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BUSINESS ETHICS Ethical Decision Making and Cases

8TH EDITION

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O. C. Ferrell University of New Mexico

John Fraedrich Southern Illinois University—Carbondale

Linda Ferrell University of New Mexico

BUSINESS ETHICS Ethical Decision Making and Cases

8TH EDITION

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© 2011, 2008 South-Western, Cengage Learning

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Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making & Cases, 8th Edition

O.C. Ferrell, John Fraedrich and Linda Ferrell

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Printed in the United States of America 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 13 12 11 10 09

To Anita and Robert Chandler. — O.C. Ferrell

To Brett Pierce Nafziger. — Linda Ferrell

To my parents, Bernice and Gerhard and my grandchildren Emma, Matthew, and Hyrum.

— John Fraedrich

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PART : An Overview of Business Ethics 1 . The Importance of

Business Ethics 2 . Stakeholder Relationships,

Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance 28

PART : Ethical Issues and the Institutionalization of Business Ethics 55 . Emerging Business Ethics Issues 56 . The Institutionalization of

Business Ethics 90

PART : The Decision Making Process 125 . Ethical Decision Making and

Ethical Leadership 126 . Individual Factors: Moral

Philosophies and Values 148 . Organizational Factors:

The Role of Ethical Culture and Relationships 178

PART : Implementing Business Ethics in a Global Economy 213 . Developing an Effective

Ethics Program 214 . Implementing and Auditing

Ethics Programs 240 . Globalization of Ethical

Decision Making 270

PART : Cases 300 . Monsanto Attempts to Balance

Stakeholder Interests 302 . Wal-Mart: The Future Is Sustainability 314 . The American Red Cross 327 . Countrywide Financial: The Subprime Meltdown 338 . Arthur Andersen: Questionable

Accounting Practices 348 . Coping with Financial and Ethical Risks at

American International Group (AIG) 357 . Starbucks’ Mission: Social Responsibility

and Brand Strength 367 . The Fraud of the Century: The Case

of Bernard Madoff 375 . NIKE: Managing Ethical

Missteps—Sweatshops to Leadership in Employment Practices 386

. Banking Industry Meltdown: The Ethical and Financial Risks of Derivatives 397

. The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises 407

. Enron: Questionable Accounting Leads to Collapse 419 . BP (Beyond Petroleum) Focuses on Sustainability 431 . Tyco International: Leadership Crisis 440 . Mattel Responds to Ethical Challenges 448 . PETCO Develops Successful Stakeholder

Relationships 458 . Home Depot Implements Stakeholder Orientation 466 . New Belgium Brewing: Ethical and

Environmental Responsibility 476

Notes 486 • Index 501

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Part 1: An Overview of Business Ethics 1 Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 2 Chapter Objectives, 3 • Chapter Outline, 3

An Ethical Dilemma 3

Business Ethics Defined 7 Why Study Business Ethics? 8

A Crisis in Business Ethics, 8 • The Reasons for Studying Business Ethics, 10

The Development Of Business Ethics 11 Before 1960: Ethics in Business, 11 • The 1960s: The Rise of Social Issues in Business, 12 • The 1970s: Business Ethics as an Emerging Field, 13 • The 1980s: Consolidation, 13 • The 1990s: Institutionalization of Business Ethics, 14 • The Twenty-First Century: A New Focus on Business Ethics, 15

Developing An Organizational And Global Ethical Culture 16 The Benefits Of Business Ethics 17

Ethics Contribute to Employee Commitment, 18 • Ethics Contribute to Investor Loyalty, 19 • Ethics Contribute to Customer Satisfaction, 20 • Ethics Contribute to Profits, 21

Our Framework For Studying Business Ethics 22 Summary 24 Important Terms For Review, 26 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 26 • Check Your EQ, 27

Chapter 2: Stakeholder Relationships, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance 28 Chapter Objectives, 29 • Chapter Outline, 29

An Ethical Dilemma 29

Stakeholders Define Ethical Issues In Business 31 Identifying Stakeholders, 33 • A Stakeholder Orientation, 34

Social Responsibility And The Importance Of A Stakeholder Orientation 37 Social Responsibility And Ethics 38 Corporate Governance Provides Formalized Responsibility To Stakeholders 41

Views of Corporate Governance, 43 • The Role of Boards of Directors, 44

Implementing A Stakeholder Perspective 47 Step 1: Assessing the Corporate Culture, 47 • Step 2: Identifying Stakeholder Groups, 47 • Step 3: Identifying Stakeholder Issues, 48 • Step 4: Assessing Organizational Commitment to Social Responsibility, 48 • Step 5: Identifying Resources and Determining Urgency, 49 • Step 6: Gaining Stakeholder Feedback, 49

Summary 49 Important Terms For Review, 51 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 51 • Check your EQ, 53

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Contents ix

Part 2: Ethical Issues and the Institutionalization of Business Ethics 55 Chapter 3: Emerging Business Ethics Issues 56 Chapter Objectives, 57 • Chapter Outline, 57

An Ethical Dilemma 57

Recognizing An Ethical Issue 60 Honesty, 62 • Fairness, 63 • Integrity, 63

Ethical Issues And Dilemmas In Business 64 Abusive or Intimidating Behavior, 64 • Lying, 67 • Conflicts of Interest, 68 • Bribery, 68 • Corporate Intelligence, 69 • Discrimination, 70 • Sexual Harassment, 72 • Environmental Issues, 74 • Fraud, 76 • Consumer Fraud, 79 • Financial Misconduct, 80 • Insider Trading, 81 • Intellectual Property Rights, 81 • Privacy Issues, 82

The Challenge Of Determining An Ethical Issue In Business 84 Summary 85 Important terms for review, 86 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 87 • Check your EQ, 89

Chapter 4: The Institutionalization of Business Ethics 90 Chapter Objectives, 91 • Chapter Outline, 91

An Ethical Dilemma 91

Managing Ethical Risk Through Mandated And Voluntary Programs 93 Mandated Requirements For Legal Compliance 95

Laws Regulating Competition, 97 • Laws Protecting Consumers, 98 • Laws Promoting Equity and Safety, 101 • Laws Protecting the Environment, 102

Gatekeepers and Stakeholders 105 Accountants, 106 • Risk Assessment, 106

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act 107 Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, 109 • Conflicts of Interest: Auditor and Analyst Independence, 110 • Enhanced Financial Disclosures, 110 • Whistle-Blower Protection, 110 • Corporate and Criminal Fraud Accountability, 111 • Cost of Compliance, 111

Laws That Encourage Ethical Conduct 112 Federal Sentencing Guidelines For Organizations 113 Highly Appropriate Core Practices 116

Philanthropic Contributions, 117 • Strategic Philanthropy, 118

SUMMARY 119 Important terms for review, 120 • resolving ethical business challenges, 120 • Check your EQ, 123

Part 3: The Decision Making Process 125 Chapter 5: Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Leadership 126 Chapter Objectives, 127 • Chapter Outline, 127

An Ethical Dilemma 127

A Framework for Ethical Decision Making in Business 128

Ethical Issue Intensity, 129 • Individual Factors, 130 • Organizational Factors, 132 • Opportunity, 133 • Business Ethics Evaluations and Intentions, 135

Using the Ethical Decision Making Framework to Improve Ethical Decisions 136 The Role of Leadership in a Corporate Culture 137 Leadership Styles Influence Ethical Decisions 138 Habits of Strong Ethical Leaders 140

Ethical Leaders Have Strong Personal Character, 141 • Ethical Leaders Have a Passion to Do Right, 141 • Ethical Leaders Are Proactive, 141 • Ethical Leaders Consider Stakeholders’ Interests, 142 • Ethical Leaders Are Role Models for the Organization’s Values, 142 • Ethical Leaders Are Transparent and Actively Involved in Organizational Decision Making, 143 • Ethical Leaders Are Competent Managers Who Take a Holistic View of the Firm’s Ethical Culture, 143

Summary 144 Important Terms for Review, 145 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 145 • Check your EQ, 147

x Contents

Chapter 6: Individual Factors: Moral Philosophies and Values 148 Chapter Objectives, 149 • Chapter Outline, 149

An Ethical Dilemma 149

Moral Philosophy Defined 151 Moral Philosophies 152

Goodness—Instrumental and Intrinsic, 154 • Teleology, 155 • Deontology, 158 • Relativist Perspective, 160 • Virtue Ethics, 161 • Justice, 163

Applying Moral Philosophy to Ethical Decision Making 164 Cognitive Moral Development 166 White-Collar Crime 168 The Role of Individual Factors in Business Ethics 172 Summary 172 Important terms for review, 174 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 175 • Check your EQ, 177

Chapter 7: Organizational Factors: The Role of Ethical Culture and Relationships 178 Chapter Objectives, 179 • Chapter Outline, 179

An Ethical Dilemma 179

Defining Corporate Culture 181 The Role of Corporate Culture in Ethical Decision Making 183

Ethical Frameworks and Evaluations of Corporate Culture, 184 • Ethics as a Component of Corporate Culture, 186 • Compliance versus Value-based Ethical Cultures, 188 • Differential Association, 190 • Whistle-Blowing, 191

Leaders Influence Corporate Culture 194 Reward Power, 194 • Coercive Power, 195 • Legitimate Power, 195 • Expert Power, 196 • Referent Power, 196

Motivating Ethical Behavior 197 Organizational Structure and Business Ethics 198 Group Dimensions of Corporate Structure and Culture 201

Types of Groups, 201 • Group Norms, 204 Variation in Employee Conduct 204

Can People Control Their Own Actions Within a Corporate Culture? 206 Summary 208 Important terms for review, 209 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 210 • Check your EQ, 211

Part 4: Implementing Business Ethics in a Global Economy 213 Chapter 8: Developing an Effective Ethics Program 214 Chapter Objectives, 215 • Chapter Outline, 215

An Ethical Dilemma 215

The Responsibility of the Corporation as a Moral Agent 217 The Need for Organizational Ethics Programs 219 An Effective Ethics Program 221

An Ethics Program Can Help Avoid Legal Problems, 222 • Values versus Compliance Programs, 224

Codes of Conduct 224 Ethics Officers 227 Ethics Training and Communication 228 Systems to Monitor and Enforce Ethical Standards 230

Continuous Improvement of the Ethics Program, 232 • Common Mistakes in Designing and Implementing an Ethics Program, 233

Summary 235 Important Terms for Review, 236 • resolving ethical Business Challenges, 237 • Check your EQ, 239

Chapter 9: Implementing and Auditing Ethics Programs 240 Chapter Objectives, 241 • Chapter Outline, 241

An Ethical Dilemma 241

The Ethics Audit 243 Benefits of Ethics Auditing 244

Ethical Crisis Management and Recovery, 246 • Challenges of Measuring Nonfinancial Performance, 248 • Risks and Requirements in Ethics Auditing, 251

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The Auditing Process 252 Secure Commitment of Top Managers and Board of Directors, 253 • Establish a Committee to Oversee the Ethics Audit, 254 • Define the Scope of the Audit Process, 255 • Review Organizational Mission, Values, Goals, and Policies and Define Ethical Priorities, 255 • Collect and Analyze Relevant Information, 257 • Verify the Results, 261 • Report the Findings , 262

The Strategic Importance of Ethics Auditing 262 Summary 265 Important Terms for Review, 267 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 267 • Check your EQ, 269

Chapter 10: Globalization of Ethical Decision Making 270 Chapter Objectives, 271 • Chapter Outline, 271

An Ethical Dilemma 271

Capitalism, Economics, and Business Ethics 273 Common Values, Goals, and Business Practices 278 Global Business Practices 281

Consumerism, 284 • Human Rights, 286 • Health Care, 288 • Labor, 288

Sustainable Development 290 International Monetary Fund (IMF) 291 World Trade Organization (WTO) 292 The Multinational Corporation (MNC) 293 Summary 296 Important Terms for Review, 297 • Resolving Ethical Business Challenges, 297 • Check your EQ, 299

Part 5: Cases 300 Case 1: Monsanto Attempts to Balance Stakeholder Interests 302

Case 2: Wal-Mart: The Future Is Sustainability 314

Case 3: The American Red Cross 327

Case 4: Countrywide Financial: The Subprime Meltdown 338

Case 5: Arthur Andersen: Questionable Accounting Practices 348

Case 6: Coping with Financial and Ethical Risks at American International Group (AIG) 357

Case 7: Starbucks’ Mission: Social Responsibility and Brand Strength 367

Case 8: The Fraud of the Century: The Case of Bernard Madoff 375

Case 9: NIKE: Managing Ethical Missteps—Sweatshops to Leadership in Employment Practices 386

Case 10: Banking Industry Meltdown: The Ethical and Financial Risks of Derivatives 397

Case 11: The Coca-Cola Company Struggles with Ethical Crises 407

Case 12: Enron: Questionable Accounting Leads to Collapse 419

Case 13: BP (Beyond Petroleum) Focuses on Sustainability 431

Case 14: Tyco International: Leadership Crisis 440

Case 15: Responds to Ethical Challenges 448

Case 16: PETCO Develops Successful Stakeholder Relationships 458

Case 17: Home Depot Implements Stakeholder Orientation 466

Case 18: New Belgium Brewing: Ethical and Environmental Responsibility 476

Notes 486 Index 501

Twenty years ago, the first edition of Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases became the first textbook to use a managerial framework to teach business ethics. The Eighth Edition builds on this record of success and provides an enhanced teaching package to help teach the fastest-growing business course in the last two decades. In all higher education institutions there are three times as many courses in business ethics than there were in 1990. This dramatic increase has occurred as a result of stakeholder concerns about ethical conduct and public policy to encourage corporate ethics programs. No longer is ethics considered merely an independent personal decision; rather, managers are held responsible both within and outside their company for building an ethical organizational culture. As the market leader with over 550 institutions using our book, we are working to keep you, the instructor, up to date on the ever-changing issues and research within business ethics.

The Eighth Edition continues to change the way business ethics is taught and reflects the issues, challenges, and opportunities students will face in managing ethics in any organization. While we base each chapter on ethical frameworks and research from the academic community, we also include knowledge and best practices from business and public policy decisions from governments and international entities. This real-world approach to business ethics helps prepare students to face ethical challenges in business, and develop an ability to make ethical decisions in our global economy.

The past decade has seen the demise of many corporations, and some industries, that failed to appropriately incorporate ethics into their decision making processes. In

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the first few years of the twenty-first century, we saw the failure of Enron, Worldcom, and many other firms that engaged in deception, fraud, and misconduct. The focus was on excessive risk-taking. Public policy in the form of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO) amendments was developed to prevent future misconduct. Only five years after these events, the financial industry pushed the global economy into the deepest recession in 80 years. It was discovered that excessive risk-taking, misconduct, and the failure to address stakeholders’ interests were again to blame. These factors contributed to the downfall of many financial institutions, including Lehman Brothers, Bears Stearns, Countrywide Financial, Merrill Lynch, and Washington Mutual. Without a government rescue, many large banks would have failed. All these events increased regulations and laws encouraging organizations to develop programs that improve ethical conduct and prevent misconduct.

Using a managerial framework, we explain how ethics can be integrated into strategic business decisions. This framework provides an overview of the concepts, processes, mandatory, core, and voluntary business practices associated with successful business ethics programs. Some approaches to business ethics are excellent as exercises in intellectual reasoning, but they cannot deal with the many actual issues and considerations that people in business organizations face. Our approach prepares students for the real ethical issues and dilemmas that they will face in their business careers.

We have been diligent in this revision to provide the most relevant examples of how the lack of business ethics has challenged our economic viability and entangled countries and companies around the world. This book remains the market leader because it addresses the complex environment of ethical decision making in organizations and pragmatic, actual business concerns. Every individual has unique personal principles and values, and every organization has its own set of values, rules, and organizational ethical culture. Business ethics must consider the organizational culture and interdependent relationships between the individual and other significant persons involved in organizational decision making. Without effective guidance, a businessperson cannot make ethical decisions while facing a short-term orientation, feeling organizational pressure to perform well and seeing rewards based on outcomes in a challenging competitive environment.

Employees cannot make the best, most ethical decisions in a vacuum devoid of the influence of organizational codes, policies, and culture. Most employees and all managers are responsible not only for their own ethical conduct, but for the conduct of coworkers and those who they supervise. Therefore, teaching business ethics as an exercise in independent and group decision making helps to acknowledge key influences upon (un)ethical conduct of coworkers and managers. Employees must be taught how to recognize and when to

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report and address ethical issues in the workplace. Students must also learn how to “fit in” the ethical culture of their organization and be responsible for their own decisions while upholding the ethical standards of the organization. In this edition we help readers understand that in an organizational environment, their values are weighted differently from actions taken outside the business world. Profit is one element that distinguishes business versus nonbusiness decisions.

By focusing on the issues and organizational environments, this book provides students the opportunity to see the roles and responsibilities they will face in business. The past decade has reinforced that business ethics is not a “fad” but a prevailing set of risks that organizations face on an ongoing basis, and organizations are now demanding better, more informed employees. Governments, universities, and colleges now understand that the ethical decision process must be taught.

Our primary goal has always been to enhance the awareness and the ethical decision making skills that students will need to make business ethics decisions that contribute to responsible business conduct. By focusing on these concerns and issues of today’s challenging business environment, we demonstrate that the study of business ethics is imperative to the long-term well-being of not only businesses, but also our economic system.

PHILOSOPHY OF THIS TEXT Business ethics in organizations requires principle-based leadership from top management and purposeful actions that include planning and implementation of standards of

appropriate conduct, as well as openness and continuous effort to improve the organization’s ethical performance. Although personal values are important in ethical decision making, they are just one of the components that guide the decisions, actions, and policies of organizations. The burden of ethical behavior relates to the organization’s values and traditions, not just to the individuals who make the decisions and carry them out. A firm’s ability to plan and implement ethical business standards depends in part on structuring resources and activities to achieve ethical objectives in an effective and efficient manner.

The purpose of this book is to help students improve their ability to make ethical decisions in business by providing them with a framework that they can use to identify, analyze, and resolve ethical issues in business decision making. Individual values and ethics are important in this process. By studying business ethics, students begin to understand how to cope with conflicts between their personal values and those of the organization.

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Many ethical decisions in business are close calls. It often takes years of experience in a particular industry to know what is acceptable. We do not, in this book, provide ethical answers but instead attempt to prepare students to make informed ethical decisions. First, we do not moralize by indicating what to do in a specific situation. Second, although we provide an overview of moral philosophies and decision making processes, we do not prescribe any one philosophy or process as best or most ethical. Third, by itself, this book will not make students more ethical nor will it tell them how to judge the ethical behavior of others. Rather, its goal is to help students understand and use their current values and convictions in making business decisions and to encourage everyone to think about the effects of their decisions on business and society.

Many people believe that business ethics cannot be taught. Although we do not claim to teach ethics, we suggest that by studying business ethics a person can improve ethical decision making by identifying ethical issues and recognizing the approaches available to resolve them. An organization’s reward system can reinforce appropriate behavior and help shape attitudes and beliefs about important issues. For example, the success of some campaigns to end racial or gender discrimination in the workplace provides evidence that attitudes and behavior can be changed with new information, awareness, and shared values.

CONTENT AND ORGANIZATION In writing Business Ethics, Eighth Edition, we strived to be as informative, complete, accessible, and up to date as possible. Instead of focusing on one area of ethics, such as moral philosophy or social responsibility, we provide balanced coverage of all areas relevant to the current development and practice of ethical decision making. In short, we have tried to keep pace with new developments and current thinking in teaching and practices.

The first half of the text consists of ten chapters, which provide a framework to identify, analyze, and understand how businesspeople make ethical decisions and deal with ethical issues. Several enhancements have been made to chapter content for this edition. Some of the most important are listed in the next paragraphs.

Part One, “An Overview of Business Ethics,” includes two chapters that help provide a broader context for the study of business ethics. Chapter 1, “The Importance of Business Ethics,” has been revised with many new examples and survey results to describe issues and concerns important to business ethics. Chapter 2, “Stakeholder Relationships, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance,” has been significantly reorganized and updated with new examples and issues. This chapter was reorganized and expanded to develop an overall framework for the text.

Part Two, “Ethical Issues and the Institutionalization of Business Ethics,” consists of two chapters that provide the background that students need to identify ethical issues and understand how society, through the legal system, has attempted to hold organizations responsible for managing these issues. Chapter 3, “Emerging Business Ethics Issues,” has been significantly reorganized and updated and provides expanded coverage of business ethics issues. Reviewers requested more detail on key issues that create ethical decisions. Within this edition, we have increased the depth of ethical issues and have updated the following new issues: abusive and intimidating behavior, lying, bribery, corporate

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intelligence, environmental issues, intellectual property rights, and privacy. Chapter 4, “The Institutionalization of Business Ethics” examines key elements of core or best practices in corporate America today along with legislation and regulation requirements that support business ethics initiatives. The chapter is divided into three main areas: voluntary, mandated,

and core boundaries.

Part Three, “The Decision Making Process” consists of three chapters, which provide a framework to identify, analyze, and understand how businesspeople make ethical decisions and deal with ethical issues. Chapter 5, “Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Leadership,” has been revised and updated to reflect current research and understanding of ethical decision making and contains a new section on ethical leadership. Chapter 6, “Individual Factors: Moral Philosophies and Values,” has been updated and revised to explore the role of moral philosophies and moral development as individual factors in the ethical decision making process. This chapter now includes a new section on white- collar crime. Chapter 7, “Organizational Factors: The Role of Ethical Culture and Relationships,” considers organizational influences on business decisions, such as role relationships, differential association, and other organizational pressures, as well as whistle-blowing.

Part Four, “Implementing Business Ethics in a Global Economy,” looks at specific measures that companies can take to build an effective ethics program, as well as how these programs may be affected by global issues. Chapter 8, “Developing an Effective Ethics Program,” has been refined and updated with corporate best practices for developing effective ethics programs. Chapter 9, “Implementing and Auditing Ethics Programs,” offers a framework for auditing ethics initiatives as well as the importance of doing so. Such audits can help companies pinpoint problem areas, measure their progress in improving conduct, and even provide a “debriefing” opportunity after a crisis. Finally, Chapter 10, “Globalization of Ethical Decision Making” is completely revised to reflect the complex and dynamic events that almost caused a global depression. This chapter will help students understand the major issues involved in making decisions in a global environment.

Part Five consists of eighteen cases that bring reality into the learning process. Nine of these cases are new to the eighth edition, and the remaining nine have been revised and updated. The companies and situations portrayed in these cases are real; names and other facts are not disguised; and all cases include developments up to the end of 2009. By reading and analyzing these cases, students can gain insight into ethical decisions and the realities of making decisions in complex situations.

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Part Four “I l ti B i Ethi

P A R T 3 The Decision Making Process

Chapter 5: Ethical Decision Making and Ethical Leadership 126

Chapter 6: Individual Factors: Moral Philosophies and Values 148

Chapter 7: Organizational Factors: The Role of Ethical Culture and Relationships 178

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TEXT FEATURES Many tools are available in this text to help both students and instructors in the quest to improve students’ ability to make ethical business decisions.

• Each chapter opens with an outline and a list of learning objectives.

• Immediately following is “An Ethical Dilemma” that should provoke discussion about ethical issues related to the chapter. The short vignette describes a hypothetical incident involving an ethical conflict. Questions at the end of the “Ethical Dilemma” section focus discussion on how the dilemma could be resolved.

• At the end of each chapter are a chapter summary and an important terms list, both of which are handy tools for review. Also included at the end of each chapter is a “Resolving Ethical Business Challenges” section. The vignette describes a realistic drama that helps students experience the process of ethical decision making. The “Resolving Ethical Business Challenges” minicases presented in this text are hypothetical; any resemblance to real persons, companies, or situations is coincidental. Keep in mind that there are no right or wrong solutions to the minicases. The ethical dilemmas and real-life situations provide an opportunity for students to use concepts in the chapter to resolve ethical issues.

• Each chapter concludes with a series of questions that allow students to test their EQ (Ethics Quotient).

• Cases. In Part Five, following each real-world case are questions to guide students in recognizing and resolving ethical issues. For some cases, students can conduct additional research to determine recent developments because many ethical issues in companies take years to resolve.

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EFFECTIVE TOOLS FOR TEACHING AND LEARNING

Instructor’s Resource Manual. The Instructor’s Resource Manual contains a wealth of information. Teaching notes for every chapter include a brief chapter summary, detailed lecture outline, and notes for using the “Ethical Dilemma” and “Resolving Ethical Business Challenges” sections. Detailed case notes point out the key issues involved and offer suggested answers to the questions. A separate section provides guidelines for using case analysis in teaching business ethics. Detailed notes are provided to guide the instructor in analyzing or grading the cases. Simulation role-play cases, as well as implementation suggestions, are included. For others involved in attempting to simulate more of the actual constructs students will face in their business careers we suggest accessing http://www .businessreality.org/.

Role-Play Cases. The Eighth Edition provides six behavioral simulation role-play cases developed for use in the business ethics course. The role-play cases and implementation methods can be found in the Instructor’s Resource Manual and on the website. Role-play cases may be used as a culminating experience to help students integrate concepts covered in the text. Alternatively, the cases may be used as an ongoing exercise to provide students with extensive opportunities for interacting and making ethical decisions.

Role-play cases simulate a complex, realistic, and timely business ethics situation. Students form teams and make decisions based on an assigned role. The role-play case complements and enhances traditional approaches to business learning experiences because it (1) gives students the opportunity to practice making decisions that have business ethics consequences; (2) re-creates the power, pressures, and information that affect decision making at various levels of management; (3) provides students with a team-based experience that enriches their skills and understanding of group processes and dynamics; and (4) uses a feedback period to allow for the exploration of complex and controversial issues in business ethics decision making. The role-play cases can be used with classes of any size.

Test Bank and Exam View. The Test Bank provides multiple-choice and essay questions for each chapter and includes a mix of objective and application questions. ExamView, a computerized version of the Test Bank, provides instructors with all the tools they need to create, author/edit, customize, and deliver multiple types of tests. Instructors can import questions directly from the test bank, create their own questions, or edit existing questions.

Instructor’s Resource CD-ROM. This instructor’s CD provides a variety of teaching resources in electronic format, allowing for easy customization to meet specific instructional needs. Files include Word files of the Test Bank, along with its computerized version, ExamView; Lecture PowerPoint® slides; and Word and PDF files from the Instructor’s Resource Manual.

Videos. A DVD is also available to support the Eighth Edition. The seventeen segments can be used across several chapters, and the Video Guide (which appears at the end of the

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Instructor Manual) contains a matrix intended to show the closest relationships between the videos and chapter topics. The Video Guide also includes summaries of each video as well as teaching guidelines and issues for discussion.

Instructor Companion Site. The Instructor Companion Site can be found at www.cengage .com/management/ferrell. It includes a complete Instructor Manual, Word files from both the Instructor Manual and Test Bank, and PowerPoint slides for easy downloading.

e - b u s i n e s s e t h i c s .com. Additional instructor resources can be found at www.e-businessethics.com. Also at e-businessethics.com, instructors can learn more about a teaching business ethics certificate program offered twice annually through the University of New Mexico. Instructors will find an opportunity to sign up for WSJ business ethics abstracts at www.professorjournal.com.

Student Companion Site. The Student Companion Site can also be found at www.cengage. com/management/ferrell. The website developed for the eighth edition provides up-to-date examples, issues, and interactive learning devices to assist students in improving their decision making skills. “The Business Ethics Learning Center” has been created to take advantage of information available on the Internet while providing new interactive skill-building exercises that can help students practice ethical decision making. The site contains links to companies and organizations highlighted in each chapter; Internet exercises; ACE (ACyber Evaluation) interactive quizzes, which help students master chapter content through multiple-choice questions; links to association, industry, and company codes of conduct; case website links; company and organizational examples; and academic resources, including links to business ethics centers throughout the world. Four Ethical Leadership Challenge scenarios are available for each chapter. Training devices, including Lockheed Martin’s Gray Matters ethics game, are also available. A Premium Companion Site is also available with a number of online study

created to take advantage of information available on

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tools, including flashcards, additional interactive quizzes, student PowerPoint slides, crossword puzzles, and games.

WebTutor ™. Whether you want to Web-enable your class or teach entirely online, WebTutor provides customizable text-specific content within your course system. This content-rich, web-based teaching and learning aid reinforces chapter concepts and acts as an electronic student study guide. WebTutor provides students with interactive chapter review quizzes, critical-thinking, writing-improvement exercises, flashcards, PowerPoints, and links to online videos.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS A number of individuals provided reviews and suggestions that helped to improve this text. We sincerely appreciate their time and effort.

Donald Acker Brown Mackie College Donna Allen Northwest Nazarene University

Suzanne Allen Walsh University

Carolyn Ashe University of Houston–Downtown Laura Barelman Wayne State College Russell Bedard Eastern Nazarene College B. Barbara Boerner Brevard College Judie Bucholz Guilford College Greg Buntz University of the Pacific Julie Campbell Adams State College

April Chatham-Carpenter University of Northern Iowa Leslie Connell University of Central Florida Peggy Cunningham Queen’s University Carla Dando Idaho State University James E. Donovan Detroit College of Business Douglas Dow University of Texas at Dallas A. Charles Drubel Muskingum College Philip F. Esler University of St. Andrews Joseph M. Foster Indiana Vocational Technical College— Evansville Terry Gable Truman State University Robert Giacalone University of Richmond Suresh Gopalan West Texas A&M University

to in sl

W to e c w c le a g w c e li

PPrPrefefacacee xxxxiii

Mark Hammer Northwest Nazarene University Charles E. Harris, Jr. Texas A&M University Kenneth A. Heischmidt Southeast Missouri State University Neil Herndon Educational Consultant Walter Hill Green River Community College Jack Hires Valparaiso University David Jacobs American University R. J. Johansen Montana State University–Bozeman Edward Kimman Vrije Universiteit Janet Knight Purdue North Central Anita Leffel University of Texas at San Antonio Barbara Limbach Chadron State College Nick Lockard Texas Lutheran College Terry Loe Kennesaw State University Nick Maddox Stetson University Isabelle Maignan Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam Phylis Mansfield Pennsylvania State University–Erie Robert Markus Babson College Randy McLeod Harding University Francy Milner University of Colorado Ali Mir William Paterson University

Debi P. Mishra Binghamton University, State University of New York

Patrick E. Murphy University of Notre Dame

Lester Myers University of San Francisco

Cynthia Nicola Carlow College

Carol Nielsen Bemidji State University

Lee Richardson University of Baltimore

William M. Sannwald San Diego State University

Zachary Shank Albuquerque Technical Vocational Institute Cynthia A. M. Simerly Lakeland Community College Karen Smith Columbia Southern University Filiz Tabak Towson University Debbie Thorne Texas State University–San Marcos Wanda V. Turner Ferris State College Gina Vega Salem State College William C. Ward Mid-Continent University David Wasieleski Duquesne University Jim Weber Duquesne University Ed Weiss National-Louis University Joseph W. Weiss Bentley University Jan Zahrly University of North Dakota

xxxxiiiiii PP Prerefafacece

We wish to acknowledge the many people who assisted us in writing this book. We are deeply grateful to Jennifer Jackson for her work in organizing and managing the revision process. We would also like to thank Jennifer Sawayda and Jessica Talley for all their assistance in this edition. We are also indebted to Melanie Drever, Barbara Gilmer, and Gwyneth V. Walters for their contributions to previous editions of this text. Debbie Thorne, Texas State University–San Marcos, provided advice and guidance on the text and cases. Finally, we express appreciation to the administration and to our colleagues at the University of New Mexico and Southern Illinois University at Carbondale for their support.

We invite your comments, questions, or criticisms. We want to do our best to provide teaching materials that enhance the study of business ethics. Your suggestions will be sincerely appreciated.

O. C. Ferrell John Fraedrich Linda Ferrell

P A R T 1 An Overview of Business Ethics

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 2

Chapter 2: Stakeholder Relationships, Social Responsibility, and Corporate Governance 28

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The Importance of Business Ethics

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AN ETHICAL DILEMMA* John Peters had just arrived at the Memphis branch offi ces of Bull Steins (BS) brokerage fi rm. BS is one of the top 50 fi rms in the industry with a wide range of fi nancial products. Five years prior, John graduated from Midwest State University and went to Marell and Pew Brokerage. While there, he learned that in fi nance one must follow the letter and spirit of the law. BS started courting John after working at Marell for four years because he had a good reputation and an investment portfolio worth approximately $100 million with some 400 investors.

A hard worker, John acquired his clients through various networking avenues, including family, the country club, cocktail parties, and serving on boards of charitable organizations. He called one client group the Sharks. These were investors who took risks, made multiple transactions every month, and looked for short-term, high-yield investments. The second group he called Cessnas, because most of them owned twin-engine planes. This group was primarily employed in the medical fi eld, but included a few bankers and lawyers. He called the fi nal group the Turtles because they wanted stability and security. This group would normally trade only a few times a year.

John was highly trained and was not only comfortable discussing numbers with bankers and medical billing with physicians, but also had the people skills to convey complex fi nancial products and solutions in understandable terms to his Turtles, who were primarily older and semiretired. This was one of the main reasons Al Dryer had wanted to hire him. “You’ve got charisma, John, and you know your way around people and fi nancial products,” Dryer explained.

At Marell and Pew, Skyler was John’s trainer. Skyler had been in the business for 15 years and had worked for three of the top brokerage fi rms in the world. She had chosen to stay at Marell and Pew for so many years because of her family. Skyler quickly taught John some complicated tricks of the trade. For example, “Your big clients (Sharks and Cessnas) will like IPOs (initial public off erings) but you have to be careful about picking the right ones,” Skyler said. “Before suggesting one, look at who is on their board of directors, cross-reference them to other IPO boards in the last 5–7 years. Next, cross-check everyone to see where the connections are, especially if they have good ties to the SEC

CHAPTER OBJECTIVES To explore conceptualizations of • business ethics from an organizational perspective

To examine the historical foundations • and evolution of business ethics

To provide evidence that ethical value • systems support business performance

To gain insight into the extent of • ethical misconduct in the workplace and the pressures for unethical behavior

CHAPTER OUTLINE Business Ethics Defined Why Study Business Ethics?

A Crisis in Business Ethics

The Reasons for Studying Business Ethics

The Development of Business Ethics Before 1960: Ethics in Business

The 1960s: The Rise of Social Issues in Business

The 1970s: Business Ethics as an Emerging Field

The 1980s: Consolidation

The 1990s: Institutionalization of Business Ethics

The Twenty-First Century: A New Focus on Business Ethics

Developing an Organizational and Global Ethical Culture The Benefits of Business Ethics

“Ethics Contribute” to Employee Commitment

Ethics Contribute to Investor Loyalty

Ethics Contribute to Customer Satisfaction

Ethics Contribute to Profits

Our Framework for Studying Business Ethics

*This case is strictly hypothetical; any resemblance to real persons, companies, or situations is coincidental.

(Securities and Exchange Commission). Finally, you want to check these people and the companies they have been associated with. Check every IPO these people were involved in and what Moody’s ratings were prior to the IPO. As you know, Moody’s is one of two IPO rating companies in the United States and they’re hurting for revenue because of the fi nancial downturn. If you see a bias in how they rate because of personal relations to the IPO people, you’ve got a winner,” Skyler smiled.

During his fi ve years at the company, Skyler had taught John about shorting, naked shorting, and churning. She explained shorting by using an example. “If I own 1,000 shares at $100/share and you think the stock is going to tank (go down), you ‘borrow’ my shares at $100/share, sell them, and the next week the stock goes down to $80/ share. You call your broker and buy back the 1,000 shares at $80 and give me my 1,000 shares at $80/ share. Do you see what happened?” Skyler asked. “You borrowed my shares and sold them for $100,000. The following week, when the company stock fell to $80, you repurchased those 1,000 shares for $80,000 and gave them back to me. In the meantime, you pocketed the diff erence of $20,000.” Skyler went on, “Naked short selling is the same as shorting but you don’t pay any money for the stock,” explained Skyler. “There is a three- day grace period between buying and selling. That means you have at least three days of FREE MONEY!”

Al Dryer instructed John to wait to resign until late on Friday so that BS could send out packets to each of his accounts about switching companies. John thought about this, but was told by others this was standard practice. “But what about the noncompete clause I signed? It says I can’t do that,” said John to a few brokers not associated with either fi rm. Their response was, “It’s done all the time.” On Friday John did what BS asked and nothing happened. Six months went by and John’s portfolio had increased to $150 million. Other brokers began imitating John’s strategy. For example, for his Sharks, John would buy and sell at BS and call some of his buddies to do the same thing using money from his SHARKS. Another tactic involved selling futures contracts without

providing evidence that he held the shares sold (naked shorting). While much of what he was doing was risky, John had become so successful that he guaranteed his Turtles against any loss.

Several years later John was buying and selling derivatives, a form of futures contract that gets its value from assets such as commodities, equities (stocks), bonds, interest rates, exchange rates, or even an index of weather conditions. While his risk-taking Shark group had expanded threefold, John’s Cessna pool had all but dried up. However, his Turtles had grown dramatically to an average worth of $500,000. The portfolio he managed had topped $750 million, a lot more than he had when he started at BS ($500 million in Sharks and $250 million for Turtles).

“This year is going to be better than last year,” said John to some of the brokers at BS. But expenses had been rising fast. John’s expense account included country club memberships, sports tickets, trips for clients, etc. Instead of charging the fi rm, John would always pay them from his own pocket. By indirectly letting his clients know it was his money he was spending on them, his clients were grateful for his largess and those who would have grumbled about delays in the delivery of securities purchased were less apt to do so. John saw a great opportunity to make his heavy hitters happy with him. Unbeknownst to them, he would buy and sell stocks for these clients and later surprise them with the profi ts.

By this time, John was training new hires at BS, which would have taken away a lot of his personal and professional time if he had done it right. But John had a lot of other things on his mind. He had decided to get married and adopt children. His soon-to-be wife, Leslie, quit her job to be a full- time mom and was designing their new 18,000- square-foot home. With all these activities going on at once, John was not paying attention to the four new brokers and their training. Because John was a senior partner, he had to sign off on every trade they made. It became so time consuming to manage everything that he spent an hour a day just signing the four other brokers’ trades.

Then one Monday morning John received a call from the SEC asking about some trades made

The ability to recognize and deal with complex business ethics issues has become a significant priority in twenty-first-century companies. In recent years, a number of well-publicized scandals resulted in public outrage about deception and fraud in business and a demand for improved business ethics and greater corporate responsibility. The publicity and debate surrounding highly visible legal and ethical lapses at a number of well-known firms, including AIG, Countrywide Financial, and Fannie Mae, highlight the need for businesses to integrate ethics and responsibility into all business decisions. The global financial crisis took a toll on consumer trust of financial services companies. A study of 650 U.S. consumers by Lightspeed Research and Cohn & Wolfe revealed that 66 percent of respondents did not feel that the financial services industry would help them to regain the wealth that they lost during the recession. Words used to describe this industry included greedy, impersonal, opportunistic, and distant. Table 1–1 summarizes the survey results.1

Largely in response to this crisis, business decisions and activities have come under greater scrutiny by many different constituents, including consumers, employees, investors, government regulators, and special interest groups. Additionally, new legislation and regulations designed to encourage higher ethical standards in business have been put in place.

The field of business ethics deals with questions about whether specific business practices are acceptable. For example, should a salesperson omit facts about a product’s poor safety record in a sales presentation to a client? Should an accountant report inaccuracies that he or she discovered in an audit of a client, knowing the auditing company will probably be fired by the client for doing so? Should an automobile tire manufacturer intentionally conceal safety concerns to avoid a massive and costly tire recall? Regardless of their legality, others will certainly judge the actions taken in such situations as right or wrong, ethical or unethical. By its very nature, the field of business ethics is controversial, and there is no universally accepted approach for resolving its issues.

by the four new brokers. “It appears to us there may be some nonpublic information your brokers have concerning several IPOs,” the agent said. “If they do have such information, this could be considered insider information. John, I’m calling you because we go way back to our college days, but I have to know,” said the agent. John thanked him and went straight to the new brokers and asked them about the IPO. One of the new brokers replied, “John, you told us that in order to excel in this business, you need to be an expert on knowing exactly where things become legal and illegal. You said trust me, I’ve been doing this for 15 years, and I’ve never had a problem. We just did what you’ve taught us.”

John knew that if they did have insider information, he’d probably be found partially responsible because he was supposed to be training them. At the very minimum, the SEC would start checking his trades over the past several years. He also knew that, when subjected to scrutiny, some of his past trades might be deemed questionable as well.

What should John do?

QUESTIONS • EXERCISES 1. What is/are John’s ethical issues? 2. Are there any legal considerations for John? 3. Discuss the implications of each decision

John has made and will make.

6 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

A Junior Achievement/Deloitte survey of teens showed that 71 percent feel prepared to make ethical decisions in the workplace. However, of those surveyed, 38 percent feel it is sometimes necessary to lie, cheat, plagiarize, or engage in violence to succeed. One- fourth think cheating on a test is acceptable and most can justify it saying that their desire to succeed is grounds for the behavior.2 If today’s students are tomorrow’s leaders, there is likely to be a correlation between acceptable behavior today and tomorrow, adding to the argument that the leaders of today must be prepared for the ethical risks associated with this downward trend. According to another poll by Deloitte and Touche of teenagers aged 13 to 18 years old, when asked if people who practice good business ethics are more successful than those who don’t, 69 percent of teenagers agreed.3 On the other hand, another survey indicated that many students do not define copying answers from another student’s paper or downloading copyrighted music or content for classroom work as cheating.4

Before we get started, it is important to state our philosophies regarding this book. First, we do not moralize by telling you what is right or wrong in a specific situation. Second, although we provide an overview of group and individual decision making processes, we do not prescribe any one philosophy or process as best or most ethical. Third, by itself, this book will not make you more ethical, nor will it tell you how to judge the ethical behavior of others. Rather, its goal is to help you understand and use your current values and convictions when making business decisions so that you think about the effects of those decisions on business and society. In addition, this book will help you understand what businesses are doing to improve their ethical conduct. To this end, we aim to help you learn to recognize and resolve ethical issues within business organizations. As a manager, you will be responsible for your decisions and the ethical conduct of the employees you supervise. The framework we develop in this book therefore focuses on how organizational ethical decisions are made and on ways companies can improve their ethical conduct.

TABLE 11 American Distrust of the Financial Services Industry

Negative Responses Related to the Industry %

Greedy 32

Impersonal 32

Opportunistic 26

Distant from me 22

Positive Responses Related to the Industry %

Trustworthy 13

Honest 10

Ethical 5

Transparent 3

Sympathetic 3

Source: “New US Consumer Survey Shows High Distrust of Financial Services Companies,” Business Wire, January 20, 2009, http://findarticles.com/p/ articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2009_Jan_20/ai_n31202849/ (accessed May 27, 2009).

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 7

In this chapter, we first develop a definition of business ethics and discuss why it has become an important topic in business education. We also discuss why studying business ethics can be beneficial. Next, we examine the evolution of business ethics in North America. Then we explore the performance benefits of ethical decision making for businesses. Finally, we provide a brief overview of the framework we use for examining business ethics in this text.

BUSINESS ETHICS DEFINED The term ethics has many nuances. It has been defined as “inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality where the term morality is taken to mean moral judgments, standards and rules of conduct.”5 Ethics has also been called the study and philosophy of human conduct, with an emphasis on determining right and wrong. The American Heritage Dictionary offers these definitions of ethics: “The study of the general nature of morals and of specific moral choices; moral philosophy; and the rules or standards governing the conduct of the members of a profession.”6 One difference between an ordinary decision and an ethical one lies in “the point where the accepted rules no longer serve, and the decision maker is faced with the responsibility for weighing values and reaching a judgment in a situation which is not quite the same as any he or she has faced before.”7 Another difference relates to the amount of emphasis that decision makers place on their own values and accepted practices within their company. Consequently, values and judgments play a critical role when we make ethical decisions.

Building on these definitions, we can begin to develop a concept of business ethics. Most people would agree that high ethical standards require both businesses and individuals to conform to sound moral principles. However, some special aspects must be considered when applying ethics to business. First, to survive, businesses must earn a profit. If profits are realized through misconduct, however, the life of the organization may be shortened. Many firms, including Lehman Brothers and Enron, that made headlines due to wrongdoing and scandal ultimately went bankrupt or failed because of the legal and financial repercussions of their misconduct. Second, businesses must balance their desires for profits against the needs and desires of society. Maintaining this balance often requires compromises or trade-offs. To address these unique aspects of the business world, society has developed rules—both legal and implicit—to guide businesses in their efforts to earn profits in ways that do not harm individuals or society as a whole.

Most definitions of business ethics relate to rules, standards, and moral principles regarding what is right or wrong in specific situations. For our purposes, business ethics comprises the principles, values, and standards that guide behavior in the world of business. Principles are specific and pervasive boundaries for behavior that are universal and absolute. Principles often become the basis for rules. Some examples of principles include freedom of speech, fundamentals of justice, and equal rights to civil liberties. Values are used to develop norms that are socially enforced. Integrity, accountability, and trust are examples of values. Investors, employees, customers, interest groups, the legal system, and the community often determine whether a specific action is right or wrong, ethical or unethical. Although these groups are not necessarily “right,” their judgments influence society’s acceptance or rejection of a business and its activities.

8 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

WHY STUDY BUSINESS ETHICS?

A Crisis in Business Ethics As we’ve already mentioned, ethical misconduct has become a major concern in business today. The Ethics Resource Center conducted the National Business Ethics Survey (NBES) of about 3,000 U.S. employees to gather reliable data on key ethics and compliance outcomes and to help identify and better understand the ethics issues that are important to employees. The NBES found that observed misconduct is higher in large organizations—those with more than 500 employees—than in smaller ones and that there are also differences in observed misconduct across employee levels. Reporting of misconduct is most likely to come from upper-level management, as compared to lower-level supervisors and nonmanagement employees. Employees in lower-level positions have more of a tendency to not understand misconduct or be complacent about what misconduct they observe. Figure 1–1 shows the percentage of respondents who say that they trust a variety of business categories. Notice that the levels of consumer trust in most industries is declining. Among senior managers, 77 percent of employees report observed misconduct, while among nonmanagement, only 48 percent of employees report observed misconduct.8

Specific Issues Abusive behavior, harassment, accounting fraud, conflicts of interest, defective products, bribery, and employee theft are all problems cited as evidence of declining ethical standards. For example, Satyam Computer Services, an outsourcing firm in India, worked with more than one-third of the Fortune 500 companies. The chairman of the company disclosed that $1.04 billion in cash and assets did not exist and that earnings and assets were inflated for years. The scandal was compared to Enron.9 A survey by Harris Interactive shows that corporate reputation is at its lowest point in the past decade of their annual “Reputation Quotient” polls. Eighty-eight percent rated the reputation of corporate America today as “not good” or “terrible.” Among the least admired companies

0

13 (3% decline) 13 (3% decline)

19 (3% decline) 22 (4% decline)

26 (no change) 24 (3% decline) 24 (3% decline)

33 (1% decline) 31 (6% decline)

41 (5% decline) 42 (6% decline)

55 (4% decline) 59 (6% decline from 2007 survey)

23 (2% increase)

Auto Dealers Real Estate Brokers

Cell Phones and Wireless Service Furniture Stores

Gas Stations Healthcare Insurers Auto Repair Shops

Contractors/Plumbers/Electricians/Roofers Electronics/Appliance Stores

Department Stores Home Improvement

Banks and Financial Institutions Grocery Stores and Supermarkets

Pharmacies and Drug Stores

20 40

Percent 60 80 100

FIGURE 11 Americans’ Trust in Business (% of respondents who say they trust the following business categories a great deal or quite a lot)

Source: Better Business Bureau/Gallup Trust in Business Index, April 2008, http://www.bbb.org/us/sitepage.aspx?id =f36f50cc-8cb7-4507-9cfc- 2f2d7aa2c3fc (accessed January 13, 2009).

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 9

are AIG, Halliburton, General Motors, Chrysler, Washington Mutual, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, ExxonMobil, and Ford Motor Company. There remain companies that are admired by respondents, including Johnson & Johnson, Google, Sony, Coca-Cola, Kraft Foods, Amazon.com, Microsoft, General Mills, 3M, and Toyota Motor. The economic lapses associated with the recession have damaged the “emotional appeal” of many companies, which is often the strongest driver of reputation.10

Insider trading remains a serious issue in business and in ethics. Eugene Plotkin, a former Goldman Sachs executive, was sentenced to almost five years in prison for a case of insider trading that yielded about $6.7 million. The Harvard graduate worked with a former Merrill Lynch analyst, a New Jersey postal worker, and two workers at a Business Week printing press. The former Merrill Lynch employee provided tips to Plotkin at Goldman on mergers and acquisitions. Another angle involved getting prepublication copies of Business Week and trading on that information. The third element involved working with a New Jersey postal worker who served on the Bristol-Myers Squibb grand jury investigation and shared inside information with Plotkin.11

Inflating earnings involves attempting to embellish or enhance a firm’s profitability in a manner that is inconsistent with past practice, common regulatory guidelines, or industry practice. Many companies maintain a focus on making short-term profits and know that analysts and investors critique the company according to its ability to “make the numbers.” PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) was forced to pay $97.5 million to settle a class action lawsuit for involvement with AIG in overstating their earnings. This settlement is a small part of a larger case against both AIG and its former CEO, Hank Greenberg. AIG’s improper accounting for reinsurance and other dealings led to a restatement of earnings in the amount of $3.9 billion. The lawsuit normally proceeds against the company and personnel first, with the related firms (such as PWC) paying a percentage of that settlement.12 Highly publicized cases such as this one strengthen the perception that ethical standards in business need to be raised.

Ethics play an important role in the public sector as well. In government, several politicians and some high-ranking officials have experienced significant negative publicity and some have had to resign in disgrace over ethical indiscretions. Alaskan Senator Ted Stevens was convicted of 7 felony counts of corruption weeks before the election of President Barack Obama. He was charged with hiding $250,000 in gifts he had allegedly received from oil companies. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion to have the case dismissed against Stevens due to mishandled evidence, and the case was officially dropped. However, the impact of the negative publicity on the senator was significant and most likely contributed to his losing his bid for reelection.13

Irv Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a White House advisor, was indicted on five counts of criminal charges: one count of obstruction of justice, two counts of perjury, and two counts of making false statements.14 Each count carries a $250,000 fine and maximum prison term of 30 years.

Several scientists have been accused of falsifying research data, which could invalidate later research based on their data and jeopardize trust in all scientific research. Bell Labs, for example, fired a scientist for falsifying experiments on superconductivity and molecular electronics and for misrepresenting data in scientific publications. Jan Hendrik Schon’s work on creating tiny, powerful microprocessors seemed poised to significantly advance microprocessor technology and potentially bring yet another Nobel Prize in physics to the award-winning laboratory, a subsidiary of Lucent Technologies.15 Hwang Woo-Suk was found to have faked some of his famous stem cell research in which he claimed to have created 30

10 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

cloned human embryos and made stem cell lines from skin cells of 11 people, as well as producing the world’s first cloned dog. He also apologized for using eggs from his own female researchers, which was in breach of guidelines, but still denies fabricating his research.16

Even sports can be subject to ethical lapses. Manny Ramirez was suspended for 50 games from the Los Angeles Dodgers for violating the league’s drug policy. Ramirez tested positive for a female fertility drug that has been taken by steroid users to increase testosterone levels. The ban on playing cost Ramirez $7.7 million of his $25 million annual salary. Ramirez

stated that he was under a doctor’s care for a “personal health issue” and indicated that he thought the medication was allowed. Baseball players are encouraged to check a hotline that identifies legal and illegal substances and encourages players to seek “therapeutic use exemptions” for legitimate use of banned substances.17

Whether made in business, politics, science, or sports, most decisions are judged as either right or wrong, ethical or unethical. Regardless of what an individual believes about a particular action, if society judges it to be unethical or wrong, whether correctly or not, that judgment directly affects the organization’s ability to achieve its business goals. For this reason alone, it is important to understand business ethics and recognize ethical issues.

The Reasons for Studying Business Ethics Studying business ethics is valuable for several reasons. Business ethics is not merely an extension of an individual’s own personal ethics. Many people believe that if a company hires good people with strong ethical values, then it will be a “good citizen” organization. But as we show throughout this text, an individual’s personal values and moral philosophies are only one factor in the ethical decision making process. True, moral rules can be applied to a variety of situations in life, and some people do not distinguish everyday ethical issues from business ones. Our concern, however, is with the application of principles and standards in the business context. Many important ethical issues do not arise very often in the business context, although they remain complex moral dilemmas in one’s own personal life. For example, although abortion and the possibility of human cloning are moral issues in many people’s lives, they are usually not an issue in most business organizations.

Professionals in any field, including business, must deal with individuals’ personal moral dilemmas because these issues affect everyone’s ability to function on the job. Normally, a business does not establish rules or policies on personal ethical issues such as sex or the use of alcohol outside the workplace; indeed, in some cases, such policies would be illegal. Only when a person’s preferences or values influence his or her performance on the job do an individual’s ethics play a major role in the evaluation of business decisions.

Just being a good person and, in your own view, having sound personal ethics may not be sufficient to enable you to handle the ethical issues that arise in a business organization. It is important to recognize the relationship between legal and ethical decisions. Although abstract virtues linked to the high moral ground of truthfulness, honesty, fairness, and openness are often assumed to be self-evident and accepted by all employees, business- strategy decisions involve complex and detailed discussions. For example, there is considerable debate over what constitutes antitrust, deceptive advertising, and violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. A high level of personal moral development may

Regardless of what an individual

believes about a particular

action, if society judges it to be unethical or

wrong, whether correctly or not, that judgment

directly aff ects the

organization’s ability to

achieve its business goals.

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 11

not prevent an individual from violating the law in a complicated organizational context where even experienced lawyers debate the exact meaning of the law. Some approaches to business ethics assume that ethics training is for people whose personal moral development is unacceptable, but that is not the case. Because organizations are culturally diverse and personal values must be respected, ensuring collective agreement on organizational ethics (that is, codes reasonably capable of preventing misconduct) is as vital as any other effort an organization’s management may undertake.

Many people who have limited business experience suddenly find themselves making decisions about product quality, advertising, pricing, sales techniques, hiring practices, and pollution control. The values they learned from family, religion, and school may not provide specific guidelines for these complex business decisions. In other words, a person’s experiences and decisions at home, in school, and in the community may be quite different from his or her experiences and decisions at work. Many business ethics decisions are close calls. In addition, managerial responsibility for the conduct of others requires knowledge of ethics and compliance processes and systems. Years of experience in a particular industry may be required to know what is acceptable. For example, Caraco Pharmaceutical Laboratories, a generic drug manufacturer, voluntarily recalled all tablets of its digoxin drug used by patients with heart failure and abnormal heart rhythms. The drug was recalled because of variation in sizing, which could impact the actual dosage received by a patient. The recall was designed to protect those who were using the drug and the company had to carefully assess the product and the potential harm it could cause in its more inconsistent form. Significant medical expertise and testing resulted in the recall.18

Studying business ethics will help you begin to identify ethical issues when they arise and recognize the approaches available for resolving them. You will also learn more about the ethical decision making process and about ways to promote ethical behavior within your organization. By studying business ethics, you may begin to understand how to cope with conflicts between your own personal values and those of the organization in which you work.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF BUSINESS ETHICS The study of business ethics in North America has evolved through five distinct stages—(1) before 1960, (2) the 1960s, (3) the 1970s, (4) the 1980s, and (5) the 1990s—and continues to evolve in the twenty-first century (see Table 1–2).

Before 1960: Ethics in Business Prior to 1960, the United States went through several agonizing phases of questioning the concept of capitalism. In the 1920s, the progressive movement attempted to provide citizens with a “living wage,” defined as income sufficient for education, recreation, health, and retirement. Businesses were asked to check unwarranted price increases and any other practices that would hurt a family’s “living wage.” In the 1930s came the New Deal, which specifically blamed business for the country’s economic woes. Business was asked to work more closely with the government to raise family income. By the 1950s, the New Deal had evolved into the Fair Deal by President Harry S. Truman; this program defined such matters as civil rights and environmental responsibility as ethical issues that businesses had to address.

Until 1960 ethical issues related to business were often discussed within the domain of theology or philosophy. Individual moral issues related to business were addressed in

12 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

churches, synagogues, and mosques. Religious leaders raised questions about fair wages, labor practices, and the morality of capitalism. For example, Catholic social ethics, which were expressed in a series of papal encyclicals, included concern for morality in business, workers’ rights, and living wages; for humanistic values rather than materialistic ones; and for improving the conditions of the poor. Some Catholic colleges and universities began to offer courses in social ethics. Protestants also developed ethics courses in their seminaries and schools of theology and addressed issues concerning morality and ethics in business. The Protestant work ethic encouraged individuals to be frugal, work hard, and attain success in the capitalistic system. Such religious traditions provided a foundation for the future field of business ethics. Each religion applied its moral concepts not only to business but also to government, politics, the family, personal life, and all other aspects of life.

The 1960s: The Rise of Social Issues in Business During the 1960s, American society turned to causes. An antibusiness attitude developed as many critics attacked the vested interests that controlled the economic and political sides of society—the so-called military-industrial complex. The 1960s saw the decay of inner cities and the growth of ecological problems such as pollution and the disposal of toxic and nuclear wastes. This period also witnessed the rise of consumerism—activities undertaken by independent individuals, groups, and organizations to protect their rights as consumers. In 1962 President John F. Kennedy delivered a “Special Message on Protecting the Consumer Interest” in which he outlined four basic consumer rights: the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose, and the right to be heard. These came to be known as the Consumers’ Bill of Rights.

The modern consumer movement is generally considered to have begun in 1965 with the publication of Ralph Nader’s Unsafe at Any Speed, which criticized the auto industry

TABLE 12 A Timeline of Ethical and Socially Responsible Concerns

1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Environmental issues

Employee militancy Bribes and illegal contracting practices

Sweatshops and unsafe working conditions in third- world countries

Cybercrime

Civil rights issues Human rights issues Infl uence peddling Rising corporate liability for personal damages (for example, cigarette companies)

Financial misconduct

Increased employee– employer tension

Covering up rather than correcting issues

Deceptive advertising

Financial mismanagement and fraud

Global issues, Chinese product safety

Changing work ethic Disadvantaged consumer

Financial fraud (for example, savings and loan scandal)

Organizational ethical misconduct

Sustainability

Rising drug use Transparency issues Intellectual property theft

Source: Adapted from “Business Ethics Timeline,” Ethics Resource Center, http://www.ethics.org/resources/business-ethics-timeline.asp (accessed May 27, 2009). Copyright © 2006, Ethics Resource Center (ERC). Used with permission of the ERC, 1747 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Suite 400, Washington, DC 2006, www.ethics.org.

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 13

as a whole, and General Motors Corporation (GM) in particular, for putting profit and style ahead of lives and safety. GM’s Corvair was the main target of Nader’s criticism. His consumer protection organization, popularly known as Nader’s Raiders, fought successfully for legislation that required automobile makers to equip cars with safety belts, padded dashboards, stronger door latches, head restraints, shatterproof windshields, and collapsible steering columns. Consumer activists also helped secure passage of several consumer protection laws such as the Wholesome Meat Act of 1967, the Radiation Control for Health and Safety Act of 1968, the Clean Water Act of 1972, and the Toxic Substance Act of 1976.19

After Kennedy came President Lyndon B. Johnson and the Great Society, which extended national capitalism and told the business community that the U.S. government’s responsibility was to provide the citizen with some degree of economic stability, equality, and social justice. Activities that could destabilize the economy or discriminate against any class of citizens began to be viewed as unethical and unlawful.

The 1970s: Business Ethics as an Emerging Field Business ethics began to develop as a field of study in the 1970s. Theologians and philosophers had laid the groundwork by suggesting that certain principles could be applied to business activities. Using this foundation, business professors began to teach and write about corporate social responsibility, an organization’s obligation to maximize its positive impact on stakeholders and to minimize its negative impact. Philosophers increased their involvement, applying ethical theory and philosophical analysis to structure the discipline of business ethics. Companies became more concerned with their public images, and as social demands grew, many businesses realized that they had to address ethical issues more directly. The Nixon administration’s Watergate scandal focused public interest on the importance of ethics in government. Conferences were held to discuss the social responsibilities and ethical issues of business. Centers dealing with issues of business ethics were established. Interdisciplinary meetings brought business professors, theologians, philosophers, and businesspeople together. President Jimmy Carter attempted to focus on personal and administrative efforts to uphold ethical principles in government. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act was passed during his administration, making it illegal for U.S. businesses to bribe government officials of other countries.

By the end of the 1970s, a number of major ethical issues had emerged, such as bribery, deceptive advertising, price collusion, product safety, and the environment. Business ethics became a common expression and was no longer considered an oxymoron. Academic researchers sought to identify ethical issues and describe how businesspeople might choose to act in particular situations. However, only limited efforts were made to describe how the ethical decision making process worked and to identify the many variables that influence this process in organizations.

The 1980s: Consolidation In the 1980s, business academics and practitioners acknowledged business ethics as a field of study. A growing and varied group of institutions with diverse interests promoted its study. Business ethics organizations grew to include thousands of members. Five hundred courses in business ethics were offered at colleges across the country, with more than 40,000 students enrolled. Centers for business ethics provided publications, courses, conferences, and seminars. Business ethics was also a prominent concern within such leading companies

14 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

as General Electric, Chase Manhattan, General Motors, Atlantic Richfield, Caterpillar, and S. C. Johnson & Son, Inc. Many of these firms established ethics and social policy committees to address ethical issues.

In the 1980s, the Defense Industry Initiative on Business Ethics and Conduct (DII) was developed to guide corporate support for ethical conduct. In 1986 eighteen defense contractors drafted principles for guiding business ethics and conduct.20 The organization has since grown to nearly 50 members. This effort established a method for discussing best practices and working tactics to link organizational practice and policy to successful ethical compliance. The DII includes six principles. First, DII supports codes of conduct and their widespread distribution. These codes of conduct must be understandable and provide details on more substantive areas. Second, member companies are expected to provide ethics training for their employees as well as continuous support between training periods. Third, defense contractors must create an open atmosphere in which employees feel comfortable reporting violations without fear of retribution. Fourth, companies need to perform extensive internal audits and develop effective internal reporting and voluntary disclosure plans. Fifth, DII insists that member companies preserve the integrity of the defense industry. Finally, member companies must adopt a philosophy of public accountability.21

The 1980s ushered in the Reagan–Bush eras, with the accompanying belief that self- regulation, rather than regulation by government, was in the public’s interest. Many tariffs and trade barriers were lifted, and businesses merged and divested within an increasingly global atmosphere. Thus, while business schools were offering courses in business ethics, the rules of business were changing at a phenomenal rate because of less regulation. Corporations that once were nationally based began operating internationally and found themselves mired in value structures where accepted rules of business behavior no longer applied.

The 1990s: Institutionalization of Business Ethics The administration of President Bill Clinton continued to support self-regulation and free trade. However, it also took unprecedented government action to deal with health-related social issues such as teenage smoking. Its proposals included restricting cigarette advertising, banning vending machine sales, and ending the use of cigarette logos in connection with sports events.22 Clinton also appointed Arthur Levitt as chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1993. Levitt unsuccessfully pushed for many reforms that could have prevented the accounting ethics scandals exemplified by Enron and WorldCom.23

The Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations (FSGO), approved by Congress in November 1991, set the tone for organizational ethical compliance programs in the 1990s. The guidelines, which were based on the six principles of the DII,24 broke new ground by codifying into law incentives to reward organizations for taking action to prevent misconduct such as developing effective internal legal and ethical compliance programs.25 Provisions in the guidelines mitigate penalties for businesses that strive to root out misconduct and establish high ethical and legal standards.26 On the other hand, under FSGO, if a company lacks an effective ethical compliance program and its employees violate the law, it can incur severe penalties. The guidelines focus on firms taking action to prevent and detect business misconduct in cooperation with government regulation. At the heart of the FSGO is the carrot-and-stick approach: By taking preventive action against misconduct, a company may avoid onerous penalties should a violation occur. A mechanical approach using legalistic logic will not suffice to avert serious penalties. The company must develop corporate values, enforce its own code of ethics, and strive to prevent misconduct.

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 15

The Twenty-First Century: A New Focus on Business Ethics Although business ethics appeared to become more institutionalized in the 1990s, new evidence emerged in the early 2000s that more than a few business executives and managers had not fully embraced the public’s desire for high ethical standards. For example, Bruce Bent, Sr. and his son Bruce Bent II were accused of engaging in fraud in misleading investors, ratings firms, and trustees when the assets of their Reserve Primary Fund fell. The accused reassured investors that the company had ample resources to support the broader declines in the financial market when, in fact, they did not. The Fund had $785 million in Lehman commercial paper, which ultimately became worthless.27

Arthur Andersen, a “Big Five” accounting firm, was convicted of obstructing justice after shredding documents related to its role as Enron’s auditor.28 The reputation of the once venerable accounting firm disappeared overnight, along with most of its clients, and the firm ultimately went out of business. Later the Supreme Court overruled the Arthur Andersen obstruction-of-justice conviction, but it was too late for the firm to recover. In addition to problems with its auditing of Enron, Arthur Andersen also faced questions surrounding its audits of other companies that were charged with employing questionable accounting practices, including Halliburton, WorldCom, Global Crossing, Dynegy, Qwest, and Sunbeam.29 These accounting scandals made it evident that falsifying financial reports and reaping questionable benefits had become part of the culture of many companies. Firms outside the United States, such as Royal Ahold in the Netherlands and Parmalat in Italy, became major examples of accounting misconduct from a global perspective.

Such abuses increased public and political demands to improve ethical standards in business. In a survey of 20,000 people across 20 countries, trust in global companies had declined significantly.30 To address the loss of confidence in financial reporting and corporate ethics, Congress in 2002 passed the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, the most far-reaching change in organizational control and accounting regulations since the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934. The new law made securities fraud a criminal offense and stiffened penalties for corporate fraud. It also created an accounting oversight board that requires corporations to establish codes of ethics for financial reporting and to develop greater transparency in financial reports to investors and other interested parties. Additionally, the law requires top executives to sign off on their firms’ financial reports, and they risk fines and long prison sentences if they misrepresent their companies’ financial position. The legislation further requires company executives to disclose stock sales immediately and prohibits companies from giving loans to top managers.31

The 2004 amendment to the FSGO requires that a business’s governing authority be well informed about its ethics program with respect to content, implementation, and effectiveness. This places the responsibility squarely on the shoulders of the firm’s leadership, usually the board of directors. The board is required to oversee the discovery of risks and to design, implement, and modify approaches to deal with those risks.

The Sarbanes–Oxley Act and the FSGO have institutionalized the need to discover and address ethical and legal risk. Top management and the board of directors of a corporation are accountable for discovering risk associated with ethical conduct. Such specific industries as the public sector, energy and chemicals, health care, insurance, and retail have to discover the

Th e company must develop corporate values, enforce its own code of ethics,

and strive to prevent misconduct.

16 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

unique risk associated with their operations and develop an ethics program to prevent ethical misconduct before it creates a crisis. Most firms are developing formal and informal mechanisms to have interactive communication and transparency about issues associated with the risk of misconduct. Business leaders should view that their greatest danger is not discovering serious misconduct or illegal activities somewhere in the organization. Unfortunately, most managers do not view the risk of an ethical disaster as important as the risk associated with fires, natural disasters, or technology failure. Ethical disasters can be significantly more damaging to a company’s reputation than risks that are managed through insurance and other methods. The great investor Warren Buffett has stated that it is impossible to eradicate all wrongdoing in a large organization and that one can only hope that the misconduct is small and is caught in time. Buffett’s fears came true in 2008 when the financial system collapsed because of pervasive, systemic use of instruments such as credit default swaps, risky debt such as subprime lending, and corruption in major corporations. The government was forced to step in and bail out many financial companies. Later, because of the weak financial system and reduced consumption, the government also had to step in to help major automotive companies GM and Chrysler. The U.S. government is now a majority shareholder in GM, an unprecedented move. Not since the Great Depression and President Franklin Delano Roosevelt has the United States seen such widespread government intervention and regulation—something that most deem necessary, but which is nevertheless worrisome to free market capitalists.

The basic assumptions of capitalism are under debate as countries around the world work to stabilize markets and question those that managed the money of individual corporations and nonprofits. The financial crisis caused many to question government institutions that provide oversight and regulation. As changes are made, there is a need to address issues related to law, ethics, and the required level of compliance necessary for government and business to serve the public interest.

In the KPMG Forensic Integrity Survey, employees were asked whether they had “personally seen” or had “firsthand knowledge of” misconduct within their organizations over the prior 12-month period. Roughly three-quarters of employees— 76 percent— reported that they had observed misconduct in the prior 12-month period.32

Figure 1–2 shows the results of misconduct by industry; there are generally high levels of observed misconduct across all industries. Employees in highly regulated financial industries, such as banking, finance, and insurance, reported relatively lower rates of misconduct within their organizations compared with others. While employees working in the public sector, which has not been subject to many of the new regulatory mandates placed on its private- sector counterparts, reported relatively higher rates of misconduct compared with others.

DEVELOPING AN ORGANIZATIONAL AND GLOBAL ETHICAL CULTURE

The current trend is away from legally based compliance initiatives in organizations to cultural initiatives that make ethics a part of core organizational values. To develop more ethical corporate cultures, many businesses are communicating core values to their employees by creating ethics programs and appointing ethics officers to oversee them. The ethical component of a corporate culture relates to the values, beliefs, and established and enforced patterns of conduct that employees use to identify and respond to ethical issues. The term ethical culture can be viewed as the character or decision making process that employees

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 17

use to determine whether their responses to ethical issues are right or wrong. Ethical culture is used to describe the component of corporate culture that captures the values and norms that an organization defines as appropriate conduct. The goal of an ethical culture is to minimize the need for enforced compliance of rules and maximize the use of principles that contribute to ethical reasoning in difficult or new situations. An ethical culture creates shared values and support for ethical decisions and is driven by top management.

Globally, businesses are working more closely together to establish standards of acceptable behavior. We are already seeing collaborative efforts by a range of organizations to establish goals and mandate minimum levels of ethical behavior, from the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Common Market of the Southern Cone (MERCOSUR), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to, more recently, the Council on Economic Priorities’ Social Accountability 8000 (SA 8000), the Ethical Trading Initiative, and the U.S. Apparel Industry Partnership. Some companies will not do business with organizations that do not support and abide by these standards. The development of global codes of ethics, such as the Caux Round Table, highlights common ethical concerns for global firms. The Caux Round Table (www.cauxroundtable.org) is a group of businesses, political leaders, and concerned interest groups that desire responsible behavior in the global community.

THE BENEFITS OF BUSINESS ETHICS The field of business ethics continues to change rapidly as more firms recognize the benefits of improving ethical conduct and the link between business ethics and financial performance. Both research and examples from the business world demonstrate that

0 10 20 30 40 Percent

In du

st ry

50 60 70 80

65

67

68

69

70

73

74

75

76

77

78

80

80

90

Automotive

Government & Public Sector

Consumer Markets

Chemicals & Diversified Industrials

Communications & Media

Real Estate & Construction

Aerospace & Defense

Healthcare

Pharmaceuticals & Life Sciences

Energy & Natural Resources

Electronics, Software & Services

Insurance

Banking & Finance

FIGURE 12 Prevalence of Misconduct by Industry During the Prior 12 Months

Source: KPMG LLP (U.S.) 2008, http://www.kpmg.com.br/publicacoes/forensic/Integrity_Survey_2008_2009.pdf (accessed August 4, 2009).

18 Part : An Overview of Business Ethics

building an ethical reputation among employees, customers, and the general public pays off. Figure 1–3 provides an overview of the relationship between business ethics and organizational performance. Although we believe there are many practical benefits to being ethical, many businesspeople make decisions because they believe a particular course of action is simply the right thing to do as a responsible member of society. Ricoh’s Chairman, Masamitsu Sakurai, one of Ethisphere’s 100 Most Influential People in Business Ethics, states that a foundational commitment to the environment creates a financial advantage. Ricoh transitioned to a flexible, cell-based production system that reduced carbon dioxide emissions and increased productivity, implemented additional emission reductions and waste reduction plans, and selectively placed clean ventilation points along the production line. These activities, as well as others, managed to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 85 percent and cut production costs in half.33 Among the rewards for being more ethical and socially responsible in business are increased efficiency in daily operations, greater employee commitment, increased investor willingness to entrust funds, improved customer trust and satisfaction, and better financial performance. The reputation of a company has a major effect on its relationships with employees, investors, customers, and many other parties.

Ethics Contribute to Employee Commitment Employee commitment comes from employees who believe their future is tied to that of the organization and their willingness to make personal sacrifices for the organization.34 The more a company is dedicated to taking care of its employees, the more likely it is that the employees will take care of the organization. The NBES survey indicates that 79 percent of employees agree that ethics is important in continuing to work for their employer. It is also interesting to note that approximately 20 percent of employees are not concerned about the ethical environment of their organization.35 This group is very complacent and has the potential for misconduct without guidance and ethical leadership. Issues that may foster the development of an ethical culture for employees include the absence of abusive behavior, a safe work environment, competitive salaries, and the fulfillment of all

Ethical Culture

Employee Commitment

and Trust

Investor Loyalty

and Trust Prof its

Customer Satisfaction

and Trust

FIGURE 13 The Role of Organizational Ethics in Performance

Chapter 1: The Importance of Business Ethics 19

contractual obligations toward employees. An ethics and compliance program can support values and appropriate conduct. Social programs that may improve the ethical culture range from work–family programs and stock ownership plans to community service. Home Depot associates, for example, participate in disaster-relief efforts after hurricanes and tornadoes by rebuilding roofs, repairing water damage, planting trees, and clearing roads in their communities. Because employees spend a considerable amount of their waking time at work, a commitment by the organization to goodwill and respect for its employees usually increases the employees’ loyalty to the organization and their support of its objectives. After years of bad publicity regarding environmental damage and its poor treatment of workers, Wal-Mart appears to have realized the importance of corporate social responsibility to a company’s bottom line. Over 92 percent of Wal-Mart associates now have health insurance, and Wal-Mart has been working hard to improve diversity as well. In 2008 alone, Wal-Mart received 37 separate awards and distinctions for its diversity efforts. The company has taken strides toward being more sustainable as well—by doing everything from introducing low-emissions vehicles to its shipping fleet and installing solar panels on store rooftops. Wal-Mart has even stated a goal to be zero-waste.36