Business Ethics & Social Responsibility

BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

The philosopher Immanuel Kant once claimed that lying was always immoral because it is manipulative and disrespects the natural rights of others to make their own decisions. However, it's not quite that simple. Can lying be a moral action? What if a lie protects someone from physical harm? What if lying is better for your own safety and self-preservation? The issues of lying can also be applied to breaking promises. Now again, keeping a promise is generally seen as an immoral necessity. Breaking promises decreases trust, hurts people, and can harm society. But, can breaking a promise be moral?

SCRIPT N°1

Imagine that someone told you that because of him the dam holding a reservoir of water was about to break, that in an hour the town will get flooded, but he will fix it on time. You made the promise not to tell anyone not to panic everybody. Fifty minutes later, he is still trying to fix the dam and told you to keep your promise or he is going to get sued. You could keep the promise, and let the town get flooded, or you could break the promise and make sure everyone gets out safely. The greater good of saving the town is more important than the moral obligation between you and your friend so you decide to break that promise.

SCRIPT N°2

A promise is a commitment to act a certain way in the future, either to do something or to refrain from doing something. Promises generate expectations in others, who in turn, modify their plans and actions on the assumption that promises will be kept. For this second script let's have a look at one of the most broken promise ever : "I'll be there on time, I promise you". Sometimes when we do a promise to someone the outcome doesn't entirely rely on us. In this particular case, you could be late because of something outside of your control, for example your bus is late, traffic jam, an accident on the road and so on. Just like a physicians shouldn't promise a patient he's going to get better, we should stop making promises we are not sure we can keep. So for this case you said to your friend that you'll meet him tonight at six o'clock in front of his favorite bar. You promise him that for once you will not be late. Your friend is quite reluctant because he planed to visit his mother that night, but you insist and he changed his mind. It's 5:30, you are still at work and your boss ask you to stay late to help him prepare an important meeting. It could be a great opportunity to impress him and get the promotion you were waiting for over a year but it would mean ditch your friend who already change all his plan for you once again and break your promise. What would you do ?

SCRIPT N°3

For the third script we will move into the business field and have a look at a current topic . You are working in a famous company for over 10 years. You are very happy with your position and you are professionally satisfied. One day, while you were going across the open space, you see something that really disturb you. One of your colleague were being sexually harassed by a manager, you were shocked and confused so you decided not to take action on the moment. Still worried you question your colleague during the lunch break to see if she talked to anyone yet, how long this has been going on etcetera... She immediately start crying and make you swear that you will not tell anyone, she says that it's nothing, she do not want to be that girl and she certainly do not want to loose her job. This manager his a very respected person in the company and a close friend of the boss. You want to respect her choice so you promise to not talk about it. But after heading back home you couldn't think about anything else, you start wondering if this manager had that kind of unpleasant behavior with other employees, what if they tried to talk to the boss and he buried the story because it is his friend. You are know facing an ethical dilemma : Should you keep your promise and stay quiet or should you speak up regardless of your promise ?

SCRIPT N°4

For our fourth case, we will stay on the theme of business. For this example you are a young career driven employee, you are in the company since 5 years, your are doing very well and you already had severals promotions and consistently high evaluations. You have a friendly relationship with your boss, you really see him as a mentor. You entered the company right after your BS in engineering and now you would like a one-year leave of absence to do an MBA. The Boss accepts your vacancy and the company will pay your tuition with one prerequisite : You need to promise that you will return after your MBA and will work at least two more year for the company. You are very thankful and accept immediately, at this moment you do not have any reason to think that you will not return to that company you love and helped you. You do not have much contact with your boss while doing your MBA, two months before the completion you receive an email from a Headhunter who offers you an amazing job, in a successful start-up with a salary twice what you’d be making at your previous company. Now you have to choose between be ethical and keeping your promise to return to your previous company or be unethical , breaking your promise and take the job you always dreamed of.

SCRIPT N°5

People make and break promises frequently in interpersonal relationships. For example when you get married, you have to promise your future wife or husband that you will love and respect her or him for the rest of your life, until death do you apart. That you will always be honest. Weddings Vows are a sacred promise between you and your partner. Now let's imagine over 15 years after you pronounce your vows, it's become routine, you still love your partner of course, but it is not as passionate