Ethics in Business Management | Essay

Running head: ETHICS IN BUISNESS MANAGEMENT
ETHICS IN BUISNESS MANAGEMENT
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1ETHICS IN BUISNESS MANAGEMENT
Introduction
In the age of rapid globalization and industrialization, the business environments of
global organizations are changing in order to meet the changing needs of the customers as
well as obtain and maintain a competitive advantage in the market. However, within the
scope of such changing business environments, business organizations are required to follow
certain codes of conduct with respect to its operations. Within the scope of business
organizations, ethics can be referred to as certain values and codes that are observed and
maintained during the decision making processes (De George 2011). These values and codes
in turn determine noit only the attitude and behavior of the various members of the
organization towards each other and the organization but also the other external stakeholders
and their perception towards the organization. Ethics in business management therefore assist
in the provision of certain guidelines that are to be maintained during the strategizing of
important business activities and operations to meet the organizational objectives and targets
(Bowie 2017). The essay will further engage in the analysis of the ethical issues that can be
identified from the case study on the Australian financial service provider and bank, Westpac
Banking Corporation. According to the details of the case study the ethical issues of money
laundering and child exploitation will be evaluated in light of certain essential theories on
ethics.
Discussion
Identification of Ethical Issues
An evaluation of the case study about the Australian bank and providers of financial
services Westpac Banking Corporation it can be observed that the two critical issues to be
considered are money laundering and child exploitation. An investigation by the Australian
Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre or AUSTRAC showed the involvement of the

2ETHICS IN BUISNESS MANAGEMENT
former Chief Executive Officer of the organization, Brian Hartzer to have been a part f the
money laundering and child exploitation scandal that the company was accused of. Such
accusations towards the organization directly resulted from their failure to abide by the anti-
money laundering regulations and counter-terror finance laws that are established by the
government of Australia. In this regard, it has also been observed that the organization has
been accused of 23 million breaches of law pertaining to transactions worth over 11 billion
Australian dollars.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) mandates strict
observation on the organizations who are involved in the handling of large amounts of money
such as banks and casinos (Scott 2018). Furthermore, the agency is also involved in the
overlooking if these organizations are adhering to the regulations established by the
government of Australia pertaining to international obligations. In this regard, it had been
observed that the Westpac had failed to adhere to the obligation of “knowing the customer”
before engaging in financial transactions with them. This business activity of the organization
may be attributed to the fulfillment of their organizational objectives using unfair business
practices.
The ethical issue pertaining to the activities of Westpac involves engagement in risky
transactions such as third party transfers and illegal transfers of international funds. Such
international fund transfers facilitated the company to get involved in child abuse and
exploitation scandals in south East Asia and the Philippines.
Analysis of Ethical Issues
The ethical issues of money laundering, involvement in child exploitation and failure
to adhere to governmental regulations can be analyzed from an ethical perspective. As
discussed earlier, ethics in business act as guidelines to indicate the direction in which the