Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, Second Edition

ETHICAL DECISION MAklNG WITH CROSS-HOLDER CONFLICTS AND COMPETITION

The problem of ethical decision making becomes more complicated when we factor the conflicting interests of stakeholders in business. In a situation of conflicting interests of stakeholders, as for instance, when an organization with a view to increasing profits and declaring higher dividends to shareholders on a long-term basis, resorts to the introduction of high-technology labour-saving devices, and dismissal of its labour in hundreds, it leads to a very complex ethical decision making problem to managers. Such situations occur very often in industries. While the obligation of the management to the shareholders to make provision for declaring high dividends cannot be questioned, ...