Britney Spears has been considered the Princess of Pop by many, sold out multiple venues and won many awards. Spears has been on the cover of many magazines and countless articles have scrutinize
Britney Spears has been considered the Princess of Pop by many, sold out multiple venues and won many awards. Spears has been on the cover of many magazines and countless articles have scrutinized her career, relationship and all her personal life since she was a teen. Spears had been through a divorce and an ongoing custody battle with her ex-husband. In 2007 Britney Spears went into a salon and shaved her head. A few days later she was pictured hitting a reporter’s car with an umbrella. She was in disputes with her ex-husband Kevin Federline over custody of their two boys. Eventually she would lose custody of her children that would lead to her locking herself in a bathroom with her son and refuse to give him back to his father, and to her first involuntary psychiatric hold. Psychiatric holds along with Britney befriending con artist and dating paparazzi that was also giving her drugs is what led to her father to file for a conservatorship and take control of her financial and personal affairs.
Jamie Spears, her father made a petition to the court for a temporary conservatorship that became permanent in October of 2008. The judge, Reva Goetz, who has since retired, arrived and announced that the conservatorship had been granted. According to a family friend, “The whole process was maybe ten minutes. No one testified. No questions were asked.”
Jamie Spears and attorney Andrew Wallet became Britney’s conservators. Britney would now need permission for everything including business decisions, health, voting, marriage and all her purchases including a simple trip to get coffee would now need to be tracked and approved.
Conservatorship
A conservatorship is when a court appoints a responsible person or organization(conservator) to care for another adult (conservatee). The main purpose of these arrangements is to provide care for adults that have serious mental illness. Typically, these are adults with debilitating mental illness that will need restrictive living arrangements and are unable to provide for their own needs.
The state of California lists conservatee’s rights under section 1.5 which are: the right to have their wishes considered, ask questions, and express the concerns of conservatorship, question conservator actions, has for review of conservatorship handling, directly receive and control salary, retain personal rights and to ask judge to change conservators or to end conservatorship.
According to California the need for a conservatorship arrangement is when the person has a severe disability such as physical, mental or developmental issue that they can no longer manage their own affairs. There is also no alternative arrangement as no person is legally authorized to or willing to manage the person’s finances and there are no other forms of assistance that may be able to help the disabled person to manage day to day affairs.
Britney Life Under the Conservatorship
During the conservatorship Ms. Spears made millions and performed hundreds of shows. In 2009 she did 97 shows, and grossed 131.8 million, 2011: 79 shows and 68.7 million, 2013-2017: 248 shows and 137.7 million, 2018: 30 shows and 54.3 million. Since the establishment of Spears’s conservatorship, she has released four albums, and performed for four years in a hit Las Vegas residency. Yet her conservators, who include her father, Jamie Spears, have controlled her spending, communications, and personal decisions.
Running the business of Britney had become routine: every Thursday at noon, about ten people responsible for managing Spears’s legal and business affairs, public relations, and social media met to discuss merchandise deals, song-license requests, and Spears’s posts to Instagram and Twitter. “This is how it works without her,” one member of the team said.
Many employees (housekeepers, dancers, friends, and family) witnessed her being abused by her father. Yet, no one spoke up, called the police, or helped her.
“Her Team”
As part of the conservatorship Britney lost the right to hire her own attorney, and instead she was appointed an attorney by the court. Sam Ingham III was appointed as her lawyer, and Judge Goetz has awarded Mr. Ingham as much as $475.00 and hour to represent Ms. Spears citing an exception to court rule fees in cases that involve problems that require extraordinary expertise. According to a 2016 article Mr. Ingham has been awarded approximately two million since being appointed by the court in 2008. In October 2020 the judge wanted to get a signed description from Britney giving a first-hand account of her feelings, but Ingham denied Britney the chance to do this by saying that her mental capacity was that of a comatose (unconscious) patient and lacked the capacity to sign a sworn declaration.
Jamie Spears, Britney’s father, was appointed as her conservator. Mr. Spears makes approximately $130,000 to be Britney’s conservator. Since the conservatorship was established between conservator and legal fees Britney has spent approximately 1.1 million. Britney has requested to have her dad removed from the conservatorship as she is not happy with the way her father has handled the conservatorship.
When the conservatorship was first established Andrew Wallet, a lawyer, was a co-conservator Mr. Wallet was managing the estate and was being paid $426,00 a year, and in 2019 Ingham negotiated his removal in exchange for a $100,000.00 payment as she would no longer be performing and could no longer afford his services. In addition, Britney’s mother, siblings, and family friends were also on the payroll.
The three main people managing Britney’s conservatorship are all making a large amount of funds and are the ones that seem to benefit the most from this arrangement. If it was to be in Britney’s best interest to end the conservatorship the conservators and her court appointed lawyer would have the most to lose.
Speaking Out
In April, Spears had requested a hearing, in open court, to discuss the terms of the arrangement. It was scheduled for June 23rd, 2021.
On the eve of the hearing, according both to a person close to Spears and to law enforcement in Ventura County, California, where she lives, Spears called 911 to report herself as a victim of conservatorship abuse. Members of Spears’s team began texting one another frantically. They were worried about what Spears might say the next day, and they discussed how to prepare in the event that she went rogue.
In court on the 23rd, an attorney for the conservatorship urged the judge to clear the courtroom and seal the transcript of Spears’s testimony. Spears, calling into the hearing, objected. “Somebody’s done a good job at exploiting my life,” she said, adding, “I feel like it should be an open-court hearing—they should listen and hear what I have to say.” Then, for the first time in years, Spears spoke for herself, sounding lucid and furious, talking so fast that the judge interjected repeatedly to tell her to slow down, to allow for accurate transcription.
“The people who did this to me should not get away,” Spears said. Addressing the
judge directly, she added, “Ma’am, my dad, and anyone involved in this conservatorship,
and my management, who played a huge role in punishing me when I said no—
Ma’am, they should be in jail.”
For the next twenty minutes, Spears described how she had been isolated, medicated, financially exploited, and emotionally abused. She assigned harsh blame to the California legal system, which she said let it all happen.
She added that she had tried to complain to the court before but had been ignored, which made her “feel like I was dead,” she said— “like I didn’t matter.” She wanted to share her story publicly, she said, “instead of it being a hush-hush secret to benefit all of them.” She added, “It concerns me I’ve been told I’m not allowed to expose the people who did this to me.” At one point, she told the court, “All I want is to own my money, for this to end, and for my boyfriend to drive me in his fucking car.”
1. Please list the ethical dilemmas or problems with this case.
(Boatright and Smith chapter 2, table 2.1)
2. The three main people managing Britney’s conservatorship are all making a large amount of funds and are the ones that seem to benefit the most from this arrangement. If it was to be in Britney’s best interest to end the conservatorship the conservators and her court appointed lawyer would have the most to lose. Considering the principles of utility please explain what approach you think these conservators followed.
(Boatright and Smith, chapter 3, section 3.1.1) 3. A successful multi-millionaire, it would not appear that Britney Spears needed the money to survive, and it does not appear that having her perform so much would support her mental health. As a conservator, what type of ethical approach should Jamie Spears have followed teleological or deontological? Please explain.
(Boatright and Smith, chapter 3) 4. Rights play a very important role in business and in society. Please identify what if any different kinds of rights were violated in this case.
(Boatright and Smith chapter 3, figure 3.3)
5.
Britney Spears calling 911 and speaking out during the court hearing followed what type of decision-making process (individual, organizational, or business systems)? Please explain.
(Boatright and Smith, chapter 1) 6.
What is the Bystander theory or "The Genovese Syndrome" and how does it apply to this case?
(Comer and Vega, chapter 1)
7.
When people succumb to situational pressures, they are likely to violate their own personal moral principles. Individuals are likely to engage in cognitive dissonance or desensitization. Please indicate which or if these actions apply to this case.
(Comer and Vega, chapter 3)
8.
On November 12, 2021, after almost 14 years, Britney Spears' conservatorship finally came to an end. Los Angeles County Judge, Brenda Penny, determined that the “conservatorship of the person and estate of Britney Jean Spears is no longer required” and terminated the arrangement. Britney Spears is now suing members of the conservatorship team including her father Jamie Spears.
Aristotle identified three different types of justice . Please explain what type of justice that you think Britney should seek.
(Boatright and Smith, chapter 2, section 3.5)
,
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Ethics and the Conduct of Business Eighth Edition
John R. Boatright Loyola University Chicago
Jeffery D. Smith Seattle University
Editor in Chief: Ashley Dodge Program Team Lead: Amber Mackey Managing Editor: Sutapa Mukherjee Program Manager: Carly Czech Sponsoring Editor: Bimbabati Sen Editorial Project Manager: Janet Wehner, Aptara Development Editor: Sue M. Park, Aptara Editorial Assistant: Casseia Lewis Director, Content Strategy and Development: Brita Nordin VP, Director of Marketing: Maggie Moylan Director of Field Marketing: Jonathan Cottrell Senior Marketing Coordinator: Susan Osterlitz Director, Project Management Services: Lisa Iarkowski Print Project Team Lead: Vamanan Namboodiri Project Manager: Pooja Aggarwal Operations Manager: Mary Fischer Operations Specialist: Carol Melville/Mary Ann Gloriande Associate Director of Design: Blair Brown Interior Design: Kathryn Foot Cover Art Director: Maria Lange Cover Design: Heather Marshall, Lumina Datamatics, Inc. Cover Art: 孤飞的鹤/Fotolia Digital Studio Team Lead: Peggy Bliss Digital Studio Project Manager: Liz Roden Hall Digital Studio Project Manager: Elissa Senra-Sargent Full-Service Project Management and Composition: Jogender Taneja, iEnergizer Aptara®, Ltd. Printer/Binder: CK Cover Printer: Phoenix
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Boatright, John Raymond, 1941– author. | Smith, Jeffery David, 1971– author. Title: Ethics and the conduct of business / John R. Boatright, Loyola University Chicago, Jeffery D. Smith, Seattle University. Description: Eighth edition. | Boston: Pearson, [2017] Identifiers: LCCN 2015050453| ISBN 9780134167657 | ISBN 0134167651 Subjects: LCSH: Business ethics. | Social responsibility of business. Classification: LCC HF5387 .B6 2017 | DDC 174/.4—dc23 LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015050453
ISBN-10: 0-13-416765-1 ISBN-13: 978-0-13-416765-7
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
iii
9 Health and Safety 182
10 Marketing and Advertising 208
11 Ethics in Finance 239
12 Corporate Social Responsibility 268
13 Governance, Accountability, and Compliance 297
14 International Business Ethics 325
References 357
Credits 380
Index 387
1 Ethics in the World of Business 1
2 Ethical Decision Making 21
3 Ethical Theories 46
4 Whistle-Blowing 65
5 Business Information and Conflict of Interest 82
6 Privacy 106
7 Discrimination and Affirmative Action 133
8 Employment Rights 156
Brief Contents
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v
3 Ethical Theories 46 Case: Big Brother at Procter & Gamble 46
3.1: Utilitarianism 48 3.1.1: Principle of Utility 48 3.1.2: Cost–Benefit Analysis 50
3.2: Kantian Ethics 52 3.2.1: Universalizability 52 3.2.2: Respect for Persons 53
3.3: Virtue Ethics 53 3.3.1: What Is Virtue? 54 3.3.2: Defending the Virtues 54 3.3.3: Virtue in Business 55
3.4: Rights 55 3.4.1: Meaning of Rights 55 3.4.2: Kinds of Rights 56
3.5: Justice 57 3.5.1: Nature and Value of Justice 57 3.5.2: Aristotle on Distributive Justice 58 3.5.3: Rawls’s Egalitarian Theory 59 3.5.4: Nozick’s Entitlement Theory 59
Conclusion: Ethical Theories 60
Case: Exporting Pollution
Case: Clean Hands in a Dirty Business
Case: Conflict of an Insurance Broker
Case: An Auditor’s Dilemma
4 Whistle-Blowing 65 Case: Time’s Persons of the Year 65
4.1: What Is Whistle-Blowing? 67
4.2: Justification of Whistle-Blowing 69 4.2.1: Loyal Agent Argument 69 4.2.2: Meaning of Loyalty 71 4.2.3: Conditions for Justification 71
4.3: Right to Blow the Whistle 73 4.3.1: Existing Legal Protection 73 4.3.2: Arguments against Protection 75 4.3.3: Arguments for Protection 75
4.4: Developing a Policy 76 4.4.1: Benefits and Dangers 76 4.4.2: Components of a Policy 76
Conclusion: Whistle-Blowing 77
Case: A Whistle-Blower Accepts a “Deal”
Case: A Whistle-Blower’s Quandary
Case: Who’s a Whistle-Blower?
Preface ix About the Authors xi
1 Ethics in the World of Business 1 Case: Merck and the Marketing of Vioxx 1
1.1: Business Decision Making 4 1.1.1: Nature of Business 5 1.1.2: Levels of Decision Making 6
1.2: Ethics, Economics, and Law 7 1.2.1: Ethics and Economics 7 1.2.2: Ethics and Law 9
1.3: Ethics and Management 11 1.3.1: Ethical Management and Management
of Ethics 11 1.3.2: Ethics and the Manager’s Role 12
1.4: Ethics in Organizations 13 1.4.1: Individual Decision Making 14 1.4.2: Organizational Decision Making 15
Conclusion: Ethics in the World of Business 16
Case: A Sticky Situation
Case: Beech-Nut’s Bogus Apple Juice
Case: Ethical Uncertainty at Bath Iron Works
Case: A Faked Résumé at Yahoo
2 Ethical Decision Making 21 Case: HP and the Smart Chip 21
2.1: Market Ethics 22 2.1.1: The Market System 22 2.1.2: Ethics in Markets 24 2.1.3: Breaches and Fraud 25 2.1.4: Wrongful Harm 26 2.1.5: Market Failure 27 2.1.6: Summary of Market Ethics 30
2.2: Roles, Relationships, and Firms 30 2.2.1: Agents and Principals 31 2.2.2: Fiduciaries and Professionals 31 2.2.3: Firms 32 2.2.4: Summary of Roles, Relationships,
and Firms 35
2.3: Ethical Reasoning 35 2.3.1: Philosophical Accounts 36 2.3.2: Psychological Accounts 37 2.3.3: Framework for Reasoning 38
Conclusion: Ethical Decision Making 41
Case: Lavish Pay at Harvard
Case: Broken Trust at Bankers Trust
Case: KPMG’s Tax Shelter Business
Contents
vi Contents
Case: Privacy of Text Messages
Case: Plugging Leaks at HP
Case: Information Handling at ChoicePoint
7 Discrimination and Affirmative Action 133
Case: Race Discrimination at Texaco 133
7.1: What Is Discrimination? 135 7.1.1: Civil Rights Act of 1964 135 7.1.2: Disparate Treatment/Impact 136 7.1.3: Forms of Discrimination 137
7.2: Sexual Harassment 138 7.2.1: Defining Sexual Harassment 138 7.2.2: Forms of Sexual Harassment 139 7.2.3: Further Issues 140
7.3: Objections to Discrimination 140
7.4: Preventing Discrimination 142 7.4.1: Analysis, Recruitment, and Assessment 142 7.4.2: Objective Tests 142 7.4.3: Subjective Evaluations 143 7.4.4: Sexual Harassment Programs 144
7.5: Affirmative Action 145 7.5.1: Affirmative Action Plans 146 7.5.2: Court Actions on Plans 146 7.5.3: Compensation Argument 147 7.5.4: Equality Arguments 149 7.5.5: Utilitarian Arguments 150 7.5.6: Problems with Affirmative Action 151
Conclusion: Discrimination and Affirmative Action 152
Case: Jacksonville Shipyards
Case: Sex Discrimination at Walmart
8 Employment Rights 156 Case: The Firing of Robert Greeley 156
8.1: Employment at Will 157 8.1.1: Property Rights Argument 158 8.1.2: Freedom of Contract Argument 159 8.1.3: Efficiency Argument 160 8.1.4: Exceptions 161
8.2: Right to Due Process 162 8.2.1: Support for Due Process 163 8.2.2: Law of Due Process 163
8.3: Freedom of Expression 164 8.3.1: Defining Freedom of Expression 165 8.3.2: Legal Protection for Expression 165 8.3.3: Arguments over Expression 166
8.4: Workplace Democracy 167 8.4.1: Participation and Democracy 167 8.4.2: Arguments for Democracy 168
8.5: Worker Compensation 169 8.5.1: Setting Wages 170
5 Business Information and Conflict of Interest 82
Case: Barbie vs. the Bratz Girls 82
5.1: Confidential Information 84 5.1.1: Duty of Confidentiality 85 5.1.2: Competitive Employment 86 5.1.3: Impact of Restrictions 87
5.2: Proprietary Information 88 5.2.1: Intellectual Property 88 5.2.2: Defining Trade Secrets 89 5.2.3: Property Rights Argument 90 5.2.4: Fair Competition Argument 91 5.2.5: Competitor Intelligence 92
5.3: Conflict of Interest 93 5.3.1: Defining Conflict of Interest 95 5.3.2: Some Relevant Distinctions 95 5.3.3: Kinds of Conflict of Interest 96 5.3.4: Managing Conflict of Interest 98
Conclusion: Business Information and Conflict of Interest 102
Case: The Aggressive Ad Agency
Case: Procter & Gamble Goes Dumpster Diving
Case: A Conflict-Laden Deal
6 Privacy 106 Case: Psychological Testing at Dayton Hudson 106
6.1: Challenges to Privacy 108 6.1.1: Privacy in the Workplace 108 6.1.2: Privacy in the Marketplace 109
6.2: Meaning and Value of Privacy 110 6.2.1: History of the Concept 111 6.2.2: Defining Privacy 111 6.2.3: Utilitarian Arguments 112 6.2.4: Kantian Arguments 113
6.3: Privacy Away from Work 114 6.3.1: Justifying Monitoring 114 6.3.2: Limits to Monitoring 115
6.4: Privacy of Employee Records 116 6.4.1: Ethical Issues with Records 117 6.4.2: Justifying a Purpose 117 6.4.3: Disclosure to Outsiders 118 6.4.4: Gathering Information 119 6.4.5: Accuracy, Completeness, and Access 120
6.5: Big Data Analytics 120 6.5.1: Data Collection 121 6.5.2: Ethical Issues with Big Data 122
6.6: Using the Internet 123 6.6.1: Information Collection 123 6.6.2: Ethical Issues with Internet Use 124 6.6.3: Protecting Privacy 125
Conclusion: Privacy 128
Contents vii
10.6: Irrational Persuasion 224 10.6.1: Threats to Free Choice 225 10.6.2: Dependence Effect 225
10.7: Impact of Advertising 226 10.7.1: Impact on Persons 226 10.7.2: Impact on Society 228
10.8: Internet Advertising 229 10.8.1: Online Placement 229 10.8.2: Ethics of Placement 230
10.9: Social Advertising 232 Conclusion: Marketing and Advertising 233
Case: McCormick’s Pricing Strategy
Case: Capital One’s Online Profiles
Case: Herbalife: A Pyramid Scheme?
11 Ethics in Finance 239 Case: Goldman Sachs and the Abacus Deal 239
11.1: Financial Services 241
11.1.1: Deception 242
11.1.2: Churning 243
11.1.3: Suitability 244
11.2: Financial Markets 245
11.2.1: Fairness in Markets 246
11.2.2: Derivatives and HFT 248
11.3: Insider Trading 251
11.3.1: Theories of Insider Trading 252
11.3.2: Evaluation of the Two Theories 253
11.3.3: Recent Insider Trading Cases 254
11.4: Hostile Takeovers 255
11.4.1: Market for Corporate Control 256
11.4.2: Takeover Tactics 257
11.4.3: Role of Directors 260 Conclusion: Ethics in Finance 261
Case: SCM Mutual Funds
Case: Merrill Lynch and the Nigerian Barge Deal
Case: Martha Stewart: Inside Trader?
Case: Oracle’s Hostile Bid for PeopleSoft
12 Corporate Social Responsibility 268 Case: Competing Visions at Malden Mills 268
12.1: The CSR Debate 270
12.1.1: Meaning of CSR 271
12.1.2: Examples of CSR 272
12.1.3: Related Concepts 273
12.2: Normative Case for CSR 274
12.2.1: Classical View 274
12.2.2: Friedman on CSR 276
12.3: Business Case for CSR 278
12.3.1: The Market for Virtue 278
12.3.2: Competitive Advantage 280
8.5.2: Market Outcomes 170 8.5.3: Minimum Wage 172
8.6: Executive Compensation 173 8.6.1: Criticism of CEO Pay 174 8.6.2: Justifying CEO Pay 174 8.6.3: Problems with Justification 175
Conclusion: Employment Rights 176
Case: Fired for Blogging at Google
Case: Worker Participation at Saturn
Case: Health Benefits at Walmart
9 Health and Safety 182 Case: The Ford–Firestone Brawl 182
9.1: Rights in the Workplace 184 9.1.1: Meaning of Health and Safety 184 9.1.2: Protecting Health and Safety 185
9.2: Hazardous Work 188 9.2.1: Justifying a Right to Refuse 189 9.2.2: Justifying a Right to Know 191
9.3: Reproductive Hazards 192 9.3.1: Scientific Background 193 9.3.2: Fetal Protection Policies 193 9.3.3: Charge of Discrimination 194 9.3.4: Defending against the Charge 195 9.3.5: Remaining Issues 195
9.4: Product Safety 196 9.4.1: Due Care Theory 196 9.4.2: Contractual Theory 198 9.4.3: Strict Liability Theory 200
Conclusion: Health and Safety 203
Case: Genetic Testing at Burlington Northern
Case: Johnson Controls, Inc.
Case: The Collapsing Crib
10 Marketing and Advertising 208 Case: Selling Hope 208
10.1: Marketing Ethics Framework 210
10.2: Sales Practices and Labeling 212 10.2.1: Deception and Manipulation 212 10.2.2: Information Disclosure 213 10.2.3: Labeling 214
10.3: Pricing and Distribution 215 10.3.1: Anticompetitive Pricing 215 10.3.2: Unfair Pricing 217 10.3.3: Distribution 218
10.4: Development and Research 219 10.4.1: Product Development 219 10.4.2: Marketing Research 220
10.5: Deceptive Advertising 222 10.5.1: Defining Deceptive Advertising 222 10.5.2: Applying the Definition 224
viii Contents
14 International Business Ethics 325 Case: Mattel’s Toy Woes 325
14.1: Different Standards 328 14.1.1: Relevant Differences 329 14.1.2: Variety of Outlooks 329 14.1.3: Right to Decide 330 14.1.4: Business Necessity 331
14.2: Guidelines for Multinationals 331 14.2.1: Rights 332 14.2.2: Welfare 333 14.2.3: Justice 333 14.2.4: International Codes 335
14.3: Wages and Working Conditions 336 14.3.1: Setting Wages 337 14.3.2: Working Conditions 339
14.4: Foreign Bribery 340 14.4.1: What Is Bribery? 341 14.4.2: What’s Wrong with Bribery? 342 14.4.3: Combating Bribery 343
14.5: Human Rights Abuses 346 14.5.1: Constructive Engagement 347 14.5.2: Liability for Abuses 348
Conclusion: International Business Ethics 349
Case: H. B. Fuller in Honduras
Case: Walmart in Mexico
Case: Google in China
References 357 Credits 380 Index 387
12.4: Implementing CSR 281 12.4.1: Program Selection and Design 281 12.4.2: Reporting and Accountability 283
12.5: Business with a Mission 285 12.5.1: Social Enterprise 286 12.5.2: Competing Successfully 287 12.5.3: Mission and Trust 289
Conclusion: Corporate Social Responsibility 290
Case: Starbucks and Fair Trade Coffee
Case: Timberland and Community Service
Case: Coca-Cola’s Water Use in India
13 Governance, Accountability, and Compliance 297
Case: Fraud at WorldCom 297
13.1: Corporate Governance 299 13.1.1: Shareholder Control 300 13.1.2: The Shareholders’ Contract 303 13.1.3: Shareholders and Stakeholders 305
13.2: Corporate Accountability 307 13.2.1: Financial Reporting 307 13.2.2: Executives and Directors 310 13.2.3: Criminal Prosecution 312
13.3: Corporate Compliance 313 13.3.1: Program Components 314 13.3.2: Program Benefits 314 13.3.3: Federal Sentencing Guidelines 315 13.3.4: Codes of Ethics 317
Conclusion: Governance, Accountability, and Compliance 319
Case: Sears Auto Centers
Case: Shareholder Rights at Cracker Barrel
Case: The Sale of Trans Union
ix
issues and the arguments for them are taken from a wide variety of sources, including economics and the law. The study of ethical issues in business is not confined to a sin- gle academic discipline or even to the academic world. The issues selected for discussion are widely debated by legis- lators, judges, government regulators, business leaders, journalists, and, indeed, virtually everyone with an inter- est in business.
An underlying assumption of this course is that ethi- cal theory is essential for a full understanding of the posi- tions and arguments offered on the main issues in business ethics. Fortunately, the amount of theory needed is rela- tively small, and much of the discussion of these issues can be understood apart from the theoretical foundation provided here. The text also contains a substantial amount of legal material, not only because the law addresses many ethical issues but also because management deci- sion making must take account of the relevant law. Many examples are used throughout the text in order to explain points and show the relevance of the discussion to real-life business practice.
New to the Edition Preparation of the eighth edition of Ethics and the Conduct of Business has provided an opportunity to incorporate new developments and to increase its value in the class- room. The major changes from the previous edition are as follows:
• Chapter 5 on business information has been expanded to provide greater coverage on confidential information and the duty of confidentiality.
• Chapter 6 on privacy has been expanded to include more on the protection of both employee and consumer privacy against intrusions, especially from advances in technology.
• The section on product safety has been moved from Chapter 10 on marketing and advertising to the cover- age of worker health and safety in Chapter 9. This change has allowed expanded treatment in Chapter 10 of emerging issues in marketing and advertising, espe- cially those related to the use of social media and data analysis, which have been facilitated by the Internet.
• Chapter 12 on corporate social responsibility includes a new section on the recent development of for-profit businesses, known as social enterprises, which operate with a mission to deliver vital social services.
The eighth edition of Ethics and the Conduct of Busi- ness has reached two significant milestones. The first achievement, which is obvious to anyone read-
ing these words, is the transition to digital media. Through Pearson’s online platform REVEL, this text offers not only a new mobile reading experience—on computers, tablets, and even smartphones—but also a new approach to learn- ing, with many interactive features, videos, quizzes, and other educational tools. REVEL creates a new frontier in education for both students and instructors. It is exciting for us, as authors, to be pioneer participants in this promis- ing and innovative endeavor.
Users of previous editions will also note the appear- ance of a coauthor, Jeffery D. Smith. His collaboration in the eighth edition not only brings a fresh perspective to what is now a joint venture but also prepares for the future of this classic text, which first appeared more than 20 years ago. Under Jeffery’s guidance, Ethics and the Conduct of Business will hopefully continue to remain current and rel- evant through many new editions.
The eight editions of Ethics and the Conduct of Business have followed the development of the field of business ethics, which has grown in recent decades into an interdis- ciplinary area of study that has found a secure niche in both liberal arts and business education. Credit for this development belongs to many individuals—both philoso- phers and business scholars—who have succeeded in relating ethical theory to the various problems of ethics that arise in business. They have shown not only that busi- ness is a fruitful subject for philosophical exploration but also that future managers in the world of business can ben- efit from the results.
Ethics and the Conduct of Business, eighth edition, is a comprehensive and up-to-date discussion of the most prominent issues in the field of business ethics and the major positions and arguments on these issues. It is intended to be used as a text in business ethics courses on either the undergraduate or M.B.A. level. The substantial number of cases included provides ample opportunity for a case-study approach or a combined lecture–discussion format. There has been no attempt to develop a distinctive ethical system or to argue for specific conclusions. The field of business ethics is marked by reasonable disagree- ment that should be reflected in any good text for a course.
The focus of Ethics and the Conduct of Business is pri- marily on ethical issues that corporate decision makers face in developing policies about employees, customers, investors, and the general public. The positions on these
Preface
x Preface
have benefited from the support of the Banta Center for Business, Ethics and Society and my colleagues at the Uni- versity of Redlands. For everyone there I am grateful. My thanks also go to DePauw University’s Prindle Institute for Ethics for hosting me as the Nancy Schaenen Visiting Scholar while portions of the eighth edition were written. And I also owe so much to my lovely wife, Rita, who pro- vides support when I need it most and continues to keep me grounded.
John R. Boatright
Jeffery D. Smith
I, John Boatright, would like to express my gratitude for permission to use material from the following sources:
John R. Boatright, Ethics in Finance, 2nd ed. (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers, 2008), copyright © 1999, 2008 by John R. Boatright; Ethics in Finance, 3rd ed. (Malden, MA: Wiley Blackwell, 2014), copyright © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, by permission of the publisher.
John R. Boatright, “Financial Services,” in Michael Davis and Andrew Stark, eds., Conflict of Interest in the Professions (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999), copyright © 1999 by John R. Boatright.
John R. Boatright, “Corporate Governance,” Ency- clopedia of Applied Ethics, 2nd ed., Ruth Chadwick, ed. (Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2011), by permission of the publisher.
John R. Boatright, “The Shareholder Model of Corporate Governance,” in Robert W. Kolb, ed., Ency- clopedia of Business Ethics and Society (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 2008), by permission of the publisher.
• The Chapter 13 section on corporate governance has been completely rewritten for greater clarity and coherence.
• The eighth edition contains 58 short cases, including 12 new ones on such subjects as a falsified résumé at Yahoo, conflict of interest at Goldman Sachs, a firing at Google for blogging, profiling of Internet visitors by a major bank, variable pricing strategies in grocery stores, Herbalife’s unusual multilevel marketing scheme, Coca-Cola’s water use in India, and bribery by Walmart executives in Mexico.
Acknowledgments I, John Boatright, am grateful for the support of Loyola University Chicago and especially the Quinlan School of Business. I have benefited from the resources of the Raymond C. Baumhart, S.J., Chair in Business Ethics, which was created to honor a former president of Loyola University Chicago, who was also a pioneer in the field of business ethics. To Ray Baumhart I owe a special debt of gratitude. I am grateful as well to Jeffery Smith for graciously accept- ing my offer to become a coauthor of this edition and my ultimate successor in the preparation of future editions. Finally, my deepest expression of appreciation goes to my wife, Claudia, whose affection, patience, and support have been essential for the preparation of the eighth edition, as they were for the ones previous.
It goes without saying that I, Jeffery Smith, am excited to work with John Boatright on th
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