Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Business Ethics: Moral Issues and Dilemmas

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Business Ethics as a Science

  • 1063 Accesses

Abstract

In this chapter, we will try to make one more additional step toward the development of a more systematic approach to normative business ethics analysis. First, we will try to answer the important question of what the main unit of analysis in business ethics is and elaborate a definition of a moral issue which may play this role. Then, we will design a new typology of a moral issue which may be claimed to be the most comprehensive classification of this phenomenon in business ethics literature. After this, we will analyze the concept of moral dilemmas and approaches to their resolutions. In the end, we will discuss potential criticism of our approach, provide a test for completeness of the proposed typology, and outline the applicability of this approach in the academic and educational domain.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Interestingly, in moral philosophy literature, we may find an extensive dispute over the possibility of such moral dilemmas in a consistent normative framework (Marcus 1980; Conee 1982; MacIntyre 1990; Donagan 1993). The dispute is based on a simple question: if there is a contradiction between moral principles, does this mean that the underlying normative theory used to derive these principles has some flaws? Without getting further into this dispute, we should note that the framework proposed in this chapter demonstrates a variant of a negative answer to this question.

  2. 2.

    It is interesting to note that there are not many papers with explicit discussion of market power in the business ethics literature. A rare exception is Sethi (1994), who claims just the opposite—perfect competition is bad for business ethics because the firm lacks the resources to promote ethical behavior. Although this idea is generally correct, the author does not to recognize that many moral issues do not arise under perfect competition. However, there are many papers devoted to various manifestations of market power, such as market speculation, price gauging, or pricing during crises.

  3. 3.

    In moral philosophy , such situations are sometimes called genuine moral dilemmas (Sinnott-Armstrong 1988).

References

  • Blackburn, S. 2005. The Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conee, E. 1982. Against Moral Dilemmas. Philosophical Review 91 (1): 87–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crane, A., and D. Matten. 2007. Business Ethics: Managing corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Delbridge, R., and P. Fiss. 2013. Styles of Theorizing and the Social Organization of Knowledge. Academy of Management Review 38 (3): 325–331.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Donagan, A. 1993. Moral Dilemmas, Genuine and Spurious: A Comparative Anatomy. Ethics 104: 7–21.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Duska, R.F., and B.S. Duska. 2005. Accounting Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ergeneli, A. 2005. A Cross-cultural Comparison of Ethical Behavior in Business Related Dilemmas: A Comparison among Turkish, Egyptian, Kirghiz and Kazak Marketing Employees. Problems and Perspectives in Management 2: 135–147.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fritzsche, D.J. 1997. Business Ethics: A Global and Managerial Perspective. New York: McGraw Hill.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuxman, L. 1997. Ethical Dilemmas of Doing Business in Post-Soviet Ukraine. Journal of Business Ethics 16 (12–13): 1273–1282.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Geva, A. 2006. A Typology of Moral Problems in Business: A Framework for Ethical Management. Journal of Business Ethics 69 (2): 133–147.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Haley, D.A. 1991. Sales Management Students vs. Business Practitioners: Ethical Dilemmas and Perceptual Differences. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management 9 (2): 59–64.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, J.C. 1996. An Introduction to Business Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jennings, M. 2011. Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings. Cengage Learning.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jones, T.M. 1991. Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-contingent Model. Academy of Management Review 16 (2): 366–395.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kolb, R.W. 2008. Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lemmon, E.J. 1962. Moral Dilemmas. The Philosophical Review 70: 139–158.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lurie, Y., and R. Albin. 2007. Moral Dilemmas in Business Ethics: From Decision Procedures to Edifying Perspectives. Journal of Business Ethics 71 (2): 195–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • MacIntyre, A. 1990. Moral Dilemmas. Philosophy and Phenomenological Research 50: 367–382.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maclagan, P. 2003. Varieties of Moral Issue and Dilemma: A Framework for the Analysis of Case Material in Business Ethics Education. Journal of Business Ethics 48 (1): 21–32.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marcus, R.B. 1980. Moral Dilemmas and Consistency. The Journal of Philosophy 77: 121–136.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McCabe, D.L., J.M. Dukerich, and J.E. Dutton. 1991. Context, Values and Moral Dilemmas: Comparing the Choices of Business and Law School Students. Journal of Business Ethics 10 (12): 951–960.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Neil, R.R., and D.A. Pienta. 1994. Economic Criteria Versus Ethical Criteria Toward Resolving a Basic Dilemma in Business. Journal of Business Ethics 13 (1): 71–78.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Paliwal, M. 2006. Business Ethics. New Delhi: New Age International.

    Google Scholar 

  • Piercy, N.F., and N. Lane. 2007. Ethical and Moral Dilemmas Associated with Strategic Relationships Between Business-to-business Buyers and Sellers. Journal of Business Ethics 72 (1): 87–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rossouw, D.. (with Leon van Vuuren)2005. Business Ethics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schumann, P.L., T.W. Scott, and P.H. Anderson. 2006. Designing and Introducing Ethical Dilemmas into Computer-based Business Simulations. Journal of Management Education 30 (1): 195–219.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sele, K. 2006. Marketing Ethics in Emerging Markets—Coping with Ethical Dilemmas. IIMB Management Review 18 (1): 95–104.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sethi, S.P. 1994. Imperfect Markets: Business Ethics as an Easy Virtue. Journal of Business Ethics 13 (10): 803–815.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sinnott-Armstrong, W. 1988. Moral Dilemmas. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Storchevoy, Maxim A. 2015. A Model for Identifying and Teaching Moral Issues in Stakeholder Relations. Journal of Business Ethics Education 12: 107–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Takala, T., and O. Uusitalo. 1995. Retailers’ Professional and Professio-ethical Dilemmas: The Case of Finnish Retailing Business. Journal of Business Ethics 14 (11): 893–907.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Toffler, B.L. 1986. Tough Choices: Managers Talk Ethics. New York: John Wiley and Sons.

    Google Scholar 

  • Velasquez, M.G., and C. Rostankowski. 1985. Ethics: Theory and Practice. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weiss, J.W. 2006. Business Ethics. A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach. Mason: Thomson High Education.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wines, W.A., H.L. Andersen, and M.P. Fronmueller. 1998. Accelerating Moral Development Through the Use of Experiential Ethical Dilemmas. Developments in Business Simulation and Experiential Learning 25: 76–82.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate School of Management, St. Petersburg University, St. Petersburg, Russia

    Maxim Storchevoy

Authors
  1. Maxim Storchevoy
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

Âİ 2018 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Storchevoy, M. (2018). Business Ethics: Moral Issues and Dilemmas. In: Business Ethics as a Science. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68861-9_5

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation