Polite Strangers

Artur Victoria asked:


Ethical Checklists

1. Have you defined the problem accurately?

2. How would you define the problem if you stood on the other side of the fence ?

3. How did this situation occur in the first place?

4. To whom and to what do you give your loyalty as a person and as a member of the corporation?

5. What is your intention in making this decision?

6. How does this intention compare with the probable results?

7. Whom could your decision or action injure?

8. Can you discuss the problem with the affected parties before you make your decision?

9. Are you confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time as it seems now?

10. Could you disclose without qualm your decision or action to your boss, your CEO, the board of directors, your family, society as a whole?

11. What is the symbolic potential of your action if understood ? Misunderstood ?

12. Under what conditions would you allow exceptions to your stand?

 

1. Collect information and identify the problem.

 

Be alert; be sensitive to morally charged situations: Look behind the technical requirements of your job to see the moral dimensions. Use your ethical resources to determine relevant moral standards. Use your moral intuition.

Identify what you know and don’t know: While you gather information, be open to alternative interpretations of events. So within bounds of patient and institutional confidentiality, make sure that you have the perspectives of patients and families as well as health care providers and administrators. While accuracy and thoroughness are important, there can be a trade-off between gathering more information and letting morally significant options disappear. So decisions may have to be made before the full story is known.

State the case briefly with as many of the relevant facts and circumstances as you can gather within the decision time available:

What decisions have to be made ? Who are the decision-makers ? Remember that there may be more than one decision-maker and that their interactions can be important. Be alert to actual or potential conflict of interest situations. A conflict of interest is “a situation in which a person, such as a public official, an employee, or a professional, has a private or personal interest sufficient to appear to a reasonable person to influence the objective exercise of his or her official duties.

 

” These include financial and financial conflicts of interest (e.g., favouritism to a friend or relative). In some situations, it is sufficient to make known to all parties that you are in a conflict of interest situation. In other cases, it is essential to step out a decision-making role.

 

Consider the context of decision-making

 

Ask yourself why this decision is being made in this context at this time?  Are there better contexts for making this decision? Are the right decision-makers included?

 

2. Specify feasible alternatives.

 

 State the live options at each stage of decision-making for each decision-maker. You then should ask what the likely consequences are of various decisions. Here, you should remember to take into account good or bad consequences not just for yourself, your profession, organisation or patients, but for all affected persons. Be honest about your own stake in particular outcomes and encourage others to do the same.

 

3. Use your ethical resources to identify morally significant factors in each alternative.

 

 Principles: What are the principles that are widely accepted in one form or another in the common moralities of many communities and organizations. Moral models: Sometimes you will get moral insight from modelling your behaviour on a person of great moral integrity. Use ethically informed sources: Policies and other source materials, professional norms such as institutional policies, legal precedents, and wisdom from your religious or cultural traditions. Context: Contextual features of the case that seem important such as the past history of relationships with various parties. Personal judgements: Your judgements, your associates, and trusted friends or advisors can be invaluable. Of course in talking a tough decision over with others you have to respect client and employer confidentiality.  Discussion with others is particularly important when other decision-makers are involved, such as, your employer, co-workers, clients, or partners.  Your professional or health care association may provide confidential advice. Experienced co-workers can be helpful. Many forward-looking health care institutions or employers have ethics committees or ombudsmen to provide advice.  Discussion with a good friend or advisor can also help you by listening and offering their good advice.

 

4. Propose and test possible resolutions.

 

Find the best consequences overall: Propose a resolution or select the best alternative(s), all things considered. Perform a sensitivity analysis: Consider your choice critically: which factors would have to change to get you to alter your decision? These factors are ethically pivotal. Consider the impact on the ethical performance of others: Think about the effect of each choice upon the choices of other responsible parties. Are you making it easier or harder for them to do the right thing? Are you setting a good example? Would a good person do this? : Ask yourself what would a virtuous person - one with integrity and experience - do in these circumstances? What if everyone in these circumstances did this?: Formulate your choice as a general maxim for all similar cases? Will this maintain trust relationships with others?: If others are in my care or otherwise dependent on me, it is important that I continue to deserve their trust. Does it still seem right?: Are you and the other decision-makers still comfortable with your choice(s)?

If you do not have consensus, revisit the process. Remember that you are not aiming at “the” perfect choice, but a reasonably good choice under the circumstances.

 

5. Make your choice.

Live with it and Learn from it: This means accepting responsibility for your choice. It also means accepting the possibility that you might be wrong or that you will make a less than optimal decision. The object is to make a good choice with the information available, not to make a perfect choice. Learn from your failures and successes.

Conflict of Interest

The ethical responsibility to ensure that our private interests do not interfere with the proper accomplishment of our organizational duties.

Examples:

Accepting a gift in return for organizational favors Peddling influence for a fee or for personal gain Insider trading Nepotism “Moonlighting” (some situations) Industrial relations activities

 Often discussed in respect of “public duty” and public employee responsibility, but in fact goes to every sector of employment.

The potential benefits emanating from such a conflict can extend beyond the individual, to family members, business associates, friends etc.

Private activities as conflicts of interest

Rightly or wrongly, private activities can be seen as in conflict with organisational duty, even if not yielding monetary advantage, as potential causes of public embarrassment or diminishing faith in the integrity of the individual and/or the organisation.

Examples

Social and business contacts Lifestyle “idiosyncrasies” Behavioral predilections (sexual ?) Activities of partners Use of substances (alcohol, drugs ?) Personal financial arrangements Political or Religious affiliations

 

Conflicts of Interest : Issues for resolution

What should be the major focus of our concern about C of I ? Is it reasonable to require avoidance of C of I by employees ? To what extent are private lives relevant to organisational life ? What conditions need to be fulfilled to established that a C of I exists ? Should we allow the media or public opinion to dictate what is or is not a C o I ? Is it appropriate to include spouses, family members, friends, business associates etc. in consideringC of I ? Should people be required to declare their interests ?

(From: LANGFORD John W., Conflict of Interest : What the hell is it ? , in Optimum (Canada), Vol 22, No 1-91,

Pages 28- 33).

 

 Mechanisms for Ethics Advice and Support.

This would cover the need to establish, within the organization, various mechanisms which will foster  ethical behavior and allow individuals to seek advice on dilemmas, get support for difficult decisions etc. 

This might include:

Ethics Contact Officers

The establishment of a structure and process for advice giving, which is outside the normal hierarchical  relationships between people.  This must provide a focal point (or points) for enquiries / advice and uphold  absolute confidentiality.  It’s continued depends upon a track record of trust.

Responsibilities may include:

 

Global accountability for developing and directing an organization’s ethics, compliance, and business conduct function for the total corporation or organization, Providing leadership, oversight, and expert advice to ensure appropriate development, interpretation, and implementation of ethics and compliance strategies, policies and programs, Accountability for all program activities relating to standards of conduct including ethical relationships with employees, customers, contractors, suppliers, shareholders, and other stakeholders, Providing leadership in the development of a compliance risk management program to assess, prioritize, and effectively manage legal and regulatory compliance, Accountability for the organisation-wide confidential reporting program (such as a Hotline) allowing employees, customers, suppliers, and other stakeholders to report violations of the organisation’s ethical standards, violations of law or corporate policy, without fear of retaliation, Setting the strategy for and administering the organisation’s annual or periodic ethics and compliancetraining, and regular communications around ethics, compliance and conduct issues, Conducting investigations into alleged violations of organisational ethics, compliance or conductpractices and making recommendations for resolution of misconduct - including disciplinary action, Measuring and assessing organisational performance in compliance and ethics arenas, and, Providing comprehensive reports to the CEO and any committees, the Board of Directors etc.

(Adapted from the Ethics Officers Association information page at: http://www.eoa.org/Whatis.asp)

 

Ethics Committees

Roles can include a spectrum from advisory (no hands-on) to very hands-on involvements, as follows. This will depend upon the organisational culture, nature of the business, tolerance for control of compliance outside traditional hierarchical structures etc:

 Develop and regularly review standards and procedures Resolve conflicts between competing ethical requirements Suggest behaviors that reinforce the organization’s ethics guidelines Assume responsibility for overall compliance Act as a court of last resort re: interpretations of standards and procedures Define how the organization balances the rights of individual employees against the organization’s needs Solicit stakeholder input regarding how standards and procedures are defined and enforced Develop and disseminate the organization’s standards, policies and guidelines on ethical decision making Oversight an Ethics “Hot Line” as a mechanism for seeking guidance and reporting suspected wrongdoing and to protect employees’ privacy Serve as the primary agent for enforcement and discipline (?) Ensure that offences are not repeated, through direct action Provide a forum to foster communication among ethics committees at large Monitor and audit overall compliance Undertake or commission research projects on ethics issues relevant to the organisation

Shelley Godra asked:


Ethical Viewpoints

Written by Shelley Godra 

How far would you go to help a friend?  Would you risk breaking the law?  These questions plagued my conscience last year when I opened my home to a close friend running from the military. In my opinion, I felt like I did the right thing offering my friend, Josh, a place to stay when he needed it the most; however, some people may disagree with my decision. Depending on the viewpoint, this situation could be seen as being ethically right or ethically wrong.

My friend enlisted into the Navy in the spring of 2006.  Josh completed boot camp and was staying at a naval base in Virginia.  In the beginning of the winter, he ran into some trouble and his punishment was 72 hours in the naval prison.  Instead of completing his jail sentence, Josh decided to leave the naval base and was considered absent without leave or “AWOL.”  When he showed up on my doorstep, I had the dilemma of deciding whether to let him stay or to send him on his way. 

A person with a transcendentalist viewpoint would have not only sent him on his way but would have also turned Josh over to the military authorities.  The transcendentalist viewpoint is motivated and committed to judging ethical situations based upon a religious standing.  There are either good or bad ethical decisions; there are neither gray areas nor excuses for bad ethical decisions.  Someone with this point of view would consider the actions both Josh and I took to be morally and ethically wrong.  Like the transcendentalist viewpoint, the legitimist viewpoint would also categorize this situation as being ethically wrong if he indeed broke the law.

The legitimist viewpoint holds the law above all other decision-making influences.  When considering if an action is ethically correct, someone with a legitimist point of view would look to see if the action followed government laws and policies.  In my situation, both Josh and I did not follow the laws.  Josh broke the law when he left the naval base and became AWOL, and I broke the law when I allowed him to stay at my house without turning him over to the military.  The individualist viewpoint would also see this situation as being ethically wrong, however, the reasoning is completely different.

The individualist viewpoint is only concerned with the advancement and capitalization of one’s own position in society.  Someone with this point of view would believe housing Josh as wrong because there is a chance of being punished by government authorities themselves.  This viewpoint also does not take existing relationships into perspective when making ethical decision; therefore, it would not matter to someone with individualist thinking that Josh is a close friend and needs help.  In contrast, there are viewpoints that would perceive this situation as being ethical.

The systemicist viewpoint looks at the bigger picture of an ethical dilemma and sees how everyone is affected by the decision. A person holding a systemicist viewpoint believes that the decision is ethically correct if it is good for the majority of the people involved.  In this particular situation, not only were Josh and I affected but also his family and the military.  Josh would have been out on the streets, running from the government, and on his own if I had turned him away.  His family would have been devastated if he had gotten caught and was sentenced to a period in jail.  The military has enough issues to deal with and does not need to be chasing an AWOL seaman around the country.  The majority of concerned parties’ interests would have chosen to have Josh stay at my house rather than be turned into the government or be denied shelter. 

The conventionalist viewpoint also looks at the bigger picture when deciding what is ethically correct.  Someone characterized as portraying a conventionalist viewpoint would determine what is ethically right and wrong by looking at what the majority of society would choose.  This reasoning is supported by the idea that most people are inherently good.  The majority of society would say that breaking the law is bad, however, the greater amount would also say that helping a close friend in need has superiority over the latter action.  Fellow peers and family would also agree with the previous decision of helping Josh.  Once putting priority to actions, the conventionalist viewpoint would assume assisting and housing Josh is the widely accepted ethical decision.  Furthermore, the experientialist viewpoint would consider this situation as doing the right thing.

An experientialist viewpoint relies on “gut feelings” and an intuitive sense of right.  A person with this point of view, like myself, does not think the situation through before deciding upon an ethical decision.  When I opened my door that day to find Josh, I knew instinctively that I would help him through his hardship.  I did not have to weigh the pros and cons to know whether or not I needed to help with his crisis.  I do not regret opening up my home to Josh; however, the decision may have been different if the situation was altered.

I would have turned Josh away from my home had a few details been altered in this ethical situation.  First, the severity of his charges would have changed my mind; Josh had gotten in trouble at the Virginia naval base for underage drinking.  If Josh had injured other people or committed a more severe crime then I would have not allowed him a place to stay.  Second, the parties involved could have swayed my decision as well.  If the FBI or another type of high profile government agency were chasing him then I would have turned him away based upon the individualist viewpoint.  I would not have risked the chance of jail in order to help my AWOL friend. 

In conclusion, there are several viewpoints that can be taken for every ethical situation; however, there is no absolute right viewpoint.  The concept taken when making ethical decisions depends on the predicament, the severity, and the people involved.  In this particular situation, Josh was my friend and needed help.  I did not care that he was AWOL and wanted by the military; I felt that our friendship was more important than the law.  I do not regret my decision, and I think I was ethically right.

Andrew Sandon asked:


International Company and Ethics

The issue of business ethics is engaging companies more and more - both domestically and internationally. This trend is accentuated by high-profile examples of breaches of accepted standards of ethical behavior. For example, the recent Enron case where inadequate checks and balances within the firm enabled unethical behavior to occur, a development made easier by the failure of the external auditor to fulfill its role properly. Assumptions about ethics and business are influenced inevitably by fundamental beliefs about the role of business in society. On the one hand, there are those who believe that the sole social responsibility of business is to generate profit. For some proponents of this view, profit generation itself takes on a moral dimension whereas others see profits as the key to wealth generation - the main way of addressing social issues (Davies, 1997, p. 88). On the other hand, others believe that the role of business is much broader than that of profit generation and that all those who are affected by the way a company operates - shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, the local community, future generations (especially in relation to environmental issues) - have a legitimate interest and stake in the way a company conducts itself.

Many of these concerns are relevant to business whether it is domestic or international in nature. However, international business poses particular challenges and questions over and above those facing purely domestic business. In order to reconcile doing business internationally and remain ethical, the company should follow the main principles of human rights, comply with legal norms related to labor, avoid corruption and correspond to standards of environmental protection. Even though it is not easy to combine making profit and adjusting to ethical principles, sometimes failure to comply with legal norms and standards my result in negative public image for the international company and loss of customers. Therefore, international company can suffer even more damages if it decides not to follow the ethical principles.

The first issue related to ethics is human rights. It is a generally accepted principle that international company should not engage in direct infringement of human rights the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is commonly taken as the appropriate benchmark. However, some people would go further, preferring companies to refrain from doing business in countries known to infringe human rights on a systematic basis. Opponents of this view argue that if an international company abstains from conducting business in a country with an ethically dubious regime, the only concrete result is to hand over business opportunities to companies without such reservations (Barlett and Ghoshall, 1998, p. 110).

On coming to office in 1992, for example, President Clinton proposed to withdraw MFN status from China as a result of the Tiananmen Square massacre in 1989 in which many pro-democracy demonstrators were killed (Kepstein, 2001, p. 108). Such action would have provoked retaliation against US companies operating in China and US business lobbied hard to persuade the president to change his mind. They argued that US business interests would be irrevocably damaged in a rapidly growing market and that the outcome would not be an improvement in human rights in China but a boost to the business prospects of American business rivals in China. The lobbying campaign was successful: the link between trade and human rights was broken and replaced by the doctrine that the possibility of bringing about change is greater if business and other links and contacts are maintained.

International labor issues can be linked with human rights, especially regarding matters of forced labor and child labor. Ethical labor issues also occur outside the framework of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in circumstances where certain labor practices may be legal and commonplace in the host country but do not necessarily represent fair and equitable treatment of the workforce. The issue facing an international company is: does it maximize its competitive advantage by locating in a low-cost/low-regulation country and adopt local practices or does it refrain from reaping all the labor cost benefits by adopting higher standards and more ethical practices than strict compliance with local legal norms requires? A firm may choose to take the latter path and still experience significant competitiveness gains.

Corporate codes of conduct governing general corporate behavior and treatment of the workforce in particular are not new. Their modern manifestation began in the mid-twentieth century in the form of codes from the International Chamber of Commerce and other collective codes (Donaldson, 1989, p. 55). Their popularity surged once more in the 1990s in response to pressure from NGOs, the emergence of corporate social responsibility as a key consideration for firms and the phenomenon of socially responsible investment and shareholder action. Additionally, discussion of the possible inclusion of labour regulation under the WTO umbrella encouraged international firms to assume greater responsibility for their own labor standards, if only to demonstrate that international regulation was unnecessary. Corporate codes of conduct take many forms. Many international firms have developed their own individual codes to cover their own employees and those of their contractors and suppliers. Some industries have developed their own codes. Whatever form they take, codes are necessary for the positive public image of international company and they demonstrate that the company reconciles doing business and acting ethically. Codes need to comply with a number of conditions before they can be said to operate equitably and with credibility (DeGeorge, 1993, p. 88):

1.the contents of the code must be clearly worded and, at a minimum, comply with core standards;

2.the company adopting the code must be committed to it and be prepared to provide the resources to ensure its implementation, including training, information systems for monitoring and compliance and staff to implement new procedures;

3.knowledge of the code throughout the organization is essential to its implementation: in particular, employees of the firm and its subcontractors and suppliers must know of the contents of the code and a reporting system must be established that enables workers to report infringements without fear of reprisals;

4.the code should be subject to verification by independent assessors who have access to the site unannounced at any time.

The application of such codes can enhance internal governance and facilitate internal management across geographically dispersed sites. There is some evidence to show that real commercial benefits can be gained from the proper application of fair and equitable labor standards, although more widespread research needs to be done on this (DeGeorge, 1993, p. 111). Provided the code of conduct adopted by a firm has external credibility, it can both protect and enhance a firm’s reputation, particularly important these days when more is expected of firms in terms of corporate social responsibility.

Levi Strauss is one of the world’s largest brand-name clothes manufacturers and also one of the first international companies to adopt a corporate code of conduct to apply to all contractors who manufacture and finish its products and to aid selection of which countries in which to operate (DeGeorge, 1993, p. 118). The Code of Conduct has two parts:

1.Business partner terms of engagement: Levi Strauss uses these to select business partners that follow workplace standards and practices consistent with its policies and to help identify potential problems. In addition to meeting acceptable general ethical standards, complying with all legal requirements and sharing Levi Strauss’s commitment to the environment and community involvement, Levi Strauss’s business partners must adhere to the following employment guidelines:

-Wages and benefits: business partners must comply with any applicable law and the prevailing manufacturing and finishing industry practices.

-Working hours: partners must respect local legal limits on working hours and preference will be given to those who operate less than a 60-hour working week. Levi Strauss will not use partners that regularly require workers to work in excess of 60 hours. Employees should also have at least one day off per week.

-Child labor: use of child labor is not permissible in any of the facilities of the business partner. Workers must not be below 15 years of age or below the compulsory school age.

-Disciplinary practices: Levi Strauss will not use business partners who use corporal punishment or other forms of physical or mental coercion.

-Prison/forced labor: no prison or forced labor is to be used by business partners nor will Levi Strauss use or buy materials from companies using prison or forced labor.

-Freedom of association: the rights of workers to join unions and to bargain collectively must be respected.

-Discrimination: while respecting cultural differences, Levi Strauss believes workers should be employed on the basis of their ability to do their job

-Health and safety: Levi Strauss undertakes to use business partners who provide a safe and healthy working environment and, where appropriate residential facilities

2.Country assessment guidelines: these are used to address broad issues beyond the control of individual business and are intended to help Levi Strauss assess the degree to which its global reputation and success may be exposed to unreasonable risk. It was an adverse country assessment that caused Levi Strauss to cease its engagement in China in the early 1990s, largely on human rights grounds - a decision that has subsequently been reversed. In particular, the company assesses whether:

-the brand image will be adversely affected by the perception or image of a country among customers;

-the health and safety of employees and their families will be exposed to unreasonable risk;

-the human rights environment prevents the company from conducting business activities in a manner consistent with the global guidelines and other company policies;

-the legal system prevents the company from adequately protecting trademarks, investments or other commercial interests;

-the political, economic and social environment protects the company’s commercial interests and brand corporate image.

Levi Strauss is the example of the company that successfully combines doing business and following ethical practices. As we see, the company code of ethics demonstrates that Levi Strauss complies with the most labor norms and environmental standards; at the same time such actions of the company do not have any negative impact upon its business. On the contrary, since Levi Strauss has positive public image the customers should be more attracted to its products.

Some of the other important ethical issues that the company should consider is bribery and corruption. Bribery/corruption is not as clear-cut an issue as might first appear; indeed it can be rather a grey area. In some cultures, it is regarded as perfectly normal to give an official or host a gift (Asgary and Mitschow, 2002, p. 245). In others, only minimal value token gifts or no gifts at all are allowed. A problem arises when it is the norm for a contract to be signed only after the payment of a ‘commission’ to a key official or officials (Asgary and Mitschow, 2002, p. 240). Such circumstances place international companies in a difficult position: without payment of these commissions, the contract will not materialize and, if they do not make the payment, many other companies will (although that is not an ethical justification for going ahead with the commission). The position of the US is unequivocal about this: it regards all such payments as bribes and, as such, they are both unethical and illegal. The Foreign Corrupt Practices Law forbids US companies from making improper payments to foreign governments, politicians or political parties to obtain or retain business. Therefore, the only choice that American companies have regarding bribery is not to make any payments regarded as bribes; otherwise, it can be considered that a company violates the law.

The last ethical challenge that international companies face is related to environmental protection. Firms can encounter damaging publicity as a result of the environmental outcome of their activities as pollution attracts more and more media attention (Barlett and Ghoshal, 1998, p. 98). For many, environmental protection and corporate responsibility in this field has a clear ethical dimension. This debate is couched in terms of the ‘global commons’ in which all human beings have both a stake and a responsibility to ensure the well-being of the environment for future generations (Donaldson, 1989, p. 211).

In order to reconcile doing business and meeting environmental ethical standards an international company should comply with the following underlying principles in environmental policy.

The first norm refers to the “polluter pays principle.” It stipulates that polluters should pay the full cost of the environmental damage they cause (DeGeorge, 1993, p. 100). Environmental costs are often referred to as ‘externalities’ (for example, damage to health, rivers, the air, etc. arising from economic activity) that are not incorporated into the costs of a product but are borne by society as a whole (DeGeorge, 1993, p. 100). By making the polluter pay the full cost of its activities, including externalities, this principle provides an incentive to make products less polluting and/or to reduce the consumption of polluting goods. This internalization of external costs can be met through the use of market-based, policy instruments.

The other principle refers to prevention. If the company decides to follow the prevention principle it changes to products and processes to prevent environmental damage occurring rather than relying on remedial action to repair damage after it has taken place (Davies, 1997, p. 108). This implies the development of ‘clean technologies’; minimal use of natural resources; minimal releases into the atmosphere, water and soil; and maximization of the recyclability and lifespan of products.

In conclusion, international business adds an extra dimension to ethical issues within the firm. All organizations have their own culture based on common language and terminology, behavioral norms, dominant values, informality/formality, etc. This inevitably becomes more complex when an organization has a presence in more than one country. Some companies believe a strong corporate culture is a means of overcoming diverse national cultures whereas others evolve different cultures in different organizations and incorporate cultural diversity in their management strategy. Many organizations like Coca-Cola and McDonald’s do use core brands but still adapt their products for local markets and follow ethical standards, either out of necessity or to maximize returns. Ethics and corporate social responsibility are closely related. Debates about corporate social responsibility have been dominated by labor and environmental issues but a growing number of corporate governance scandals involving multinationals is increasing pressure for stricter regulation. International companies can reconcile doing business internationally and remaining ethical if they comply with labor and environmental norms enacted at the international level and establish and follow the code of ethics. In the long run, corporate commitment to sound ethical principles and socially responsible behavior is good for business.

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Justin Shomper asked:


Ethics and high morality are in high demand today especially among corporate America, and specifically within the accounting profession. After the ethical failures of Enron and WorldCom, a public outcry for future preventative measures resonated throughout the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), and the accounting community at large. Consequently, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the overseeing government board of the AICPA, released the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, otherwise known as SOX. The act requires a higher performance standard for accounting firms and the audits they perform to prevent future accounting scandals. SOX, which has been extremely beneficial, doesn’t change the ethical standards of an individual but instead takes away most of the opportunity to commit a scandalous act. The basic character of the fraudulent individual remains corrupt, even with legislation in place. The question is then posed: Can ethics be taught, and if so, what accounting or business ethics courses are available? The answer is not ironclad as the word ethics describes the morality of an individual, which is hard to measure. There are also very limited courses offered on ethics, however ethical education should be a required course in college and a prerequisite to new employment for all accounting firms.

Most higher education institutions, and some high school level institutions, are implementing brief ethical materials into their curriculum, but very few offer courses on the subject. The basic argument against incorporating a required accounting ethics course is that there isn’t any proof that individuals who take a course would be any more ethical than they already are. If this is truly the singular obstruction to imposing an accounting course in ethics, than why aren’t other courses in the curriculum subject to examination from proof. Many audits, specifically those at Enron and WorldCom, have failed because of poor functional accounting knowledge, not just ethical queries. Most other curricular accounting courses would fail a proof assessment required by those who oppose an accounting ethics course. It is necessary to have an accounting ethics course to properly prepare students for any future ethical temptation they may experience within the field. Without experience in fraud recognition or ethical righteousness, many new timid accountants are susceptible to fraud or ethical dilemmas. A recommendation would be to add not just one course on ethics into a curriculum, but possibly three or four. A course in ethical theory could tie into another ethics course involved in spotting frauds and ethical dilemmas while a third course could focus on answering these ethical uncertainties.

The need for an accounting ethics course is also very apparent in how much destructive attention financial catastrophes attract to the profession. The recent big company accounting scandals all brought negative publicity to the accounting field. The burden of the economic failures in today’s society must be placed somewhere, and many people look at accountants as an outlet to place that burden. All of these events from big companies provide a negative perception of the accounting field, and that’s not to mention the small business owners who have encountered other accounting mistakes or unethical occurrences. This is not to say that legitimate and honest mistakes will not be made by new students, but the ability to recognize the mistakes and evaluate ethical problems can be reduced with the addition of an ethics course. The more education and experience that new accountants have and acquire the fewer mistakes that will occur, and ultimately the less negative publicity the profession will receive. It is extremely important that in the accounting profession, clients feel secure and trusting of those who they employ.

Another need for an ethics course comes from a common stereotype of accountants. The stereotype is that accountants are known to simply follow the rules, or do just enough to meet the basic criteria. To correct ethical dilemmas, it is required to go above and beyond the norm to investigate and solve uncertainties. A class in the area of ethics could help prepare and motivate new accountants to become more proactive when evaluating a possible unethical or fraudulent scenario. Clients will feel a greater sense of security with a proactive accountant, and ultimately bring more profit to the profession.

Society can not function without ethical people. The business world and accounting profession can not function without ethical people. It is for this reason that an accounting ethics course or courses are imperative. The elimination of stereotypes, fewer mistakes, and a heightened sense of awareness is exactly what could be acquired from an accounting ethics course. It is important to add ethics courses immediately, and for employers to require that their new hire’s be educated in ethics knowledge. If an employee is not educated and courses are not offered, employers should take measures to offer a mandatory ethics course within their organization.

Laura Erickson asked:


Ethics can be defined as a set of moral values or principles that consist of a moral duty and obligation. In the business setting they are the rules or standards which govern the conduct of employees. This code of conduct encourages public confidence in the products and services of the company. A profession is formed on the basis of a generally accepted body of knowledge, a standard of achievement and code of ethics that is strictly enforced. A code of ethics is said to be a crucial element in the foundation of a profession. The three major accounting professional organizations follow an ethics code.

Ethics are especially important in the work of a management accountant so they have the right elements and are able to serve their management efficiently. The behavior of a management accountant is governed by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) Code of Ethics. When this code of ethics is followed a trusting relationship develops so the work of the accountants is able to be relied upon and it also enhances their professionalism. The four main standards that appear on the code of ethics are competence, credibility, confidentiality and integrity. The standard of competence requires that every member must maintain a high level of professionalism by continuing to develop their skills and knowledge, be able to perform their duties by still abiding by relevant laws and regulations. Also to provide supportive decisions and other information that is accurate and timely and lastly to be able to recognize any limitations or constraints that relate to the success o an activity. Credibility refers to each member being able to communicate information objectively and make sure that they disclose all relevant information and delays of deficiencies that have an effect on the organization or its operations. The concept of confidentiality refers to each member of the organization keeping all personal information discrete and secret unless it is necessary that the information is disclosed. All parties involved must be aware and comply to the confidential policy. It is also assumed that under this standard each member will refrain from using information that is considered confidential to have an illegal advantage or promote unethical activities. The last standard in the code of ethics is integrity. Integrity refers to the ability to adhere to moral and ethical principles and have regular communication to avoid conflicts of interest. Also acting with integrity includes refraining and abstaining from engagement in any activity that with discredit the company or be deemed as unethical. 

The Institute of Management Accountants (IMA) insures that all members of their organization should always behave ethically. Each member is obligated to commit to practices that are both ethical and professional. Their ethical principles include: Honesty, Fairness, Objectivity and Responsibility. Everyone has their own knowledge of honesty and what it means to be honest. Being truthful and sincere is said to be acting honestly and it will help in an organization if everyone possesses those qualities. Fairness in accounting is defined as a company’s financial statements being presents in an understandable, and comprehensive way to not favor one party over another. Objectivity refers to not acting based on personal feelings or prejudice and being unbiased. Responsibility is an obligation or duty to do things that you feel is right. In a business environment these are all key principles that each person must follow and uphold in order to maintain some sort of ethical standard to work and live by. Every member should not only abide by them but also encourage others in their organization to do the same; failure to comply can result in strong discipline.

Organizations can have as many rules and regulations they want when it comes down to acting ethical and how to punish those who don’t but sometimes conflicts do arise that can’t be handled just by your organization’s policies. In situations like these other courses of action must be applied and taken into consideration. To resolve ethical conflicts you should first talk to your supervisor and discuss the situation with them. If this doesn’t help to resolve the conflict it would be a good idea to keep moving up the chain of management until an immediate answer is found that would help to resolve the problem. Another option would be to discuss your possible outcomes to the situation with an IMA counselor to get a better idea of what your options are. To take it one step further you could also contact your attorney to legal obligations and rights that may be involved in the conflict of ethics.

There are always going to be ethical issues that arise but having a good ethics code within your organization there is a high chance that conflicts can be resolved. It is necessary that the ethics code be enforced and if someone is acting unethically or not abiding by the code that they person should face serious consequences. Ethics provide the foundation for which a civilized society can exist and therefore they are a key element in the success of all business and accounting professions.

Sue McLean asked:


What do we mean by ethics?

The word ethics comes from a Greek source meaning custom or habit. Ethical philosophy involves the study of right and wrong. Sometimes people use the word morality instead of ethics. Both morality and ethics are about finding out how we ought to live. Ethics is a major branch of philosophy. (The other branches being: epistemology or knowledge, metaphysics or the essential nature of things and logic or reason.

Approaches to Ethics

There are four possible ways of approaching ethics.

Descriptive ethics: involves the description of how things are or the customs of a society.

Normative ethics: is about making moral decisions or deciding what is right and what is wrong. There are two main ways of doing this, namely by intentions or moral rules relating to duty (deontological ethics) or by outcome (teleological).

Meta-ethics; this approach analyses the nature of ethics. It includes both realism and antirealism. Realism is the view that moral values can be discovered, possibly by using intuition. Antirealism is the view that morality is determined by people’s thoughts and feelings

Applied ethics: this is how ethical values may be used in specific circumstances. So for example, the study of abortion would involve an individual applying moral theory to the situation of abortion. In order to do this they may draw on both normative values those of meta-ethics.

Normative Ethics In More Detail

Teleological Theory

Teleological theory is also known as consequentialism and involves outcomes. One example of teleological theory is utilitarianism. According to this theory one should do what creates the most happiness for the greatest number of people. However utilitarians are divided about what happiness is. Some claim that happiness is simply pleasure but others claim it is about minimising pain. Two major exponents of utilitarianism are Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill.

Jeremy Bentham produced the felicific calculus, or hedonic calculus. For Bentham one could calculate the actual amount of pleasure over pain using a sort of mathematical method. The calculus involves taking into account factors such as: intensity, duration and certainty of pleasure.

John Stuart Mill divided pleasure into higher and lower order, claiming cultural, spiritual and intellectual pleasures to be higher order in nature.

Some utilitarians claim that lawmakers ought to apply the happiness principle to formulate general rules for society. These utilitarians are called rule utilitarians. On the other hand, act utilitarians claim that one should apply the happiness principle to each act and so determine the morality of each individual situation.

Not surprisingly there are several criticisms of utilitarianism. One of the main criticisms is the conflict between the greatest number and the greatest happiness. For instance, what if I can create a lot of happiness for one person or a little happiness for lots of people? What should I do? Another problem is to do with how we define happiness because if it is merely pleasure then this is purely hedonistic and somehow this seems wrong. For instance, it may be pleasurable to spend my whole day playing computer games instead of doing my philosophy homework but this does not make playing games the right thing to do.

Deontological Theory

Deontological theory, on the other hand, maintains that we should act out of good intentions, namely duty.

Kant’s theory is perhaps the best known deontological theory. Kant argued that we should do duty for duty’s sake (categorical imperative). This applies regardless of outcome or emotions and that is why it is categorical. (Whereas the hypothetical imperative states: ‘Do X to achieve Y’.)

For Kant our actions must pass the universability test, which means one should ask what would happen if everyone acted in that way. This does not make Kant’s theory consequentialist because he was not concerned with consequences but rather whether any irrationality or contradiction would be produced should everyone act in a certain way.

Kant also said that we should act as though everyone were a member of the kingdom of ends, meaning that we should treat everyone as if they have their own ends or purposes. This contrasts with a very modern and capitalist view that we treat others for our own ends. One of the most positive aspects of Kant’s philosophy is his theme of respect for others, which has been the basis of human rights legislation.

One criticism of Kant’s theory is that he does not explain why we should do duty for duty’s sake.

Meta-ethics in More Depth

Meta means ‘after or beyond’ so this branch of ethics usually goes above or beyond that of normative theory. Examples of meta-ethical theory include: relativism, intuitionism, emotivism and prescriptivism.

Meta-ethical questions include:

What do we mean by good or bad?

How do we make moral judgements?

Are some things always good or bad?

One key issue is to do with whether moral judgements can be objective (realism) or subjective (antirealism). In other words, whether moral judgements are based on the emotions and perceptions of individuals (antirealism) or whether they can be known in some objective way. Another way of stating this is by questioning whether some things are always good independently of any will or view.

Antirealism

Antirealism holds that there is no objective good but that something may be deemed good by individuals. To give an example, if I believe as relativists do, that morality is judged from the perspective of time, place or situation then I am an antirealist. For relativists what is deemed right at one time may not be right at another because there are no objective standards. Thus divorce was once viewed as wrong in Britain but today many people do not judge it as immoral. For relativists this shift in values illustrates the view that nothing is always right or wrong.

Another form of antirealism is the view that ethical statements are neither true nor false. Both emotivism and prescriptivism hold this position. Emotivism holds that morality is about an emotional response so that I may be kind to a kitten because I have an feelings of sympathy towards it. Whereas prescriptivism holds that moral statements imply a prescription or rather imply an action. Therefore the statement ‘it is wrong to commit adultery’ implies ‘you should not commit adultery’.

Realism

On the other hand, I may believe that there are objective moral standards or things which are always right or wrong independent of any arbitrary opinion. For instance, I may believe that marriage is for life and judge as unimportant the fact that attitudes have changed to marriage. According to this view divorce may still be wrong even if the consensus of opinion changes so that just because the majority think something is right, it does not follow that it is so.

Intutionism is one example of realism. Intuitionists argue that we know how to respond in a given situation because we have an intuitive understanding of goodness. We have this understanding because goodness is objective.

It is important to realise that realism is not the same as absolutism. Absolutism is a form of antirealism. Absolutism holds that some things are absolutely wrong in all situations but that they are absolutely wrong as the result of some will such as God’s or that of the monarch. For instance, in divine command theory something is deemed wrong because God says it is wrong. However this makes morality subject to God’s will. If something is subject to a will (even God’s) then it is not objective. Objective standards hold that some things are always right or wrong independent of any arbitrary will.

Conclusions

In conclusion, there are four approaches to ethics, namely: descriptive, normative, meta-ethics and applied ethics. The last of these four has not been discussed at any length in this paper. However it is important to realise that applied ethics involves the application of normative and meta-ethical theory particular situations such as: abortions, genetics, environment, animal rights etc. Normative theory is about moral judgements and includes both deontological and teleological theories. Meta-ethics is about analysing the nature of ethics and includes both realist and antirealist views.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Benn, P., Ethics, Routledge, 1998

Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy at: http://www.iep.utm.edu/e/ethics.htm

Norman, R., The Moral Philosophers, Clarendon Press, 1985

Raeper, W. and Smith, L., A Beginner’s Guide to Ideas, Lion, 1991

Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy at http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/metaethics/

Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics

An Overview Of Feminism For A Level Students

Feminism often gets a bad press. Feminists are sometimes presented as a homogenous group where the radical is viewed as the norm. This is not the case. There are many different types of feminists. This page gives you an overview of some of these groups.

From a sociological viewpoint most feminism (with the possible exception of postmodern feminism) can be viewed as a macro theory because it gives a view of society as a whole.

WHAT IS FEMINISM?

This is not so easy to answer as it might at first appear because there are so many different types of feminists. Feminist groups argue against patriarchy, subordination, oppression and androcentrism but what do they mean by these terms? Each group may have different ways of using the terminology. Taking a very generalised view, patriarchy is about structuring society according to male domination whereas androcentrism is a male dominated way of viewing the world. However what consititutes structuring the world according to male domination is a matter for debate.

TYPES OF FEMINIST THEORY

Liberal Feminism

Liberal feminists may speak about justice in gender issues. There are two main ways they understand this. Firstly, a classical liberalist may argue that we should remove discriminatory laws to allow equality of opportunity. Whereas a welfare liberalist may argue in favour of so called ‘positive discrimination’. According to the welfare view, society ought to compensate women for centuries of discrimination by treating women more favourably than men.

Radical Feminism

This form of feminism is still evolving and can take many forms but it nevertheless holds that the oppression of women is the most fundamental oppression in that it is: rooted in history, the deepest form of oppression, the cause of the most suffering and the conceptual model for understanding all other forms of oppression (Alison Jagger and Paula Rothenberg as explained by Rosemary Tong, p. 71)

One issue frequently under discussion by radical feminists is reproduction. Feminists such as Firestone argue that reproduction forms a class distinction between men and women. Firestone advocates a biological revolution where the ultimate goal is an androgenous society. Other radical feminists such as Adrienne Rich argue that reproduction is empowering for women.

Marxist Feminism

A key theme in Marxism is the alienation of the proletariat or workers. Marxist feminists generally see women as a class and argue that women are, like the proletariat, alienated in society. Marxist feminists are divided regarding how this imbalance may be rectified. For instance, Engels argued that men retain power because of their access to work. His view was, broadly speaking, that inequalities would reduce once women access work. Modern Marxist feminists often view the traditional roles adopted by women (mother and wife) as unproductive in that being a wife and/or mother is about the production of people (care for others), rather than the production of money or goods. Some Marxist feminists therefore advocate paying women for adopting a mother-wife role. Others advocate women working outside of the home. The main problem with the latter being that far from freeing women, this often results in women getting caught up in the capitalist system, juggling the demands of work and family.

Psychoanalytic Feminism

Again this is a very broad category, with several feminists criticising Freud for his failure to challenge the patriarchal institutions of his time. For instance, Firestone claimed that Freud ought to have found ways to free women and children from the tyrrany of the father. However Alfred Adler argued that patriarchy drives women literally to madness as neuroses become ways for women protest against their oppression (Tong, p. 147).

Postmodern Feminism

Postmodernism rejects the idea that there is one singular true view of the world and in this way it may be seen to be a micro theory. Postmodern feminists may argue that no-one, including other women, may speak for all women. Each woman should have the opportunity to become herself, whatever that may be. Postmodern feminists include diverse theories such as those of: Helen Cixous, Luce Irigaray and Julia Kristeva.

Sexual Difference Feminism: Luce Irigaray

Sexual difference feminism (SDF) differs from the difference feminism that Haralambos introduces. The latter holds that different groups of women are exploited to different levels. SDF is about how men and women are different and as such ought not to be treated the same. Perhaps the best known exponent of SDF is Luce Irigaray. One of her arguments focuses on the plurality of women as opposed to the singularity of men. For Irigaray one problem for women is that our views of the world are not so valued as those of men.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Haralambos, M., and Holborn, M., SOCIOLOGY THEMES AND PERSPECTIVES, Collins, 2000

Irigaray, L., AN ETHICS OF SEXUAL DIFFERENCE, Athlone Press, 1984

Jagger, A.M., FEMINIST POLITICS AND HUMAN NATURE, Rowman and Allanheld, 1983

Tong, R., FEMINIST THOUGHT, Westview, 1989

Wikipedia at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminist_theory

Emily Wyschynskyj asked:


In a post WorldCom, post Enron world, should colleges be doing more to prepare graduates for what lies ahead in the ‘real world’? It is safe to say that somewhere along the line ethics education has failed within this country. One need look no further than the front page of their morning paper, or the quarterly update of their portfolio, to realize how desperate this situation has become.

            Not so long ago businessmen, and women, were looked up to; the title of CEO came with an underlying respect from the employees of an organization, as well as outsiders. It really meant something to hold the highest position within a company. Flash back to today and the title Chief Executive Officer evokes quite a different picture. Type ‘CEO’ into any popular search engine and within 5.8 seconds you will be bombarded with over 300,000 results. Many of which also contain phrases like: crisis, bailout or lawsuit.

            In an effort to remedy this situation, Universities have begun to integrate ethics education into their business curriculums, as well as into the regular curriculum for all students. In a study conducted by Angela Hernquist, doctoral candidate from the University of Nevada Las Vegas, 90% of responding institutions indicated that Ethics was part of their curriculum. Over a decade earlier the Texas State Board of Public Accountancy passed the requirement that all licensed Certified Public Accountants complete a four hour, board approved, ethics course (VanZante). This requirement was later supplemented by two hours or ethics courses every three years. Following the Enron, and subsequent Anderson LLP collapses, TSBPA required an additional four hours of ethics every two years beginning January of 2005 (VanZante).

            It is certainly nice to hear that things are being done to ensure that graduates leaving their field of study will be better prepared for the workplace, but are we really meant to believe that a five credit course, or a mere four hours can change who a person really is? From personal experience I can confidently say no, the ethics education that I have received in college has done nothing to influence what kind of person I am. A brief rundown of the course syllabus may hold the key as to why I do not feel that I got my money’s worth of ethics. While utilitarianism and other various philosophies may be at the foundation of a great education, what do they really have to do with ethics today? Will I make a better CEO because I understand Ayn Rand?

            Time in the classrooms of our Universities would be better spent teaching mathematics, writing, or even psychology. Perhaps if we understood why people behaved unethically we could do something to stop it. One thing is clear; the ethics we are being taught today are failing us. Failing us as students, and as citizens of the world. If we are really to believe that we do not learn ethics until college that what hope is there when nearly 25% of Americans never make it that far (Henry). Are we a nation of heathens running around like a ticking time bomb? I propose that we begin learning ethics much earlier than college, even earlier than grade school. Ethics begin in the home, the community, and the individual.

            People are beginning to recognize the need for early ethics education in children, and have started to do something about it. Patti Martin, B.S., M.A., Director of Ethical Education, has opened an ethics course for children ages 2-12. Her program is called Sunday Ethical Education for Kids, or SEEKS. SEEK aims to do what some parents apparently cannot, to instill ethics into the children of the community in one hour segments. SEEK meets once a week, on Sundays naturally, at the University of Missouri Extension Center, in Mid Rivers Missouri. There are no expectations, just the hope that parents will bring their children by to get some much needed guidance on becoming a better person.

            Maybe more programs are needed in colleges, or maybe the child ethics courses offered at the University of Missouri are the answer. Whatever that answer may be, one thing is for sure, we haven’t found it yet, and if we do not find it soon we are setting ourselves up for more disaster. I don’t know how the rest of the country feels, but I am not looking forward to a lifetime of paying the high salaries of today’s CEOs in what feels like a never ending stream of corporate bailouts.

Henry, Tamara. “Report: Greater Percent of Americans Educated”. USA Today 6/05/2002

 Hernquist, Angela. “A Survey of Ethics Courses in State College and University Curricula”. University of Nevada Las Vegas. February 2005

“Raising Ethical Children”. Mid Rivers Ethical Society. 11/28/2008 .

VanZante, Neal. “Improving Professional Ethics”. The CPA Journal May 2005