edwithin a company to ensure that a corporation and all of its agents act inan ethical manner. Taking the example of the National Semiconductor case,one can notice many failures in moral responsibility. NationalSemiconductor would have to review its employees, particularly thesupervisors, for basic ethical values such as honesty. example, ultimatelyit was the widespread falsification of the testing documentation thatcaused the downfall of National Semiconductor, not the integrity of theircomponents. In the synopsis of the case it is never mentioned that theemployees initiated this idea, it would seem that it was the supervisorsthat gave the order to falsify the documents. In order to accomplish this,the company executives would have to encourage their employees to voicetheir concerns in regards to the advancement of the company. Through opencommunication, a company can resolve a variety of its ethical dilemmas.As for the financial aspects of the corporation, it has to decide whetherthe long term effects that a reprimand from the government can haveoutweighs their bottom line. In other words, corporations have to startmoving away from the thought of instant profit and start realizing boththe long term effects and benefits. These long term benefits can include astronger sense of ethics in the work force as well as a better overallsociety. To conclude, I must say that I agree with the use of mitigatingfactors in determining moral responsibility. A company, as defined by law,is only a name on a piece of paper. The company acts and conducts itselfaccording to the employees that work in that entity. I use the wordemployee because in ethical thinking there should be no distinction ofrank within a company. There are times when executives can be helddirectly responsible and at the same time, there are cases where employeesare acting unethically without the executives knowing. Neither title ofexecutive or employee equates to moral perfection. The...
