Ch 3: The Ethical and Social Responsibilities of Entrepreneurs Key Terms

A list of key terms and definitions related to business ethics, corporate responsibility, legal protection, and workplace conduct.

anchoring strategies

In the ethical context, the process of making ethics a foundation (anchor) of your business so that decision makers act keeping in mind key ethical considerations.

antitrust laws

Prevent companies from abusing position or power in the market through exclusion or limitation of competitor access to the market.

business ethics

Conduct by which companies and their agents abide by the law and respect the rights of their stakeholders, particularly their customers, clients, employees, and the surrounding community and environment.

conflict of interest

When an individual or organization has interests in multiple areas that come into conflict with each other.

copyright

Grants the creator of a work the exclusive right to reproduce the work, typically for a specified period of time.

corporate social responsibility (CSR)

Practice in which a business views itself within a broader context, as a member of society with certain implicit social obligations and responsibility for its own effects on environmental and social well-being.

design patent

Protects product design.

disclosure

Sharing the needed facts and details about a subject in a transparent and truthful way.

diversity

Inclusion of many types of employees, regardless of differences (race, religion, gender, disability, LGTBQ, socioeconomic, cultural).

environmental entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial ventures focused on identifying an environmental problem and creating a product or process to solve that problem.

ethics

Standards of behavior to which we hold ourselves in our personal and professional lives.

fairness

Impartial, unbiased compliance with rules and standards of what is right, just, and equitable.

integrity

Adherence to a code of moral values implying trustworthiness and incorruptibility because there is unity between what we say and what we do.

intellectual property

Legally protected result of creative work to turn a unique idea into a product or service.

prejudice

Way of thinking about or treating employees in a manner that favors or hinders one person or group over another, usually in a way considered to be unfair.

social entrepreneurship

Entrepreneurial ventures focused on identifying a societal problem and creating a product or process to solve that problem.

sustainability

Practice of preserving resources and operating in a way that is ecologically responsible in the long term.

trade secret

Proprietary information, processes, or other internal knowledge that contribute to an organization’s competitive edge in a market.

trademark

Registration that provides the owner the ability to use a name, symbol, jingle, or character in conjunction with a specific product or service, and prevents others from using those same symbols to sell their products.

truthfulness

Underlying facts, reality, and evidence on a matter.

utility patent

Protects product ideas.