BUSINESS ETHICS ESSAY PLANNING DOCUMENT
STRAIGHT BUSINESS ETHICS QUESTION
The main purpose of business is to maximise profit- discuss (40)
Critically asses the view that ‘hypocritical window dressing’ covers the greed of a company intent
on making profit (40)
Asses the view that globalisation has not had a positive impact on business practice (40)
‘Good ethics is good business’ (40)
APPLIED BUSINESS ETHICS QUESTIONS
To what extent is Kantian ethics a useful approach to issues surrounding business (40)
Utilitarianism is the best approach to business ethics- Discuss (40)
, STRAIGHT BUSINESS ETHICS QUESTION
CRITICALLY ASSES THE VIEW THAT ‘HYPOCRITICAL WINDOW DRESSING’ COVERS THE GREED OF A
COMPANY INTENT ON MAKING PROFIT (40)
INTRO:
What is HWD- making people think the company is ethical and portraying a good image to the consumer
- Can often be a weaknesses of corporate social responsibility, as the company has a responsibility
to people and the environment- raises questions around are businesses pretending to be all
charitable and ethical to make profit or are they doing it for good reasons
My thesis = businesses have to be focused on making profit, otherwise they would fail to work
- Hypocritical window dressing does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, even if the company is
doing it for the wrong reasons, they are still making steps to becoming more ethical (just not
moral)
- It becomes a problem if the company is putting people at risk or committing crime
- So- yes it does normally cover the greed of a company- but this is not always a bad thing
PARA 1: what does it mean for a company to be intent on making profit and is it a bad thing
For
- A companies intent on making profit is not necessarily a bad thing, companies have to be driven
by profit in order to thrive, otherwise they will fail
Against
- This has been taken too far
- People such as Adam Smith and Milton Friedman who suggest that a company should make as
much profit as possible, and it is the only thing that matters- this is too far and can be seen as
greedy
- There needs to be a balance between making profit and being ethical + focused on other things
For
- Seen by Rawls, who argued a company must include employees and stakeholders as well as
focusing on profit- this is a far more ethical approach- as it takes into consideration the
importance of profit as well as looking out for the people involved
- By focusing on the ethical actions the company prevents danger that comes with just focusing on
profit
- One way in which companies are able to increase their profit is by appealing to sustainability- as
long as they are following this way of thinking, HWD can be accepted and it is not covering greed
but rather a clever marketing strategy- greed develops when it is taken further
, PARA 2: CSR (employee and consumer)
A way in which companies go beyond profit is through corporate social responsibility to their employees
and consumers
- Moving beyond what is legal towards what is moral
Against
- Companies may go beyond minimum wage and pension contributions- but what if they are doing
this just to make more for it, it leads to less staff sickness and lateness if staff are treated better,
which good signal towards greed of a company
- Example: John Lewis- when a person becomes an employee at john lewis they become a
‘partner’ they also get an annual bonus
- Could be seen as window dressing and a way to make more money
But
- Does it matter why the company is doing this, it might be for the wrong reasons but they are still
treating their staff well, does it matter where the intentions lie if they are going through with it
- It is less about greed and more about clever business strategy- by treating their staff better they
are able to make more profit- this is ethical no matter what the moral intention is
Against
- When HWD starts to get dangerous and can only reflect the greed of the company
- Ford Pinto- legal but unethical with no regard to the consumer (not moral)- they knew there was
a serious design fault with the fuel tank- it would explode if someone went into the back of it
- Cost benefit analysis- weighted up the cost of recalling the car against the amount of people who
would have the problem- and it was cheaper not to say anything
- Led to 180 deaths
- £49 million in injury but it would have costed £137 million to recall the car
- In this way HWD is not only a company covering their greed but it can become extremely
dangerous
- In cases such as these it is clear
So
- In small cases where the company is trying to improve their image to increase of profit and are
actually doing good as a result- HDW is not a reflection of greed
- But there are severe cases where companies such as ford put peoples lives at risk in order to
maintain profit- that is where HWD becomes dangerous- serious ethical and moral issues
STRAIGHT BUSINESS ETHICS QUESTION
The main purpose of business is to maximise profit- discuss (40)
Critically asses the view that ‘hypocritical window dressing’ covers the greed of a company intent
on making profit (40)
Asses the view that globalisation has not had a positive impact on business practice (40)
‘Good ethics is good business’ (40)
APPLIED BUSINESS ETHICS QUESTIONS
To what extent is Kantian ethics a useful approach to issues surrounding business (40)
Utilitarianism is the best approach to business ethics- Discuss (40)
, STRAIGHT BUSINESS ETHICS QUESTION
CRITICALLY ASSES THE VIEW THAT ‘HYPOCRITICAL WINDOW DRESSING’ COVERS THE GREED OF A
COMPANY INTENT ON MAKING PROFIT (40)
INTRO:
What is HWD- making people think the company is ethical and portraying a good image to the consumer
- Can often be a weaknesses of corporate social responsibility, as the company has a responsibility
to people and the environment- raises questions around are businesses pretending to be all
charitable and ethical to make profit or are they doing it for good reasons
My thesis = businesses have to be focused on making profit, otherwise they would fail to work
- Hypocritical window dressing does not necessarily have to be a bad thing, even if the company is
doing it for the wrong reasons, they are still making steps to becoming more ethical (just not
moral)
- It becomes a problem if the company is putting people at risk or committing crime
- So- yes it does normally cover the greed of a company- but this is not always a bad thing
PARA 1: what does it mean for a company to be intent on making profit and is it a bad thing
For
- A companies intent on making profit is not necessarily a bad thing, companies have to be driven
by profit in order to thrive, otherwise they will fail
Against
- This has been taken too far
- People such as Adam Smith and Milton Friedman who suggest that a company should make as
much profit as possible, and it is the only thing that matters- this is too far and can be seen as
greedy
- There needs to be a balance between making profit and being ethical + focused on other things
For
- Seen by Rawls, who argued a company must include employees and stakeholders as well as
focusing on profit- this is a far more ethical approach- as it takes into consideration the
importance of profit as well as looking out for the people involved
- By focusing on the ethical actions the company prevents danger that comes with just focusing on
profit
- One way in which companies are able to increase their profit is by appealing to sustainability- as
long as they are following this way of thinking, HWD can be accepted and it is not covering greed
but rather a clever marketing strategy- greed develops when it is taken further
, PARA 2: CSR (employee and consumer)
A way in which companies go beyond profit is through corporate social responsibility to their employees
and consumers
- Moving beyond what is legal towards what is moral
Against
- Companies may go beyond minimum wage and pension contributions- but what if they are doing
this just to make more for it, it leads to less staff sickness and lateness if staff are treated better,
which good signal towards greed of a company
- Example: John Lewis- when a person becomes an employee at john lewis they become a
‘partner’ they also get an annual bonus
- Could be seen as window dressing and a way to make more money
But
- Does it matter why the company is doing this, it might be for the wrong reasons but they are still
treating their staff well, does it matter where the intentions lie if they are going through with it
- It is less about greed and more about clever business strategy- by treating their staff better they
are able to make more profit- this is ethical no matter what the moral intention is
Against
- When HWD starts to get dangerous and can only reflect the greed of the company
- Ford Pinto- legal but unethical with no regard to the consumer (not moral)- they knew there was
a serious design fault with the fuel tank- it would explode if someone went into the back of it
- Cost benefit analysis- weighted up the cost of recalling the car against the amount of people who
would have the problem- and it was cheaper not to say anything
- Led to 180 deaths
- £49 million in injury but it would have costed £137 million to recall the car
- In this way HWD is not only a company covering their greed but it can become extremely
dangerous
- In cases such as these it is clear
So
- In small cases where the company is trying to improve their image to increase of profit and are
actually doing good as a result- HDW is not a reflection of greed
- But there are severe cases where companies such as ford put peoples lives at risk in order to
maintain profit- that is where HWD becomes dangerous- serious ethical and moral issues
