Philosophy ESSAY 2 - Business and Professional Ethics

Philosophy 2 - Business and Professional Ethics - Essay ExampleThis paper will refute this argument in the pursuit of justifying whistle-blowing as a social and moral trading to secure the interests of society.Renowned American economist Milton Friedman offered a landmark statement when he suggested that corporate social indebtedness means, primarily, making money for stockholders and implying that ethical behaviour is therefore good for shareholder wealth (Nickels et al, 2005). Friedmans suggestion indicates that business maintains a responsibleness to those who invest in the achievement of an organization and must work to ensure that it bases its activities chiefly to secure the financial well-being of shareholders. Enron Corporation, a now infamous American company which was bankrupted virtually long for eliciting saturnine accounting practices, offered global business a learning lesson on truth in financial disclosure, insider trading, and the ethical fiduciary responsibili ties of corporate managers and directors (Berenbeim, 2002). Enron Corp. failed in its duty to sustain its responsibility to its employees and shareholders, thus offering a blow to all of society, and was publicly exposed for its corruption by internal employees who blew the whistle on Enrons false activities.In the situation with Enron, the whistleblowers infringed on the precept of employee loyalty and, most likely, felt it was their social duty to expose corruption within the organization. However, loyalty is a device characteristic of special, mutually-enriching relationships in which self-interest may be forfeited without anticipation for reward (Powerpoint, 2006). The key words are mutually-enriching and in the case of Enron, the whistle-blowers witnessed the firms failure to fulfil its duty and thus viewed exposure as more than merely a right, but a duty to act in a morally responsible elbow room to reclaim a sense of business ethics and protect investors from fraud. Thus, t he whistle-blowers enacted their perceptions of justice against Enron.The term justice has been