This is a most important question today, for it is sometimes said that the pursuit of profit ought not to be the primary and dominant goal of a business firm but rather must be balanced by concern for customers, employees, or society. In order to see what the standards for proper managerial conduct might be, we need to understand what is meant by "free market society."
Management Goals
Within a free market society, it is generally thought that the primary goal of a business organization is the attainment of profit. Though businesses often consider other objectives (service to customers, employee needs and well-being, assistance to the needy) it cannot be denied that the attainment of profit is the overall and guiding objective of the business organization. Thus, the first question that managerial ethics should consider is whether or not it is ethically proper to make the attainment of profit the objective of a business firm. This is a most important question today, for it is sometimes said that the pursuit of profit ought not be the primary and dominant goal of a business firm but rather must be balanced by concern for customers, employees, or society. In order to see what the standards for proper managerial conduct might be, we need to understand what is meant by "free market society" and "profit," and what ethics has to say about such a society and goal (DuPlessis, et al. 2011).
The Free Market Society and Profit
The terms "free market society" are not solely descriptive. They signify a set of economic and social arrangements that presupposes a certain ethical perspective. For example, "Murder Incorporated" would not be regarded as a business firm in such a society but would instead be viewed as criminal that ought not and must not be allowed to operate. Similarly, the term "profit" does not mean merely a return on an economic exchange that is over costs; it also involves a certain type of exchange; namely, a free or voluntary exchange. In order to understand the ethical perspective from which the terms "free market society" and "profit" derive their particular meaning, we should consider the notion of "individual rights." "Business ethics -- while sometimes but not always coextensive with legal requirements are also increasingly important to running a successful business" (DuPlessis, et al. 2011).
A free market society is a society based on the recognition of individual rights. "Individual rights are the means of subordinating society to moral law." They determine what matters of morality;...
Laws Governing Business Entities Laws Governing Business Organizations Every business organization in a developed market is governed by laws, which are rather closely monitored to ensure the good fairing of the organization in the business market. Such laws provide for the standard form of the generally established legal entities in the worldwide economy. Such defined entities include, partnerships (general and limited), Limited Liability Company, cooperatives among others. This document outlines such laws
It is hard to argue with the legitimacy of that consideration. Employees have a reasonable expectation of privacy in the workplace, but that right has limits. Employers are not prevented from conducting some hidden surveillance in an employee's office as long as it is for legitimate business concerns. An employer may have sound reasons for monitoring the workplace and an intrusion upon the employee's reasonable privacy expectations may not be
The existence and specialization of these three competitors materializes in the need for Creativity Sure to excel in the offering of the three types of products and services offered by challengers Karina Advertising, Falling Agency and Dorna PLC. 4.2 PEST Analysis Political forces: The development of a full legislation within the advertising field has yet to become a complete process. Recent efforts have however limited the operations of advertising campaigns in
Business Law Dimitri vs. Bib Bob's Having given an offer to the public of a price tagged at $5,000 upon completion of a given task, the Bib Bob's had made a valid offer which was accepted by one individual Dimitri. In this case there was already an offer in writing trough the advertisement flown on the place and an acceptance was made to take up the contract and the terms by Dimitri.
We can use this opportunity to establish loyalty among our existing customers, develop referrals among our customers to their colleagues, and establish our brand and credibility as local suppliers of organic fertilizer of high quality and at a good price to our market. With this in place, it will be difficult for any new market entrants to displace us in our local area as the main suppliers of organic
Business Summaries This chapter addresses the reasons that one should study business and businesses to begin with. The authors make the point that they do not intend for this to be a narrow study that just focuses on particular examples of successive and failed businesses, although it will include case studies too. But the major point of studying business, the authors write, is to provide a larger sense of what is needed
Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.
Get Started Now