Some Excerpts of my Grad School Papers

Background:

Business decisions have to be made and are inevitable. How are we to go about in choosing the right and best decisions for the company?

Insight:

It is clearly undeniable that we are faced with difficult and often complicated decisions everyday. Decisions have to be made and there is no escaping it. Competition is almost anywhere and in order to compete, one must innovate and be dynamic. I have always wondered how and where enterprising entities base their business decisions. Are they only motivated by the incentives of earning and the concerns of profit and loses? Or do they have strategic plans on how to go about competing with other firms/companies? Is business ethics applicable in the complex world of the market place? These are just some of the questions I was eager to learn some answers.

Business ethical issues are present in most business decisions firms have to make. Firms are most likely to experience some dilemma in going about their businesses. They may be in constant odds with strategic business plans/techniques versus the non-economical social values or considerations.

Lessons Learned:
A. With the ethics questionnaire, I became more aware of the importance of business ethics. Business ethics allows firms/companies to examine and re-evaluate why they came into existence – their purpose. If a company's main purpose is to maximize the returns, then it challenges us to think if there are ways that profit maximizing behavior of the company can be made complementary on choosing decisions that promote social justice. It is demanding us to think, if it’s even possible for business/marketing instruments to be attuned with business ethics?

B. Firms/business should not be only driven by economic “profit” incentives but they should also learn to consider more the “value” of how they do business. Is it geared towards the promotion of social justice? Does it provide fair opportunities for all?

C. I think that firms/companies these days are becoming more and more sensitive on the basis of their business decisions. Most companies are adopting Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) which guides them on how they should conduct their business in the society.

D. As the article provided, there are no right answers to the ethics questionnaire. Firms/business must then inculcate among them (the BODs, Managers and employees) the right values and corporate behaviour that they should follow.

E. It would help if firms/business should formulate internal policies pertaining to their ethical conduct so that each manager or employee may have a guideline incase ethical problems might arise in the course of doing business. It will lead to greater ethical awareness and the avoidance of ethical problems.