The second half of the semester offered important lessons on business ethic. Business ethics refers to the development and use of moral standards in the business context. Morals are the standards, judgments, and rules of acceptable behavior in the society. After completing this lesson, I have learnt that businesses face different ethical challenges. Some of these ethical challenges include lack of integrity, conflicts on interest, organizational relationship problems, and misleading advertising.
One area of the lesson that intrigued me was society’s’ expectations from businesses. For most people, businesses have no responsibility to the society as long as it remains profitable; thus, the only responsibility is to its stakeholders. I have learnt from this lesson that a business’s responsibility extends to the general society. Society’s expectations from business is grounded on social contract theory, which states that an individual’s moral obligations are dependent on an agreement or contract between them to create the society in which they live ( Cavusgil et al., 2015) . Thus, there are rule in any society that guide behavior because a rule-free society is dysfunctional due to the lack of security and justice. When it comes to businesses, they have social contract to act and behave in a way that benefits society. Since business practices have direct impacts on society, it is imperative that they follow stipulated rules and regulations, and act ethically.
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The obligation that businesses have to society explains why they engage in Corporate Social responsibility (CSR). CSR, which is the pursuit of policies, strategies, and decisions that are desirable to society remains a controversial subject. It is undeniable that CSR has become an integral business strategy for many companies as they seek to create sustainable brands. CSR is not a new concept because it was first defined by Friedman in 1853, but the overabundance of theories and many definitions have complicated attempts to give a clear definition and measure (Wankel , Malleck, & IGI Global, 2012) . Therefore, it remains a subjective construct.
Another important lesson drawn from the second part of the semester concerns the debate on the neutrality of corporations. Some have argued that corporations ought to remain neutral of social issues as long as they operate within the law. However, I believe that staying neutral is impossible since business actions affect society directly and indirectly. Since the dawn of industrialization, businesses have depleted the world’s natural resources and used renewable materials quicker than they can be rehabilitated (Francis, Murfey & Kogan Page, 2016) . In the process, the environment has been polluted and the gap between the rich and the poor keeps widening. These illustrations show that corporations have an unwritten contract with the society and must engage in activities that ae beneficial to all.
I concur that marketing is an important business function that allows businesses to convey, deliver, and exchange offers that are value to consumers, partners, and the general society. Thus, marketing is essential to engage with customers, but it can be dangerous when used to mislead. It is undeniable that some marketing messages are false, manipulative, create unnecessary wants, push mediocre products, and motivated by greed. The temptation to exaggerate a product is high when a business is seeking to sell a product of entering a new market. It may look harmless, but it constitutes deception, which is unethical.
This class required participation in team activities, which offered important insights about myself. Working in groups was useful because it taught me necessary skills required to work as a collective unit to attain a common objective. Though the team activities in this class centered on assignments, it introduced me to various skills that will be useful in the future. Some of the skills that I leant from teamwork include compromise and communication. We had to agree on who to handle different parts of a project, and in most cases this required compromise. Furthermore, the ability to harness each other’s strengths to accomplish a goal was another lesson I gained from working in teams. The group activities were also useful because I was able to learn about myself. I can conclude that I am good team member because I was reliable, supportive, flexible, committed, and an active listener. Though these are positive attributes, I also learnt that I am a bit dominant and may attempt to influence others. It is an area that I need to improve to become a good team member.
A valuable insight from the semester that I will take into the future is how to become an ethical marketer. The insights offered in the lesson are useful in avoiding the pitfalls of unethical marketing, which are common in the current corporate environment. Important insights include questioning my motivation, resisting external pressure, being ware of deceptive thinking, and training ion moral reasoning. These steps will be helpful in enhancing both the financial and ethical bottom line. Unethical marketing may contribute to the financial bottom line of a firm, but it harms the ethical bottom line. Therefore, the insights from the lesson will guide in actinide ethically in the future.
References
Cavusgil, S. T., Knight, G. A., Riesenberger, J. R., Rammal, H. G., & Rose, E. L. (2015). International business: The new realities . Frenchs Forest, N.S.W: Pearson Australia.
Francis, R. D., Murfey, G., & Kogan Page. (2016). Global business ethics: Responsible decision making in an international context . London: Kogan Page.
Wankel, C., Malleck, S. K., & IGI Global. (2012). Ethical models and applications of globalization: Cultural, socio-political and economic perspectives . Hershey, Pa: IGI Global (701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 17033).
