A large U.S. government investigation into arms procurement procedures with corporate contractors has recently led to guilty pleas to fraud and illegal use of classified documents. Operation Ill Wind has brought public attention to the criminal and unethical conduct of large defense contractors in their dealings with the government. This article will review how the defense contract bidding process operates and why illegal activity has been able to compromise the process. We will offer proposals to improve the process in light (...) of the present inquiry. (shrink)

Japan's politieal, cultural, and geographic isolation, its symbiotic government-business arrangement, and its practice of practical, resources-oriented politics, trade, and diplomacy have led it to be the only major global economic power to strictIy comply with the Arab boycott. A brief history and description of the boycott are presented here, along with an overview of the responses of major economic trading nations. Three issues are addressed: Japan's global conscience, the framework appropriate to analyze the ethics of global economic boycotts, and the (...) Japanese government's excuse of leaving boycott decisions to business considering the historic relationship between the two. The logical conclusion of this analysis is that Japan as a nation must abandon its insularity and take a greater ethical responsibility in line with its economic power. From this comes the responsibility of the govenment to guide the business sector towards a corporate conscienee, one that is grounded in global awareness. (shrink)

Corporate violations of the law are occurring with increasing frequency and with increasing public attention. Solutions to date have proved ineffectual because of the problem of determining whom is to be punished for the offense of the corporation. Instead of individual jail terms or corporate fines, we propose that the dissolution of the corporation be considered as a more effectual means of conforming corporate behavior to the norms of the legal system.

While tourism is often seen as a welcome source of economic development, conventional mass tourism is associated with numerous negative effects, such as the destruction of ecological systems and loss of cultural heritage. In response to these concerns, a term that has surfaced recently is, sustainable tourism. This article attempts to define sustainable tourism and asks the question of whether this new term is an acceptable criteria or is merely a marketing ploy to attract the morally conscious tourist.

The attacks on commercial shipping vessels by Somali pirates have introduced a business dilemma for ship-owners. While maritime piracy has been outlawed by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, ship-owners must determine whether to pay ransom demands to Somali pirates or not. There is no easy answer to solve this ethical dilemma for ship-owners and other interest groups, however, this article proposes a solution which takes into account all of the parties involved.

In recent years, there has been considerable pressure on corporations doing business in South Africa to divest and withdraw from that country. While this moral view espouses withdrawal, this article seeks to provide insight into the practical consequences of divestment. One of the questions addressed is how does foreign divestment affect Black South Africans, those who are supposed to benefit from a divestment policy.

In the following discussion, we address the ethical dilemma of who should benefit from the many frequent-flier programs used by airlines. The issue of central concern involves whether the employer or employee are acting unethically when either of them choose to be the beneficiary from frequent-flier programs. Once this issue is decided, we then determine if the benefits outweigh the costs for the employer that either keeps the miles or, decides to let their employees enjoy them.