University Business Ethics and Sustainability Reflection Report

This report is a student's reflection on business ethics and sustainability, incorporating analysis of two case studies: "The Gold and Diamond Watch" and "The Ford Pinto." The student evaluates the ethical decisions made by individuals in each case, ranking their actions based on their ethical implications. Furthermore, the report includes a self-assessment using the Moral Competency Inventory (MCI) to analyze personal morals and values, identifying strengths and areas for improvement in ethical decision-making. The student also explores personal values through a values questionnaire, examining the influence of theoretical, economic, and political values. The report concludes with a synthesis of the findings, highlighting the student's understanding of ethical decision-making in organizations, the importance of professionalism, and the need for personal responsibility. The student found that they have high moral competence and their decisions align with their beliefs and goals. The subject has widened the student's view to issues of ethical and sustainable decisions in organizations and the need to act professionally and be ready to take responsibility for decisions that they make.

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Reflection
Introduction
The following write up is my reflection on business ethics and sustainability. This will involve
reflecting on two case studies and analysis from diagnostic ethical tools of analyzing personal
decisions. The reflection contains self evaluation and the decisions that I would take when faced
with different situation. Business ethics and sustainability subject have equipped me with several
skills, knowledge, and change of attitudes when making decision in an organization. The subject
has increased self awareness on making decisions that have impact on society, environment, and
employees. I have been able to define the concepts of morality, ethics, and values. This has
enabled understanding characteristics of moral standard and situation where n individual or an
organization can be held accountable to their actions (Carroll, & Buchholtz, 2014). I have been
also able to understand concepts of professionalism in relation to management. This has
increased my knowledge and skills in making decisions that are ethical. It has also changed my
attitude towards ethics, morals, and values when making decisions.
Reflection on “The Gold and Diamond Watch” case study
From this case study, I made several decision rating different individuals decisions from least
objectionable of 1 to most objectionable of 6. First, I rated Ryan at 5. Ryan was at the centre of
the actions that were in the case study. He made the decision to give bribe to Abdul in order to
get a government deal. Ryan consulted his boss who advised not take the bribe but his close
friend Angus give him encouraged him to get go ahead and give a bribe. The decision to give a
give a bribe to customer in order to buy from a certain organization is an unethical. Ryan also did
not take the advice of h9is boss and went ahead to bribe. Ryan was not honesty in his actions.
Therefore, Ryan compromised the values and morals that are generally accepted. Secondly, I
ranked Abdul at the most objectionable at 6. Abdul is the one whose decision to bribe started
dragged other characters to the phenomenon. Abdul convinced Ryan that he would connect him
to a government deal. He inquired a gold watch worth $10000 in return that led Ryan to lying so
that he can get the deal through Abdul. Abdul actions were against the society norms because
corruption is unacceptable in the society because it immoral. Thirdly, I ranked Charles at number
1 as the least objective. Charles was the Ryan’s boss and was against bribery to get preference

from a customer. Charles advised Ryan not to give Abdul $ 10000 gold watch to get connection
to a government deal. Therefore, Charles made an ethical decision and showed integrity in his
position in the company (Groves, & LaRocca, 2011). Fourth, I ranked Angus at number 4. Angus
encouraged Ryan to go ahead and buy the watch in order to secure the deal. Angus decision to
encourage Ryan to undertake an immoral action was wrong. I ranked Angus at 4 because of the
advice that encouraged Ryan to engage in unethical actions. On another account, I ranked Mr.
Grey at number 3. Mr. Grey listened to Ryan and trusted his ability to repay the loan even with
other pending credits. Mr. Grey was acted unprofessio0nal by allowing Ryan to take another loan
without first repaying pending credit and failed to question the Ryan action to need funds
urgently (Fisher, & Lovell, 2009). Therefore, I ranked Mr. Grey at the middle of the scale
because he did might have acted on limited information on what Ryan was up to. Mr. Grey also
acted unethical by supporting Ryan and Abdul plans financially. Lastly, I ranked Jane at number
2 in the scale. Jane reported Ryan to the Charles who took action to stop unethical behaviors.
Jane did not face Ryan directly but when to report. The reason why I ranked Jane at number 2 to
be least objective is because she took action to report to the manager.
Reflection from “The Ford Pinto” Case Study
Ford used utlitarianism approach to make it decision one manufacturing and allowing Pinto car
model to be sold. The approach was consequentialism and the management was interested in
final results rather than the impact that the product will have to customers (Ford, & Richardson,
2013). The company focused on maintaining competition in the market. I strongly disagree with
the decision that Ford made. The decision was unethical because it lacked fairness. The decision
led to death of customers who used the vehicle. The decision was not made in good faith of the
final user that led harming customers at the expense of the company getting more sales and
becoming more competitive in the market. The top management of Ford, starting with the
president, Lee Lacocca should take responsibility of Miss Gillespe death. The decision that the
management made led to Miss Gillespe death by allowing selling of a vehicle that they had
noticed that it had defects. If the vehicle had met the standards, I could not have exploded after
being involved in a road accident that endangered the passengers and the driver in the car. The
individual who allowed the progress of commercializing the vehicle were not honest and
compromised the integrity of manufacturing vehicles (Woiceshyn, 2011). Therefore, the

decisions undertake in the manufacturing and commercialization of Ford Pinto was unethical and
caused threat to human life and the management should take responsibility about this accident.
Reflection from Moral Competency Inventory (MCI)
The Moral Competency Inventory (MCI) helped analyze my morals in terms of beliefs and goals
(DesJardins, 2011). I scored highest in taking responsibility of my decisions and accepting
mistakes that I make. This is followed by telling truth, taking responsibility for serving others,
and taking care about other people. Last in top three of the highest in the moral competencies
worksheet were acting consistently with my values, beliefs and principles, keeping promises,
standing for what is right, and letting other people go their mistakes. On the other side ranking
from the lowest competences was the ability to let one go of own mistakes. The second lowest
moral competencies are acting consistently to my principles, beliefs, and values, standing up for
what is right, keeping promise, and letting other go mistakes. The third lowest moral
competencies were ability embrace responsibility for servicing others, telling truth, and actively
caring for others. My total MCI score mean was 83 that show that on average I have high moral
competency. This means that I act in many ways consistently to my beliefs and goals (Rossouw
et al., 2010).
Reflection on Personal Values
The personal values exercise helped me classify my personal values and how they relate in
decision making (Crane, & Matten, 2016). From the Values Questionnaire Scoring Sheet, I
scored highest in theoretical and economics at 94 and 87 respectively. This was followed by
political at 83. Aesthetics ranked last at 45 followed by spiritual at 54. Social was at the middle
with 59 unit score. The highest score in theoretical values showed my great emphases to know
and discover truth. It also shows my love for understanding and relying on factual when
discussing or making a certain decision. The economic value that ranked second in the personal
values score showed my desire for successful wealth creation for my family and me. It also
shows the pride that accord to material possession. For instance, I accord a lot of respect to
materially successful people and organizations. Political values were ranked third that explains
my desire for power as a leader. This also explains my desire influencer other people. The
aesthetic value ranked the lowest shows my little interest in arts and literature. I hardly

acknowledge beauty or harmony in arts or nature. The social and spiritual values were ranked at
the middle showing my little emphasis to relationships and concerns for other people and little
belief in supernatural world.
Conclusion
From the reflection on business ethics and sustainability and myself evaluation, I have been able
to understand my morals and values that guide my decision. I was able to know that I have a high
moral competence and my decisions align with my beliefs and goal. I was also able to
understand my personal values that are highly influenced by theoretical, economical, and
political values. I have also been able to recognize areas that I need improvement especially in
social values and caring for others. The subject has widened my view to issues of ethical and
sustainable decisions in organizations and the need to act professionally and be ready to take
responsibility for decisions that I make.

References
Carroll, A., & Buchholtz, A. (2014). Business and society: Ethics, sustainability, and
stakeholder management. Nelson Education.
Crane, A., & Matten, D. (2016). Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
DesJardins, J. R. (2011). An introduction to business ethics. McGraw-Hill.
Fisher, C., & Lovell, A. (2009). Business ethics and values: Individual, corporate and
international perspectives. Pearson education.
Ford, R. C., & Richardson, W. D. (2013). Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical
literature. In Citation classics from the Journal of Business Ethics (pp. 19-44). Springer
Netherlands.
Groves, K. S., & LaRocca, M. A. (2011). An empirical study of leader ethical values,
transformational and transactional leadership, and follower attitudes toward corporate
social responsibility. Journal of Business Ethics, 103(4), 511-528.
Rossouw, D., Van Vuuren, L., Ghani, A. H. A., & Adam, M. Z. A. (2010). Business ethics.
Oxford University Press Southern Africa.
Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2016). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do
it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Woiceshyn, J. (2011). A model for ethical decision making in business: Reasoning, intuition, and
rational moral principles. Journal of business Ethics, 104(3), 311-323.