Answer to Question #290973 in Management for Queen

Question

A Good Start by Kirk O. Hanson 

1) Good ethical decision making in business requires consideration of the legitimate interests and expectations of key stakeholders. In regard to any significant company decision or policy, it's important to ask:

a) Who will be helped by this?

b) Who will be harmed?

c) Are we at risk of violating anyone's rights, breaking promises, or undermining trust?

d) Are there other alternatives that are consistent with our existing commitments and obligations, and which would produce a greater balance of good over harm or no harm at all?

e) If the interests of some of our stakeholders conflict with those of others, whose ought to be paramount?

Answer 1

1. Ethical start-ups recognize the ethical dilemmas that surround them in the first few months. The pressures to cut ethical corners are great in a start-up. How much puffery do you use in presenting your idea to venture capitalists? How do you divide stock ownership and options fairly among the founding team and later hires? How reliable does a product have to be before you ship it? How creative can you be in your accounting when the value of your stock is so sensitive to a stumble? When a deal falls through, how quickly do you tell your board and your funders? How generous can you afford to be in employee benefits in the early days? 

2. Ethical start-ups make ethics a core value of the enterprise. Start-up founders have discovered that they must explicitly embrace doing business ethically to counter the temptations to fudge various standards. Ethics should appear in business plans, in company mission statements, and in all other company documents.