Faculty of economic and social sciences
Business English tutorials
Corporate ethics
(2)
Nowhere to hide -introduction: How much do you know about tax evasion, tax havens and bank-secrecy policies? What can be done to avoid such a situation?
Detailed comprehension: 1-Why is Switzerland’s latest decision to share information considered as revolutionary?
2- Why are tax havens targeted now?
3-What benefits do tax evaders get from tax havens?
4-How does tax evasion impact national economies?
5-How successful has the American anti-tax evasion policy been recently?
6-What has changed in the way traditional tax havens have handled the problem?
7-What does Martin Broughton say about the G20’s campaign to track tax evaders?
8-What measures has OECD been taking to pressure tax havens?
Case study Chantale Leroux works as a clerk for Avco Environmental Services, a small toxic-waste disposal company. The company has a contract to dispose of medical waste from a local hospital. During the course of her work, Chantale comes across documents that suggest that Avco has actually been disposing of some of this medical waste in a local municipal landfill. Chantale is shocked. She knows this practice is illegal. And even though only a small portion of the medical waste that Avco handles is being disposed of this way, any amount at all seems a worrisome threat to public health. Chantale gathers together the appropriate documents and takes them to her immediate superior, Dave Lamb. Dave says, "Look, I don't think that sort of thing is your concern, or mine. We're in charge of record-keeping, not making decisions about where this stuff gets dumped. I suggest you drop it." The next day, Chantale decides to go one step further, and talk to Angela van Wilgenburg, the company's Operations Manager. Angela is clearly irritated. Angela says, "This isn't your concern. Look, these are the sorts of cost-cutting moves that let a little company like ours compete with our giant competitors. Besides, everyone knows that the regulations in this area are overly cautious. There's no real danger to anyone from the tiny amount of medical waste that 'slips' into the municipal dump. I consider this matter closed." Chantale considers her situation. The message from her superiors was loud and clear. She strongly suspects that making further noises about this issue could jeopardize her job. Further, she generally has faith in the company's management. They've always seemed like honest, trustworthy people. But she was troubled by this apparent disregard for public safety. On the other hand, she asks herself whether maybe Angela was right in arguing that the danger was minimal. Chantale looks up the phone number of an old friend who worked for the local newspaper.
Questions for Discussion: -What should Chantale do?
-What are the reasonable limits on loyalty to one's employer?
-Would it make a difference if Chantale had a position of greater authority?
-Write an email to the journalist in which you explain the situation as well as you position.
-Role play: organize a meeting between you the company’s executives and the shareholders, in which you evoke the company’s misdeeds and the necessity to change all this.
Ethics Vocabulary Accountability: Taking responsibility for one’s actions. Amoral: Being without morals; neither moral or immoral. Autonomy: The right or capability to be self-governing. Applied Ethics: The application of moral principles in real-life situations. Beneficence: A primary principle of ethics, beneficence encourages individuals to do good for others and avoid evil. Censure: A sanction in which the offender receives strong disapproval or harsh criticism for his actions. Character: The totality of a person's disposition and personality. Code: A system of principles or rules. Code of Ethics: A set of moral principles created by a group (profession) to provide guidelines for the ethical behavior of its members. Competency: The sound mental and/or physical status of a person enabling them to reason and make sound decisions and judgments. Confidentiality: The principle that information is disclosed on the condition that it not be repeated or otherwise disseminated to others. Conflict of Interest: When a public or formal obligation clashes with a personal need or interest. Conscience: A person's inner belief about their action being right or wrong. Consequentialism: The perspective that the moral worth of a behavior is determined by the value of its consequences rather than by the intention or motivation of the actor. Cost-Benefit Analysis: Assessing the value by contrasting the price paid against the benefit gained. Customs: Characteristic or conventional way of acting or thinking promoted by a culture. Defamation: Words or pictures that damage a person's reputation. Deontology: Behaviors are right or wrong in and of themselves because the kinds of acts they are, not just because of the result of consequence. Desire: A strongly held preference. Deterrence: Use of negative consequences to discourage an action. Dignity: The state of being honored, esteemed, respected, or inherently worthy. Dilemma: Dissonance created in a situation in which a person cannot meet all of his or her moral obligations at one time, or when deciding between two alternative actions that conflict with one another. Discrimination: Treating members of a group differently from members of another group in a way that is unfair or harmful. Double Standard: Applying a principle unequally based on arbitrary considerations. Due Process: A system or procedures in which individuals will be free from unfair, biased, or arbitrary treatment. Egalitarianism: The perspective that all people are equal and have equal rights and privileges with regard to social, economic, and political rights. Elitism: The perspective that society depends on a particular intellectual, social, or cultural class to flourish. Empirical Knowledge: information acquired through direct, personal experiences. Ends/Means: The perspective that the results of an action is its goal and the actions required to obtain that result are thereby justified. Equality: The position that all human beings are equal and deserve the same treatment, consideration, and respect. Ethical Dilemma: A situation that forces a choice to break a rule of ethics or contradicts an ethical value. Ethics: The study of issues of right conduct toward upholding moral principles. Ethnocentrism: The perspective that one's own culture is superior, and other cultures are evaluated with reference to one’s own. Evil: A strong propensity toward immoral acts; totally incompatible with and in opposition to moral goodness. Exploitation: Using the weakness or vulnerability of one to benefit another. Fairness: Balancing interests without regard to one's own feelings and without showing favoritism. Fallacy: A flaw or error in reasoning. Fiduciary: A special responsibility inherent in a position of trust. Freedom: The ability to choose between alternative courses of action. Fundamentalism: The perspective that certain core values need to be firmly. Golden Rule: The principle that we should treat others as we would like to betreated ourselves. Good: Assigning positive value to an action, belief, or behavior. Harm: Bodily injury, or injury to a person's basic interests. Heroism: Displaying bravery or courage in the face of danger. Humanism: Upholding the individual worth of humans and humanity. Ideology: A collection of values and beliefs that structure the way in which the world is interpreted. Ideals: The values and principles which guide actions and behaviors. Immorality: Acts opposed to or inconsistent with moral principles. Intrinsic Value: The benefit inherent in an action or deed. Intuition: An inner awareness or judgment contained without perception, memory, or reasoning. Judgment: An individual’s capacity to formulate a decision or a conclusion. Justice: A primary principle promoting fair treatment.
Justification: Reasoning used to demonstrate that an action is just, moral, or correct. Law: The principles and rules that govern human conduct. Lex Talionis: An ethical perspective of retribution; an eye for an eye. Liberalism: The perspective that all people have the right to autonomy and selfdetermination. Malpractice: A professional service not in keeping with standards of practice of a community, that leads to harm to a patient or client. Mediation: A means of settling a dispute by appealing to an impartial, neutral party. Moral Imperative: An ethical commandment or directive. Moral Responsibility: Accountability for one’s actions. Morality: Beliefs and practices related to right conduct or good character. Moral Duty: An act that is required on the basis of a moral position. Morals: The set of principles of right conduct. Multiculturalism: The position that racial and ethnic backgrounds, including their languages, customs, and ideals, should be supported. Negligence: Careless or inadvertent behavior that results harm, where that harm could have been avoided by a reasonable person taking reasonable precautions. Objectivity: The thought that truth stands apart from the observer Paternalism: Any act of beneficence by a person or group that diminishes the autonomy of others for the purpose of aiding them. Permissible Act: An action condoned by an ethical code. Personal Ethics: One’s individual standards of moral conduct. Plagiarism: The act of portraying the words or ideas of other’s as one's own. Pluralism: A tolerance of different and often incompatible perspectives. Political Correctness: Suppressing the expression of certain attitudes and expressions of certain terms in the belief that they may be too offensive or controversial. Practice: The usual and accepted way of acting, behaving, or doing something. Pragmatism: The perspective that the meaning of truth of a belief is determined by the result of maintaining that belief. Prejudice: A preconceived judgment. Prima Facie Duty: An obligation for which there are appropriate or reasonable grounds. Principle: A fundamental rule, law, or doctrine, from which other rules or judgments are derived. Professional Ethics: Codes of ethical conduct established by professional organizations to govern behavior of members that profession. Prohibition: A rule against engaging in a certain activity. Proscription: A prohibition. Prudence: Demonstrating sound judgment. Reason: The ability to demonstrate a logical chain of inference. Reasonable Man Standard: What a hypothetical person would reasonably do in a given circumstance. Relativism: The perspective that there are no absolute standards because truth is relative to a person, culture, or situation. Reprimand: A sanction that is publicly announced. Right: An act that is considered morally correct and proper. Rights: The benefits of freedom members of a group or class are morally entitled to. Sanctions: An actions or encouragement act that motivates one to act morally. Sexual Harassment: Actions of a sexual nature or sexual references that intimidate. Situation Ethics: The perspective that moral decisions be judged in the context of specific situations rather than by universal law. Utilitarianism: The perspective that holds that an act is right or wrong according to the usefulness or value of its consequences. Values: Ideals held to be morally compelling. Veracity: Truth telling. The practice of health care is best served in a relationship of trust in which practitioner and patient are bound to the truth. Virtue: A moral quality or disposition that is inherently valuable. Virtue Ethics: An ethical system based in virtuous behavior; sometimes called value ethics or excellence. Wrong: An action that is considered morally incorrect or improper.
