Business Law and Ethics

Business Law and Ethics

Introduction

Ethical issues are present even in routine daily decisions of a manager. Managing involves ethics at every level from small personal decisions to large public policies. It may be appropriate to regard most employee decisions as being permeated by ethics, rather than to regard ethical considerations as tangential issues. Because employees have power that affects people's lives, there is a potential for them to act in a good or evil manner. In the given case, two ethical issues emerge with respect to role of Mr. Luke in ABC Company. This paper presents an analysis of these ethical issues with respect to implication of decision under utilitarian ethics.

Brief Case Overview

Luke has been asked to work on a project that involves developing land recently purchased by ABC to build an adult entertainment retail store. According to the plan, the land is located on the corner of the neighborhood where Owen, Luke's brother, lives. Luke knows that as soon as the plans for the store are made public, property values for the surrounding neighborhood will decrease significantly. Luke is also very close to Owen, who recently told Luke that he received an offer to sell his house at an “okay” price given the current real estate market, but has not made final decision yet. Based on the situation, following two ethical issues arises:

Should Luke tell Owen about the effect of ABC Company plans on property value loss or not?

Should Luke execute the project that involves build an adult entertainment retail store considering its impact on neighborhood stakeholders?



Ethical Issues Analysis

Employees who make incorrect decisions to promote their own interests are unethical. In addition, any situation that is less favorable than it could have been is ethically compromised. Employees should attempt to distribute resources in a fair manner (Boylan, 2009). Their ethical responsibility is to produce a system of shared values and expectations that is realistic and fair. Managerial decisions may be ethical because they may test the employee's personal values (Barth, 2003). These types of conflicts involve discrepancies between personal and organizational values.

Professionals clarify to all parties the exact nature of their performance and function. They act with an expectation that each exchange in business is in effect one of many more to come. They act with the intent of a long-term business relationship (Walther et al., 2007). Therefore, he must recommend his brother to ...