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The Integration Of Law And Ethics

Decent Essays

As the subject title indicates, Substantive ethics is about the integration of law and ethics in corporate ethics programs. The author of this article gives numerous examples of why integration of law and ethics is needed. There are numerous areas of concern, such as dishonest corporate dealings, global human rights, tort lawsuits, and questionable executive salaries (Blodgett, 2012). There is a view that laws are rules meant to be followed and not necessarily understood for its ethical value. This in turn is a major factor as to why ethical violations exist. New regulations are created often times in the corporate environment or society in response to ethical petitions for change (Blodgett, 2012). In order to have “ethical sustainability” (Blodgett, 2012, p. 39), the ethical component of laws must be incorporated with new regulations (Blodgett, 2012)

The article examines the correlation of law and ethics as it focuses on managerial decision making and corporate governance. It is approached in three ways via the applied approach, change of corporate ethics codes, and restructuring the current view of law and ethics (Blodgett, 2012). The three main applied approach are the “separate realm view” (Paine, 1994a. b., p. 154). This view interprets a law as a minimum or base level standard that must be followed. In contrast, the ethical principles of morals and behavior are viewed as grander and distinguished from the law (Jennings, 2006). The problem with this view is without

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