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It is common nowadays to hear of corporate scandals such as the Enron debacle, but prior to the 1970s, the American public worried little about big companies or corporate take-overs. Most might have agreed with the sentiment that "what's good for General Motors is good for the country." But then a number of surprising events happened that made the American public take notice. We witnessed the 1972 Watergate scandal, the 1979 Three Mile Island Reactor Accident, the 1981 Exploding Ford Pinto Gas Tank, the 1982 Johnson & Johnson's Tylenol crisis, the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill, and the 1986 Gerber Glass Scare. The list goes on. These scandals and crises, the public's reaction to them, and ever-increasing government regulations have made businesses consider their social responsibilities. Businesses also began to take into consideration public concern over corporate policy before decisions were made. Throughout your career you are likely to face ethical dilemmas. This chapter will get you to consider fair and just courses of action. Eleven cases are presented at the outset to give you experience in identifying ethically troubling or problematic instances. The chapter then presents a few articles that cover the principles of business ethics. These will help provide you with a basis for ethical decision making. An article by Robert Solomon, "Thinking Ethics: The Rules of the Game" presents eight crucial rules for ethical thinking in business. Richard T. De George's "The Case of the Collapsed Mine" discusses a mining accident that raises many difficult questions. Gerald F. Cavanagh's "Ethical Decision Making in Business" examines the need to study business ethics and offers a model for making ethical decisions in the workplace. The chapter then concludes with six cases for you to analyze. Note: Internet sources are generally transitory, so if a link given for an activity is no longer available, notify the administrator of this site. The link will be fixed or replaced with a suitable source for the activity.
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