Several years ago, it was discovered that executives from Lockheed were bribing Japanese officials to secure contracts for selling their airplanes in Japan. Today, this is known as one of the most infamously notorious examples of corporate law violations and lack of business ethics. Without delving into the legal aspects of this case, what motivated Lockheed executives to decide to bribe?

Ultimately, the issue was not limited to bribes in exchange for personal benefits. The involved parties were senior executives. It is very likely that pride and competitive drive also influenced the decision. Perhaps bonuses were offered if the contracts were secured. However, it can be assumed that the financial situation of the executives was already quite good. If the contracts had been lost, thousands of jobs would have been lost; not the jobs of the involved executives, but those of lower-ranking workers and managers. It must be understood in this case that saving jobs was not necessarily the motivation to bribe, but neither was it for personal benefit.

If ethics is defined as a set of moral principles in favor of the greater good, then the "wrongness" of the bribes must be weighed against any good that may derive from them. If this were done, could it be argued that the bribes were justified? Contribute a minimum of 450 words for your initial post. Include two academic sources, formatted and cited in APA.