Business Ethics and Sustainability for Diamond Watch-myassignmenthelp

Question: Discuss about theBusiness Ethics and Sustainability for Diamond Watch. Answer: Although most people dislike discussions regarding ethics in business, this subject continues to dominate discourses among business professional. It is well appreciated that the sole purpose of existence of any business enterprise is maximization of profits, however, some business practices have been known to have adverse effects on clients which are well intended by the business mangers. Ryan, a salesman with Anderson Office Supplies finds himself with an ethical dilemma that jeopardizes his job. When he meets Abdul in the Middle East who offers him a deal of $ 950 000 for a bribe of $10 000, it makes business sense to him as the cost-benefit analysis seem to favor his company. However, Charles, Ryans boss would hear none of it citing business ethics. He castigates him for attempting to bribe clients. According to May, Luth and Schwoerer, 2014) there should be no subjectivity as far as interpretation of morality is concerned. Personal perception of moral business ethics can result in conflict among players especially where some practices are allowed in one firm and yet prohibited in another. This makes business transactions complicated. Lack of observance of ethical standards in business can ruin the reputation of an organization and affect its bottom-line in terms of profits. This will have a bearing on sustainability of business ventures. Ethics is based on values that a company wishes to instill in her employees (Crane and Matten 2016).. These are sometimes expressed in the mission statement and define what is acceptable and what is not. Every society has some principles that underlie their ethical values and these are usually entrenched in their legal and administrative systems (Trevino and Nelson, 2016). Charles in this case was defending the moral standing of the company against forces of compromise. If the company went ahead to secure the tender with the client and it was disclosed to the public that it had engaged in bribery, this would greatly soil the companys reputation and affect it future business prospects. Viewed in terms of sustainability, Charles could have been looking at the prospect that his firm would provide a loophole for corrupt organizations to solicit bribes in future for award of business tenders. This could result if Abdul happened to mention the inducement he received from other bribe-hungry brokers. Organizations should not just engage in ethical standards because of their value system but also for reputation sake. In this regard, the practice of morals can bring impressive business gains for a firm (Beckmann, Hielscher and Pies, 2014). Against the advice of his boss, Ryan gave in to the advice of his friend, secured a loan from the bank and bought the watch for the client with the aim of supplying the order as an individual. Unfortunately he was discovered and his job was on the line. At this point, the battle between what is right and wrong and the pressure to redeem his debt situation confronts Ryan. It is clear that personal challenges should never be an excuse for f louting business moral ethics (Sharm and Hart, 2014). Entry two: The Ford Pinto Case In the Ford Pinto case, we see an effort on the company to yield to pressure to launch their economic car to the market despite the fact that it fails the crash test. In this case, the company failed the corporate social responsibility (CSR) test as they failed to protect their prospective clients against harm. This willful greed for profits at the expense of safety is what dominates discussions about business ethics. CSR goes beyond fulfilling the economic and ethical requirements and touches on the ethical and philanthropic requirements as expected by its stakeholders (Suliman, Al-Khatib and Thomas, 2016). In the Ford case, it appears that normative ethics, which are a set of moral values found in a society, were violated. The utmost ethic of preservation of human life was grossly overlooked because of the cost implication this would have on the company The ethics question is also linked to sustainability. Sustainability has presently been borrowed from application to the natural environment and now encompasses longevity of organizations and its ability to maintain itself and solve its major problems (Korschun, Bhattacharya and Swain, 2014). Organizations embracing sustainability are also able to maintain appropriate levels of welfare for both the present and future generations. The ford scenario failed on this cardinal value as it did not consider the welfare of her customers as they were at risk of incineration in case of a crash accident. Entry 3: Ethics in Business McDonalds company received a lot of public criticism when in 1972, Ray Croc, the founder of the company funded President Nixons re-election to the tune of $ 250 000. In exchange for this favor, a legislation was passed that allowed companies such as MacDonalds to pay teenage employees 20 percent less than the federal minimum wages. This out rightly goes against business ethics as this company went against the welfare of workers in favor of profit gain. This situation had the potential to spoil the organizations reputation as a credible employer and drive away prospective customers. Going against professionalism, which is a tenet in business ethics, has been seen to dent an organizations image this affecting it profit margins (Zheng, and Wang, 2014). It is for this reason that many organizations today have adopted the concept of CSR as a deliberate attempt to boost the image of their firms in the eyes of the public. However some scholars are of the view that only profitable firms can engage in CSR (Suliman et al., 2016). In effect this excludes the public sector economy and the not for profit organization.. Business establishments, especially in the private sector are faced with serious challenges regarding ethics where utilization of funds is concerned (Crane, Matten and Spence, 2013). They undoubtedly debate whether to donate some of their profits for charity and get troubled on whether to retain employees during lean times in business. Other aspects including whether they should engage in partnership with countries that condone human rights violations also come to the fore. References Beckmann, M., Hielscher, S., Pies, I. (2014). 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(2016). Corporate Social Responsibility.Corporate Social Performance: Reflecting on the Past and Investing in the Future, 15. Trevino, L. K., Nelson, K. A. (2016).Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley Sons. Zheng, Q., Luo, Y., Wang, S. L. (2014). Moral degradation, business ethics, and corporate social responsibility in a transitional economy.Journal of Business Ethics,120(3), 405-421.