Business Ethics Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words - 2

Business Ethics - Essay Example This made it imperative that he contemplate first the possible consequences of his actions on others. There is no shortage of philosophical principles on the subject of ethics and their complexity has made it a key topic of discussion or debates among students, academicians, politicians and businessmen. The main purpose of the study of ethics is to enable people to be guided by their principles and to see to it that their actions are not only legal and moral but also ethical. This may seem like a superfluous argument but there are decidedly many fine distinctions between the various lines of ethical thought over the centuries, as propounded by the great minds of bygone eras. There are so many situations in real life where people are confronted with ethical challenges and a knowledge of some of the more prominent ethical principles can be of great help in looking for answers. Discussion Ethics has been applied in a number of areas such as politics (cheating and lying), medicine (abort ion, organ donations, surrogate motherhood, euthanasia), legal or justice system (juvenile delinquency, retribution, incarceration, capital punishment), economics (distribution of equity and benefits), environment (exploitation of resources, pollution, tragedy of the commons), society (race, ethnicity, minority rights), the military (gay rights, DADT, torture, assassination) and in business (corruption, bribery, industrial espionage, human resources management) and the list could go on to extend to practically all aspects of human life. Businesses today have to grapple with ethical issues as well, and this paper looks at how Yahoo, Inc. dealt with China. The moral philosophy of Immanuel Kant, a German philosopher and thinker, has cast a very long shadow on the study of ethics. His thoughts have influenced several succeeding lines of philosophers even up to this modern day and age, because most of his arguments are cogent. A careful re-reading of his philosophy shows how these are st ill very applicable today, even with many situations not even contemplated yet during his time. An example is the rapid advances in medical technologies, in which man can play and act like God, in determining issues of life and death. Questions such as abortion, euthanasia, organ transplants and surrogate motherhood are just some of the issues that have to be settled by moral ethics in which Kantian philosophy can be put to good use in having relevant discussions and hopefully arrive at good decisions. Legal systems have not kept up with these advances in medical knowledge and technologies such that the laws currently in place are grossly inadequate and cannot provide helpful answers. Ethical issues and moral considerations have likewise presented new challenges for the business entities, especially with the advent of the globalization in trade and commerce. There are many situations in which firms operate in other countries, often with laws at variance or even contrary with the dom estic laws in their country of domicile. This situation can present a tricky business environment because higher management has to contend with conflicting demands from contradictory standards of what constitutes good governance and best practices. Oftentimes, it is left to the best discretion of senior management on the best course of action, navigating a sea of laws which can work well in one country but not in another country. Ethics has seeped into the world of business in the form of corporate social responsibility (CSR) which provide guidelines on what to do in adverse or ambiguous situations without sacrificing profits. In the final analysis, there can be no clear-cut answers and it is better left to the best