Business, Society and Government Essentials

Strategy and Applied Ethics

Robert N. Lussier, Herbert Sherman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000570670
• Edition: 3
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Government & Business
• Index: Business

Understanding the interrelationship of business, society and government is vital to working at any level in an organization of any size. This text develops strategic management skills using an applied ethics approach, primarily through a case study analysis pedagogy, to develop and implement ethical strategies in today's high-tech global community.

The authors crystallize the complex array of issues that business leaders, managers, and employees face in market and nonmarket environments, from balancing stakeholder interests and dealing with government regulations to managing crises and making socially responsible and ethical decisions. Technical concepts come to life through a variety of cases and case questions, thought-provoking personal and professional applications, ethical dilemmas, and practical exercises. Furthermore, an appendix offers approaches to case analysis and includes a case analysis table that serves as a model for students and professors. Thoroughly revised and updated, the third edition includes discussions on the influence of globalization and technology, the impact of COVID-19, and greater focus on developing ethical strategies.

With its thorough coverage of relevant issues and skill-building elements to stimulate critical thinking, this text will engage and prepare students to understand and confront real-world business issues by developing and implementing ethical strategies through case analysis of companies and analysis of organizational ethical dilemmas.

Part 1
THE INTERRELATIONSHIP OF BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT

Chapter 1THE BUSINESS, SOCIETY AND GOVERNMENT ETHICAL INTERRELATIONSHIP STAKEHOLDER ENVIRONMENT

DOI: 10.4324/9781003181552-2

Chapter Overview

In this chapter, you will find out the answers to these key questions:

• What are the course and this textbook all about?
• How can taking this course and reading this textbook benefit your personal and professional lives?
• How do business, society and government influence each other and you?

Learning Competencies

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

• 1–1. Characterize business, society and government and explain their interrelationships
• 1–2. Differentiate the market and nonmarket environments and state how they influence each other
• 1–3. Explain the nonmarket society and government environments and how they affect business
• 1–4. Contrast the political and legal environments, briefly stating what each branch of government does, and summarize their balance of power
• 1–5. Discuss the role of business and its managers, including stakeholders
• 1–6. Define “strategy,” differentiate market and nonmarket strategies, and describe the need to integrate them
• 1–7. Define the following key terms (in order of appearance in the chapter):

business	nonmarket society environment	lying
product	public sentiment	cheating
society	political environment	stealing
societal interest groups	legal environment	moral management
government	strategy	amoral managers
special interest groups	market strategies	values
social problems	nonmarket strategies	business ethics
stakeholders market environment	ethics
nonmarket environment	honesty

Chapter Outline

• Why Study Business, Society and Government?
  • How Government and Society Affect Business
  • Business, Society and Government and Interactions With Them
  • Capitalism, Pluralism, and Special Interest Groups
  • Benefits to Your Personal and Professional Lives
• The Business, Society and Government Environment
  • Stakeholders and the Environment
  • The Market Environment
  • The Nonmarket Society Environment
  • The Nonmarket Government Environment
  • The Global Macroenvironment
• The Role of Business and Its Managers
  • The Role of Business and the Responsibility to Be Ethical With Stakeholders
  • The Role of Managers and Strategy
• Our Approach to the Book
  • The Strategy Approach
  • The Applied Ethics Approach
  • Structure of the Book

What’s This Chapter About?¹

This chapter presents basic concepts that are critical to understanding the course content, or what this book is all about. The other chapters in the book provide greater details and applications of these concepts.

This chapter covers three separate yet interrelated topics that build on each other. First, we discuss basic concepts and why you should study business, society and government (BSG), or what’s in it for you. Essentially, the book is about how BSG interact and influence each other (and you) and strategies businesses use to deal with issues of society and government. Based on this foundation, we discuss the environment in which they interact. Our third section further builds on this material by discussing the role of business and its managers.

We end by pulling the chapter concepts, environment, and managers’ role together by describing a strategy and applied ethics approach and the structure of the book.

¹Note that this is an important section to read before getting into the chapter because it briefly explains the topics of the chapter, why they are important, and how they are related.

CASE

To Twit or Not to Twit: That Is the Question!

Twitter is a for-profit corporation that earns its revenue through advertisements on its platform. “Twitter is a ‘microblogging’ system that allows you to send and receive short posts called tweets… . Twitter users follow other users. If you follow someone you can see their tweets in your twitter ‘timeline’. You can choose to follow people and organisations with similar academic and personal interests to you… . Twitter has become increasingly popular with academics as well as students, policymakers, politicians and the general public.” (Economic and Social Research Council, n.d. “What Is Twitter and Why Should You Use It?” https://esrc.ukri.org/research/impact-toolkit/social-media/twitter/what-is-twitter/, 1/19/2021.)

One of the largest and most profitable users of Twitter has been US President Donald Trump. He has used this platform, as well as other forms of social media, to reach his followers because he believes that traditional news media (television, the press) do not give a fair account of his actions. This included his belief that he won the 2020 election and that it was stolen from him. On January 9, 2021, just after the incident at the US Capitol Building, Twitter suspended President’s Trump’s Twitter account, claiming he was at least partially responsible for the incident based upon his claims about the election results.

Several media experts have blamed social media platforms like Twitter for providing a forum for hate groups to spread their radicalism and said that these groups’ posts present a clear and present danger to the community (which they argued fueled the incident). They believe these firms must take responsibility for providing these forums and be held accountable to the public and applauded Twitter’s suspension of the president’s account. (Ortutay, Barbara and Tari Arbel, June 29, 2020. “Social Media Platforms Face a Reckoning Over Hate Speech” AP News, https://apnews.com/article/6d0b3359ee5379bd5624c9f1024a0eaf, 1/19/2021.)

Democratic societies, however, are predicated upon the notion that individuals have the right to express their ideas and that limiting anyone’s access to social media, especially a public figure like the president of the United States, is a violation of the right to free speech under the first amendment. The public cannot make informed choices if all views are not available to them. However, “First Amendment protections against government censorship do not apply if Twitter ‘decides it is not going to participate in disseminating someone else’s message,’ said Jeremy Mishkin, a lawyer with Montgomery McCracken in Philadelphia who practices First Amendment law. A newspaper, for instance, is not required to publish a politician’s news release, Mishkin said.” (Hanna, Maddie 1/9/21. “Does Twitter’s Ban Violate Trump’s Free-Speech Rights? Likely Not, but It Raises Questions About Social Media Platforms, Philly Experts Say,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, www.inquirer.com/news/twitter-bans-trump-free-speech-first-amendment-20210109.html, 1/19/21.)

This action by Twitter, and later by other social media companies, including Facebook, raises the question as to what “protected speech” is in a social media age and how much authority and control social media companies should have in determining what is posted in the marketplace of ideas given their profit motive, which includes protecting themselves from liability that may be associated with radical posts.

1. What are the main ethical issues when it comes to Twitter and the way they operate?
2. What are some of the social problems affecting Twitter?
3. Identify the key stakeholders in this case.
4. If you were the president of Twitter, what nonmarket actions would you take relative to the stakeholders addressed in question 3?

WHY STUDY BU...