What I Know….

DIRECTION: Write the letter of the correct answer that best completes the sentence.

1. ________ This philosopher has the same name with the “Head Gamemaker in Catching Fire, Hunger Games”
movie.
A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Plutarch D. Socrates E. Epicurus
2. ________This philosopher has the same name with a Congressman from Cagayan De Oro City who is a
graduate of the De La Salle University (Ab Economics '75) and the University of the Philippines College of Law.
A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Rufus D. Socrates E. Epicurus
3. ________This man was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece.
Taught by Plato
A. Plutarch B. Rufus C. Aristotle D. Socrates E. Epicurus
4. This man was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of Western philosophy,
and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought
A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Socrates D. Plutarch E. Epicurus
5. This man was from Athens, a Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship,
and retirement. He founded schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century BC until the 4th
century AD.
A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Epicurus D. Socrates E. Rufus

Lesson 4

Foundations of the Principles

of Business Ethics

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LOOKING BACK TO YOUR LESSON…

VISUAL THINKING APPROACH

Directions: Analyze the situations based on the pictures and its descriptions. Discuss based on the hint or
instructions in its opposite box, explain by writing on the space provided for.
Business Scenario Discussion

An employee realized that he gave a shortchange

to a customer who already left the store premises. The right change is
1 694 pesos, but he only gave 194 pesos. Discuss what business ethics
issues present on this situation. What can be done?

A pregnant employee who

violated several attendance rules due to her physical conditions. She
is about to get fire by the HR manager of the company. Discuss what
business ethics issues present on this situation. What can be done?

3 A homeless who found shelter and

comfort within the Mc Do Store perimeter or premises. Some customers
complained on the smell. Some give him food to eat. Discuss what
business ethics issues present on this situation.
What can be done?

Drinking session every Friday night

after work is normal in Company A. Those who join the drinking session
get to have a favor from the management. Those who don’t join are

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4 already subjected to heightened scrutiny on normal things that they do
in the workplace every day. Discuss what business ethics issues present
on this situation. What can be done?

To get permits and licenses renewed on time,

5 Company Y availed the services of fixers to do transactions in some
government offices for the speedy renewal of permits and licenses.
Extra money is paid then. Discuss what business ethics
issues present on this situation. What can be done?

WHAT IS IT…...
Business owners can always have something to learn from our classical philosophers in terms of running
their organizations.

Rufus, on keeping track of one’s ethical progress Musonius Rufus was known as the Socrates of Rome.
He was another Stoic, who taught that philosophy cannot just be theoretical. If you want to be an
ethical individual or an ethical company, you can't just study ethics, you must practice it, every day, to
get into good habits. The ancient Greek word for ethics is the same word for habit. (The Guardian, 2020)
You also need to keep track of your progress, to see how you are performing. You cannot just
rely on your intuitions, because they are often wrong. So, the ancient Greeks learned to keep accounts
of themselves. They would track their daily behavior in journals, keeping account of how many times
they lost their temper, for example, or got too drunk. Then they could see if they were really improving
their behavior, or just going around in circles. (The Guardian, 2020)
In organizational terms, keeping track of ourselves means trying to take an evidence-based
assessment of our performance. We might say we are a green company, but how do we know if we are
making progress? We might say we are a happy organization, but how do we know? We can keep track
of this, for example by asking our employees (anonymously) how worthwhile they feel their job is. Then
see if, in a year, we have managed to enhance their sense of purpose. (The Guardian, 2020)
Today, we use balanced score card, where we keep track on our performance from begging
one cycle to the end.

Plutarch, on being a good role model

Plutarch, the ancient Greek historian and educator, understood that humans are incredibly
social creatures, who constantly observe the people around them and imitate them. (The Guardian,
2020)
Unfortunately, people often grow up surrounded by bad role models. However, we can steer
people, by providing them with better patterns to imitate. That's what Plutarch tried to do with his
famous work, Parallel Lives, which offered biographical sketches of some of the great Greek and Roman

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heroes – Cicero, Caesar, Alexander the Great, Pericles – to give young people something to emulate.
(The Guardian, 2020)
In organizational terms, that means what you say to your employees is less important than
what you do. They will watch how you behave, how you treat others, how you cope with pressure and
whether you follow through on your promises. And they will imitate you. If you talk about ethics and
then cut corners at the first opportunity, they will follow your lead. Set a good example and they will
follow it. Plutarch would also warn that your best young employees will use you as a bar to aim for and
exceed. That's natural. Let them compete with you and encourage them to go further. (The Guardian,
2020)

Aristotle, on letting people seek fulfillment

Aristotle was a great biologist as well as a great philosopher. He based his ethics on a
psychological theory of human nature, insisting that we are naturally virtuous, rational, social and
happiness-seeking. Governments and organizations need to build the best systems to let humans fulfill
their natural drives. Aristotle's philosophy was an influence on Edward Deci and Richard Ryan's Self-
Determination Theory, which suggests that employees will work harder for you, and perform better, if
you give them tasks, they find meaningful and morally worthwhile. (The Guardian, 2020)
Humans want to believe in something and to serve it. Appeal to your employees' best nature
and they will answer that call. Our employees will also be more motivated if you give them the
opportunity to feed their natural curiosity through learning opportunities. That could be vocational
training, but it could also simply be learning about the world, ideas, culture. Does your company have
an evening or lunch-time lecture series, such as Google Talks? Could it give credits for evening adult
learning classes, as companies such as Cadbury and Ford once did? (The Guardian, 2020)

Socrates, on daring to disagree

Socrates, one of the first philosophers, insisted on our right to think for ourselves. Too often,
he warned, humans sleepwalk through life, simply going along with the crowd. (The Guardian, 2020)
This is dangerous in questions of morality, and particularly in corporate governance. When corruption is
uncovered, too often people say, "everyone else was doing it". But our characters are our responsibility.
Socrates was prepared to die rather than go against his conscience. Does your organization encourage
independent thinkers, and people who follow their conscience? Does it allow people to give critical
feedback to managers? Does it create opportunities for good people to blow the whistle on bad
behavior? (The Guardian, 2020)

Epicurus, on the art of happiness

Epicurus was a fourth century Greek philosopher who taught, rather scandalously, that the
aim of life was simply to be as happy as possible here on Earth, before we die and dissolve back into the
atomic universe. He warned that humans are very bad at being happy, and very good at inventing
reasons to be miserable. Philosophy should teach us how to be happy, he suggested. For example, it
could teach us how to bring our attention to the present moment, to savor it. It could also teach us to
limit our desires to what is easy to get, not inflating our needs with endless artificially stimulated
desires. (The Guardian, 2020)
Today, some companies are embracing Epicurus' philosophy, and trying to teach their
employees the art of happiness. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of American shoe company Zappos, is so
committed to the company's courses in happiness that he sold the company to Amazon on the
agreement it would be able to continue with its unique happy culture. (The Guardian, 2020)
The Guardian Author Says that companies should be careful about forcing all their employees
to follow one philosophy of the good life. As we have seen, there are many different approaches to
achieving happiness or welfare. Perhaps companies could create an ethical culture that embraces all
these different ways of living. (The Guardian, 2020)

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 WHAT’S MORE…..
Activity 1: Venn diagram activity
Objective: Demonstrate the learning on philosophies reflected in business
Materials: Pen and Paper
Procedure: 1. Draw two overlapping circles. Label each circle
2. In each circle, fill in the characteristics of each item.
3. Identify which characteristics appear in two circles. These characteristics go in the intersection
(where the two circles overlap).
4. What are the similarities and differences that the Venn diagram illustrates?
5. After comparing the ideas, come up with your own idea on which philosophy is the soundest for
the company and explain why?

Guide
a. Characteristics of the company in terms of keeping track ethical progress of each applicant of the company.
b. Characteristics of the company in terms of keeping track ethical progress of each individual member of the
company.
c. Methods of the company on how to promote each employee to a role model for everyone.
d. How does the company deal with employees who seem to be unsatisfied with the salaries and wages
offered by the company?
e. How does the company deal with the employees who always oppose to suggestions and changes in the
management or operations?
f. How does the company manage to have a happy culture for all employees?

Company A: McDonalds Company B: Jollibee

What I Have Learned…..

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Rufus, on keeping track of one’s ethical progress:
In organizational terms, keeping track of ourselves means trying to take an evidence-based assessment
of our performance. IPCRF for public school teachers, OPCRF for offices and its heads in the Government, or
Balanced Score Cards in the private companies.

Plutarch, on being a good role model:

In organizational terms, that means what you say to your employees is less important than what you
do. They will watch how you behave, how you treat others, how you cope with pressure and whether you follow
through on your promises. And they will imitate you. If you talk about ethics and then cut corners at the first
opportunity, they will follow your lead.

Aristotle, on letting people seek fulfillment:

Governments and organizations need to build the best systems to let humans fulfill their natural drives.
This suggests that employees will work harder for you, and perform better, if you give them tasks where they find
meaningful and morally worthwhile.
Socrates, on daring to disagree:
It is about our right, as human beings, to think for ourselves. We oppose when we think something is
wrong. We see oppositions rally on the streets against the government, or employees rally outside of the
workplace against the management.

Epicurus, on the art of happiness:

Some companies are embracing Epicurus' philosophy, and trying to teach their employees the art of
happiness. It is about work-life balance and the organization is providing both monetary and non-monetary
benefits to employees including family time, and travel.

WHAT CAN I DO….

FREEDOM OF SPEECH WORK-LIFE BALANCE CORRUPTION

Critical Thinking Questions
1. In your own words, discuss as to how philosophies are reflected into business practices. Give concrete
examples. Develop it into a paragraph with at least 300 words.

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2. Given the problem on proper waste disposal in our city, how does your learning of this lesson can be of help to
solve this environmental problem?
3. How does learning this lesson can shape your life and can create an impact to the lives of your family? Be
Specific. Ask an elder at home to comment on your answers and it being useful in your daily life as a student.
4. How does learning the concept of marketing research or market research make you a better member of your
community?

Assessment….
DIRECTION: Write the letter of the correct answer on the space provide after each number.
1. _______This philosopher has the same name with the “Head Gamemaker in Catching Fire, Hunger Games”
movie.
A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Plutarch D. Socrates E. Epicurus
2. _______This philosopher has the same name with a Congressman from Cagayan De Oro City who is a graduate
of the De La Salle University (Ab Economics '75) and the University of the Philippines College of Law.
A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Rufus D. Socrates E. Epicurus
3. _______This man was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught
by Plato
A. Plutarch B. Rufus C. Aristotle D. Socrates E. Epicurus
4. _______This man was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders of Western
philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought
A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Socrates D. Plutarch E. Epicurus
5. _______This man was from Athens, a Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple pleasure,
friendship, and retirement. He founded schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century BC until
the 4th century AD.
A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Epicurus D. Socrates E. Rufus

References…..
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/business-learn-fromancient-philosophers
Department of Education National Capital Region DIVISION OF CITY SCHOOLS – MANILA Manila Education Center Arroceros Forest Park
Antonio J. Villegas St. Ermita, Manila Email Address: [email protected] * [email protected]