CHAPTER 5 GLOBAL BUSINESS ETHICS Global Business

Transcript:CHAPTER 5 GLOBAL BUSINESS ETHICS Global Business:
CHAPTER 5 GLOBAL BUSINESS ETHICS Global Business Ethics PRISMS Should business be amoral (values-neutral)? Are lobbying & campaign contributions a form of bribery? Do the benefits of industry deregulation outweigh the costs? Which is more important: Profit maximization or avoidance of conflict of interest? Who should pick corporate board members? Is capitalism any good without good people? What do you do when the regulators have to be regulated? Has the exception become the rule in American business? Do most powerful capitalist nations lack a sense of community? Is business ethics more legal or moral? Should American business be more heavily regulated? Is the business community too flawed to police itself? Can private capitalism also serve the public interest? Capitalism is no better than the capitalists, who are seldom better than their culture. As a nation goes, so goes capitalism. “Judaism, Christianity and Islam all affirm the right of individual ownership and private property, but there are moral limits imposed on absolute private ownership of wealth and property. Each of these religious traditions affirm that we are not individuals alone but exist in community—a community that makes claims upon us. The notion that “it is all mine” is a violation of these teachings and traditions.” ETHICS & CAPITALISM BUILT-IN WEAKNESSES OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM THAT SPAWNED THE NEW MILLENNIUM BUSINESS SCANDALS 1. Profit maximization, single stakeholder capitalist ideology 2. Lobbying & campaign contributions 3. Deregulation (belief that markets adequately regulate themselves) 4. Cultural emphasis on short-term performance 5. Runaway individualism triumphing over community 6. Amoral business operations (belief in the justness of the marketplace) SO IS CAPITALISM TRUSTWORTHY? 1. Capitalists, not capitalism, determine the social values & behavior of business. Whatever capitalists want capitalism to do, it will do. 2. Most capitalist business leaders are honest, well-intentioned people who try to do the right things in the right way. However, should the system sustaining capitalism be perverted by misguided politics or profiteering, society pays a price & capitalism gets a black eye. 3. Business walks a thin line between serving the interests of society & exploiting society. When business & political leaders step onto the wrong side of the line, business & capitalism are thrown out of kilter, diminishing society’s trust in capitalism & democracy. 4. The bigger question from the standpoint of global business is whether or not the world’s trust in capitalism & democracy has also diminished. THE ETHICAL STAKES