Business Ethics can be a very controversial and complex issue when examined in different instances. Rarely will a company collectively and knowingly continue on an unethical route, therefore unethical decisions are usually made by individuals. An example of an unethical decision is the fraudulence of the New York Times Magazine journalists Michael Finkel in 2002. This article, as well as the new feature film True Story, explain how Finkel created a fictional character out of the stories of several young labourers from an Ivory Coast cocoa plantation. Finkel is easily related to Jayson Blair (Former New York Times Journalist), who said, “I crossed the line in a small way to accomplish a small goal. But once I crossed that line I opened myself up to doing it again and again” in the article the slippery slope of getting away with small stuff. Obviously, due to their unethical actions, both of these men were terminated from their positions at the New York Times.
So what makes Michael Finkel’s action so unacceptable? From an external outlook you may feel that Finkel was actually trying create a positive influence or change in the lives of young labourers and thus conclude that he was justified ethically. However, as explained in Milton Friedman’s article, one must differentiate social responsibility from business responsibility. Yes, it can be tempting to act socially responsible, but to disregard the authenticity of your company in doing so is to betray your stakeholders. Furthermore it is unethical to selfishly make a decision like Finkels and jeopardize the reputation of your company, even if that decision is of ethical value.
second image http://static01.nyt.com/images/2013/04/18/business/media/18true-2/18true-2-blog427.jpg
