WIKI Title: WIKI: Business Ethics

Description: WIKI that helps frame the course by defining and discussing Business Ethics.

What is Business Ethics?

Ethics is defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary as “rules of behavior based on ideas about what is
morally good or bad” (merriam-webster.com).

Each of us has an idea about what is right or wrong. For example, if you were alone in the classroom and
realized that your classmate left her bag, you would know it would be wrong to keep any of your classmate’s
valuables or to even just look at the bag. On the other hand, it would also be right to return your friend’s
bag with its valuables intact. The process of reflecting on the situation and acting on a guiding principle is an
application of ethics.

Jimmy, J. (2008, December 27). Arlo, stealing food again. In Arlo & Janis . Retrieved July 19, 2016.

Ethics is applied within a specific setting. In the comic above, Arlo has decided to steal from his wife Gene.
He has however, failed to act ethically and Gene reacts negatively to his decision. In this situation, his failure
to adopt the right ethic has happened in the role of being a good husband to his wife in the home.

Just as the guiding principle of realizing that stealing is wrong is present in the example of the student and
the lost bag, and between Arlo and his wife, ethics must be considered in the different roles, environments,
and encounters in life. The business community also has a code of ethics that keep people from doing what
is wrong and guide them in doing what is right. This is referred to as business ethics.

Why study Business Ethics?

In 2016, the CEO of pharmaceutical company Turing, Martin Shkreli, was called to a Congress hearing by the
US government. At that time, Congress was investigating Shkreli’s decision to raise a drug’s price from $13
(P611.45) to $750 (P35,000), making the drug outrageously expensive for people who needed it. Shkreli was
criticized for exploiting customers to maximize profit. Turing however, stated that the profits from sales
would go into doing research and development on a better version of the drug (​fortune.com​).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euLFAHkMXF4

"Turning Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli speaks to CBS News." YouTube. Raw Story, 22 Sept. 2015.
Web. 27 July 2016.

It is cases like this one that serve as a reminder that the actions of organizations and businessmen have a
significant impact not just on the bottom line of companies and the economic performance of a nation, but
also on the everyday lives of ordinary people and our environment. Below are some questions related to
corporate ethics that you can ask:

1. Is a company’s reputation important? Why or why not?

2. If a member of an organization fails to act ethically, is it the fault of the leadership or the fault of the
individual?
3. Should the government regulate how a corporation behaves, or should a corporation be expected to
act ethically without government regulation?
4. Is it wrong for a company to be motivated by profit?

Below are some examples of relevant issues that have to do with corporate ethics today:
1. Rappler: How Mining Continuously Rapes Nature
2. DMCI Homes says Torre de Manila, Rizal Monument can co-exist
3. Henares parting gift: biggest number of tax evasion cases in a day
4. What Went Before: The NBN-ZTE Deal

What does the application of Business Ethics Look like?

This ​video​ presents an ethical decision making scenario. Answer the questions after the video.

1. Do you agree with the person’s decision to report the actual number of appliances? Why or why
not?
2. Why should we follow the principles of ethical decision making?
3. Is it worth it to do the right thing even at the risk of being unpopular or of losing your job?
4. What other situations have you faced where you had to make decisions? What helped you decide
what to do in these situations?

How do I apply Business Ethics?

Try going through these case studies from the Santa Clara University ​website​. Use the questions asked in the
previous video to help you make a decision.

Guide Questions:

1. Is it the truth?
2. Is it fair to all?
3. Is it free from harm?
4. Am I proud to do it?

Time-sharing Space
Ramona is an intern at an up-and-coming power electronics startup. On her first day of work, she was
shown around a laboratory where she would complete most of her projects. During this time, she was also
introduced to nine male interns who would be sharing the same lab space. Since the lab could only
accommodate five interns at a time, a vote was held to determine who would work in the lab during the day
(e.g. 8am to 4pm) and who would work at night (e.g. 4pm to 12am) during certain days of the week. The
morning shift was a popular option for a majority of the interns; Ramona was fortunate to be selected for
four (out of five) morning shifts.

Weeks passed. Ramona had been enjoying her work and almost completed one of her projects. However,
one day, a fellow intern asked how she was doing. Ramona commented that she was “good but tired.” The
intern replied that Ramona had “no reason to be tired because [she was] working mostly day shifts.”
Ramona was offended, but chose to ignore his comment.

The next day, she ran into several interns, one of whom was the one she encountered the previous day. At
some point in group’s conversation, the same intern made a remark about how Ramona “always got her
way [in the workplace] because she was a girl.” Ramona was upset; however, because she did not want to
cause a scene, chose again to ignore his remark.

During the following weeks, Ramona tried to avoid the intern who made the inappropriate comments.
However, certain settings forced her to interact with him and, in those times, he made a point to make
Ramona feel guilty and trivial. Because she did not observe him behave condescendingly towards the other
interns, Ramona speculated that her colleague held a prejudice towards female engineers.

How should Ramona respond?

Tan, Jocelyn. "Time-Sharing Space." MARKKULA CENTER FOR APPLIED ETHICS. Santa Clara University, 26
Aug. 2015. Web. 24 July 2016.

The “Goodbye Fears Monster”

You might know (or remember) that some little kids find it difficult to fall asleep at night because of various
fears that prey on them in the quieter, darker pre-sleep environment. The “Goodbye Fears Monster,” a new
toy currently under development by the Metell toy company, is designed to respond to those fears. The
furry, teddy-bear-like “Goodbye Fears Monster” (we’ll refer to it as “GFM” for short) is soft, roly-poly, and
comes in a variety of colors; what makes it unique, however, are its interactive features. The toy is designed
to “listen” and respond to a child who speaks to it.

When a fearful child is about to go to sleep, he or she is supposed to press GFM’s belly button (which is,
actually, a button); that action turns on the toy’s microphone (which is hidden by its fur). The child is then
encouraged to tell the “monster” all of his or her fears. Once the child stops speaking, the monster replies,
“I will eat all of those fears! Nom nom nom. There. They’re gone. Are you worried about anything else?” The
process is supposed to repeat until the child says he or she has no more worries to detail. At that point,
GFM gently replies, “Well, then, now we can close our eyes and go to sleep in peace”—and turns off the
microphone.

The child’s statements are recorded, and all of the recordings are made available to the child’s parents (they
are sent directly to the child’s parents’ phones, via a companion app).

Marketing materials that accompany GFM tell prospective customers that

● the interactive toy will allow young children to express fears that they might not otherwise disclose
to anyone;
● reassured by their fears being “eaten” by the friendly toy, children might sleep better (which, of
course, would allow parents to sleep better, too);
● the recordings will give parents new insights into their child’s thinking.
The Metell company also promises to share the recordings (at no cost) with child psychology researchers, in
the hope that the data collected will promote the development of new therapies or other methods to
alleviate common childhood fears.

As part of the promotion of this new (rather expensive) toy, the toy makers propose to distribute free GFMs
to children living in homeless shelters.

What ethical issues do you spot in this scenario?

Raicu, Irina. "The "Goodbye Fears Monster"." MARKKULA CENTER FOR APPLIED ETHICS. Santa Clara
University, 15 Jan. 2016. Web. 24 July 2016.

Additional Resources

The Social Responsibility of Business

An insightful talk of why businesses should be socially responsible.

Why Corporations Fail to Do the Right Thing

A counterargument to social responsibility and the imperfections of our current understanding of it.

Volkswagen: The Scandal Explained

An in-depth look at VW’s false reporting that led to a loss of public trust in 2015.

Cited Resources

Cambridge Dictionary. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 July 2016.

Tonin, Piero. "Corporate Social Responsibility." Cartoon Stock. N.p., n.d. Web. 26 July 2016.
"Corporate Social Responsibility: The shape of a history, 1945 ​ 2004." Center for Ethical Business
Cultures. N.p., 2010. Web. 27 July 2016.
Bader, Christine. "Why Corporations Fail to Do the Right Thing." The Atlantic. N.p., 21 Apr. 2014. Web.
27 July 2016.
Hotten, Russell. "Volkswagen: The scandal explained." BBC. N.p., 10 Dec. 2015. Web. 27 July 2016.
"Better Starts Here." YouTube. Apple, 20 Apr. 2015. Web. 26 July 2016.
"Ayala Foundation 50th Anniversary Video (2011)." YouTube. Citrus Video Productions, 12 Nov. 2013. Web.
26 July 2016.
"Fair Trade: Improving Lives." YouTube. Fair Trade Certified, 9 June 2011. Web. 26 July 2016.
"What It's Like to be a Starbucks Partner." YouTube. Starbucks Coffee, 14 June 2012. Web. 26 July
2016.
"The social responsibility of business." YouTube. Ted X Talks, 9 July 2015. Web. 27 July 2016.