Intro to Business

1. Intro to Business Ch. 4

2. Social Responsibility- The duty of a business to contribute to the well-being of a community.

3. Factors of social responsibility • Protection of the environment • Inclusion of minorities and women in the workplace • Employment of physically challenged and older workers • Maintaining a healthy and safe work environment.

4. Conservation- Saving scarce natural resources. • Non-renewable resource- A natural resource that cannot be replaced.

5. Pollution- When the environment is tainted with the by-products of human actions. • Socially responsible businesses take action to improve operations that cause pollution. • EPA- Environmental Protection Agency: Monitors and enforces standards for water and air quality.

6. Workplace Diversity • Businesses must be sensitive to the role of women, ethnic groups, and physically challenged and older workers. • Businesses can’t refuse to hire women for a job, unless they can prove that the job requires physical skills that the individual woman doesn’t have.

7. Job Safety • Businesses are regulated by agencies such as OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration). • Businesses must provide a safe working environment for its employees.

8. Employee Wellness • Many businesses will offer incentives to lose weight and will offer programs to help its employees maintain a healthy lifestyle.

9. Benefits of being socially responsible: • Expanded justice for groups of a society • Enhanced company image • Reduced need for government actions • Improved quality of life in a community • Increased awareness of social issues among workers and consumers

10. Business Ethics • Ethics- Principles of morality or rules of conduct. • Business ethics- Rules about how businesses and their employees ought to behave. • Code of ethics: a set of rules for guiding the actions of employees or members of an organization • Big business have a bad reputation of not using ethics when making decisions.

11. 3 Questions to ask when faced with an ethical dilemma: • Ethical behavior meets several standards • It is lawful • It is consistent with company values and policies • It does not harm some while benefiting others • If the actions and results become public, it will not embarrass the company

12. Ethical behavior for employees should be outlined in the mission statement. • Core values- The important principles that will guide decisions and actions in the company.

13. Why is ethics important in the business world? • It keeps customers happy • More profit • It keeps employees happy • More efficient workers • It gives the company a good name • More business

14. Types of ethical reasoning • Consequence-based ethical reasoning- Looks for alternative ways to alter the situation. Then tries to predict the outcome, and determines which outcome would create the greatest good. • Rule-based reasoning- Universalizing an action in order to make a decision.