Business Ethics and the Ethical Code REQUIREMENTS FORMAT
Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx)?Double-spaced, page numbers? One inch margins, Times New Roman font, size 12 Headers may be bold and size 14 Top left corner of the 1st page should have this information (single-spaced):
o name?o Business Ethics?o Professor ?o Date
Place a title between the above and the beginning of your paper (centered, bold)
1/2 page per question? In certain places, you may use bullet points and these should be single spaced? Use parenthetical citations when quoting or putting
forth a point of view other than your own, using the following format. [i.e., author’s last name and page number]
THE QUESTIONS
1. What are the pros and cons of universalism (Kant), consequentialism (Bentham & Mills), and pragmatism (Dewey)? Ultimately, which philosophy do you believe holds the most merit and why?
2. What is your ethical code? How did you develop it? How do you decide what is right and wrong?
3. What would a utopian society of your making look like? What rights would people have (you may also refer to animals and/or the environment if you wish)
that would be protected by law? What would be illegal? What would be the cultural norms for right and wrong behavior?
Business Ethics and the Ethical Code for a Company
4. Create a “Code of Ethics” for a company that you would like to work for. These are the company’s values and guides for good conduct. Each value or
behavior should be briefly explained.
5. What are the pros and cons of cultural relativism as an ethical philosophy? Do you consider yourself a relativist? Why or why not?
Instructions: 3 Questions choose the best answer.
1. John argues that ethical decisions should be based on the consequences of those decisions. How many people will be helped or hurt by them? Sue rejects
that point of view pointing to slavery; a whole bunch of people benefited from it so would it then be considered an ethical system? Sue believes that it
is right and wrong in this world. There are righteous principles to which we all must adhere. For example, murder and stealing are wrong while generosity and
caring are good. Miguel sees it another way. There are certain rights that all people have and those rights cannot be violated: the right to property, free
speech, and liberty, for example.
a. John Locke would primarily agree with John
b. Miguel’s comments most resemble that of Bentham, Mills, and utilitarianism
c. Aristotle being a proponent of virtue ethics would side with John
Business Ethics and the Ethical Code and Arqument
d. Immanuel Kant would heartily agree with Sue.
2. Which of the following is an ethical argument?? a. Bernie Madoff stole billions of dollars of his investors’ money? b. It was wrong for United Airlines to reduce its pension obligations to its employees. c. Insider trading is an illegal practice on Wall Street.?d. Enron’s CEO, Kenneth Lay, should have gone to
prison for what he did.
3. On April 20, 2010, a BP oil well in the Gulf of Mexico started leaking hydrocarbons, causing an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling rig,
resulting in 11 deaths and 16 injuries. Nearly five million barrels of oil and gas discharged into the sea over 87 days. This followed an explosion at a BP
Texas refinery in 2005 that killed 15 people and a 2006 spill of 270,000 gallons from a BP Alaska pipeline. These events negatively affected the “green” the image that BP had been building since 2000 when it launched a $200 million rebranding campaign to position itself as an environmentally friendly company.
Given the above statements, which of the following ethical judgments is most sound?
a. BP is an unethical company. These events would never have happened had BP been led in a morally conscious way. It’s more concerned with branding than with protecting the environment and keeping its people safe.
b. BP cannot be blamed for these incidents. The entire passage focuses only on BP. What about the other actors that were involved? Certainly, there were other
companies and state and federal regulators that were involved. And must not the public with its insatiable desire for fossil fuel energy be implicated as
well?
Business Ethics and the Ethical Code for BP Company
c. BP is an ethical company. It cares about its image and it wants to do the right thing. These events are unfortunate bad luck and have nothing to do with
BP’s ethical conduct.
d. These events seem to point to ethical lapses on BP’s part but the facts themselves do not prove that BP was unethical. Yes, BP was deeply involved but
were not other organizations responsible too? Information is missing. The facts related here speak nothing to the ethical climate at BP and the safeguards in place or lack thereof.
