These two factors would contribute to the accident, as they would highlight the overall lack of ethics and responsibility that existed at Exxon. (West, 2010) This is significant, because it shows an underlying trend has been occurring at numerous corporations around the world
However, the middle of October saw the inception of a Grand Jury investigation in which prosecutors issues subpoenas to Lehman Brothers' top brass, including CEO Richard Fuld. (Caruso, 1) the investigation has been undertaken with the expectation that knowledge held betwixt the executives was not shared with the public, leading to the surprising rapidity of the company's downfall and the incapacity of regular investors to make plans or respond accordingly
Not all expressions of values are also moral judgments, but all moral judgments do express something about what we value." (Cline, 2008) Values are something less individualized than morality, instead denoting a sense of a social continuum upon which certain behaviors are appropriate and others, inappropriate
(Healy, 2004) as this is the version of events which was held to be accurate in court, it is justifiable to contend that she did commit a crime and that the crime would also surely be said to run afoul of corporate ethical standards. (Ferrell et al
As the firm in question was overseen by CEO and a close personal friend of Stewart's, Sam Waksal, and the two were mutually served by Merrill Lynch broker Peter Baconovic, the fact of their respective sales of their shares within 48 hours before a critical FDA licensing rejection was bound to be closely scrutinized. (Healy, 2004) Indeed, upon the time of public revelations as to ImClone's misfortunes with the FDA, Stewart, Waksel and members of Waksel's family had saved themselves from losses that ranged from comparably modest to significant sums
So named for an Italian immigrant in the early 20th century who offered investors a huge and fast return on investments, Madoff fitted the method to hedge fund operation, promising enormous returns through prescient, high-yield investment. (Lenzner, 2008) When scrutiny revealed that Madoff has for years fabricated these returns as a way to court wealthy investors, his would prove to be both the largest of such scams in history and demonstrative of the ethical void defining today's corporate culture
passage of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) of 1977. This act is considered the most significant intrusion of government into corporate affairs since the passage of laws regarding securities in the 1930s (Cascini & Vanasco, 1992, pp
This point-of-view of necessity requires adherence to ethical principles, though the principles that would be emphasized would be broader and geared to serving society as well as the shareholders. Views of what constitutes a socially responsible act range from "profit making only," to "going beyond profit making," to "a social obligation, beyond that required by law and economics" (Carroll, 1979, p
Crane (2004) sees the teaching of ethics in business schools as a vital service, and he cites "a recent Aspen Institute study of graduates of the top business schools in the United States [that] found that business school (B-school) education not only fails to improve the moral character of students but actually weakens it. For example, the Aspen researchers found that students enter B-schools with idealistic ambitions, such as to create quality products and deliver customer satisfaction, but that only 2 years later these goals take a backseat to the boosting of share prices" (Crane, 2004, para
Others take a different view and see a need for business to consider social responsibility as an operating principle. In the United Kingdom, a law was proposed that would require adherence to such an idea: While the prevailing orthodoxy tends to agree with Milton Friedman and Friedrich von Hayek that "the business of Business is business" and a company should do no other than pursue shareholder value, the RSA [UK Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures and Commerce] asserted that Business has an obligation to maintain its "license to operate," a privilege accorded by society through invention of the law of limited liability, and should respond to constituencies beyond its market-based partners, fulfilling a "corporate social responsibility" (Doig, 1999)
Now, investors are far more concerned with companies that don't have an accounting bomb waiting to explode, and are placing emphasis on investing in companies with clean reputations. That may moderate a decades-long swing from investing in corporations promising an immediate windfall (Hisey, 2002)
Corporate Ethics As one analyst notes, the debacles of Enron, WorldCom, and Arthur Andersen have created significant challenges for management for the foreseeable future (Isaza, 2005)
One concern was the possibility of the bribery of public officials in foreign countries, a practice defended by some as the price of doing business in some countries. This argument has not had much appeal for the public, which is concerned as well that a company which conducts business in this manner in a foreign country may do the same thing in this one (Karrass, 1993, pp
One of the unfortunate aspects of the recent scandals, including Enron, Worldcom, and Adelphia, is that the ethical lapses occurred from the top, setting a tone that might cause others in the companies to act similarly and that also brings the business world into disrepute, contributing to a loss of public confidence and so having far-reaching ramifications. A more ethical orientation is good for business, for as a report from Australia notes, "Poor business ethics can ultimately lead to greater industry regulation" (Lawrence, 2005, para
Leadership MacIntyre stated that modern morality has been changing and has been creating chaos. In business, MacIntyre has suggested that the conception of character should serve as a cultural and moral ideal, and he also sees the manager in business as one of the characters most representative of modern times (Mangham, 1995, p
Miller (2004) writes that "the business of business everywhere is to pursue profits," and he believes that business leaders forget this when they show a concern for social responsibility. He also accepts certain ethical requirements, though, and cites "corporate values such as honesty, innovation, voluntary exchange, and the wisdom of the marketplace" (Miller, 2004)
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which President Bush signed into law in July of 2002, requires publicly traded companies to disclose whether they have adopted a code of ethics for their senior financial officers, and if not, why. They also must report promptly any amendments to or waivers from the code (Myers, 2003, p
MacIntyre's manager indeed only carries out polices handed down from above, and thus any ethical concerns are to be developed at the top or not at all. Many theorists find MacIntyre's approach too singular and find many examples that counter the norm suggested by MacIntyre (Randels, 1995, pp
The reason for this is not specifically a belief in the responsibility owed to shareholders but a form of blindness that seems to go with the business environment: The corporate climate may foster more interest in loyalty than in truth. Capitalism does force us sometimes to make decisions in a context narrower than we need in order to make them morally, socially, environmentally (Rolston, 1988, p
In the 1980s, one issue given much attention was product liability, and again it was the automobile industry in the spotlight with arguments about the Ford Motor Company and the Ford Pinto, considered dangerous because of a gas tank that could explode in even the most minor impact. In the 1990s, business was faced with issues concerning the environment, privacy, and financial governance (Vernon-Wortzel, 1994, pp