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2.1: Introduction

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    • Anonymous
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    In this chapter we examine how the philosophical world of ethics can be applied to organizational communication. When people hear the word “ethics” used in modern society, many different images and incidents quickly come to mind. Sadly, the 21st Century has already been plagued with many ethical lapses in the business sector. Turn on any major global news station, newspaper, magazine, or podcast and you’re likely to hear about some business that is currently in a state of crisis due to lapses in ethical judgment. Table 2.1 contains a short list of organizations and their various ethical lapses in judgment.

    Table \(\PageIndex{1}\): Modern Ethical Lapses
    Organization Ethical Lapse
    Arthur Andersen Accounting Fraud & Shredding documents wanted in a criminal investigation
    Boeing Industrial Espionage
    Bridgestone-Firestone Delaying a recall of defective tires
    Catholic Church Sex Abuse and cover up
    Coca-Cola Taking groundwater from local farmers in India
    Enron Accounting Fraud
    Halliburton Overbilling for products and services
    Martha Stewart, Inc. CEO committed insider trading with her sell of her ImClone stock.
    McDonald’s 8 individuals provided winning game pieces from McDonald’s Monopoly game to family and friends.
    Merrill Lynch Lying to investors
    Napster Digital copyright violations
    Parmalat Italian dairy company’s fraudulent accounting practices
    Sanlu Group Co. Chinese based company knowing distributes tainted baby formula.
    Tyco CEO was caught embezzling funds.
    US Military Prisoner Abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan
    WorldCom Accounting Fraud
    Xerox Exaggerating Revenues

    In this chapter, four distinct areas of ethical understanding will be explored: nature of ethics, business ethics, communication ethics, and organizational communication ethics.

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