Case Study 1: Business Ethics
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Liberty University
Case Study 1: Business Ethics
This paper concerns itself with Ramona Alexander, presumably a Christian woman, considering working for a national company called Next Step Herbal Health. It examines the spiritual, ethical, and legal considerations she may want to examine in making her decision.
With the limited information given, it appears that Next Step Herbal Health may lack a strong moral/ethical foundation, despite their ethics code statement to the contrary. Some evidence to support this includes Next Step’s support of groups and causes (e.g., Planned Parenthood, the ACLU) inconsistent with Christian beliefs. The recruiter’s laughter and dismissal of statements made by the company’s public relations department and that of its lawyers in its ethics code statement are also concerning. However, the actual day-to-day operations and corporate culture of Next Step Herbal Health could take one of many forms. The following are three broad examples.
Three Broad Possibilities
1. The recruiter’s comments, which could be construed as lacking integrity, and insensitive comments of the founder/CEO could be the tip of a large unethical iceberg. If these two individuals are a true representation of Next Step, the company could have a pervasive company culture lacking integrity and ethical standards. As Next Step is a national company, Ramona would be wise to investigate further. Guiso, Sapienza, and Zingales (2015) assert that “publicly traded companies are less able to sustain a high level of integrity” (p. 75). Depending on her position within the company, she could be held liable for actions she takes on behalf of the company. “Bad company corrupts good character” (1 Corinthians 15:33, NIV).
2. The company could walk in the center of the line between ethical and unethical. Although the CEO is also the founder, it is reported that he has a pattern of starting new businesses and...