BCOR 380 1st Edition Exam 3 Study Guide Definitions 1 Integrity the self commitment to always treat others with dignity and fairness 2 Ethics the study of integrity 3 Business ethics the study of how to use one s economic and professional power with integrity 4 Statute law the formal laws of a politically defines society 5 Natural law theory the view that eternal human values determine the laws of a society 6 The view of Thrasymachus in Plato s Republic laws are only what people in power want them to be 7 Hostile work environment this is created by unwelcome verbal or physical conduct directed at race color religion gender identity national origin age 40 and over disability mental or physical sexual orientation or retaliation 8 Corporate Cronyism this term captures the essence of the view of Thrasymachus in Plato s Republic 9 The penumbra of the law a term used by Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes to identify those areas were an activity is lawful but in some way harmful or unfair 10 International law a collection of contractual arrangements between governments and businesses and between governments and governments 11 Facilitation Payments This politically correct term covers both legal and illegal contributions to politicians and bureaucrats in foreign countries to influence their purchasing decisions and their regulatory laws 12 Passive corruption the reception of unsolicited gifts 13 Active corruption the giving of solicited or unsolicited gifts or the request for a gift in quid pro quo arrangement 14 Organizational rules an employer s written rules for behavior and performance upon which employment assessments are based 15 Negative reciprocity getting even as revenge is destructive and usually invites a counter attack 16 Positive reciprocity getting even as returning a favor makes the world a better place 17 Sustainability the ability to meet a present need without compromising an ability to meet a future need 18 Double bottom line the concept suggests that entrepreneurship not only offers financial rewards but self fulfillment rewards as well 19 Triple bottom line tis concept suggests that sustainability offers financial rewards selffulfillment rewards and rewards to the larger society 20 The anthropocentric nature is to be reshaped so as to fully accommodate human activities 21 The ecocentric as much as possible nature is to be preserved as it is 22 Brownfield a piece of land so polluted that it is unusable 23 Biomimicry to avoid the waste of natural products as much as possible through technology and recycling 24 Moral intellectualism morality is inherently rational and objective 25 Voluntarism morality is conditional and subjective 26 Whistleblower an employee who discovers corporate misconduct and chooses to bring it to the attention of others 27 Internal whistle blowing when an employee discovers corporate misconduct and brings it to the attention of his supervisor who then follows established procedures to address the misconduct within the organization 28 External whistle blowing when an employee discovers corporate misconduct and chooses to bring it to the attention of law enforcement agencies and or the media 29 Tortious interference a legal term defining conduct aimed at creating either public or judicial prejudice against a party in a lawsuit seeking compensatory damages Concepts The fundamental question analyzed in Plato s Republic Are the statute laws of a society created by ethos or are they created by the powerful so that the wealth produced by the common man will fall to their control There are two forms of sexual harassment legally recognized in the United States 1 The linkage quid pro quo of sexual activity to work place privileges 2 The presence of a hostile work environment The hostile work environment principle came out of Robinson v Jacksonville Shipyards 1991 This case established the principle that an employer is liable for sexual harassment even if the victim suffers no psychological harm This was a shock to business because torts had historically always involved harm A hostile work environment complaint is actionable when Employee harassing conduct is severe or pervasive or A supervisor s harassing conduct results in a tangible change in an employee s employment status or benefits for example demotion termination failure to promote etc Meritor Savings Bank v Vinson 1986 established the principle that an employer is liable for sexual harassment even if the victim prefers not to report it until a lawsuit This principle has also been extended to hostile work environment issues So as an employer you must be proactive not reactive The number one source of hostile work environment law suits comes out of couple break ups in the workplace For this reason many businesses try to forbid dating in the workplace A Thrasymachus world arises when people use laws as a device to give themselves both economic power and political power To overcome a ThrasymachusWorld the framers of the U S Constitution 1 ended royalty 2 gave economic power to citizens free markets and 3 political power to government Power hungry people by nature always seek to grab both economic power and political power People in government do it by promoting socialism government control of the economy People in business seek to do it through corporate cronyism Lochner v New York 1905 ruled that a law limiting the number of hours a baker can work violated one s freedom to make contract West Coast Hotel v Parrish 1937 upheld a minimum wage law on the ground that a business is a social institution Perry v Sindermann 1971 ruled that a job is a form of employee property for purposes of the 14th Amendment Another factor greatly affecting American Businesses is payroll tax law In 1900 when a business paid an employee 10 the employee took home 10 The job was worth the same to both the employer and the employee Today a 10 an hour job with all the ER taxes and required insurances can easily cost an employer 13 an hour All the while the employee s own taxes will only leave her with about 8 So the employer sees a 13 an hour job where the employee only sees an 8 an hour job As it stands today without health care for every 1 00 an employer spends the government gets 39 and an employee s take home pay is 61 With health care employee take home pay could easily approach only 50 of a firm s HR budget Each employer will need to demand more while each employee will want to give less The Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of