Reference no: EM133330516

Case: "Business ethics comprises principles and standards that guide behavior in the world of business" (Peregrine Academics, 2020). Business ethics matters since there are circumstances where a company can do something that is legal but would be considered highly unethical and would be looked down upon by many. Ethics are the fundamentals that influence conduct and involve considering whether an action or inaction is honorable or immoral. Ethics do not necessarily have to be tied with legality, although an action could be both illegal and unethical. For this week's discussion I have chosen Adidas as a company that has been in the news for both an ethical success and an ethical violation. I found it interesting that Adidas appears to be okay with using forced labor in China but is not okay with Kanye West's antisemitic comments. Adidas have also been under ethical scrutiny in the past due to their use of child labor.

It is an ethical win for Adidas to cut ties with Kanye for tweeting that he would go "death con 3 on JEWISH PEOPLE" (Allyn, 2022). It is certainly an ethical loss for Adidas to use the forced labor of the Uighur people of China and to have used child labor in the past (I'm sure they still do but the article I found regarding this is from 2000). The impact of cutting ties with Kanye West (Ye) makes Adidas look moral in the eyes of the public. The impact of using the forced labor of the Uighur people makes Adidas and many other companies who do so look immoral. I personally feel that organizations struggle to maintain a high ethical/moral standard because most of them (especially large corporations) do not care. Their ethical standards are based off what they can get away with without harming their profits rather than what would be considered unethical. This information does change my view of the organization because it only makes them look hypocritical. In my opinion, if they are ethically not okay with Kanye West's antisemitic remarks then they should not be okay with using slave labor because both are unethical.

Question: What is the new insights you gained in reading their essays, and how their ideas did or did not change your own viewpoint.