Global Business Ethics

Birmingham Business School

                        Masters in Business Administration   -   International Business

Module Title: Global Business Ethics

Banner Code: 07 21262


Title: Business Ethics : Utopian visions of a more ethical and sustainable world

Date: November 2010

Word Count: (3500)

Written by:                                     Folashayo E. Onibere

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction 3
2.0 Business and Ethics – Definition 4
3.0 Business Ethics and Ethical Theories 5
3.1 Teleological Ethics 6
3.2 Virtue Ethics 7
3.3 Katian Deontology 7
3.4 Consequentialist Theories 8
4.0 Business Ethics and CSR 10
4.1 Share holder view of the Firm 11
4.2 The stakeholder theory of Social responsibility 12
4.3 The Stakeholder model vs. Shareholder model 12
5.0 Business Ethics and the Real world 14
Case Study A: “Uzbekistan Cotton; a new spin on child labour in the clothing industry 14
Case Study B: California Dental Association v. Federal Trade Commission 16
6.0 Bridging the Gap between the Utopian and the Real World 18
7.0 Conclusion 19
                                    References   20

1.0 Introduction

In the present decade there has been an unprecedented growth and demand for ethical business practices among corporations and a rise in awareness of the general public and consumers respectively. Businesses now engage and use these ethical standards as a means of portraying themselves as being “morally responsible” and thus creating value in the minds of their customers.
Researches in business ethics deal with numerous questions relating to how business and ethics can be addressed within a sustainable framework. According to De George (1987), “Business ethics is the study of morality and immorality as well as possible justification of economic systems.”
Business ethics is gaining relevance as business is increasingly being conducted across national boundaries. Smaller domestic... [continues]

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