It is only necessary for a good man to do nothing for evil to triumph [Edmund Burke 18thc English political philosopher]. Discuss this statement in term of global corporate governance.

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DISHONESTY IN BUSINESS

SITUATION AND SOLUTIONS

 

 

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“It is only necessary for a good man to do nothing for evil to triumph [Edmund Burke 18thc English political philosopher]. Discuss this statement in term of global corporate governance.  

 

This assignment will discuss about meanings of Edmund Burke’s quotation in terms of global corporate governance. Through that, writer aims  to examine  the actual  dishonesties in business and its consequences. Moreover, it  is going to point out manager’s responsibilities and suggest some solutions to prevent dishonesty in business.  

Nowadays, because of important roles for economic health of corporations and society, corporate governance attracts more and more public interest.  It  is  defined as a  system that helps to control the balance between economic and social goals in general,  individual and communal goals   in particular. Furthermore, by implementing suitable corporate  governance, company  could  use  efficiently  resources and enhance its accountability and transparency. Its objective is to harmonize the interests of individuals, corporations and society. (Adrian Cadbury, 2002)

However, recent financial crises, such as HIH Insurance and One-Tel collapse in Australia, and the failure of a series of major corporations in the United States has revealed severe shortcomings in corporate governance.  Many other scandals involving falsification of information demonstrate  the  emergency of dishonesty in workplace. Unethical business is not only harmful for the company’s wealth but also for the society at large. We have to try harder to stop business dishonesty and make efforts  to reform and overcome weaknesses in corporate governance.

 “Destroy the seed of evil, or it will grow up to your ruin”–Aesop

Some people may think that  little  white lies are normal in our daily life. It can  take  place anywhere, anytime and it is acceptable. But the  latest Report Card on the Ethics of American Youth may change their mindset. The report indicates an increase in lying, cheating and stealing among youth since  2006, when  it was first published. According to that report, 42 % of those surveyed said they recently lied for financial gain, 64% of the sample said they cheated on a test during the past year. Eighty three percent of those who were asked said they had recently lied to their parents about something significant.  Not teenagers only,  every day we hear of politicians, business leaders, sports figures, police, teachers  and judges who are considered as role models, have been caught in a lie or a cheat or a theft of some kind. It is a fact that people today seem to be more and more dishonest.  

Dishonesty behaviour  is considers as a drug. When someone behaves dishonestly several times, he will get used to that  behaviour. Moreover, it will be more serious day by day. For example, a man steals an apple in a supermarket. It is just a cheap thing and it seems too easy for him to do that. He keeps stealing an apple each time when he comes to that supermarket. He might feel guilty when he steals in the first or second time. But as continuing  in carrying out similar actions, he begins to become unconcerned with and increasingly accustomed to such behaviour. This behaviour occurs naturally making him want to steal more valuable things, perhaps a DVD, and then a camera and at the end, he is caught by police when he  is  trying  to steal a car. It is  then  too late when he recognizes  that he was wrong at the beginning. We should not be easy with  little white lies because big black  lies, cheatings, stealing will come later as an essential and inevitable  increase of dishonesty. “Thoughts lead to acts, acts lead to habits, habits lead to character, and our character will determine our eternal destiny.” - Ezra Taft Benson

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Nowadays,  business ethics become a controversial issue. Although we have many laws and regulations to prevent business dishonesty but it seems that the number of unethical business case is not in a decreasing  trend. We hear a lot more about tax evasions, briberies, financial frauds  from news every day. According to AP, the number of financial fraud has increased fourfold from 40 cases in 2008 to 150 cases in 2009 (Associated Press).

Unethical   business exists  under various aspects and in corporate governance  point of  view, business dishonesty is approached through different relationships between corporation with external and ...

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