3. Ethical Dilemmas

8/20/2019 3. Ethical Dilemmas

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Ethics: Codes, Dilemmas and

Dialectics



Code of Conduct in Business• It is important to organize certain business activities.

• It is to ensure a proper ethical behavior in conduct of business.

• Many business houses develop their own code of conduct in business eg. Jet Airways, Coca Cola Company etc.

• These are based on core values of the company, its mission and vision.

• Different companies may have different COC but the basic business codes

remain the same, following are some of them:-

• Compliance with laws, rules and regulations.

• Working with honesty, integrity and diligence and on the basis of work ethics.

• Confidentiality should be maintained.

• Maintenance of company’s goodwill, assets and property.

• No harassment and discrimination against employees and stakeholders.

• Fair trade practices and honest competition.

• Consumer services should be good with after sale services.

• Political connection and subscription to political parties to be discouraged.

• To carry out corporate social responsibility.

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INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL DILEMMA

• “A situation in which an individual feels

compelled to make a choice betweentwo or more actions that he or she canreasonably and morall

y justify , or whenevidence or an arguments are

inconclusive, is called an ethicaldilemma.”(Beauchamp&Childress,2001;McConnell,2002).

• One action must be chosen becauseperforming both actions would beimpossible.



• Ethical Dilemmas are usually describedin terms of right or wrong ,

duty or

obligation, rights or responsibilities, andgood or bad .

• Ethical dilemmas are commonlyidentified by the question,” What should

be done?”



Types of dilemmas

Most moral dilemmas in nursing / midwifery can be identifiedaccording to the following classifications:

• Dilemmas of Beneficence-dilemma that involve deciding what isgood as opposed to what its harmful.

• Dilemmas of autonomy - those that involve deciding what course ofaction maximize the right of self determination.

• Dilemmas of justice- dilemmas that involve dividing resources fairly



• Dilemmas of fidelity - those that are involve honoring promises

• Dilemmas of non maleficence- dilemmas that involve theavoidance of harm

• Dilemmas of confidentiality - those that involve respecting

privileged information

• Dilemmas of veracity - dilemmas that involve telling or

concealing the truth

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SOURCES & CAUSES OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS

SOURCES CAUSES

• Clash between personnel values andorganizational culture or values. ( whichone to sacrifice)

• Due to organizational goals and socialstandards. (eg. Police)

• Clash between organizational practicesand personal beliefs. ( Racial or genderdiscrimination asked by senior)

• Pressure from organization. (Produceand sell hazardous products).

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• Individual values(may be in conflict withsocial and family culture)

• Family values ( may be in clash withbusiness values)

• Organization/workplace ( in conflict with

personal values)• Society ( in conflict with individual

norms)

• Cross-Cultural Levels ( in conflict withcultural practices in another country)



Process for resolving ethical problems:

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Recognition of ethical dilemmaGathering relevant factual information

Clarify the personal context of the ethical dilemma

Identify and clarify the ethical concept

Construct and evaluate arguments for each issue.

Take action. (Make decision)

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DIALECTICS OF ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT IN1



DIALECTICS OF ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT INBUSINESS

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1. It is a method of argument for resolving

disagreement2. The dialectical method is discourse

between two or more people holdingdifferent points of view about a subject,

who wish to establish the truth of thematter guided by reasoned arguments.

3. The purpose of the dialectic method ofreasoning is resolution of disagreement

through rational discussion, and,ultimately, the search for truth.

STEPS FOR PRESENTING AN ETHICAL ARGUMENT OR A

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STEPS FOR PRESENTING AN ETHICAL ARGUMENT OR ADEFENSE OF A MORAL JUDGMENT USING ETHICAL

DIALECTIC

1. Arguments on the moral issues or dilemma made clear

2. Arguments defended using

reasoning in support of the judgment (conclusion of the moral argument)

Ethical Principles employed in the argument

Values used to select the ethical principles used in defense of the conclusion(judgment)

3. Consideration of alternative arguments and the rejection of those alternativesin favor of the judgment made for the reasons given which employ ethical

principles and values.

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SOME MAJOR UNETHICAL BUSINESS



SOME MAJOR UNETHICAL BUSINESSPRACTICES

• Sexual harassment at workplace

• Forced labour and bonded labour

• Sweat Shops

• Discriminations

• Fraud

• Theft• Corruption

• Exploiting workers

• Tax Loopholes

• Overbilling• Dumping Toxins

Most Unethical B siness Practices in Big B siness1



Most Unethical Business Practices in Big Business14

1. Apple:

• Everyone wants an iPhone and no one really cares if it were made by tiny child slaves who are forcedto work in dangerous conditions, inhaling cancerous vapors, for 10 hours a day, seven days a week.

And that is why Apple continues to be so profitable.

• But as beautiful as their products are, the production side of their business is a dark, horrific andunethical one. Apple manufacturer Foxconn is like hell on earth. Conditions at this plant are somiserable that “anti-suicide nets” had to be installed beneath the windows after a whopping 17employees leapt to their deaths in protests of the horrific things they had to endure on a daily basis.

• Living quarters like tiny college dorms in a gigantic beehive type factory, each crammed with crappybunk beds. Exhausting hours, humiliating discipline, unreasonable workloads, and pressure to reduce

overtime resulting in lower paychecks are just some of the crappy conditions faced by thousands ofFoxconn employees on a daily basis.

• The controversy began in 2006 and is still happening today. And while Apple has made efforts tobranch out and use some different manufacturers to produce their products, unethical Foxconn is stilltheir go-to company.

• Besides using Foxconn, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak claimed that Apple was engaging in unethictax practices by utilizing an Irish tax loophole to avoid paying billions in taxes on international sales.

2 Toyota Ignored Safety Concerns to Save Money

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2. Toyota Ignored Safety Concerns to Save Money

• One of the most important aspects of any car company is safety — the concern for safety, howboth employees and consumers are kept safe, and how issues are handled should a safetyconcern arise. Toyota made a huge and unethical failure in 2010 when they basically betrayedtheir promise as a company by ignoring safety concerns and delaying recall investigations justso they could save a little money.

• After confronted with safety concerns regarding faulty breaks and sticking pedals in 2009,Toyota said that phasing in side airbags saved $124 million and 50,000, the cost of what it wouldhave taken to recall and fix vehicles. They also stated that delaying a rule for tougher door lockssaved them $11 million.

• Despite being ordered to appear before Congress and provide an explanation for their unethicalhandling of the situation, Toyota didn’t seem to think it was such a big deal.

• “We can win back the customer’s confidence; we are doing a better job,” said senior Toyotaexecutive and global managing director on the Toyota board in somewhat of an apology for theirdelayed recalls. But it seems that they were only sorry after they got caught — it was almost anentire two years before Toyota got called out on this unethical practice after a few deaths andeven more complaints about their unsafe vehicles. Their failure to be honest got so bad that theywere even accused of hiding evidence in hundreds of rollover and death cases.

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3. Philip Morris

• Philip Morris Tobacco has been lauded as extremely unethical since so much of their advertisingseems geared toward children, and what’s more evil than trying to get kids hooked on what isbasically a life-threatening drug?

• While tobacco advertising regulations are now stronger than ever, Philip Morris (and othertobacco companies) are still criticized for the prominence of their products and ads in delis,convenience stores, and magazines. There’s also the fact that they continue to pay for product

placement in movies featuring “cool” characters who smoke and may influence the teens

watching them to do the same.

• Even their efforts to make themselves look better have been criticized; PBS wonders why anti-smoking ads created by Philip Morris point the blame at other smoking teenagers instead of

tobacco manufacturers themselves. After all, the only reason that kid-friendly cigarette mascotslike Joe Camel don’t exist today is because we made them illegal.

• Even a recently released Surgeon General’s Report in 2012 openly admits the scientific

evidence that “consistently and coherently points to the intentional marketing of tobaccoproducts to youth as being a cause of young people’s tobacco use.”

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4. Barrick Gold Corporation

Barrick Corporation, a Toronto-based gold-mining company, has been voted as Covalence’s 12th

most unethical company in the world. Accused of torching up to 300 homes in Papua NewGuinea in order to make room for their mining operation. Landowners were given no time togather possessions and reportedly physically attacked by armed guards if they attempted toprotest the impromptu and violent eviction.

Barrick Corporation is also accused of manipulating land titles in Australia and Chile, and ofdumping toxic waste with high levels of arsenic in the Tanzania.

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5. Chevron

Chevron has been caught trying to evade paying millions in taxes and has been accused of 18 years of unethical

practices in a 42-page affidavit detailing their cruel and selfish methods.

Chevron attempted to undermine the Ecuadorian court when a lawsuit was brought against them for deliberatelydumping billions of gallons of toxic waste into the South American rainforest, creating the “Amazon Chernobyl.”

Amazingly, they went on to try and hide behind US courts and deny any involvement despite overwhelmingscientific evidence of their responsibility in this atrocity.

Chevron is also accused of faking a letter from the Ecuadorian ambassador which falsely dismissed the lawsuit, ofattempting to destroy all documents relating to the spill, blocking the gathering of scientific evidence, and

refusing to pay court experts. They even went so far as to hire a drug dealer to try and create an unlawful stingoperation against the judge presiding over the case in an attempt to discredit him. It didn’t work, but the trial

was delayed an extra two years because of it

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6. WalMart

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http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chevron-using-unethical-tactics-to-avoid-judgment-in-10-billion-rainforest-trial-coalition-to-defend-the-amazon-says-58583442.html

http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2011/0307-court-affidavit-exposes-18-years-of-chevrons-unethical-conduct

http://chevrontoxico.com/news-and-multimedia/2011/0307-court-affidavit-exposes-18-years-of-chevrons-unethical-conduct

http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chevron-using-unethical-tactics-to-avoid-judgment-in-10-billion-rainforest-trial-coalition-to-defend-the-amazon-says-58583442.html



• WalMart is another behemoth company accused time and time again of being downright evil. Labor unions,community groups, religious organizations, environmental groups and WalMart customers all have one thing incommon: they hate the way WalMart does business.

• First there is the issue of predatory store placement. When WalMart enters a new town, it’s almost guaranteed

to eradicate all of the small businesses in the surrounding areas. How are mom and pop shops supposed tocompete against WalMart’s absurdly wide selection and ridiculously low prices? Besides destroying local

businesses, WalMart insisted on opening a superstore only two miles down the road from a historical site inMexico, and the construction of the WalMart parking lot revealed small artifacts beneath the surface duringdigging. Who cares? Not WalMart.

• Then there’s the whole “trying to drive competitors out of the market with unfairly low prices” thing. WalMarthas actually been sued for what’s called predatory pricing, or intentionally selling a product at an unreasonablylow cost to drive out the competition. Walmart won one of these three cases but settled out of court for theother two.

• And let’s not forget the public outcry and outrage surrounding the poor treatment of WalMart’s employees.They’ve been notorious for providing wages so poor that full timers still have to reply on food stamps andwelfare just to get by. And working conditions, as described by many of these harrowing first-hand accountshere, paint a grisly image of non-investigated sexual harassment in the work place, denied sick leave, reducedworking hours and a vehement opposition toward anyone who wanted to work in a union.

• In response to the outcries of employee horror stories, megalomaniac WalMart simply requested thatemployees send in happier stories instead. A pretty creepy and cold response from a company responsible forthe well-being of thousands of employees.

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7. Monsanto

• Monsanto has, time and time again, been named the world’s most unethical company by many

including Action for Our Planet and other eco-friendly publications.

• Monsanto began what seems to be their plight against humanity in the 70s, when they created toxic chemical Agent Orange for use in chemical warfare in Vietnam. The effects of Agent Orange were so horrible anddevastating that half a million children were born with debilitating birth defects due to exposure and Vietnamresidents continue to suffer the poisonous effects today.

• Monsanto has since moved on to GMO foods, and owns over 95% of seed patents today. Which means thatany farmer accidentally growing unlicensed seeds that have accidentally blown over into their fields are subject

to lawsuits, and Monsanto has not hesitated to aggressively sue small farmers, including one 80-somethingyear old man.

• Recently, confidential Monsanto reports detailing the company’s cutthroat tactics for squashing smallercompetitors and controlling the seed market have been exposed.

• Besides being voted the most evil company in the world year after year for their unethical practices andborderline illegal business tactics, a great debate over the safety of GMOs rages on, with Monsanto going asfar as to shadily discredit dissenters via fake online profiles.

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