Ethics At Work : Creating Virtue At An American Corporation

Ethics has been around for a long time. Merriam-Webster defines ethics as rules of behavior based on ideas about what is morally good and bad. It is an area of study that deals with ideas about what is good and bad behavior. Ethics has much to do with feelings and beliefs. If you feel deep down in your heart that something is not right, then it you should not do it. The Bible says, “So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin” (James 4:17 English Standard Version). Ethical business procedures include guaranteeing that the main legality is in place. Also, the company observes moral standards in its relationships with the people in its business community, which includes the most important people in their business, who are the customers. This report will discuss ethics in business, ethically transformed organizations; organizations preparation to make ethical decisions, ethical danger signs, and organizations that does business globally.

Dyck and Neubert  (2012) defined  ethics  as "[A] set of principles or moral standards   that  differentiate right  from  wrong". It is a way of determining the morality of any action. It is important that managers adhere to ethical principles that will guide them in making appropriate and ethical decisions for the company. Thus, Roger Berg, being Vice-President of Planning at The Lake Corporation  plays a significant role in the company in ensuring that decisions are made without tarnishing management ethics. He must face and weather through the challenges caused by other sources that could put him in ethical dilemma situations and push him to render management decisions violating ethics.

The Cheesecake Factory has been one of the more successful chain restaurants in recent years because they have provided great food and outstanding customer service in a fun atmosphere. The cheesecake factory employs a high standard of general conduct and moral aptitude. As a chief executive officer in today’s society, it is my responsibility to ensure The Cheesecake Factory abides by the laws and ethical duties that are mandated by today’s society. There is a copious amount of benefits to being a chief executive officer, however there is an equal amount of risk as chief executive officers are held liable for almost any action or infraction that their company has induced.

Corporations can be large or small but they all have some sort of ethical impact on their employees, shareholders, customers, community, and surrounding environments. Richard DeGeorge writes, “We can speak of corporations having moral responsibilities to act in certain ways, and they are morally responsible for the consequences of their actions on people.” (p. 200). Large corporations are comprised of the board of directors, management, and their workers. They also deal with suppliers, customers, and have competitors. This essay will examine the moral responsibilities within a corporation.

Ethical standards in business can be divided up into three levels. These levels are law, policies, and individuals. In the United States, we are bound by laws. With these laws, we distinguish right and wrong, and what is accepted by the majority of citizens in terms of behavior. Businesses have to abide to these laws at all time. There are laws on wages and hours to protect employees, but there are laws on environmental responsibility too. For a business to be considered ethical, at first, they should always follow the law. The law however, does not always guarantee ethical conduct as there is a thin line between legal and ethical. A business might act legally but unethical at the same time. In this case, the business must see to that themselves if this is ethical or not.

Breaking down an overview of Lockheed Martin’s organization leads to Terris’ elaborate plan to gain a general overview of the evolution of business ethics and revealing a balance between profits and stakeholder concerns. Responsibilities of top leadership involve several different form of involvement. These leaders have to be aware, decisive, honest, focused and inspiring. A top leader is usually referred to as a chief executive officer, CEO. CEOs have helped throughout the history of business ethics by seeking unfair advantages through immoral arrangements and creating new ways of business. With business changing occurring, welfare capitalism becomes a major aspect in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. As a result of issues with welfare capitalism, corporate social responsibility has made its appearance in the twentieth century. Programs of corporate social responsibility now form many of corporate America’s largest advertising campaigns, especially in industries that have been vulnerable to public criticism for their social impact (Terris, 2005, p.42).

Business ethics refers to the consideration of moral decisions and responsibilities in the process of operating a business. Business ethics, practiced throughout the deepest layers of a company, become the heart and soul of the company 's culture and can mean the difference between success and failure. Values drive behavior and therefore need to be consciously stated, but they also need to be affirmed by actions. Ethical business environments are created with foundations of integrity, accountability and commitment.

The Lockheed company did a lot of the same types of research, but they stayed focused on military planes. The Lockheed brothers established their company in 1916 in Santa Barbara, California (Timeline,1). They sold their first plane to the military when they sold their F-1 flying boat to the U.S. Navy (Timeline,1). The first Lockheed plane sold to the U.S. armed forces was the DL-1 (Timeline,1). The Lockheed XP-900 was the fighter that set the design that is seen today (Timeline,1). The model 10 Electra was the forerunner to commercial aircraft’s today (Timeline,1). The Lockheed Company set another record when they built the Lockheed P-38. The P-38 was the first U.S. Army Air Forces plane to shoot down a Nazi plane (Timeline,1). In 1943 The Lockheed Company’s Skunk Works started their secret work on the U-2 Reconnaissance Aircraft that flew in 1955 (Timeline,1). In 1954 the Lockheed C-130 Hercules flew. The C-130 is the longest running military airlifter program in the world (Timeline,1). In 1958 Lockheed made the F-104 Starfighter which was the first plane to hold records in both speed and altitude at the same time (Timeline,1). Lockheed contributed to the innovations of space travel when they put the first U.S. satellite into orbit around earth in 1959. They used the Lockheed Agena to perform this feat (Timeline,1). In 1962 Lockheed introduces the predecessor to the SR-71 Blackbird

Martin’s first aircraft he designed caused he a significant amount of grief because he foolishly tried to turn the prop of the aircraft with no one at controls. The aircraft lunged forward and Martin had to dive under it to clear the propellers. He was drug around by the aircraft until it fell apart. The Lockheed brothers had a failed attempt at starting the Lockheed Aircraft Manufacturing Company. The company lasted about six years before they were forced to liquidate it.

In this paper I will analyze the case study of Mattel Inc. and their Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) and applying it to three different virtue ethics; fairness, honesty and justice. Then I will apply deontology, “always act in such a way that you can also will that the maxim of your action should become a universal law.

In an industry overwhelmed with fraud and corruption, Martin Marietta was ready to revamp their reputation to become an ethical company. This concept catapulted a decade of creating, developing, and tweaking an ethics program. Martin Marietta's goal was to maintain a work place with "descent people doing quality work" (page 1). But with this idea came a series of difficult challenges the company needed to overcome. Martin Marietta arose to the challenge and executed an elaborate ethics program. The programs successes were hard to measure at best. A SWOT analysis was designed to reflect upon all aspects of the ethics program. A case study was used to discuss Martin Marietta's

The Glenn L. Martin company was established by Glenn L. Martin in Los Angeles, California in 1912, after building a self-designed plane at the urging of Orville Wright (Lockheed Martin at a Glance, n.d.). A few month later and less than 500 miles away, Allan and Malcomb Lockheed founded the Alco Hydro-Aeroplane Company, later renamed the Lockheed Aircraft Company, focused on seaplane construction (Lockheed Martin at a Glance, n.d.). Although the two companies would not merge until 1995, the impact, contributions, and legacy of these companies both prior to the merger and beyond have played a significate role in the defense industry and the overall defense posture of the United States.

This case study was a powerful example to illustrate the presence of ethics within the

In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important

Important Note: This sample essay mainly illustrates the structure of your assignment on ethical issues of a company selected by you. You may first identify two or three ethical problems and then discuss how to solve them. Remember including relevant citations to support your evidences and viewpoints.