Stakeholder Theory

The History of Business Ethics and Stakeholder Theory in America Ethics play a huge role in the global business field, since considerations have to be made on moral practices, values, and judgments that govern the direction and overall success of the company. Consequently, over the progression of history, managers, entrepreneurs, and stakeholders at the helm of organizations have always had the mandate of making moral resolves on matters of ethics. According to Hunter (2003), such an approach to ethical behavior prompts a substantial growth in the organizational corporation, as well as maximizing business profits, and creating a reputable company image (Cutler, 2004). Notably, the overall performances of organizations that take part in unethical

According to research by Mayer, Aquino, Greenbaum, and Kuenzi (2012), moral leaders will often practice appropriate business ethics. In turn, the leader establishes similar positive ethical attribute in all fronts of their organization, since the employees and stakeholders are prompted to follow suit. This is in line with Terris’ (2005) opinion in the book Ethics at Work. Terris commends the Lockheed-Martin program for institutionalizing functioning work ethics at the administrative level (Terris, 2005, p. 47). Furthermore, according LRN research conducted in the United States, most of the full-time workers preferred working in an ethical company, suggesting the importance of leaders and stakeholders’ ethical behavior in the organization (Dubrin, 2010). Evidently, the ethical outlook, and behavior of an organization and its leadership bear a direct impact on the employees in any business. In light of this, it is imperious that leaders consider business ethic with utmost importance, because they positively affect the

As a result, the corporate players, practitioners, and scholars in the ethical field have helped to shape, and communicate ethical behavior at the work place (Terris, 2005, p.48). Mechanisms such as punishment and reward systems have been historically used to inspire ethical behavior, and acceptable group behavior norms amongst employees at the work place (Mayer et al., 2012). In the event that unethical behaviors become part of an organization’s group norms, a successive sequence of ethical problems is likely to follow. This arises from the fact that employees in the organization will lack insightful directive from their leaders, and therefore pursue the unethical behavior without fear of reprimand. Importantly, the organization has to continually consider coming up with long-term ethical solutions to such oversights to keep employees from engaging in unethical