THE BYSTANDER

Ethics refer to standards of behaviour that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves (Markkula Centre for Applied Ethics. Santa Clara University, 2015). The business dictionary describes ethics as the basic and fundamental principles of decent human behaviour. In my own words, ethics are acceptable standards of behaviours among a group of people. The role of ethics in management A set of acceptable behaviours have a role in curtailing management behaviours in order for members of the management team to behave as expected of them in an organization. Ethics helps managers to treat other employees fairly and subsequently create a more conducive work environment for all employees.  In my opinion, ethics are both personal and organizational issues. The ethical climate of an organization depends largely on management. Professor Emeritus Steve Mintz enumerated some ways that management can use to create a more ethical organizational cultur...

Ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations ( Velasquez et al , 2015).  Ethics is about determining value; it is deciding what is worth doing and what does not matter so much  ( Brusseau, 2012) . E thics has everything to do with management. Unethical business practice involves the tacit, if not explicit, cooperation of others and reflects the values, attitudes, beliefs, language, and behavioral patterns that define an organization’s operating culture (Paine, 1994 ). DISCUSSION What do you see as the role of ethics as it pertains to management and managers? Managers in organizations face ethical issues every day of their working lives . As managers take decisions they face ethical issues .  Whether they be engaged in   planning, organizing, motivating, communicating, or some   other management role, they face the fact that matters of   right and wrong, fairness and unfairness, and justic...

In every industry, a code of conduct is important for managers, as a workforce  can not move forward without integrity from its leaders. The best managers place a high value on fairness and ethics, and their own performance as well. Not only do managers who create their own code of conduct benefit their workers, but they also often benefit the entire company’s public image ( Amico, n.d). This statement from the website Chron is crucial. It is easy to make rules and expectations but as a manager and leader you too must adhere to those guidelines as well. The leader sets the tone for the workforce that is why it is so important that they “Walk the Talk”. If the manager does not follow the code of conduct or show ethical behavior, then many will think why should I? Good managers are leaders and they need to set the example because workers are watching and learning from their actions. If a leader chooses to ignore some rules, then it can be expected that employees who see that behavior...

Conflicts of interest In any endeavor involving more than one person, there will be conflicts of interest.  In the Enron case, these conflicts included: Individual vs. corporate goals (for example, Enron leadership’s self-interest vs. the interest of its shareholders) Enron vs. Arthur Andersen auditors Arthur Andersen auditors vs. Accenture consulting Investors vs. Arthur Andersen auditors Avoiding the conflicts I don’t believe “avoid” is the right word.  That word implies that conflict is eliminated.  But there are always competing interests in any exchange.  Therefore, I believe the better course of action is to recognize and acknowledge that the conflicts exist – and then to try to create structures and environments that reduce their effect. Further, “what could have been done” depends, to a large extent, on who is being asked to do something.  Obviously, Enron senior leadership could have decided not to engage in the off-balance-shee...

This paper discusses and analyzes the relationship and conflict of interest between Arthur Andersen LLP, a fast-growing accounting and financial audit company in the United States, and its client Enron, an American energy company, with incorrect financial reports, then will provide some recommendations that could avoid the conflict of interest. Discussion Arthur Andersen LLP established in 1913 by Arthur Andersen, was one of the largest audit firms in the world, Andersen was one of the fastest-growing and most profitable auditing units and consulting networks in the world in 1984. Arthur Andersen and its largest client in the business faces a serious integrity issue that could have avoided if the conflict of interest in their areas of business was properly addressed. The issue starts when it was revealed that Enron ‘s financial statements report which was audited by Arthur Andersen contained some incorrect financial information. Andersen was considered responsible for auditing the Enro...

The conflict of interest between the two roles played by Arthur Andersen, as auditor but also as consultant to Enron; the lack of attention shown by members of the Enron board of directors to the off-books financial entities with which Enron did business; and the lack of truthfulness by management about the health of the company and its business operations. In some ways, the culture of Enron was the primary cause of the collapse. The senior executives believed Enron had to be the best at everything it did and that they had to protect their reputations and their compensation as the most successful executives in the U.S. When some of their business and trading ventures began to perform poorly, they tried to cover up their own failures. Greed and a lack of fundamental ethical values drove a potentially successful company into the ground. Had the executives of the corporation instilled values into their corporate culture that reflected dealings with them and others in a value driven and et...

Patent ownership is essential because the owner of the patent or investor own all the right, title and interests granted by the patent. Almost all countries of the world have the patent system based on the “First-to-File” doctrine, in which the patent is granted to the inventor who is the first to file a patent application, regardless of the invention date. In the United States, Canada, and Philippines, the patent system was based on “First-to-Invest” doctrine, in which the inventor who first conceived of an invention then diligently reduced it to practice by filing a patent application, is considered the first inventor and is entitled to patent protection (General Patent, 2007). Later on Canada and the United States also changed their patent system from First-to-Invest to First-to-File system, because the First-to-Invest system was costly with long interference procedures in order to determine which investor conceived of the invention first.        ...

The paper describes the patent ownership, the countries law and regulations on the ownership of properties and inventions. Then will provide answers to the three questions required in the discussion assignment unit six. Patent ownership is essential because the owner of the patent or investor own all the right, title and interests granted by the patent. Almost all countries of the world have the patent system based on the “First-to-File” doctrine, in which the patent is granted to the inventor who is the first to file a patent application, regardless of the invention date. In the United States, Canada, and Philippines, the patent system was based on “First-to-Invest” doctrine, in which the the inventor who first conceived of an invention then diligently reduced it to practice by filing a patent application, is considered the first inventor and is entitled to patent protection (General Patent, 2007). Later on Canada and United States also changed their patent system from First-to-Inve...

Many people presume that insider trading is always illegal. The term has been associated with scandals and names such as Enron, celebrity businesswoman Martha Stewart, and former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta (Tang, 2017). Legal insider trading happens when directors of the company purchase or sell shares, but they disclose their transactions legally. However, the term “insider trading" is mostly used to describe a practice in which an insider party trades based on non-public material information gained through the performance of the insider’s obligation at the company, in violation of other relationships of faith and assurance or otherwise when the non-public information was stolen from the company. In other words, insider trading is buying, selling or dealing in securities, bonds, and stocks of a company by a director, manager, or employee of the company who has confidential information that is not accessible to the public (LawTeacher, n.d.). There are a variety of ways tha...

The differential analysis  is the study/analysis of differential revenues and costs. What are differential revenues and costs, though? Differential revenues and costs are the revenues and costs that will differ (the ones that will change) when making the comparison between two or more things (products, customers, etc.). That being said, all the revenues and costs that can be associated to one specific product, customer or service, if they change between from one alternative to the other, then they are considered to be differential and they will be taken into account during the differential analysis. In order to decide whether a customer, a product line, or a service, will be kept or dropped, or if a product will be manufactured, or its production outsourced, a differential analysis must be made. The differential analysis will segregate the revenues and costs, and then calculate the difference between them. It is important to note that the costs must be classified as  fixed cos...