COR0710 Values And Ethics For A Practical Life Essay.

Business ethics are the morale characteristics or the values that is carried or should be inbuilt in so as they become a framework for the company and its stakeholders. It provides a guideline or an environment for work. Ethics are not legally bound but they are something that is in relation to moral characteristics in nature. Something, which may be legal, can be unethical and in some cases, it can be both. Therefore, a strong ethical platform helps in problem free performance in relation to business. Strong ethics helps in building up the reputation of a business, which helps in the end.

In this scenario we it can be seen that Samsung Electronics has faced problems with their product Note 7 phones. Design and manufacturing flaws have been found with the lithium-ion batteries of their phone due to which the phones are catching fire. Samsung is not aware about the actual fault of the device. In this regard, Samsung assigned engineers to investigate and find the fault in the device. They had to call phone twice to replace them. They are blaming the fault of their device on their suppliers (Ailon, 2015).

Globalization is very important concerning business ethics. It will diminish the necessity for common social, economic, political relations.

From the perspective of an individual, it can be seen as there is negligence on the part of Samsung, but they are not completely unethical. However, there was a lack of safety precaution but the act was not unethical in nature (Bowie,2017). The company tried there level best to recall the devices which is very devastating and very expensive for the company. It is considered that there was negligence from the part of the company, which could have been avoided with proper precaution and measures. Moreover, the company made another mistake when they hurriedly replaced the devices, which again faced problems and again had to be replaced in the future. This type of act created a question mark about the quality of the device and the company. However, they hurt their customer relationship but it cannot be called as unethical in nature (Clemente & Gabbioneta, 2017).

According to the utilitarian theory, it would be said as unethical as because in this theory as there was lack of awareness and negligence on the part of Samsung Electronics and as according to this theory it sees the consequences. This theory tells us that if the consequences are right then it is ethical in nature and if the consequences are wrong then it is unethical in nature. In this, case Samsung. As it has created pain for their stakeholder and caused dissatisfaction amongst them this is unethical in nature (Crane & Matten,2016).

Considering the absolute ethics which states that there is only one universal moral code and it prevails for all equally to all men under all circumstances. Whereas relative’s ethics tell us, that ethical values changes with the circumstance and situations.

Every customer that Samsung has will be affected by the wrong decision that is taken by the company. To earn back the trust of the customers it will take a lot of investment. As we would know that Samsung SGI was the main supplier of battery until the controversy and again needs to regain its foot hold. This issues faced by Samsung pushed them back and it would take a lot of hard effort and money to regain their position (Ferrell & Fraedrich,2015).

Business ethics forms the framework that helps to understand the moral and immoral acts that can affect business. In the short run, business ethics can prove to be binding in nature but in long run, it helps to maintain relationship with their client or customers.  

The model requires to work through the following steps:

1. Identify the problem and existing code of ethics.

Firstly the problem is to be understood and then as much information as possible should be gathered as possible (Friedman & Gerstein, 2016)..

2. Apply the code of conduct

Once the problem is identified then we can see the code of the ethics to see if there is a clear guideline of resolution of the issue

3. Determine the nature of dilemma and seek consultation. 

In this situation the nature and dimension of the problem is to be identified and consultation is to be taken from the director or senior person in the business. This is a tricky position, which should not be resolved by your own.

4. Generate possible actions. 

In this situation, try to come out with new ideas. If needed advice from the colleague should be taken (Hartman, DesJardins & MacDonald, 2014).

5. Consider the consequences of options and determine a course of action. 

All options should be considered with the possible consequences that can happen.

6. Consider the rights of all people involved. 

It is very important to understand the balance between responsibilities and rights of clients and workers. It can be possible that as a worker the action of the client is causing problem and possible injury. The problem arises from responsibility of the worker safe environment for clients as well as maintaining the clients right to make choices, which are informed in nature and can be risky for the worker (Hill, 2017).

7. Evaluate the course of action.

Review the action that has been taken or proposed off and should be careful about the action that it should not create and problem.

8. Implement the course of action. 

After working through the process, justification of responses and actions become easy. It is also useful to look back upon the effectiveness of the choice.

In this scenario, it says that Volkswagen cars that are sold in America had a software hack in diesel engines, which changes the performance of the car during test. They are being accused of having a defeat device that makes the car work at some kind of a safety mode and does not give full performance. However, as the car performs on the road it switches mode and gives out enormous amount of nitrogen and other pollutants (Hoffman, Frederick & Schwartz, 2014).

Ethical theories provide a framework, which helps us understand and judge whether a conduct is wrong or right in nature. It lays the foundation, which tells us very certain things are immoral in nature. There are generally two types of ethical theories consequential and non-consequential.

Globalization is a key factor for business ethics. It has great relevance about business ethics. Globalization can affect the stakeholders, employees, consumers, suppliers, competitors and civil society in a great way

If a business uses Individualism as their ethical goal in that case the ultimate objective of the business will profit maximization for their shareholders and for their owners at the expense of anyone else. Concerning the scandal of Volkswagen, one can argue that the approach that has been taken by the company is individualistic in nature (Lenssen, Rhee & Martinez, 2017).

The company did not tell the truth to its government and customers about the diesel engine quality. They just wanted their cars to be sold under any circumstance what so ever. Volkswagen has heavy hold on the diesel market of US and to comply with the norms of EPA they need lot of money and time, which they cannot afford.They also ignored their responsibility towards global environment and harmed it without thinking about what harm it may cause to the living beings.

Another important theory is Utilitarianism. This theory falls under consequential ethics. This theory tells us that whether or not any action is good or bad it all depends upon the consequence of the action. Volkswagen has done something, which is quiet against this theory. The consequence of the wrong that is performed by the company has brought great harm for the customers, the employees who lost their job, the dealers who lost business and to the company itself, which has faced a great loss (Merchant & White, 2017).

Absolute ethics says that there is one universal moral code and this is ultimate and which applies to all. It applies to every person irrespective of their age or gender and changing situation or views has no effect upon .Whereas relative theory tells us that moral standard, vary with circumstance. With the change in religion, place, culture etc it varies

Stakeholders include every person who is affected by the action or change in policy that has been taken or adopted by the company. Concerning this scenario, the stakeholders of Volkswagen include customers, dealers, employees, auto manufacturers etc. All these stakeholders have got affected in various ways like many employees have lost their jobs, customers have lost their faith, and dealers have lost business.

Business ethics forms the framework that helps to understand the moral and immoral acts that can affect business. In the short run, business ethics can prove to be binding in nature but in long run, it helps to maintain relationship with their client or customers (Park et al, 2015).

Enron, which just a 15-year-old company became the America, is seventh largest. They employed 21,000 in more than 40 countries. However, it later found that the company was a fraud, as they lied about their profits. They escalated their profits and did numerous numbers of wrongful dealings like concealed debts hiding them from the accounts of the company.

Ethical theories provide a framework, which helps us understand and judge whether a conduct is wrong or right in nature. It lays the foundation, which tells us very certain things are immoral in nature. There are generally two types of ethical theories consequential and non-consequential (Raman, Garg & Thapliyal,2017).

According to this theory, it only sees the benefit of the company and as long as the company is benefiting individualism, theory is good. Enron following this theory though have gained fame in the market but it was for a short period and it lasted for only few years. The company was hollow which escalated their profits lastly failed and became bankrupted (Rhodes, 2016).

If we consider utilitarianism theory, it tells that if the consequences are right then the work that is done is also right and ethically correct. In this situation, the consequences were very bad. The profits were escalated and debts of the company were not shown in the book of accounts and ultimately the company became bankrupted and employees became jobless. In this situation, the consequences were wrong and so we can say that the company has not followed this theory.

Absolute ethics is constant in nature whereas relative theory varies. Absolute theory says that under any circumstance or situation the moral value remains the same. On the other hand, relative theory says that the moral values changes with the situation, place and people (Rothaermel, 2015).

With the unethical practice, a company cannot survive for entire time it can only last for few years and same thing happened with Enron. It paid the price of escalating the profit and hiding the debts from the books of accounts. In this situation, the company for being unethical had to lose its stakeholders. The stakeholders of Enron were its customers, its employee and other people who are in any way directly or indirectly linked with the company.

Business ethics forms the framework that helps to understand the moral and immoral acts that can affect business. In the short run, business ethics can prove to be binding in nature but in long run it helps to maintain relationship with their client or customers (Swanson & Frederick,2015).

In this case, it can be seen that US have charged nine fifes official for taking bribe for awarding fifes broadcast rights. In this regard, the nine officials are being accused of wrongfully taking bribe to sell of the broadcasting rights. Fifes, which is the most famous game in this world, lost its integrity due to immoral act of its officials (Swanson & Frederick, 2016).

Business ethics is a formation and study of business policy that binds the morality of a business. It is somewhat different from legal prospective. Ethics may not be illegal but surely, it is immoral. It ensures that certain kind of trust prevails between the business and its stakeholders so that there is some kind of moral values that exist between them. It helps in smooth functioning of the business (Trevino & Nelson, 2016).

Ethical theories provide a framework, which helps us understand and judge whether a conduct is wrong or right in nature. It lays the foundation, which tells us very certain things are immoral in nature. There are generally two types of ethical theories consequential and non-consequential (Weiss,2014).

With the help of the business ethics, it binds the business and its stakeholders so they function morally. It helps to maintain a relationship between the company and its stakeholders. If everyone is given the proper teachings of business ethics, it helps in smooth functioning of the business and keeps away unethical practices.

Moral agent is a person who decides the right and wrong and is capable of putting the decision into action. A moral agent is held accountable for the actions. The moral agents have moral responsibility not to cause harm of any kind. Normally moral agents is assigned to whom responsibility for the action can be given. In this case their participation may be encouraged by variety of means this result in greater involvement of the employees. This also shows the employees that the manager and the company have faith upon you. This will make the employee superior, thereby this act will bind the employee even more, and there will be a better relationship with them (Zhang et al , 2016).

Research a current ethical issue affecting a selected business. In this situation, the governing body of fifes took bribe to sell off the broadcasting rights. This is the most fundamental issue of unethical practice. The governing body, which consist of high-ranking official and when they take, bribe it, is situation of very unethical practice. This may break the trust of the stakeholders of the Fifa federation.

In the above-mentioned scenarios, we have observed that how critical or important the presence of the business ethics can be and what are the problems that it can lead to when proper ethics are not being followed. Well-established companies can be face huge issues and may get extinct due to the problem of practicing unhealthy ethics. Ethics is a platform that creates a framework or a guide how a company and its stakeholder should carry out business. Practicing anything, which is unethical in nature leads to a situation, which may backfire in the end.

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