Phl 323 - Current Ethical Issue in Business Paper

Current Ethical Issue in Business Paper

Abel Chavez, Andrea Lester, Chavela Montano, Danielle Ooten, & Jazmin Hurtado

December 7, 2015

Phl/323

Edward Peet

Introduction

Business ethics are the morals and principals that a company lives and abides by. It is important that business have ethical standards to help their customers understand what type of company they are and how they will conduct business. With proper business ethics, consumers can trust whom they are dealing with and what the company stands for. Sometimes companies are deceptive and lead their consumers down a wrong path. When a company does not live up to the expectations of their consumers and are deceptive, not only does the company suffer, but also the consumer. Uber is a company that has not abided by the ethical rules. Uber has tried to squash their competition by using questionable tactics to boost their business.

The Issue

Most companies attempt to attract their customers by offering better quality or lower prices than their competitors. However, Uber has found another way to win their customers at the expense of the company’s business ethics. According to Shelley (2014), “their biggest competitor is another transportation company, Lyft which has the same business model.” Lyft stated that Uber was engaging in unethical conduct by calling in over 5,000 fake requests to Lyft since 2013. By doing this, it caused Lyft drivers to decrease their availability, and it would cause customers to use Uber. This is also causing Lyft drivers to waste their time and money by driving back and forth to locations where there are no real customers. Another shady tactic used by Uber, is telling its employees that they cannot drive for any other company. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has verified that this regulation is untrue. This tactic is also hurting their competitors by limiting their driver resources. As a growing company, Uber should recognize that there are other business tactics to use; poor business ethics should not be one of them. Not only are they violating fair competition laws, but they may be building a bad reputation for their company. Being compliant with ethical business practices should not be ignored by any company that wishes to be successful.

Identify the ground rules that manifested the situation

What manifested the situation is the fact how Uber has handled the business decisions that affect not only the market but how it is being portrayed. In most business operations among competition there are limitations in how to handle operations and abide by regulations set forth