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Executive Summary

From this study we will learn that how Values and ethics are central to any organization as
well as daily life. Our actions affect not only ourselves, but also those around us. Many of our
professional decisions involve ethics. If we tell a lie, we can lose someones trust and
undermine our own integrity. If we use shoddy materials or workmanship on the job, we can
jeopardize the safety of others. Questions of morality and ethics can be found at all levels of
society. Ethical behavior is equally important in the workplace as it is in our personal lives.
Everywhere business is conducted, ethics matters. A successful business depends on the trust
of various partiesemployees, managers, executives, customers, suppliers, and even
competitors. Assignment Topic is that Ethical but illegal and Unethical but legal consist
of some examples that explained through Business as well as daily life view point.

INTRODUCTION

Ethical and Unethical:


Origin and Etymology of ethical is Middle English etik, from Latin ethicus, from Greek
thikos, from thos character First Known Use: 1588
Ethical comes from the Greek ethos "Moral Character" and describes a person or behavior as
right in the moral sense - truthful, fair, and honest. For someone who is honest and follows
good moral standards, use the adjective ethical. Sometimes the word is used for people who
follow the moral standards of their profession. If something has happened and you are not
sure what the right thing to do is, you are having an ethical dilemma.
The prefix un- means "not," so something or someone who's unethical is literally "not
ethical." In other words, that someone is lacking principles or morals. Because being
unethical involves going against social or professional expectations of what's right, it's a word
that's often used to describe bad behavior or immoral conduct.
Legal and Illegal:
Legal means having to do with the law, or following the law.

Something illegal is against the law or breaks the rules.

INVERSE RELATION BETWEEN ETHICAL and ILLEGAL


Behaviors that are illegal but are thought by many to be ethical include jaywalking, mixing
food and paper waste, cheating taxes, spitting inside a city and driving over the speed limit.
Although most people don't consider these crimes to be particularly immoral when compared
to other offenses, they are crimes nonetheless in the eyes of the law.

Examples of Ethical but Illegal relate with personal experience


1. Its illegal to sell medicines without doctor's prescription but its ethical to sell if the
patient really needs it and is in an emergency.
Rushing a person to hospital by breaking traffic signal.
The medical use of marijuana is perfectly ethical for those who have a genuine
medical need, and it is subject to various different and often inconsistent laws on
the federal and state levels which are unduly restrictive.

2. Jaywalking, which is always illegal, is perfectly ethical as long as it is done safely at a


time when there is no traffic in the street.

3. The INS catches a friend who is an illegal immigrant. You are being kind and supporting
your friends, helping them stay with their naturalized or citizen-by-birth family, but INS
is still technically after part of the family because they were not all born here. Ethical, but
technically illegal.

Example with a recent event:


Migrant crisis: Border crossing without permission is an illegal action, which is become a
common practice among Asian Countries like Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Srilanka and so
on. They try to go European countries for better living. It is ethical but crossing from the
Turkish coast to nearby Greek islands without permission is Illegal.

INVERSE RELATION BETWEEN UNETHICAL and LEGAL


Unethical behavior in the workplace can be defined as any action that does not conform to the
standards of conduct established by the organization. Unethical behavior can occur in the
relationships between employees, in the way an employee goes about his business or how he
uses company resources. Unethical behavior can even break the law in some situations.

Examples of Unethical but legal relate with personal experience


BD High court hearing: Two years ago, I had faced loan problem from Janata Bank. We had
to pay certain amount for few times to lawyer for bringing the case hearing date to the top
position thats why we could finished our case as early as possible. Here the payment system
is unethical but the payment is legal.

Consider guns: In many states it is required that one has a permit to carry a concealed
handgun, and some states prohibit is altogether. It is unethical to carry a weapon, but it has
legal consideration.

15% VAT on well organized restaurants: Most of the well organized restaurants charge 15%

VAT on total cost of a consumer. Here 15% VAT charging is unethical but based on
government regulation, it is legal.

License: Some time without any fault a well experience driver has to face public harassment
and get case from traffic police, because of the absence of license. In this case it is an
unethical harassment but case from traffic police is legal.

LEGAL but UNETHICAL BUSINESS PRACTICES


Toyota Ignored SafetyIn 2010, Toyota ignored information about safety and delayed investigating possible recalls.
In 2009, they learned about sticking pedals and faulty brakes; instead of addressing the issue,
they added side airbags. In some cases, Toyota faced accusations of hiding evidence for
hundreds of cases involving death and rollovers, putting their drivers and passengers at risk.
Apple Uses Slave LaborApple relies on child slave labor that is working in dangerous conditions, for ten hours each
day while being exposed to cancerous vapors. The conditions at the manufacturing plant
Foxconn are bad enough that they had to install "anti-suicide nets." The workers live in
horrible conditions and experience unreasonable workloads and humiliating discipline. Apple
has reduced some of their work with Foxconn, but they still rely primarily on them. Apple
also used Irish tax loopholes to avoid some taxes.
Monsanto Relies on Toxic ChemicalsMonsanto created Agent Orange, a chemical weapon used in Vietnam that still affects the
population today. Until now, the company works in GMO foods and own the vast majority of
seed patents (more than 95 percent). They sue small farmers aggressively and work to
discredit dissenters by using fake online profiles.
Philip Morris Advertised To Kids
The tobacco giant Philip Morris has been considered unethical for years as a great deal of
advertising from them targets kids. Despite stricter regulations, Philip Morris still
prominently places ads and products in magazines, convenience stores, and delis. They
continue to try to create the image of smokers being cool and are considered the biggest
reason for young smokers.
Wal-Mart Lacks Compassion
Wal-mart is well-known for their unethical business practices concerning employees. They
consistently place profits before the health of their employees. Just one example is Deborah
Shank, who was in a collision involving a semi-trailer in 2000, resulting in permanent brain
damage and confinement to a wheelchair. Years later, they sued her family for medical costs,
leaving Mrs. Shank to rely on Medicaid for around-the-clock care.

CONCLUSION
Acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values.
Ethical behavior tends to be good for business and involves demonstrating respect for key
moral principles that include honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual
rights. The behaviors considered unethical in one society can be acceptable in another. For
instance, it is an unethical social behavior to engage in favoritism in the public. Refusing to
relate with others on the basis of their age, sex and race are also unethical social behaviors.
Employer's unethical behavior is not only employees who can behave in unethical ways.
Employers also have a common code of conduct and are required to act in a given manner.
For instance, an employer is not supposed to use the company money for his personal
expenses. Most organizations have formulated documents referred to as 'codes of conduct',
that set out the accepted behaviors within the work place. For students within learning
institutions it is unethical behavior to cheat during examinations. Ethical behavior is to be
cultivated within an individual from an early age. Without strong moral convictions, one can
be easily swayed to engage in contrary behaviors.

REFERENCE
1. http://www.answers.com/Q/What_is_example_of_doing_an_ethical_but_illegal_act#slide
=6
2. https://www.reference.com/world-view/examples-illegal-ethical-behaviora011561f4fadc73c
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http://fmlink.com/articles/the-importance-of-ethics-in-the-workplace/
http://www.au.af.mil/AU/AWC/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/pt4ch15.html
http://www.enkivillage.com/unethical-business-practices.html
http://justintadlock.com/archives/2013/08/19/its-legal-but-unethical
http://www.thekhalids.org/index.php/newsletter-archive/662-1-what-constitutes-ethicalor-unethical-behavior2-everyone-is-a-shepherd-and-responsible-for-his

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