Business Ethics Case Studies

Apple Inc. is devoted to creating the finest music and personal computing experience for every single one of its users, from students to educators, business professionals to government officials and other consumers by means of ground-breaking hardware, software, internet offerings, peripherals, and services. Apple’s business approach powers its distinctive ability, through the design and progression of its personal operating system, hardware, and countless technologies and software applications, to provide its customers the latest creations and simple solutions through outstanding innovative industrial design. Before being able to produce some of the finest computer products we have nowadays, Apple went through countless processes and hurdles. Apple was established in 1976 by two college dropouts, Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Also part of the team was Ronald Wayne, who was older and had personal assets of his own. Wayne’s uncertainty of the company worried him about the risk of investing his assets, and resulted Continue reading

Whistleblowing Case of Sherron Watkins in Enron Whistleblowing is more about an individual’s moral judgment than it is about clear requirements that obligate individuals to reveal tricky organizational transactions that pose great risks to the public. There are two types of whistleblowing, namely internal and external. In many cases, only external whistleblowing is recognized because reporting that exists within an organization comprises the normal feedback channels that solve internal problems. Moreover, many feedback channels work within the organization and internal issues are not taken outside. In the Enron scandal of 2001, the main whistleblower Sherron Watkins informed the company’s top management that Enron was at risk of collapse because of the innumerable financial inconsistencies she had discovered in the firm’s financial statements. Watkins wrote an anonymous letter to the company’s founder, Kenneth Lay after discovering that Enron was engaging in unethical accounting practices. Prior to the eruption of the scandal, Continue reading

Company Description and Background Before turning into a huge corporation with global reach, Lockheed Martin went through multiple stages of development, most of which faced periods of failure and fallback. Lockheed Martin has nearly a century long history and is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and sellers of weapon, aircraft, surveillance devices, and detection systems. Its story began during the World War I when the Loughead brothers first began to build airplanes and sell them to hobbyists. They operated within an emerging niche of the military weaponry market, but their airplanes were not created in time to become involved in the war. Over the decades, the company perfected its models to eventually build the Lockheed Vega, one of the first legendary airplanes of the time and the leading machine in the market. Before the start of the Second World War, the company has experienced several ups and downs; however Continue reading

Business ethics is an important aspect in the attainment of organizational success. Businesses follow certain rules that govern their activities and processes in order to avoid involvement in unethical business practices. However, despite the existence of business regulations and legislation, businesses still engage in unethical practices due to factors such as negligence and financial greed. In 2010, BP Oil Company was involved in an ethical incident dilemma that led to huge fines that affected the company’s bottom line. The BP oil spill refers to an oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. It was so severe that it was described as the worst oil spill in the history of the United States’ oil industry. It occurred after a Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded, sank, and spilled oil for more than two and half months. The accident caused severe environmental damages and led to the demise of 11 people. According Continue reading

The Adelphia Communications scandal occurred in March, 2002 when three of the original founding family members which included the father John Rigas, and two of his sons Michael and Timothy, along with two other company executives were arrested for improperly taking assets from the nation’s sixth-largest cable television company. The scam involved one of the biggest financial frauds faced by a publically held company. In the end stakeholders were forced to absorb massive losses as their shares in stocks fell sharply. The Rigas family hid billions of dollars in debts by falsifying its financial records, and blatantly lying to their investors about it. Adelphia was founded in 1952 by John Rigas and his brother Gus Rigas in Coudersport, Pennsylvania with the purchase of their first cable franchise for $300. After 20 years, the Rigas brothers incorporated their company under the name Adelphia which derived its name from a Greek word Continue reading