1.

Lets assume that, in a democratic society, business managers have an

obligation to obey the law. Do they have an ethical obligation to do more than
that in order to avoid damaging the environment or to promote a sustainable
way of life? (15mks)
Business managers have an ethical obligation to do more than just obeying the law in order to
avoid damaging the environment or to promote a sustainable way of life because we stand at a
critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world
becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great
promise.
To move forward managers and all people must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent
diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a
common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on
respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace.
It is imperative that we, the peoples of Earth, declare our responsibility to one another, to the
greater community of life, and to future generations.
The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving
a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile
soils, pure waters, and clean air. The global environment with its finite resources is a common
concern of all peoples. The protection of Earth's vitality, diversity, and beauty is a sacred trust
The choice is ours to care for Earth and one another or risk the destruction of ourselves and the
diversity of life. Fundamental changes are needed in our values, institutions, and ways of living.
We must realize that when basic needs have been met, human development is primarily about
being more, not having more. We have the knowledge and technology to provide for all and to
reduce our impacts on the environment.
Managers should;
(a). Respect Earth and life in all its diversity.
Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless
of its worth to human beings.
Affirm faith in the inherent dignity of all human beings and in the intellectual, artistic,
ethical, and spiritual potential of humanity.
(b). Care for the community of life with understanding, compassion, and love.
Accept that with the right to own, manage, and use natural resources comes the duty to
prevent environmental harm and to protect the rights of people.
Affirm that with increased freedom, knowledge, and power comes increased
responsibility to promote the common good.

(C). Build democratic societies that are just, participatory, sustainable, and peaceful.
Ensure that communities at all levels guarantee human rights and fundamental freedoms
and provide everyone an opportunity to realize his or her full potential.
Promote social and economic justice, enabling all to achieve a secure and meaningful
livelihood that is ecologically responsible.
(d). Secure Earth's bounty and beauty for present and future generations.
Recognize that the freedom of action of each generation is qualified by the needs of
future generations.
Transmit to future generations values, traditions, and institutions that support the longterm flourishing of Earth's human and ecological communities.
In order to fulfill these four broad commitments, it is necessary to;
Protect and restore the integrity of Earth's ecological systems, with special concern for
biological diversity and the natural processes that sustain life.
Prevent harm as the best method of environmental protection and, when knowledge is
limited, apply a precautionary approach.
Adopt patterns of production, consumption, and reproduction that safeguard Earth's
regenerative capacities, human rights, and community well-being.
Advance the study of ecological sustainability and promote the open exchange and wide
application of the knowledge acquired.
Eradicate poverty as an ethical, social, and environmental imperative.
Ensure that economic activities and institutions at all levels promote human development
in an equitable and sustainable manner.
Affirm gender equality and equity as prerequisites to sustainable development and ensure
universal access to education, health care, and economic opportunity.
Uphold the right of all, without discrimination, to a natural and social environment
supportive of human dignity, bodily health, and spiritual well-being, with special
attention to the rights of indigenous peoples and minorities.
Strengthen democratic institutions at all levels, and provide transparency and
accountability in governance, inclusive participation in decision making, and access to
justice.
Integrate into formal education and life-long learning the knowledge, values, and skills
needed for a sustainable way of life.
Treat all living beings with respect and consideration.
Promote a culture of tolerance, nonviolence, and peace.

To fulfill this promise, managers require a change of mind and heart. They must imaginatively
develop and apply the vision of a sustainable way of life locally, nationally, regionally, and
globally.
Every individual, family, organization, and community has a vital role to play. The arts, sciences,
religions, educational institutions, media, businesses, nongovernmental organizations, and
governments are all called to offer creative leadership..
Business is widely regarded as the chief culprit, with primary responsibility for the massproduction, mass-marketing, mass-consumption, and mass-disposal that underlie much of this
environmental degradation.
Experts in business ethics are divided as to the responsibility of business toward the
environment. On the one hand are those, such as Norman Bowie, who maintain that corporations
have no ethical responsibility toward the environment beyond the requirements of the law. Under
this traditional homocentric approach, business has a responsibility to protect the environment
only insofar as doing so contributes to the welfare of humanity.
At the other end of the spectrum is the position adopted by W. Michael Hoffman, who espouses a
deeper environmentalism based on the notion that nature itself has inherent worth, independent
of its value to humanity.
This premise leads to the concept of business constrained by the demands of environmental
conservation, and even to the notion that companies should judge their own activities in this
light, restricting or abandoning them if necessary.
Through an analysis of corporate responsibility toward the environment, I explore the ethical
crossroads where business finds itself today but its clear to see that business managers should
have an ethical obligation to do more than just obeying the law in order to avoid damaging the
environment or to promote a sustainable way of life

2. Do business people have a moral responsibility to be honest with customers

(and to avoid manipulating them), even when doing so may reduce their
companys profits? Why or Why not? (15mks)
Honesty is the foundation for successful long-term relationships in business. This is especially
true in the early 21st century, when customers can spread word quickly if you act with
dishonesty. Along with telling the truth in your business relationships, openly disclosing
important news, financial information and other data useful to your stakeholders is important to
long-term success. One should be always honest with customers about the services and products
they are offering and also their prices. Typically, it takes just one lie or failure to share pertinent
information to damage or ruin business relationships.
Long-term relationships have become critical to the success of customer-driven business. The
cost of acquiring customers makes retaining these relationships vital to your success. Treating
your business customers with honesty contributes to strength and longevity in your business
relationships.
For most businessmen, when things start to go wrong in the business, and everything is not
running the way it should be, it is almost instinctive to keep their customers in the dark. The
common misconception is when you come clean with your customers; they might think of the
glitches as signs of weaknesses and opt to go somewhere else. In actuality, this is really not the
case. Customers really appreciate honesty, and more often than not, businesses that remain
honest are rewarded for it.
Here are 5 excellent reasons why business people should stay honest with their customers and
this will lead to more profits;
(i). Honesty creates trust.
When you are honest with your customers, you immediately begin to create a relationship of
trust with them. So many people appreciate businesses for telling it like it is. The rapport that you
establish with your customers in this instance will do well to secure future relationships. Of
course, customers will always want to go back to the business that they trust. They will feel like
you are not misleading them, or are just out there to make a profit off them! The more the
customers the more profits you make.
(ii). Word of your honesty is bound to get around.
You may not know it, but your customers can be your best source for advertisement. When you
have an honest experience with your customer, it becomes meaningful for them too. Naturally,
they will tell their friends and family about it. This is actually the highest form of
recommendation- a positive experience- and can definitely bring in more customers hence more
profits.

(iii). Honesty kills impatience and breeds understanding.

Lets say youre in the service industry, like a restaurant, and a customers order is taking longer
than usual. If you pretend that nothing is wrong, your customers will continue to be in the dark
and speculate the reason for the poor service. They may begin to think the worst- that you were
not doing your job! When you are honest, and tell them the actual reason why the food is taking
long, then you open the door for sympathy and understanding.
(iv). Honesty creates willingness to provide feedback.
When you are honest with your customers, you can count on them to be honest back. You wont
have trouble asking for feedback on how to make the service you provide them better, as they
can be counted on to sincerely tell you the best ways you can improve hence youll know on how
to improve your services in order to attract more customers.
(v). Honesty creates an all around positive working environment.
When your employees see the measures that you take to stay honest with your customers, then
they take the lesson with them too. You breed an environment of honesty, starting from the man
on top, all the way down to the last employee. Employees will also practice honesty with your
customers and with each other, creating transparency in the business and their dealings with you.
This will definitely earn you more profit.

3. Is good ethics good business? Does the market always reward integrity,
honesty, environmental stewardship and the other moral virtues? If you think
it does, how would you account for some of the cases we have studied where
bad behavior seemed to pay off rather handsomely? If you think it doesnt,
why not? (15mks)
Business ethics can be defined as the written and unwritten codes of principles and values,
determined by an organization's culture, that govern decisions and actions within that
organization.
Good ethics is good business because;
1. Higher revenues - got requests from positive consumer support
2. Increasing brand and business awareness and recognition
3. Improve to be better employee motivation and recruitment
4. New source of finance example from ethical investors
A reputation for ethical decisions builds trust in your business among business associates and
suppliers. Strong supplier relationships are critical to a successful business. Consider the
problems you might have if you could not supply what the customer needs...at the time that they
need it.
The entrepreneur is the role model for employees. If your behavior includes lying to customers,
taking money out of the cash register, or taking home some of the inventory or supplies, you
cannot be surprised if your employees follow your lead. Your family members may see the
business as their own and take things that really belong to the business. Employees may see this
as being dishonest, or as a conflict with their needs for a raise in pay.
The community expects your business to operate in an ethical manner that enhances the image
of the community as a whole. If you are located in a mall, for example, your code of ethics will
help or hinder customer traffic for the other businesses too. A reputation for telling customers
anything they want to hear, regardless of the truth, eventually hurts your business and other
businesses around you. It usually isn't illegal to lie to customers, but it isn't good business.
Ethical behavior is merely making good business decisions based on an established "code of
ethics". Entrepreneurs should establish a written code of ethics that can serve as a framework for
decisions to be made by the entrepreneur as well as the employees.
Performing and trading ethically in the long term is increasingly shown to be good for business.
Bad behaviors/Unethical behaviors could make strong returns, and a lot of money, in the short
term but it may not be based on a sound business model there may be high risks, it could well
breach best practice, regulation or be illegal. Think of some of the big companies that

disappeared virtually overnight. There are certain actions that, if they were in the public domain,
could ruin a business reputation and brand.
The market always rewards integrity, honesty, environmental stewardship and the other
moral virtues (Code of Ethics) in the following ways;
Help the company reinforce and acquaint new employees with its culture and values.
A code can help create a climate of integrity and excellence.
Help the company communicate its expectations to the staff to suppliers, vendors and
customers. Also, by soliciting feedback and questions, a company can use the code to
encourage frequent, open and honest communication among employees.
Minimize subjective and inconsistent management standards. A code explicitly outlines
the rights and responsibilities of staff members and helps guard against capricious and
preferential treatment of employees.
Build public trust and enhance business reputations. Also helps demonstrate the
companys values to socially responsible investors.
Offer protection in preempting or defending against lawsuits.
Enhance morale, employee pride, loyalty and the recruiting of outstanding employees.
Help promote constructive social change by raising awareness of the communitys needs
and encouraging employees and other stakeholders to help.
Promote market efficiency especially in areas where laws are weak or inefficient by
rewarding the best and most ethical producers of goods and services.
Improved customer perception, companies with good morals tend to be viewed positively
by customers
Bad behavior can sometimes pay off in the sense that a multinational company may move its
manufacturing facility to a developing country to reduce costs due to acceptable practices in that
country, such as child labor, poor health and safety, poverty-level wages and coerced
employment but this is just short term and has a negative effect towards the environment and
people.
So I will argue that bad behavior does not pay off rather handsomely i.e. Bad
behavior=Bad in Business because of the following reasons;
Harm sales of goods, as customers may boycott goods produced by a company known for
unethical behavior.

 Lead to a drop in stock price. Investors will be unwilling to buy shares from companies
known to transact business dishonestly. Investing in dishonest firms will result in poor
returns.
An immoral dealing amongst individuals or in a company builds a work atmosphere of
malice and mistrust. Workers tend to go further down the drain when they are surrounded
with people who practice the same. This will lead to lower productivity, promote conflict,
and subsequently cripple the company.
Many workers are hesitant to turn in their colleagues involved in unethical practices. It is up to
the company to manage unethical practices by creating processes that stem the tide. It should be
part and parcel of the companys policy, well documented, and new workers should be briefed on
the dos and donts in respect to the companys policy on unethical conduct.

REFERENCES
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Asika, N.M (1991): Research Methodology in the Behaviour Sciences, Lagos, Longman
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Babin, B., James, J., Boles, S. and Donald P. R. (2000),Representing the Perceived

Ethical Work Climate Among Marketing Employees, Journal of Academy of Marketing

Science; Volume 28, Number 3.
Barnett, T. and Cherly V. (2000), The Moderating Effect of Individuals Ethical Work
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