The Ethical Obligations of Corporations

Paper Summary:

This essay debates the moral and ethical obligations of corporations in modern society. The paper shows that corporations do make decisions that appear to be based on the assumption that profit is so important that injury to (and even death of) innocent human beings is an acceptable cost. The paper then goes on to analyze these kinds of behaviors by applying normative theories to them. It specifically focuses on the case of the Ford Motor Company.

Table of Contents:
Normative Theories
Strategic Considerations

From the Paper:

"If the law was extended in this way, it would become possible for corporations to be prosecuted in a way that was compatible with acceptable morality. For example, in the Ford Pinto case, the engineers who conducted the risk analysis and recommended that no recall should be done, would all be charged with manslaughter. They would most likely end up in prison for a very long time. If this kind of thing happened, it is likely that corporations would stop treating people as means to an end (the end being profit). This does not mean that they would suddenly grow consciences. However, for a corporation to make a decision and carry out actions, individual human beings must play their part. If all of these human beings were aware that they could be imprisoned for their parts in such decisions, I believe they would not be prepared to play along."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Achbar, Mark and Jennifer Abbott. (Directors). The Corporation. Big Picture Media Corporation, 2003.
• Danaher, Kevin, and Jason Mark. Insurrection: Citizen Challenge to Corporate Power. New York: Routledge, 2003.
• De Wijze, Stephen. "Defining Evil: Insights from the Problem of Dirty Hands." The Monist, 85.2 (2002): 210+.
• Fonda, Darren. "After Bernie, Who's Next?" Time Magazine, 165.13 (March 28, 2005): 44-46.
• Garnett, A. Campbell. Ethics: A Critical Introduction. New York: Ronald Press, 1960.

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