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Business & Marketing
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ETHICAL DECISION MAKING IN DIFFICULT SITUATIONS Business Essay

Essay Instructions:

Assignment Overview:
Moving Toward an Ethical Workplace
As you can see from your reading for the case assignment Lockheed Martin has a very interesting history and this history has had an impact on where the company is today with respect to its existing ethics program.
Case Assignment:
After reading Chapter 2 of the text, please write a 4-5 page essay that addresses the following:
Lockheed has an interesting history that seemed innocent enough up until around the 1950s. You'll note on p. 56 of Terris’ book that the company began to engage in some questionable sales strategies with other nations in an effort sell the F-104 Starfighter so as to recoup costs when their US sales strategy failed.
1. Describe some of the unorthodox strategies covered by Terris during this era that made Lockheed become "…a byword for the shady practices of American multi-national corporations, and a major impetus for new legislation...".
2. On the issue of overseas bribes, Terris asks the questions, "Who was hurt by the [overseas bribes to secure sales of aircraft]? The competitors, of course, but what was unethical about beating out the competition that was playing by the same rules?” (p.59). What do you think about a situation where underhanded and back door deals are the way the game is played if everybody is on the same playing field? That is to say, if everybody is playing by the same shady rules, is it unethical to compete?
In your reading you will note that defense contractors continued to find themselves in hot water well into the 1970s as a result of overpricing and additional charges of bribery. In the late 70s Lockheed established its first code of ethics and later the major defense contractors came to the table to level the playing field with the Defense Industry Initiative (DII), by agreeing on a set of ethical principles. This was an important turning point as was bringing Norman Augustine on board.
3. Why was the DII so important to the eventual success of Lockheed Martin’s ethics program?
4. Discuss Norman Augustine's and Dilbert's contribution in helping Lockheed Martin turn the corner with its ethics program.
Assignment Expectations:
Your paper should be 4 to 5 pages, should be double-spaced and in 12-point type size.
Your paper should have a separate cover page and a separate reference page. Make sure you cite your sources.
Use APA style, and proofread your paper.
Upload your paper to by the end of the module.

Essay Sample Content Preview:

Ethical Decisions – Lockheed Martin
Student’s Name
Institution
Ethical Decisions – Lockheed Martin
Introduction
Business ethics is a complex subject area that even the largest corporations have struggled to fully implement. Lockheed Martin Corporation, a product of the Lockheed and Martin Marieta merger in 1995 (Terris, 2005), has a fabulous history coupled with unpleasant encounters in the hands of ethics police. Lockheed reigned the aircraft and the defense industry up until the 1950s when the company was overwhelmed with scandals overseas. In the early days, most American global corporations took part in shady businesses overseas without being subject to any legal bindings, and they could make millions of dollars as a result of bribery, kickbacks, and even payoffs. Fortunately, or unfortunately for Lockheed, a bribery scandal initiated a turn of events that has led to the famous Lockheed Martin ethics program. Daniel Terres's research work on ethics with Lockheed as a case study exposes most of its irregular undertakings in international jurisdiction and their repercussions to the subject, including the company and the key stakeholders.
Unorthodox Strategies
In a bid to sell their products at a favorable value in international markets, Lockheed had to engage in some undesirable activities that put the company and the foreign countries in jeopardy. The product in question, F-104 Starfighter, was meant to recoup the cost the company had incurred in the sale of L-1011 Trister that had performed poorly. The first casualty in the scandal was West Germany. One of Lockheed's most influential lobbyist confessed to the senate committee probing the scandal that West Germany’s Minister for Defense had received $10 million worth of bribe to ensure that the purchase of F-104 Starfighter. Although the claim did not hold, the probe had serious repercussions for the German political alienation.
Japan was the other place that Lockheed, through its president Carl Kotchian, engaged in shady dealings. The Japanese airforce had the intention of purchasing the McDonnel-Douglas, but the intense lobbying and bribing by Lockheed officials led by the vice presidents Carl Kotchian ensured that the company secured the contract to supply the L-1011 Trister. Among the biggest beneficiaries of the scandal included the then Japanese prime minister Kakuei Tanaka who was later imprisoned as a result. Prince Bernhard of the Netherlands, some influential politicians in Italy, and arms dealers in Saudi also benefited immensely from Lockheed's shady deals through bribes, kickbacks, and commissions. Most global corporations with American origin engaged in such crooked deals overseas, but with Lockheed, it was extreme. The revelation from the key players in the scandal necessitated the establishment of foreign policies on corruption that did not exist before.
Impacts on Competition
Lockheed’s revelations made it clear that all the corporations overseas, including those in the aviation industry, played a part in undertaking backdoor deals. Carl Kotchian, in his interview, was with no regret for playing a critical role in the scandal, and even vowed to do it again given that opportunity (Pae, 2008). The justificati...
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