"Hope of ill gain is the beginning of loss."
Democritus
400 BC Greek Philosopher
Democritus is referring to dishonesty when he says "ill gain", stating that those who are dishonest will lose.
Not may lose, will lose.
Being a philosopher, he may well have been referring to the personal loss one who is generally ethical feels when they know they have done or said something that is less than ethical.
To what extent are occasional lapses in business ethics acceptable? Under what circumstances?
400 BC Greek Philosopher
Democritus is referring to dishonesty when he says "ill gain", stating that those who are dishonest will lose.
Not may lose, will lose.
Being a philosopher, he may well have been referring to the personal loss one who is generally ethical feels when they know they have done or said something that is less than ethical.
To what extent are occasional lapses in business ethics acceptable? Under what circumstances?
You are either ethical or you aren't; there can be no lapses.
ReplyDeleteCan be no lapses or shouldn't be? Or maybe shouldn't be too many??
ReplyDeleteI agree in theory Katlin but my question is probably more practical in nature. I see many instances where management behavior is ethically questionable, if not to all then to some. Situations where compromises are made to what some would say is strict, ethical action.
For example is it ethical when a health insurance provider disallows a certain medical procedure as part of their attempt to maximize profits, as they are obligated to their shareholders to do?
I don't know that we could ever get 100% agreement about what is and is not ethical. Is it even possible to agree on major parameters?
I don't know what the parameters should be I know unethical management when I see it.
ReplyDeleteIf you talk the talk, you MUST walk the walk. Among companies who claim to be ethical in their public messaging there can be no backroom equivocating. But, I'm afraid there is.
ReplyDeleteI agree Anonymous but the more I think about it (more since the original post) the more I conclude that what is and is not ethical will vary. I don't mean the obvious stuff but legitimate grey area things.
ReplyDeleteWe've all bought products that did not perform as we expected with many probably doing what they were designed to do. Is it a breach of ethics if the manufacturer knew or even suspected that might happen and didn't attempt to correct our expectations? And if so, how do we decide when their "attempt" is sufficient?
If so, at what point has the manufacturer met their ethical responsibilities and consumers are then on their own?
Related to this I just read an LA Times story this AM about the transition to DTV. One of the individuals they interviewed now only receives two of seven local stations from an apartment roof antenna. He said he was disappointed that no one told him this would happen. Is there a breach of ethics in this and if so, who's?
i took an ethics course in business school and was more confused after taking the class. i think this is largely due to the fact that each individual has to determine their own ethical parameters.
ReplyDeletea lot of people confuse ethics with legality which generally tends to be more black and white. for example, deliberately under-reporting your income is illegal according to the IRS but we all know of people who stretch the boundaries of allowable deductions. so if you're comfortable doing this, god bless but you should be prepared to accept the consequences if you ever got audited. which then begs the question...if you knew for a fact that you were going to get audited, would you have taken the same deductions in the first place?
i try not to make things too complicated. for me, the smell test has always been if i'm comfortable with whatever i did being splashed on the front page of a newspaper, i'm ok with doing it.