Abstract
This chapter analyses specific ethical issues which were raised and discussed by participants during the interviews and are indicative of some of the concerns of employees in participating organisations. The first three sections concern democracy, equal opportunities and discrimination and the role of unions. The final, more extended, section is a case study of how privatisation has affected ethical standards in some public-sector, or formerly public-sector, organisations. Privatisation has been a major moral and ideological issue in the UK and many other countries for over twenty years, and the arguments continue about the desirability of selling publicly owned services and assets to commercial companies. The moral issues raised are fundamental, and will be discussed at some length.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
R. Michels (1962) Political Parties (trans. E.Paul and C.Paul), Free Press, New York, pp. 342–56.
For discussion of the ‘paradox of democracy’ arguments see B. Goodwin (1997) Using Political Ideas, 4th edn., John Wiley, Chichester, pp. 286–288.
This section is based on my chapter, The ethical effects of privatisation, in R. Norman (ed.) (1999) Ethics and the Market, Ashgate, Aldershot, pp. 95–116. I am grateful to the Society for Applied Philosophy for permission to use the material.
The Labour government elected in 1997 has pursued similar policies, by and large.
R. H. Tawney (1969) Religion and the Rise of Capitalism Penguin, Harmondsworth, p. 113.
M. Friedman (1962) Capitalism and Unfreedom, quoted in E. Sternberg (1994) Just Business, Little, Brown & Co., London, p. 30.
Sternberg op.cit., p. 41. In Anarchy, State and Utopia, 1974, Blackwell, Oxford, Robert Nozick argued that taxation is theft, in that it violates individual rights. The same argument might be applied to using business resources for ethical ends: it violates the rights of shareholders.
J.S. Mill, op.cit., p. 243.
See J. Gray (1992) The Moral Foundations of Market Institutions, Institute of Economic Affairs, London, especially Plant’s response.
See also A. Buchanan (1985) Ethics, Efficiency and the Market, Clarendon Press, Oxford.
J. Jacobs (1992) Systems of Survival, Hodder & Stoughton, London.
This contention is frequently repeated in his works: see C-H. de Saint-Simon (1966) Oeuvres de Claude-Henri de Saint-Simon, Anthropos, Paris, vols. I–VI, passim.
The Times, 13.8.1997, p. 23.
C. Handy (1991) ‘What is a company for?’, Royal Society of Arts Journal, March 1991, p. 8.
Although some might argue that the demand for water is elastic and people will use more if it is cheap, I believe ‘relatively inelastic’ is a reasonable description. I must have a certain minimum amount of water to live, whatever it costs me, but there is also a ‘natural’ maximum which I will use if cost is not a consideration. I am unlikely to use significantly greater amounts if the company reduces the unit cost of water. Demand inelasticity is, evidently, a mixed blessing for the monopoly supplier, as the privatised water companies in Britain have discovered. They have deliberately diversified into other activities, and sell have sold their engineering skills overseas, because there is a limit to the profits to be acquired from supplying ‘captive’ customers, especially as prices are regulated by Ofwat.
The Times, 21.4.2000, p. 4.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2000 Kluwer Academic Publishers
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Goodwin, B. (2000). Topical Ethical Questions. In: Ethics at Work. Issues in Business Ethics, vol 16. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9331-6_4
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-010-9331-6_4
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-0363-9
Online ISBN: 978-94-010-9331-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive