Introduction.1 Company3 Conflict of Interest.4 . Identification of The Ethical issuseWhat is meant by ethics?

Consists of moral principles governing the right and wrongs of human conduct Is about the principles of right and wrong accepted by individuals or social groups A code of behaviour considered morally correctCode of moral principles that guide the action of people and groupsEthical behaviour is doing what is morally right Business ethics .

Business ethics are the principles and standards that: Define acceptable conduct in business Should underpin decision making An alternative definition is: the moral values which govern business behaviour and restrains companies from pursuing the interest of the shareholder at the expense of all other considerations Some activities might be profitable and legal but nevertheless are considered to be unethical An ethical decision is one that is both legal and meets the shared ethical standards of the community. Company DESCRIPTION AND PURPOSE: Natures Way ProClean is a patented, aqueous, biodegradable cleaner with live, naturally occurring microbes. It is manufactured using the same components as PowerClean (aka HS) which is listed by the U.S. EPA on the NCP Product Schedule* as a surface washing agent, and approved for use in California by the SCAQMD. ProClean meets heavy duty cleaning demands, yet is safe to handle and harmless to rubber and pump internals. ProClean rinses easily, leaving surfaces dry and residue free. Microbes used are non-pathogenic and harmless to people and wildlife. It is non-toxic, has no VOC's, and will not

irritate normal skin or respiratory tracts, even in concentrated form. Use of ProClean protects the environment and limits liabilities. Microbes, added during manufacture, are selected for their ability to consume oily hydrocarbons. This provides on-site reduction or elimination of wastes generated by spills, leaks, or cleaning operations. ProClean also eliminates sheens on contact and sharply reduces VOCs with minimum agitation, significantly reducing the risk for fires or explosions.

Business operations demand decisions to be taken in conflicting situations. What are the ethical issues involved in such decisions? Conflict of Interest It exists when an individual must to choose whether to advance their interests, those of the organization, or those of some other group. To avoid these conflicts, employees must be able to separate their interests from their business dealings. The main basis for every personal and corporate relationship is trust. Honesty and fairness are essential to preserve this trust. A breach of this trust is the source of conflict.

Human resource issues

Majority of the ethical issues that confront a business manager is related to human

resources. The objective of the management will be to recruit and retain the best talent and for the purpose the workplace and other benefits are made attractive. Ethical issues relate d to human resources in an organization including privacy, discrimination, sexual and other types of harassment, performance evaluation, hiring, firing ,etc Fairness is demanded in the treatment of every employee. Protective legislation and organization policy are incorporated to maintain the ethical standards in the human resources management of an organization.

Customer Confidence Issues:. Customer confidence issues cover a large range of topics including confidentiality, product safety and effectiveness, truth in advertising and special fiduciary relationship. Privacy is basic customer right. Business firms are under obligation to respect and keep to customer information in confidence. Product safety is another customer right and it is the obligation of the organization and every employee to provide factual information of the product. Overstatements that damage the interests of the customer will affect the reputation of the firm and its market share. Like product safety, truth in advertising should confine to the actual product qualities and returns. Exaggeration for the promotion of sales may backfire. In certain professions like banking, accounting, law religion and medicine there exists special fiduciary responsibilities to customer. Certain codes of practice are provided by law but the business organizations are under ethical obligation to maintain this relation and protest their customers interests.

Use of corporate resources: when information is passed on to other , however insignificant they may seem to be, it is important is identify whether it involves the reputation of the company and the resources used for such communication are permitted by the organization. For example, letter of

recommendation by staff f on the company letter head may not be permitted when the financial resources of the organization are being used, they should be used only for company business. It is equally important to provide actual information regarding the company resources or accounts. It is unethical to manipulate the information as it not fair and honest. With the advancement of technology and the popularity of electronic commerce, these channels should be used with respect to company interest, customer rights and approved methods.

IDENTIFICATION OF THE ETHICAL ISSUES

Product Historically, the thinking was: a good product will sell itself. However there are no bad products anymore in today's highly competitive markets. Plus there are many laws giving customers the right to return products that he perceives as bad. Therefore the question on product has become: does the organization create what its intended customers want? Define the characteristics of your product or service that meets the needs of your customers. Functionality, Warranty Quality, Appearance, Packaging, Brand, Service, Support,

Price How much are the intended customers willing to pay? Here we decide on a pricing strategy - do not let it just happen! Even if you decide not to charge for a service (a loss leader), you must realize that this is a conscious decision and forms part of the pricing strategy. Although competing on price is as old as mankind, the consumer is often still sensitive for price discounts and special offers. Price has also an irrational side: something that is expensive must be good. Permanently competing on price is for many companies not a very sensible approach.List Price, Discounts, Financing, Leasing Options, Allowances,

Place

Available at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities? Some of the revolutions in business have come about by changing Place. Think of the internet and mobile telephones. Locations, Logistics, Channel members, Channel Motivation, Market Coverage, Service Levels, Internet, Mobile

Promotion (How) are the chosen target groups informed or educated about the organization and its products? This includes all the weapons in the marketing armory advertising, selling, sales promotions, Public Relations, etc.While the other three P's have lost much of there meaning in today's markets, Promotion has become the most important P to focus on.Advertising, Public Relations, Message, Direct Sales, Media, Budget Sources of Conflicts There are many causes or reasons for conflict. Some of the primary causes are:

Sales,

Poor Communication: different communication styles can lead to misunderstandings between employees or between employee and manager. Lack of communication drives conflict underground.

Different Values: any workplace is made up of individuals who see the world differently. Conflict occurs when there is a lack of acceptance and understanding of these differences.

Differing Interests: conflict occurs when individual workers fight for their personal goals, ignoring organizational goals and organizational well-being.

Scarce Resources: too often, employees feel they have to compete for available resources in order to do their job. In a resource scarce environment, this causes conflicts despite awareness of how scarce resources may be.

Personality Clashes: all work environments are made up of differing personalities. Unless colleagues understand and accept each others approach to work and problem-solving, conflict will occur.

Poor Performance: when one or more individuals within a work unit are not performing - not working up to potential and this is not addressed, conflict is inevitable.

Deontology Deontology holds that the most important aspects of our lives are governed by certain unbreakable moral rules. Deontologists hold that these rules may not be broken, even if breaking them may improve an outcome. In other words, they may do the "right" thing, even though the consequences of that action may not be "good." The famous philosopher, Immanuel Kant is often identified with this theory. One example of a list of "unbreakable" rules is the Ten Commandments. Utilitarianism One of the more functional and commonly used theories, utilitarianism, sometimes called consequentialism or teleology, basically promotes good or valued ends, rather than using the right means. This theory instructs adherents to work for those outcomes that will give the most advantage to the majority of those affected in the most impartial way possible. (Simplistically, this theory advocates achieving the greatest good for the greatest number of people.) It is often advocated as the basis for broad social policies.

Ethical decision model

values - beliefs which guide, direct and motivate opinions, attitudes, and actions. ethics - the study of good and bad, of moral duty and moral obligations. ethical standards - principles of conduct, how people ought to behave in a certain situation. The Three Basic Ethical Theories and Tools Included in the Decision Model: absolute values - this theory believes that there are certain ethical principles that are universal and that impose an absolute duty on a person. Kant referred to such duties as categorical imperatives because they allow for no exception.

Utilitarianism - this theory requires the ethical person to evaluate the likely consequences of contemplated conduct and weigh the good the act may produce against the harm it may cause. Simplified to the greatest good for the greatest number. stakeholder analysis - responsible ethical decisions involve considerations of the impact of the decision on the network of persons who have a stake in the decision. Accordingly, a decision which does not take into account the way in which it may affect others is not ethical regardless of its actual consequences. Strategy for Ethical Decision Making: 1. Define the problem carefully and make sure you have gathered all the necessary facts. 2. List all the stakeholders who may be affected by the decision (stakeholder analysis). 3. List all the personal and work related values that are involved in the decision (absolute value analysis). These values may include: honesty (truth telling, candidness, openness) integrity (act on convictions, courageous, advocacy, leadership by example), promise keeping (fulfilling the spirit of commitments), fidelity (loyalty, confidentiality) fairness (justice, equal treatment, diversity, independence) caring (compassion, kindness), respect (human dignity and uniqueness), citizenship (respect for law, social consciousness), excellence (quality of work), accountability (responsibility, independence). 4. List all the possible alternative actions that you could do (utilitarian analysis). 5. Choose and prioritize: a. Which stakeholder do you believe is the most important in this situation b. Which value do you believe is the highest value in this situation c. Which of the likely consequences do you believe will cause the greatest good or the least harm d. Prioritize a,b,c, as to which is the most important consideration in this situation.

Work Related Issues:

Honesty: Employees have an ethical responsibility to be honest. But there are occasions that an employee is offered an incentive to be dishonest to co workers, to customers, to competitors and to employers. There are also situations in which dishonesty is common and apparently acceptable. It is common that a dishonest act which carry beneficial social consequences, do not threaten the stability of underlying social practices, is accepted.

Whistle blowing: It refers to an act by an employee or an insider in a business organization that informs the public or a government agency of an illegal, harmful or unethical activity done by their business.

Insider Trading: This refers to the practice of buying or selling securities on the basis of non public information that one has obtained as an insider. Insider trading is done for personal benefits. It raises ethical questions on ones responsibilities to the firm, to stockholders and to financial markets.

Environmental issues: Pollution: Pollution represents wasted resources and poses a threat to human well being , health and safety , influence global climate changes and has adverse effects on other living creatures. Use of natural resources: Natural resources are used for business purpose and their scarcity demands control and regulation. a rational resource can be classified into renewable and nonrenewable resource. a rational policy will support use of renewable resources over no resources. In the use of renewable resources, it should be maintain that minimum disruption to ecosystems. Preservation of biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the plants and animal wealth of a nation or region. Different value preserves them. Lost diversity among crops makes food production more prone to disease and weather related failures. Biodiversity contribute to healthier ecosystem. Decisions Supported with robust and sustainable business process

Robustness is the defensibility quality factor representing the degree to which external harm can be tolerated by the environment. All living things exist in homeostasis with their environment in an interdependent dynamic equilibrium extending robustness to nature as a whole. Sustainable Business Process Sustainable Business rules are achievable. If one pays close attention to the characteristics and fully addresses them with due diligence, the results will certainly be a great saga of more flexible business systems, faster response to changing business conditions, lower costs of doing business, lower error rates, and a myriad of other benefits.

Golden Rule The Golden Rule is valid for a great range of decisions, personal or professional. Even in the most difficult situation, application of the do unto others standard often reveals what actions are ethical and which are not. If you dont want to be deceived, dont deceive others. If you want others to keep their commitments to you, keep your commitments to them. Treating others Better Than They Treat You Cynics claim that the Rule will not work in the real world. They suggest that to survive one must do unto others before they do unto you. This, of course, becomes a selffulfilling prophesy fueling an anti-ethical, everyone-for-himself ethos. Of course, many people do not live by the Golden Rule; they do not treat others fairly, honestly or with compassion. The challenge to an ethically committed person is to overcome this fact of life and do what is right in spite of, even because of, the failure of others to do so. Shortcomings The Golden Rule, however, falters in situations that involve a complex network of stakeholders with conflicting interests. It provides no guidance on how to choose among them.

References http://www.medindia.net/education/familymedicine/biomedical-ethics-theories.htm http://www.12manage.com/methods_marketing_mix.html