Ethical Theory and Business

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Title	Ethical Theory and Business
Publication Type	Book
Pub Year	1992
Authors	Beauchamp, T. L.
Publisher	Prentice Hall College Div
Keywords	objectification, panopticism, participation, power
Notes	objectification"Those who question the legitimacy of the modern corporation altogether because of the evils of excessive corporate power usually believe that the corporation should have no right to decide how things are going to be for its constituents. While we believe that each person has the right to be treated not as a means to some corporate end but as an end in itself, we would not go so far as to say the corporation has no rights whatsoever. Our more moderate stance is that if the modern corporation requires treating others as a means to an end, then these others must agree on, and hence participate (or choose not to participate) in, the decisions to be used as such." (p. 78) panopticism"In summary, while record keeping is, by no means, a new activity, it appears that information technology has changed record keeping in the following ways: (1) it has made a new scale of information gathering possible; (2) it has made new kinds of information gathering possible, especially transaction generated information; (3) is has made a new scale of information distribution and exchange possible; (4) the effect of erroneous information can be magnified; and (5) information about events in one's life may endure much longer than ever before. These five changes make the case for the claim that the world we live in is more like a panopticon than ever before.... "Information is created, collected, and exchanged because organizations can use it to further their interests and activities. Information about individuals is used to make decisions about those individuals, and often the decisions profoundly affect the lives of those individuals whom the information is about." (p. 434)

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