1 Matters of Law and Matters of Ethics in Business Situations LaTara Middleton Southern New Hampshire University BUS-206 Business Law I Professor Pomeroy November 26th, 2023
2 Matters of Law and Matters of Ethics in Business Situations The purpose of business ethics and business laws are to set a standard that is necessary for a corporation to work. Matters of law refer to the legal issues and considerations that arise in the context of conducting business activities. This includes contract creation and enforcement, intellectual property protection, employment and labor law compliance, corporate governance, taxation, regulatory compliance, dispute resolution, and consumer protection. Business ethics, according to Kubasek et al. (2023), is the application of ethics to the unique opportunities and problems faced by businesspeople. It is predicated on the conventional understanding of right and wrong. Law and ethics are related in that ethics are personal moral principles and the standardization of behavior, whilst laws are the established "norms" that the entire community must abide by. Whatever the circumstances, there will probably be repercussions if the law and/or ethics are broken. Professionals employed by corporations and retail establishments have an ethical duty to uphold, in addition to those organizations themselves. Managers often deal with staff members who are bound by a set of professional codes of conduct when they are in the executive or hierarchical levels of a company. To ensure the best possible results for the organization, it is crucial for everyone involved in the business to always act ethically and professionally. There was a data breach at Mountain Top View, and the information of your customers was taken. The most vital information in this case is that, despite Steve's quick fix of the breach- causing code, it is still possible that some customer information fell into the wrong hands and caused hardship and legal issues for those customers. Additionally, Steve acted unethically and could have caused a world of trouble and legal issues for himself, the company, and its
3 customers. Your organization's integrity was put in jeopardy by the unlawful acquisition of confidential information, which also compromised your security because it wasn't reported. The lead information technology employee of the company found out that there was a hack in the customer database. The names, addresses, and phone numbers were retrieved from customers who placed orders online during the first quarter of the year. Even though Steve was not at fault for the breach, it could have easily appeared that he did play a role due to his quick actions of covering up the situation without going through the proper channels and informing management. Instead of taking it upon himself and fixing the problem before others knew about it, Steve should have acted ethically and promptly informed Clare and Carlos about the situation. Per the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), "since the theft involved your customers' identities, your technological department will need to strengthen your cyber security and make the necessary adjustments to secure your system in order to resolve the