The Asian economic crisis which began in July 1997 has led to many discussions regarding its genesis. A frequently mentioned cause of the crisis is the lack of transparency in Asia. Rather than arms-length transactions between independent parties, many commercial negotiations in the region are believed to be tinted with and tainted by political and other vested interests. Indeed, allegations of nepotism, corruption, crony capitalism, and collusion may have contributed to the downfall of Asian governments in Japan, Thailand, and Indonesia.
Besides strengthening their banking and financial sectors to address the crisis, Asian economies have been urged to do business in a cleaner and more ethical manner with better corporate governance. Towards this end, present and potential businesspeople and executives in Asia must be favorably predisposed towards a high level of corporate ethics and social responsibility. This poses a major challenge to the extent that even businesses in the West have been criticized for their limited adoption of CESR. Accentuating the difficulty is the fact that this commitment depends on the cultural, institutional, and organizational environments under which managers operate as well as their personal characteristics. Read more…
A very important and influential aspect of business is the way in which various enterprises execute their moral beliefs and incorporate them into their specific industry. The philosophical reflection upon this particular aspect of business is known as ethics, which has become an increasingly integral focus of society due to its recently discovered value. Since business is a commercial or industrial enterprise engaged in as a means of livelihood, strong ethics is especially vital because it is the conscious reflection on the integrity, credibility, and trustworthiness of that which is being assessed. Due to the highly competitive nature of today’s market, companies must maintain high moral integrity in order to survive especially since strength in ethical values have such a drastic effect on consumer ratings, which will inevitably effect reputation and business. In order for a company to remain successful, it must recognize its faults and improve on them constantly. When contemplating ethics in business, focus is placed upon; key issues that arise which must be recognized in business, the benefits of strong ethics compared to the consequences of ethical misdeeds, and perspectives of ethics in business in the form of benchmark figures.
The major concerns that arise in business are related to the effectiveness of compliance policies and the influence of the management, the ultimate focus of the company and its relation to ethics, and the relationship of employee loyalty and ethics. Compliance policies refers to the established standard of ethical conduct that employees within a company must always follow. Effective compliance policies maintain a level of ethicality that employees must meet in all aspects of their business, and the reason why these compliance policies are effective is due to their enforcement and the importance placed upon them by the management (Institute of Business Ethics 4). Read more…
The paper explores the question, of how businesses should weigh their obligations to the public and to shareholders?’ with reference to ethically questionable conduct of Telstra’s deceptive advertising. The paper argues that both public and shareholder interests are important to business. Business has a social responsibility to conduct its affairs as a good citizen and should be treated accordingly. Management’s role is to maintain the health of an organisation and balance the conflicting claims of multiple stakeholders (public & shareholders). This implies more than just adhering to the law, which does not produce instant justice or ethical behaviour but acting in accord with the common good. Therefore, the combined benefit or common good as defined in the Virtue Theory should be the criterion in which the measure business obligation to these two stakeholders.
It was reported in the Courier Mail that Telstra was forced to withdraw a Television advertisement, which deceptively passed off old footage of a Texas flood victim, portraying her as a victim of the Katherine flood disaster. The advertisement also used footage of real Katherine flood victims without their consent, which added to the surviving victims’ grief. Errol Simpler of the Australian purported that this case could be viewed as a barometer of the ethical and moral climate in the advertising and telecommunication industries.
Assessing the ethical and moral worth of this type of action in terms of Kantianism and Utilitarianism moral philosophies, leads to the conclusion that current standards are deficient. In business, Kantianism emphasises the importance of adhering to organisational ethics policies and/or adhering to both societal regulations and laws. Climates characterised by a high level of Kantianism are less likely to be associated with behaviour that is ethically questionable. Telstra’s actions have circumvented the three pillars of Kantianism; duty, universalisability and respect. Actions were not for public good but self-serving, and people were not respected or considered.
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