run, there are ethical and moral dilemmas attached and in some cases, legal issues arise from unethical-based…
Effective leaders use their power and influence in an ethical way to promote the vision of the organization. Peer and organizational pressure have a great impact on how people behave (Gostick & Telford, 2006, p. 35). Diane Peck of Stanford University believes this is what happened at Enron where, “people were encouraged, if not required, to push the envelope” (Gostick & Telford, p. 35). The environment at Enron fostered unethical behavior in order to meet the demands of the organization. In contrast to Enron, at Herman Miller, every employee is valued for the contribution they make and as a result, employees are committed to the organizations vision and high…
Relativism is the idea that one's beliefs and values are understood in terms of one's society, culture, or even one's own individual values. You may disagree with someone and believe your view is superior, relative to you as an individual; more often, relativism is described in terms of the values of the community in which one lives. The view of ethical relativism regards values as determined by one's own ethical standards, often those provided by one's own culture and background. Rather than insisting that there are moral absolutes, moral claims must be interpreted in terms of how they reflect a person's viewpoint; moral claims are then said to be "right in a given culture" or "wrong for a given society." Perhaps one person lives in a culture where having a sexual relationship outside of marriage is regarded as one of the worst things a person can do; in this culture a person engaging in extramarital sex may be punished or even forced to leave. But another culture might have a considerably different…
To increase the importance of strong ethical significance, this paper will clarify the principle character of ethics, sustainability, and social responsibility in relative to an organizations strategy. Furthermore, consideration will be given to the assortment of shareholders that control a business stratagem. Lastly, classification will be given to a company that practiced unethical behavior, social responsibility, and sustainability in their daily functions.…
Whirlpool’s decision to close the manufacturing plant in Evansville, Indiana was a business decision the company made in response to poor sales. The decision most likely pleased shareholders but had social and ethical implications. The plant closure impacted the lives of an entire community. According to the mayor of Evansville, 10,000 jobs will be lost due to the plant closure. Since business ethics is concerned with morality and fairness in behavior, actions, and practices that take place within a business context, this case is a prime example of Whirlpool’s operating strategy of Immoral management. They exploited an opportunity for corporate gain.…
Shale Inc. is a company that has dedicated itself to being a reputable organization that is committed to upholding ethical business practices. To maintain the company’s reputable image, employers, employees, contractors, and anyone who is affiliated with Shale must act ethically at any given time. Adherence to a specified code of ethics enables Shale to carry on with its reputation as a fair, just, community-friendly, and environmental-friendly company. A well-defined code of ethics makes the company an employer of choice, a leading energy solutions provider, and a viable investment vehicle. All Shale Inc. employees, directors, investors, business partners, and contractors are expected to honor and comply with this code of conduct.…
The keystone pipeline has proven to be a decisive topic at podiums and dinner tables everywhere, with people debating the merits and benefits (or lack thereof) of the pipeline such as money, jobs and increased traffic in areas along the pipeline. I will analyze the keystone pipeline under the ethical theories of Utilitarianism, Duty/Rights Ethics and Virtue Ethics.…
Saying that ethics are relative is an effortless way to avoid a controversial topic concerning ethics. In the case of relativism, we can simply say that your opinion is true and mine too and nothing being wrong with that. On the other hand, ethical absolutism tells us that there is an objective moral code and that certain of our actions as humans are necessarily right or wrong. What would happen if we say two contradictory statements can't coexist as Aristotle demonstrated? Through the law of non-contradiction from Aristotle and ethical absolutism, I will argue against ethical relativism.…
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.…
"Relativism is the idea that one's belief and values are understand in terms of one's society culture or even one's own individual values" (Mosser). All around the world people do things different such as eat different, speak different language even their religion custom are different. What might be right in one's country could be right in another. For example in USA we eat beef but in India eating beef is against their religion.…