STUDENT NAME: ELISIA-MARTHA SHINEDHIMA

STUDENT #: 215083903

COURSE: Business Ethics

DUE DATE: 26 OCTOBER, 2020.

QUESTION: Assignment 1

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QUESTION 1

a) Negative rights
b) Immiseration
c) Declining Compensation
d) Distributive
e) Casuistry
f) Deontology
g) Utilitarians
h) Goodwill
i) Normative
j) Hard worker

QUESTION 2

2a) Actions can be evaluated in various respects. When we evaluate them from the moral point of view,
we can do this in two very different ways. We can consider them as morally right or wrong, but we can
also judge them morally good or bad. Both evaluations are logically independent of each other and a
clear distinction between the morally right and the morally good will do much to remove some of the
perplexities of our moral thought. This essay will discuss the ethical course of action that all parties in
the case of the trapped miners owing to a gas build up should have considered with specific focus on
steps that would have constituted ethical behaviour.

The first course of action that the parties involved in this case were supposed to take is moral sensitivity
which means recognizing the presence of an ethical issue. It the first step in ethical decision making
because we can’t solve a moral problem unless we first know that one exists. A great many moral
failures stem from ethical insensitivity. The actions of the Safety Directors to report the gas build up to
the mine manager was the right course of action and was the ethical thing to do, however the decision
by the mine manager to not take action on this ethical issue concerning the safety of the workers was
unethical and was not the right course of action. Moral Judgment failed to be applied in this case, for
instance once both the Safety Director and Mine Manager noticed the ethical problem, the course of
action selected to put profits ahead of employee safety was unethical and the wrong course of action,

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the right course of action was to close the mine temporarily for repairs and then once its safe call back
the miners to work, this course of action would have been the best ethical course of action.

After concluding what course of action is best in line with the danger of the mine collapsing due to the
gas build up, the mine manager should have be focused on his choices. However most times moral
values often conflict with other significant values. For instance the mine manager when he received the
danger analysis report from the Safety Director decided to put profits ahead of workers safety because
he was scared of losing his job due the financial loss of closing down the mine. In addition, once the
mine collapsed and miners were trapped, the manager choose to save millions for the company by not
using the most expensive method to rescue the miners instead used a cheaper, slow method that
ensured that the company does not lose money. This course of action was wrong and unethical too, the
workers’ live and safety should have been the priority thus spending millions to ensure their quick and
safe recovery should have been the adopted course of action, for this action was the ethical one and
also the right one.

2b) The safety Director did report the danger posed by the gas build-up to the mine manager, and this
would constitute a morally justified action, mainly because in the structure of the mine, his powers end
at reporting a problem to the relevant manager in case the mine manager. Thus we can say that
reporting the gas build-up to the mine manager is the action taken by the Safety Director makes that it
morally justifiable.

QUESTION 3

3 a)

Developing a code of ethics is important to begin the process of becoming an ethical business. This does
include the values and principles that the institution is based on, supported by management, and a code
of conduct to detail the responsibilities of an individual in an institution Having a specific set of values
and rules of the company are essential to the business’ moral code and will give employees a point of
reference. There are number of principles of business ethics, Alison Lloyd as first an employee of the
company and second as a member of the internal auditor’s institute as to uphold the principles for her
actions and decisions should be in line with these principles of business ethics failure to do so may end
her being fired from her work under unfair work practices and dismembered from the internal auditor’s
institute.

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The first business ethical principles that we shall discuss are compliance with the laws and
accountability. Compliance with the laws simply means that the actions or dealing of the company must
be in compliance with company law and other national laws, while accountability means that workers
and the company must be responsible for what is happening and what is being done. For example when
Allison discovered the irregular payments that were misdated her actions were bordered on upholding
compliance with the laws and accountability. Allison is ethically obligated to report these suspicious
misdated payments because they are against compliance with the laws as they involve fraudulent
activities which are also against the company’s social obligation and the interests of all stake holders.

Trust and honest; practice fair business practices are equally ethical business principles. Trust and
honest requires all employees to be honesty and trust worthy in their dealings, while fair business
practices require employees to not engage in illegal and deceitful activities in order to make profits. For
instance Gray Berg’s scheme is a clear violation of these principles because he is using illegal and
dishonest methods to make profit or meet his annual quotas so that he gets his bonus at the end of the
year. This behavior by Grey should be urgently reported by Allison for it is her ethical responsibility to be
impartial when making decisions and if not reported it could cost the company criminal proceedings
because it is illegal to misdate a payment under the company laws.

Due diligence, stake holders’ interests, justice and equality, and social obligation are also ethical
principals in business ethics. Due diligence refers to the employee’s ability to make sound decisions to
prevent any behavior that does that comply with the rules and regulations. On the other hand stake
holders’ interests refers to the fact that the actions of the employee must be in line with the interest of
the stake holders which includes, suppliers, buyers, the general public and the company shareholders
including the employees. While justice and equality means that all employees must be treated in an
equitable manner and social obligations refers to the fact that companies have a social obligation to the
community in which they operate thus their actions must be suitable or beneficial to the communities.
For example Allison’s choice to not report Grey and others is against the principles of due diligence,
stake holder’s interests and social obligation.