Week 2

BADM 537- Legal, Ethical, and Social Environment.

Reflection- Initial Post

Raeesa Potnis
University of the Cumberlands
1/12/2021
 This week’s reading dealt with Business Ethics and Social Responsibility. I found the

contents of the chapter and the real-life implications of business ethics to be very important to

my professional development. As an employee working in the corporate world of biotech, it is

crucial for me to understand the ethical and social responsibility that employees as well as

organizations as a whole, hold. In simple terms, learning business ethics means learning right

from wrong with regards to business conduct, in the workplace as it relates to effects of products

or services and in relationships with stakeholders. Good ethical practices can ensure that an

organization or employee build a respectable reputation. Having a code of ethics helps a

company define and maintain standards of acceptable behavior. A good ethical framework can

help guide the company through times of increased stress, such as rapid growth or organizational

change, and decreases the firm's susceptibility to misconduct. Some ethical requirements for

businesses are written in the law such as environmental regulations, employee minimum wages,

insider trading regulations, etc. Running a business with favorable ethical practices strengthens

citizenship behavior among employees and fosters bonds between upper management and

individuals. This can lead to stability and attract talent from the industry. Resolving ethical

dilemmas and dealing with confounding ethical situations in business, as they so often occur, is

an essential skill for a project manager to possess [ CITATION Jen18 \l 1033 ]. Social responsibility

for businesses comes under the umbrella of business ethics. When business interests conflict with

social interests, it is crucial for a business to choose what’s right over what’s profitable. Social

responsibility means that businesses, in addition to maximizing shareholder value, must act in a

manner that benefits society.

Response 1: In the context of the given situation, Marco Manager faces an ethical

dilemma of conflict of interest here. Marco Manager’s employee of five years who she has come
to know as a friend appears to be engaging in the crime of theft from the bank. In this case the

conflict of interest arises between Marco’s relationship to the employee as a manager versus a

friend and coworker. The employee has engaged in wrongdoing against the bank by committing

the crime of stealing. Since the theft is not proven and only assumed, the ethical dilemma facing

Marco in order to confront her friend is larger. This would portray a lack of trust between two

friends and between manager and employee. However, an employee taking unfair advantage of

their position for personal profitability is unethical and must be addressed.

Response 2: Each year, millions of financially vulnerable Americans take out high-cost,

predatory loans with interest rates so high that borrowers may never be able to pay them back.

As a result, many borrowers end up trapped in an unending cycle of debt [ CITATION Val15 \l

1033 ]. Upon examining the given case of Cash Right Now LLC, I believe that their practices are

unethical even if they aren’t illegal. This lending practice in order to gain profitability at high

interest rates seems to exploit the poor and low creditors. Predatory crediting practices are

unethical and profiting from the suffering of the poor is amoral.

References
Jennings, M. M. (2018). Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment. Boston, MA: Cengage.

Valenti, J. (2015, June 9). Responsible Credit Is an Economic and Moral Issue. Retrieved from Center for
American Progress:
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/economy/reports/2015/06/09/114562/responsible-
credit-is-an-economic-and-moral-issue/