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Ethical Dilemma Business And Ethics Don't Mingle Essay

Ethical Dilemma Business and ethics don't mingle and according to popular belief they are two opposing forces. The goal of business is profit maximization and ethics are a body of rules that should guide any and all actions. Traditionally it is thought that ethics hinder rather than support the achievement of the corporate goals. However, in recent times corporations and the business world are more focused on the ethics. It pays in the modern world to be ethically sound and environment friendly because the law supports workers and consumers in case of unethical conduct of a corporation. The paper will look at an article about how a firm handled a serious ethical dilemma it was plagued with and it will analyze their decisions while also suggesting possible alternatives.

Introduction

Business executives looking to integrate ethical code of conduct in their corporate decisions...

Firstly their own ethical principles and then the code of the corporation or the industry they are working in. Finally they would have to find a common ground between their own ethical stance and that of related parties: workers, partners and customers. It is the manager's job to ensure that their decisions are not harmful to the well being of any other human being. Thus making corporate ethics a difficult and complex science. The power that corporate culture holds in the world today makes the after effects of their actions far reaching and long lasting (Unknown 2006, May 1).
In 2008 Apple was faced by a lot of outcry about their labor practices in South East Asia, specifically China. The sales of Apple were at an all time high but its Annual reports highlighted a number of problems in the supply chain. The corporation established several…

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Several employees lodged complaints against Apple's partner supply firms and protests were also held against the abominable working conditions in the South Asian plants. It has been reported that all its suppliers have been guilty of violating at least one ethical principle. The company bosses had been vigilant but when demand for their products soared it also brought the supply chain under immense pressure, resulting in gross injustices and violations of Human Rights Laws. There were a number of explosions and suicides, along with incidents of poisonings in the plants. It was also reported that 90 factories were working the labor for 60 hours a week, way over the Chinese restriction of 40 hours. Lastly Apple's investigations unearthed five incidents of child labor. In response the company's Chief Executive, Tim Cook, wrote an open letter to employees ensuring them of their value to the firm. He claimed the incidents were in violation of their code of conduct and promised to improve surveillance at all plants. Apple has also revealed the names of all its 156 suppliers. It has joined Fair Labor Association, employed labor rights lawyers from China, started work with environmental groups and agreed to have external monitors inspect their supplier's factories (Moore, 2012).

Analysis

The root cause of most ethical dilemmas is the conflict between the interests of the stakeholders. The management needs to come up with solutions that address the needs of all stakeholders and benefit all equally (Columbia Encyclopedia 2012). The interests of Apple were to maximize production, benefit from the cheap labor and thus finally increase profits and meet product demand. The interests of the employees were comfortable, healthy
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