individual report
Contents
1. Ethical principles and the decision-making process
Nowadays it is believed that ethical principles are the foundation of ethical analysis. Each theory can be used for predicting the outcome and following one’s duties to others in order to reach an ethically correct decision. The problems that are discussed in any cases like the AWB LTD scenario can bring significant changes to the decision –making process for others. Also the best approach is to use ethical theories such as Utilitarism, Deontology, Libertarianism etc., in combination in order to obtain the most ethically correct answer and solution possible for each case.
2. Case study of the AWB LTD wheat board scandal
The Australian Wheat Board case is a clear example of corporate culture and other systemic failures influencing and defining an organisation’s decision making and its ethical posture. This report addresses the underlying organisational causes of the AWB scandal, whereby AWB paid kickbacks to Iraq in defiance of the rules of the Oil-for-Food programme, instituted by the United Nations. In so doing, it consider the evidence and conclusions presented in the Cole inquiry, a Royal Commission established to investigate the conduct of several Australian companies in relation to the program. At the height of the investigation, the single-desk arrangement from which AWB benefits came under criticism. In 2006, the Australian Grain Exporters Association asked the Government to remove AWB 's monopoly export powers. The Oil-for-Food scandal cast doubt among some grain exporters over the trust placed in the company, especially as they lost the ability to export to Iraq during the length of the Cole Inquiry, losing one of their biggest markets.
Consequently the scandal resulted in international condemnation and litigation. On 11 July 2006, North American farmers claimed $1 billion in damages from AWB at Washington DC, alleging the Australian wheat exporter used
1. Ethical principles and the decision-making process
Nowadays it is believed that ethical principles are the foundation of ethical analysis. Each theory can be used for predicting the outcome and following one’s duties to others in order to reach an ethically correct decision. The problems that are discussed in any cases like the AWB LTD scenario can bring significant changes to the decision –making process for others. Also the best approach is to use ethical theories such as Utilitarism, Deontology, Libertarianism etc., in combination in order to obtain the most ethically correct answer and solution possible for each case.
2. Case study of the AWB LTD wheat board scandal
The Australian Wheat Board case is a clear example of corporate culture and other systemic failures influencing and defining an organisation’s decision making and its ethical posture. This report addresses the underlying organisational causes of the AWB scandal, whereby AWB paid kickbacks to Iraq in defiance of the rules of the Oil-for-Food programme, instituted by the United Nations. In so doing, it consider the evidence and conclusions presented in the Cole inquiry, a Royal Commission established to investigate the conduct of several Australian companies in relation to the program. At the height of the investigation, the single-desk arrangement from which AWB benefits came under criticism. In 2006, the Australian Grain Exporters Association asked the Government to remove AWB 's monopoly export powers. The Oil-for-Food scandal cast doubt among some grain exporters over the trust placed in the company, especially as they lost the ability to export to Iraq during the length of the Cole Inquiry, losing one of their biggest markets.
Consequently the scandal resulted in international condemnation and litigation. On 11 July 2006, North American farmers claimed $1 billion in damages from AWB at Washington DC, alleging the Australian wheat exporter used
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