Business Ethics
BUSI 472
Who is this guy?
• Me
– Resume
– My Profile
• Why business ethics is important.
– Intersection of two commandments
– Opportunity to have visible testimony.
Current Discussions
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Buffett and Gates
Rethinking Business Ethics
This Week- Discussion
MBA Oath
• What question is missing?
Foundations of Ethics
• It is vital that we understand the foundational
presuppositions on which all thoughts and
decision making criteria are based.
• All ethical questions are based in the question
of a “should’.
Presuppositions
• The basis for all ethics
– God is the source for truth
– Man is the source for truth
• Van Til Quote– There is a fundamental, everlasting, and
irreconcilable antithesis between the regenerate
and unregenerate.
• Ground to stand on- Thoughtland
Presuppositions
• Bahnsen– The problem is not that unbelievers have their
presuppositions, but rather that they frequently
do not recognize those presuppositions for what
they are and offer no warrant or defense for
them- especially over against the conflicting
presuppositions of others (like Christianity)
Hosmer
• Chapter 1
– Analytical process for the resolution of moral
problems
• Figure 1.4
• What are the presuppositions in Hosmer’s
process?
– Pg 12-13
– “Clearly”
Chapter 2- Hosmer
• Pareto Optimality
– Based on economic outcomes
• To optimize profits within the constraints of the product
and factor markets
• To ensure that those product and factor markets are
fully competitive, that their customers in the product
markets and their suppliers in the factor markets are
fully informed, and that their external costs are fully
repaid to those customers, suppliers, and/or societal
members.
The Economic Balance
• Supply and Demand curve
– Price and units
– Supply and demand
– Ideal location of price balance.
The Economic Balance
• Marginal Cost Curve
– Dollars and units
– Marginal costs and revenues
– Marginal costs are equal to marginal revenues.
Then profits are maximized.
Greed is Good
• Friedman
• The goal of business is to increase profits.
• Increased profits is the result of efficient
creation of a valuable service or product.
– Based on the balance in the supply/demand curve
And?
• Is this a rational basis for ethical decision
making?
– Why
– Why not?
So What?
• Is this mentality consistent with what we find
in Scripture.
– Why?
– Why not?