Management Chapter 4- Ethics and Social Responsibility – Flashcards
Unlock all answers in this set
Unlock answersquestion
- ethical dilemmas - ethics - social contracts
answer
The nature of ethics involves
question
"what is the right thing to do?" - doing the right thing even though doing so might go against self-interest
answer
Ethical dilemma
question
thoughts and feelings that tell a person what is right or wrong - hesitate, debate, and reflect upon the rightness or goodness of a course of action
answer
Moral scruples
question
inner guiding moral principles, values, and beliefs about what is the right way to behave
answer
Ethics
question
- just because it is legal does not mean it is ethical - not fixed principles - laws change to reflect society's changing ethical beliefs
answer
Relationship between ethics and law
question
- partly expressed in law and resides in social values - complex, ambiguous, ever changing
answer
Social contract
question
duties organization must perform to retain society's respect and support
answer
Social contract - organization and society
question
duties manager must perform to retain employee's respect and support
answer
Social contract- manager and employee
question
various groups of people who may benefit or be harmed by how managers make decisions
answer
Stakeholders
question
1. stockholders 2. managers 3. employees 4. suppliers and distributors 5. customers 6. community, society, nation-state
answer
Stakeholders include
question
principles to analyze the impact of your decision on stakeholders 1. utilitarian rule 2. moral rights rule 3. justice rule 4. practical rule
answer
Rules for ethical decision making
question
ethical decision produces the greatest good for the greatest number of people - how do you measure the harm and benefit that will be done to each stakeholder? - how do you evaluate importance of each stakeholder? - may lead to decisions that permit harm to an individual or minority group's rights
answer
Utilitarian rule
question
ethical decision maintains and protects the fundamental rights of people - right to freedom, life, safety, property, privacy, free speech, religion - how will action affect the rights of the different stakeholders? - protecting the rights of some may hurt the rights of others
answer
Moral rights rule
question
ethical decision distributes benefits and burdens in a fair and impartial way - employees who are similar in skill and performance should receive the same pay - outcomes should not be based on gender, race, religion, favorites
answer
Justice rule
question
ethical decision is one a manager could easily share with others - how would you feel sharing your actions with family, friends, or the media? - does my action fall within accepted standards
answer
Practical rule
question
1. societal ethics 2. professional ethics 3. individual ethics
answer
Sources for managerial ethics
question
emanate from a society's laws, customs, unwritten attitudes, values, and norms - vary greatly among societies - ex: justice, poverty, rights of individual
answer
Societal ethics
question
standards that govern how members of a profession, trade or craft should conduct themselves when performing work-related activities
answer
Occupational ethics
question
professional groups can punish violators
answer
Professional ethics
question
guiding practices and beliefs through which a particular company and its managers view their responsibility toward their stakeholders
answer
Organizational ethics
question
personal standards and values that determine how people view their responsibilities to other people and groups; how to act in situations when own self-interest is at stake - sources include family, peers, upbringing, personality and experiences
answer
Individual ethics
question
way managers and employees view their duty or obligation to make decisions that protect, enhance, and promote the welfare of stakeholders and society
answer
social responsibility
question
1. Obstructionist approach 2. defensive approach 3. accommodative approach 4. proactive approach
answer
Approaches to social responsibility - low to high
question
behave unethically and often illegally - attempt to hide their behavior - tobacco companies, Lehman Brothers
answer
Obstructionist approach
question
stay within the law, but no attempt to exercise social responsibility beyond what is required by law - WorldCom, Merrill Lynch
answer
Defensive approach
question
acknowledge need to support social responsibility - try to balance interests of different stakeholders - typical approach for large US companies
answer
Accommodative approach
question
actively embrace the need to behave in socially responsible ways - forefront of campaigns for causes such as environmental causes, recycling/conservation, elimination of use of animals in drug testing
answer
Proactive approach
