Ethics is an extremely important concept in the business world, however it is often overlooked. This neglect has caused thousands of small-scale issues, while also aided in the development of multibillion-dollar Ponzi schemes. As explained in “The Slippery Slope of Getting Away With the Small Stuff” by Bryan Borzykowski, many employers do not sufficiently outline the ethics standards within their company. This creates an environment in which employees can commit unethical acts. I believe that in order to help reduce the number of ethical indiscretions that a company or individual engages in, the managerial staff must outline and enforce the ethical standards with each employee.
In addition, reading the above article has forced me to take a closer look at Milton Friedman’s description of the “single social responsibility of a business – use it’s resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits so long as it stays within the rules of the game, which is to say, engages in open and free competition without deception or fraud.” I agree with the preceding statement, however based on my readings and class discussions, businessmen are much more focused on increasing their profits, rather than being as equally concerned with the latter part of the quotation. A company must always act ethically and fairly with their stakeholders to ensure that they are truly fulfilling their social responsibility.
References:
Borzykowski, Bryan. “The Slippery Slope of Getting Away with Small Stuff.” BBC Capital. BBC, 7 Aug. 2014. Web. 10 Sept. 2014. <http://www.bbc.com/capital/story/20140806-the-slippery-slope>.
Friedman, Milton. “The Social Responsibility of Business Is to Increase Its Profits.” Corporate Ethics and Corporate Governance. Springer, 2007. 173-178. ProQuest ebrary.
Classmate’s Blogs that I commented on:
https://blogs.ubc.ca/juneong/2014/09/09/cruelty-free-products-in-china-ethics/#comment-2
https://blogs.ubc.ca/kimlin/2014/09/10/how-not-to-run-a-company/#comment-2