Ethics Basics
The standards of right and wrong that guide conduct in business.
What are business ethics?
A company’s responsibility to consider its impact on society, not just profits.
What is corporate social responsibility?
The supreme law of the United States.
What is the U.S. Constitution?
The First Amendment protects speech, religion, press, assembly, and this right to ask government to address grievances.
What is the right to petition?
In Riley v. California, police generally needed this before searching digital information on a cell phone seized during an arrest.
What is a warrant?
A written set of values and rules for employee behavior.
What is a code of ethics?
These individuals own shares and have an economic interest in company profits.
Who are shareholders?
The three branches of the federal government.
What are the legislative, executive, and judicial branches?
This amendment protects against unreasonable searches and seizures.
What is the Fourth Amendment?
In Burwell v. Hobby Lobby, the Court applied this federal law protecting religious exercise to certain closely held corporations.
What is the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA)?
The people or groups affected by a company’s decisions.
Who are stakeholders?
A conflict between personal interests and professional duties.
What is a conflict of interest?
The constitutional principle that divides authority between national and state governments.
What is federalism?
This amendment protects against self-incrimination and guarantees due process in federal proceedings.
What is the Fifth Amendment?
In Mutual Pharmaceutical Co. v. Bartlett, federal drug-labeling and design requirements displaced a state-law claim under this doctrine.
What is federal preemption?
An employee reports illegal or unethical conduct within an organization.
What is whistleblowing?
Enron is a well-known example of how deceptive accounting and weak oversight can lead to this.
What is corporate fraud or an ethical scandal?
The clause making valid federal law supreme over conflicting state law.
What is the Supremacy Clause?
This clause gives Congress power to regulate interstate commerce.
What is the Commerce Clause?
In United States v. Morrison, the Court held that Congress exceeded its authority under this clause by creating a federal civil remedy for gender-motivated violence.
What is the Commerce Clause?
An ethical decision approach focused on the greatest overall good for the greatest number.
What is utilitarianism?
The three commonly cited parts of sustainability that balance people, planet, and profit.
What is the triple bottom line?
The power of courts to declare a law unconstitutional.
What is judicial review?
A state law violates this constitutional principle when it unlawfully burdens interstate trade, even without a conflicting federal statute.
What is the dormant Commerce Clause?
In Rowe v. New Hampshire Motor Transport Association, the Court held that federal transportation law preempted state rules affecting motor carrier delivery of this product.
What is tobacco?