Business Ethics

by Snoeyenbos, Milton; Almeder, Robert; Humber, James M.

• ISBN13: 9780879757250
• ISBN10: 0879757256
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-06-01
• Publisher: Prometheus Books

Summary

Fully updated and revised, this contemporary classic discusses the moral dilemmas of corporate America: conflicts of interest, corporate takeovers, payoffs, trade secrets, drug testing, insider trading, product safety, business and the environment, privacy, whistleblowing, and more. Each section contains a case study for discussion and corporate policy statements.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. 11
Introduction	p. 13
Select Bibliography	p. 38
Ethics and Organizations	p. 39
Introduction	p. 39
Ethics within Organizations	p. 41
Case Study: Organizational Decision Making at Aero Products	p. 41
Morality and the Ideal of Rationality in Formal Organizations	p. 46
Ladd on Morality and Formal Organizations	p. 58
Business and Social Responsibility	p. 66
Case Study: Cost-Benefit Analysis and the Ford Pinto	p. 66
The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits	p. 72
Milton Friedman Responds	p. 78
Morality in the Marketplace	p. 82
Corporate Policy Statements	p. 91
Morals, Management, and Codes	p. 93
Management and Morals	p. 93
Select Bibliography	p. 103
Employee Obligations	p. 105
Introduction	p. 105
Agents' Duties	p. 107
Duties of Agent to Principal	p. 107
Conflict of Interest	p. 115
Inorganic Chemicals Company's Conflict of Interest Policy	p. 115
Conflict of Interest	p. 118
Gifts and Entertainment	p. 124
Case Study: Corporate Gift-Giving	p. 124
Morality and Gift-Giving	p. 129
Corporate Policy Statements	p. 133
Trade Secrets and Patents	p. 136
Case Study: Trade Secrets at Atlas Chemical Corp.	p. 136
Trade Secrets, Patents, and Morality	p. 140
Corporate Policy Statement	p. 148
Honesty In Communication	p. 150
Case Study: A Communication Decision at Von Products, Inc.	p. 150
Honesty in Organizational Communication	p. 153
Corporate Policy Statement	p. 163
Select Bibliography	p. 165
Employee Rights	p. 167
Introduction	p. 167
Hiring	p. 169
Case Study: Hiring Procedures at World Imports Inc.	p. 169
Ethical Hiring Practices	p. 172
Reverse Discrimination	p. 185
Case Study: United Steelworkers v. Weber	p. 185
Reverse Discrimination: A Brief Against It	p. 197
Reversing the Arguments Against Reverse Discrimination	p. 205
Corporate Policy Statements	p. 216
Discharge	p. 218
Case Study: Discharge Policy at Pacemakers Inc.	p. 218
Ethics and the Termination of Employees	p. 223
Privacy	p. 234
Case Study: Employee Records at Fantenetti Valve Corporation	p. 234
Case Study: Integrity Testing at Marvex Distributors	p. 238
Case Study: Drug Testing at Explo Inc.	p. 243
Privacy in the Corporation	p. 250
Corporate Policy Statements	p. 261
Worker Safety	p. 264
Case Study: AIDS on the General Motors Assembly Line	p. 264
Working Conditions: Health and Safety	p. 266
The Moral Right to Know in the Workplace	p. 269
Whistleblowing	p. 277
Case Study: Whistleblowing at Northern Airlines	p. 277
Whistleblowing	p. 281
Whistleblowing: Loyalty and Dissent in the Corporation	p. 287
Select Bibliography	p. 290
Ethics and Finance	p. 291
Introduction	p. 291
Insider Trading	p. 292
Scenarios	p. 292
Case Study: Waste Management Case Reflects Murkiness of Insider-Trading Laws	p. 294
In Defense of Insider Trading	p. 300
Insider Trading: Immoral	p. 310
Corporate Takeovers	p. 318
Case Study: RJR Nabisco	p. 318
Leveraged Buyouts: America Pays the Price	p. 326
In Defense of Sharks: Moral Issues in Hostile Liquidating Takeovers	p. 332
Ethics and Accounting	p. 345
Case Study: Dilemma of a Accountant	p. 345
Accounting Ethics	p. 349
Select Bibliography	p. 363
Business and the Consumer	p. 365
Introduction	p. 365
Product Safety	p. 367
Case Study: Biss v. Tenneco Inc.	p. 367
Case Study: Austin v. Ford Motor Co.	p. 369
Strict Products Liability and Compensatory Justice	p. 371
Let's Restore Balance to Product Liability Law	p. 379
Product Safety: Who Should Absorb the Cost?	p. 389
Corporate Policy Statement	p. 394
Advertising	p. 396
Case Study: FTC v. Colgate-Palmolive Co.	p. 396
Case Study: FTC v. Sterling Drug Inc.	p. 399
Case Study: Toy Wars	p. 406
The Advertising Code of American Business	p. 411
Ethics and Advertising	p. 413
In Defense of Advertising	p. 420
Corporate Policy Statement	p. 430
Selling	p. 433
Case Study: Roger Hixon: Let the Buyer Beware	p. 433
A Moral Evaluation of Sales Practices	p. 439
Corporate Policy Statement	p. 452
Select Bibliography	p. 455
Business and the Environment	p. 457
Introduction	p. 457
Environmental Responsibility	p. 459
Case Study: High Tech Spills	p. 459
Case Study: Macklin Mining Company	p. 464
The Case for Economic Growth	p. 468
Ethics and Ecology	p. 474
Utilitarianism and the Environment	p. 481
Nonhuman Rights	p. 491
Case Study: Sierra Club v. Morton	p. 491
Should Trees Have Standing? - Toward Legal Rights for Natural Objects	p. 496
Only Humans Have Rights	p. 501
Select Bibliography	p. 505
Multinational Corporations	p. 507
Introduction	p. 507
Multinational Decision Making	p. 509
Case Study: Union Carbide and Bhopal	p. 509
Ethical Complexities Involving Multinational Corporations	p. 515
Multinational Decision Making: Reconciling International Norms	p. 518
International Marketing	p. 531
Case Study: Selling the Lockheed TriStar	p. 531
Ethics and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act	p. 538
Justifying the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act	p. 544
Corporate Policy Statements	p. 554
Select Bibliography	p. 556
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.