Can Business Ethics Exist? Essay -- Business Ethics

Niall Fitzgerald, stated, Corporate accessible responsibility is a hard-edged business decision. Not because it is a nice thing to do or because people are forcing us to do it... because it is good for our business. (as cited in Elliot, 2003, para. 14) What is social responsibility? Peter F. Drucker (1981) suggests it is todays business ethics as defined by societys ever-changing values, values based on people functioning as a group. Milton Friedmans (1970) view of social responsibilities is one of individual ethics. Both Drucker and Friedman interchangeably use these terms ethics and social responsibility, in their case views on the subject. craft ethics and social responsibility are like fraternal twins, born from a womb of moral imperatives and as such, share a base heritable foot-stamp in scope and ideology. In the case views as presented by Peter F. Drucker and Milton Friedman, what ethics and social responsibility is varies between an individual and business view. Friedman (1970) is very hand on the line between individual ethics and business. An individual acts in his own right based upon his personal morality code. He takes on responsibilities eccentric to him in a singular fashion such as marriage. A business, however, is a collective of reasoning from group thought defined by social convention. It is soulless as societal pressures dictate the ethical code. Individual responsibilities however, are self-assign because he adopts his own code of ethics and consequences. When the individual is working as an executive, he is required to balance the needs of the stockholders and the owners of the business all the while producing profit. His individual ethical leanings, either consensual or conflicted, are su... ..._interest/detail/what-is-business-ethicsElliot, L. (2003, July 4). Cleaning agentInterview Niall FitzGerald co-chairman and old geezer executive Unilever. theguardian. Retrieved from http//www.guardian.co.uk/business/2003/j ul/05/unilever1?INTCMP=SRCHFriedman, M. (1970, September 13). The Social Responsibility Of Business is to increase its profits. The New York Times. Retrieved from http//select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F10F11FB3E5810718EDDAA0994D1405B808BF1D3&scp=2&sq=The%20Social%20Responsibility%20of%20Business%20is%20to%20Increase%20its%20Profits&st=cseJosephson Institute Quotations Bank. (n.d.). Retrieved from http//josephsoninstitute.org/quotes/quotations.php?q=EducationMackey, J. (2005, October). Rethinking the social responsibility of business. reason.com. Retrieved from http//reason.com/ biography/2005/10/01/rethinking-the-social-responsi/3