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Name: Azmat Hussain BUS560 Business Ethics Module 8 Assignments 06/01/2011

Essay Questions:

1. From your own experience, when do you feel like you are operating on the ethical frontier? What makes you think so? Operating on the ethical frontier means applying moral standards and behavior to technological business decisions and activities. From my own experience, I feel like I am operating on the ethical frontier when the standards of conduct for utilization of the innovations and new technologies are developed and followed. The rules and norms of operating on the frontier are always changing due to the development of new technologies. These new technologies require new code of conduct to be devised. Therefore, when I adopt the new moral standards of the new technologies and innovations, I feel like I am operating on the ethical frontier. Operating on the frontier involves new stakeholders that are different from the traditional stakeholders. First the new stakeholders consisting of customers, shareholders, suppliers, etc need to be identified. When I consider the consequences and impact of my decisions and new technologies on the new stakeholders and ensure they are not harmed by my business decisions and operations, I feel like I am operating on the ethical frontier. Operating on the frontier incorporates an uncertain environment, unknown consequences and the absence of traditional business structure. Hence, one has to ensure that the business activities and decisions are aligned with the values of the organization. When I protect the values of organization and the values of the stakeholders, I feel like I am operating on the ethical frontier. When I ensure that I adopt the above mentioned standards and behavior in the business, I think that I am operating on the ethical frontier because I am not ignoring the ethical issues that apply to the

frontier such as not understanding the consequences of new technologies and I am not just considering to earn profits by maintaining a competitive edge over my rivals through inappropriate behavior but instead I am using morally correct behavior in my decisions and activities towards the stakeholders. 2. What is privacy and why is it associated with managing at the frontier? What are some key examples of privacy issues at the frontier? Privacy is the control of personal or financial information of an individual within or outside the organization. These people can be either internal or external organizational members. In general, privacy is defined by either the inaccessibility of information or the control an individual has over his or her information. Privacy is fundamentally about protection from intrusion and information gathering by others (Wicks, Freeman, Werhane & Martin, 2010, p.375). Privacy is a vital part of managing at the frontier as the introduction of new technologies requires the sharing of personal and financial information with others. With the advent of online marketplace where people purchase products online, it is necessary to supply the financial and personal information of the consumers. This information is saved with the seller who has access to the personal data of hundreds of consumers. Therefore, privacy is associated with managing at the frontier because the business organization controls and is able to access the personal information of the individuals. Privacy is a key issue for businesses operating and managing at the frontier. They have to ensure that they are meeting the needs of their customers without violating the customers privacy. The businesses have to also ensure that they do not

violate the privacy of their employees and other internal stakeholders. For example, an online bookstore requires its customers to provide their address and personal information for delivering the book. The bookstore also requires the financial information such as credit card details of the customers in order to process their orders. This personal and financial information is saved in the database of the bookstore on a device. As the information of the customers is controlled by the company, it is vulnerable to theft or loss. Any unauthorized person might access the financial information of the customers and use it for his benefit. Therefore, a key issue of protecting the personal information of customers arises for the company. Another issue for the company is to respect the personal information of the customer and ensure that the privacy of the individual is not violated. They have to set the boundaries to control and access the personal information. Therefore, these are some examples of privacy issues that are faced when managing at the frontier. 3. How does the text characterize the ethical frontier? Is it tied solely to technology? Why is studying it important? or Why is studying it not important According to the text, ethical frontier incorporates moral principles and behavior in managing and operating with new technologies. Ethical frontier adheres to the standards of conduct, considers the impact of new technologies on stakeholders and applies character ethics such as honesty, trustworthiness in the decisions. Ethical frontier applies moral standards and behavior to technological business decisions and activities. Standards of conduct for utilization of the innovations and new technologies are developed and followed. Ethical frontier considers the consequences

and impact of the business decisions and new technologies on the stakeholders and ensures that they are not harmed. Ethical frontier ensures that the business activities and decisions are aligned with the values of the organization. Ethical frontier ensures that the technology being introduced is appropriate for all sections of the community and does not violate the legal and moral principles. When the business does not ignore ethics and focuses on generating profits it is characterized as ethical frontier. Managing at the ethical frontier is tied solely to technological innovations. The business is completely different than the traditional structure of organization and consists of new stakeholders and new norms and standards that need to be identified and followed. Studying the ethical issues and challenges faced by managers operating at the frontier is very important to design new norms and standards of conduct. The managers have to identify the advantages to the community by adopting the new technology. They have to find out whether the new technologies impact or offend any section of the community. Studying the ethical frontier will help managers analyze whether the new technology is aligned with the values and goals of the organization. They have to identify the new stakeholders and ensure that their values are not ignored by the new technological products. Therefore, studying the ethical frontier is important to put ethics and business together. 4. What have you learned during this course in business ethics and how will you apply what you learned to your workplace, as a manager and as an employee?

Before starting this course, I thought that business and ethics are different entities and hence cannot be integrated with one another. However, during this course, I have learned the concept of how to put business and ethics together in various functions of business such as marketing, operations, finance, accounting, leadership and management. This course taught me the three decision guides consisting of standards of conduct, character ethics and impact of decisions on stakeholders. As a manager or as an employee, I will apply these decision guides and analyze my decisions or activities using these guidelines and ensure that they meet the requirements of each guideline. This course helped me learn about rationalization and how it is a common pitfall in decision making. As a manager, I will ensure that my decisions are free from rationalization. The course taught me the central forces that affect the decision making in an organization and the methods to avoid ethical lapses. I have also learned the importance of value creation for internal and external stakeholders in order to achieve organizational success. I have learned the ethical issues that arise due to globalization, outsourcing and decentralization. As a manager, I will be able to effectively apply ethical principles in managing in a global marketplace and understand the local culture and feelings of the employees. This course also taught me the theory of leading from the middle where the middle managers are given authority for decision making and managing their subordinates. From this course, I have also learned how ethics can be integrated with marketing and operations. As a manager, I will ensure that I do not indulge in deceptive marketing and violate the feelings of any group or section of the society. I can apply the knowledge I have gained in this course to my workplace regarding the treatment of employees as a

critical asset of the company and the considering the suppliers as stakeholders of the organization. This course also helped me to learn how to integrate ethics in finance and accounting. As a manager, I will ensure that transparency is maintained in all the transactions and the financial statements are accurate so that they do not deceive the potential investors and the stakeholders of the organization. I have also learned the importance of environmental sustainability and the need to protect and improve the environment. As a manager, I will ensure that the production processes of the company do not harm the environment and the waste material is recycled. I will also develop programs to create awareness for preserving the plant and animal life on earth. I will also ensure to develop programs for the welfare of the employees and the society. This course helped me learn the issues and challenges facing managers to operate and manage at the frontier. As a manager, I will ensure that the new technologies do not violate the moral standards and principles and benefit the people. Hence, during this course I have learned many theories and techniques for integrating ethics in business which I can apply in the workplace as a manager and as an employee.

Issue to consider: What is responsibility at the frontier? How do managers need to think about responsibility in contexts where society and key stakeholders often have little idea of what is going on or who they might blame is something goes wrong?

Responsibility at the frontier means assignment of liability to the party or the stakeholder group during managing and operating at the frontier. As there is huge amount of uncertainty in managing and operating at the frontier, managers need to think who should be held responsible if something goes wrong. There is a tendency to place the blame on one person or stakeholder group. For example, Googles search engine provided information to Chinese citizens about the developments in the country which the government did not want to disclose. The Chinese government restricted the business activities of Google. Google had to suffer due to unforeseen consequences and was blamed for its business activities. Managers should not just assign the total responsibility to one party or stakeholder group when something goes wrong. Instead, they should study all the stakeholder groups and analyze the party liable for the problem. Managing at the frontier consists of a chain or network of responsibilities and therefore managers should identify who should take responsibility for which portion of the network. They should view the situation as a network of interconnected, responsible parties allows organizations to take responsibility of their part proactively. Managing at the frontier involves constantly setting precedent by definition since the situations are uncertain and by working with other stakeholders to take collective responsibility, managers can set a precedent for future issues (Wicks, Freeman, Werhane & Martin, 2010, p.379). Managers have to focus on building organizational relationships in order to avoid responsibility gaps. They members of the supply chain should have a vested interest in coordinating responsibility when managing and operating at the frontier. By following the decision guidelines, managers can take steps to identify the role of each party in the

supply chain and set the standards of conduct to define the responsibility of each stakeholder group in case problems arise in the business.

References Wicks, A.C., Freeman, R.E., Werhane, P.H., & Martin, K.E. (2010). Business Ethics: A Managerial Approach. Upper Saddel River, New Jersey: Pearson Prentice Hall.