Bus Law 207 Ethics

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

The idea that businesses have social role beyond just earning profit — decisions advance greater goods

How was business historically viewed in terms of social responsibility?

Historically, business was not viewed as having a social role. It was expected to meet one goal: production of goods or services to earn a profit. A possible social role started being discussed in the 1950s.

Milton Friedman's view on CSR (Profit Maximization)

There is one and only one social responsibility of business — to increase its profits as long as stays within the rules of the game (open/free competition, no deception or fraud).

Corporations should not make charitable contributions; shareholders should.

Long-Term Company Interest view of CSR

In company's best interest to be concerned with social issues. Maximizing profits is still the primary concern, but social responsibility is viewed as contributing to the long-term sustaining of profits and as the right thing to do.

Triple Bottom Line

A more modern view of social responsibility that measures success in 3 ways:

Financial Returns (profits)

Social Returns (employees, community)

Environmental Returns (sustainability, impact).

Who created the Social Responsibility Pyramid and when?

Archie Carroll, Prof at Georgia, 1991

What pressures led to Carroll's Social Responsibility Pyramid?

Pressure from social activists in the 1960s on corporate America to consider more than financial return, plus legislation promoting environmental protection, consumer protection, and occupational safety.

What does Carroll's Social Responsibility Pyramid advocate?

Business leaders have to take into account 4 things from bottom to top

Profit Responsibility (make money)

Law Responsibility (compliance)

Virtue (be fair)

Value (Charity, support community)

When do ethical issues typically arise?

Ethical issues arise when there is a conflict or tension between different duties — e.g., a supervisor tells you to hire Cal Poly grad cause you are all alums, but HR policy says everyone should be treated equal.

What are the 4 steps for analyzing an ethical decision?

Step 1: Identify the ethical issue.

Step 2: Identify the stakeholders.

Step 3: Recognize a primary solution and alternative solutions.

Step 4: Recognize the consequences of each solution.

What is the Trolley Problem?

A classic ethical dilemma used to explore moral decision-making — how we weigh action vs. inaction when both choices lead to harm. WATCH HERE:

What are 5 ethical frameworks

Deontology

Consequentialism

Principle Ethics

Virtue Ethics

Ethics of Care

micro-ethics vs macro-ethics

Micro-ethics concerns your own responsibilities/decisions/actions. Macro-ethics: concerns collective ethics/integrity of the profession.

Deontology

An ethical theory (from Greek "deon" = duty) that determines the rightness or wrongness of actions by examining the actions themselves — without focusing on their consequences. It is duty-based.

Consequentialism (Utilitarianism)

An ethical theory that judges actions as right or wrong based on their consequences. A morally right act is one that produces good results — the more good results, the more right the act.

How does Deontology differ from Consequentialism?

Deontology focuses on the nature of the action itself (duty-based); Consequentialism focuses on the outcomes. A deontologist does the right action even if it produces bad results; a consequentialist judges the action by its results.

What is a key challenge with Deontology?

Not everyone agrees on what the "right" actions are.

What is a key challenge with Consequentialism?

You may not have all the information needed to foresee all consequences.

What is Principle Ethics?

An approach that recognizes ethical principles to balance, rather than strictly following deontology or consequentialism.

What are the 6 principles of Principle Ethics?

(1) Beneficence – promoting welfare of others;

(2) Non-maleficence – avoiding and preventing harm;

(3) Autonomy – fostering others' right to make their own decisions; (4) Justice – distributing benefits and burdens equally;

(5) Fidelity – honoring commitments and keeping promises;

(6) Veracity – being honest and telling the truth.

What are the Belmont Principles?

Beneficence, Autonomy, Justice

What is Reflective Principlism?

A framework argued to be ideal for engineering ethics founded on the first four principles of principle ethics.

What is Virtue Ethics?

An ethical framework that focuses on the character traits of the individual rather than specific rules or problem-solving processes. It asks to what extent one lives in accordance with their values.

How does Virtue Ethics differ from rule-based ethics?

It focuses on becoming a good person rather than following a checklist.

What is the origin of Virtue Ethics?

Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics. It centers on a vision of the "good life" — what constitutes flourishing for individuals, communities, and the species.

Virtues = Integrity, Trust, Honesty, Self-Control, and Fairness.

What is Aristotle's concept of virtues as "means between vices"?

Aristotle argued that virtues are the middle ground between two vices — one of excess and one of deficiency. The virtuous action lies between doing too much and too little.