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Session 01 - Introduction To Business Ethics....

This document provides an introduction to business ethics. It defines business ethics as the study of moral matters pertaining to business activities and practices. Business ethics is concerned with right and wrong behavior in an organizational context, including questions of fairness, justice, and equality. The document discusses key concepts in business ethics like values, ethical issues that can arise, public perception of business ethics, and the relationship between ethics, economics, and law. It also outlines benefits of managing ethics in the workplace and tips for individuals.

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Safwan Rafaideen
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70 views27 pages

Session 01 - Introduction To Business Ethics....

This document provides an introduction to business ethics. It defines business ethics as the study of moral matters pertaining to business activities and practices. Business ethics is concerned with right and wrong behavior in an organizational context, including questions of fairness, justice, and equality. The document discusses key concepts in business ethics like values, ethical issues that can arise, public perception of business ethics, and the relationship between ethics, economics, and law. It also outlines benefits of managing ethics in the workplace and tips for individuals.

Uploaded by

Safwan Rafaideen
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Introduction to Business Ethics

Session 01
Contents
• What are values, moral concepts

• Business Ethics and Public Opinion

• What Does Business Ethics Mean?

• Ethics, Economics and Law: Venn Model

• Four Important Ethics Questions


What Is Business Ethics?

According to John Donaldson (1989),

‘Business ethics in short can be described as a systematic


study of moral (ethical) matters pertaining to business,
industry or related activities, institutions or practices
and beliefs’.
business context poses its own unique problems for the
moral person who acts as an agent of this system’.

Organizational ethics refers to the rightness of the


decisions and behaviors of individuals and the
organizations of which they are a part.
• The definition of Buchholz and Rosenthal (1998)
highlights this.

• ‘Business ethics is the study of moral standards and how


they apply to the systems and organizations through
which modern societies produce and distribute goods and
services, and to the people who work in these
organizations’.
In interpreting business ethics
‘Organizational ethics is concerned with good and bad or
right and wrong behavior and practices that take place
within a business context. Concept of right and wrong is
increasingly being interpreted today to include the more
difficult and subtle questions of fairness, justice and
equality’.
• In simple terms, Business ethics/corporate ethics are
practically concerned with the entire gamut of functions of
an organization which scrutinizes and sets the codes
related to the moral/ethical principle to find the solutions to
the problems faced by an employee in specific and the
organization in general.
• From the above definitions, which echo similar views on
ethics with minor shades of difference, it can be
concluded that business ethics are related to;

• morally right and wrong behavior,


• in the business context,
• including questions of fairness, justice, and equity,
• that which require application of moral standards by persons in the
organizations, and
• the moral standards that are not separate, but derived from society.
Values

• Abstract ideals that shape an individual’s thinking


and behavior – a moral compass

• Instrumental values – certain way of behaving is


appropriate in all situations – “means”.

• Terminal values – enduring belief in the


attainment of a certain end state – “ends”.
A moral compass

These abstract ideals can result from


• Religion
• Philosophy
• Family teachings
Instrumental values

As the means to an end they become the ingrained ways of


behavior:
• Rituals (Formal procedure)
• Politesse ( Modesty /Respectability)
• Good habits
Terminal values

With the end always in sight:


• Heaven
• Respect
• Financial Success
• Personal Independence
• Power
Ethics
• The study of moral obligation involving the distinction
between right and wrong.

• Business Ethics: right or wrong in the workplace – value


management.
14

Ethical Issues in Business


• Employee-Employer Relations
• Ex: Underperformance/ Theft of office supplies
• Employer-Employee Relations
• Ex: Sexual, verbal harassment/ Poor employee benefits
• Company-Customer Relations
• Ex: Deceptive Marketing and advertising
• Company-Shareholder Relations
• Ex: Falsifying records/ Excessive pay to top executives
• Company-Community/Public Interest
• Ex: Environmental pollution
15

Public’s Opinion of Business Ethics


• Gallup Poll finds that only 17 percent to 20 percent of
the public thought the business ethics of executives to
be very high or high

• To understand public sentiment towards business


ethics, ask three questions
• Has business ethics really deteriorated?
• Are the media reporting ethical problems more
frequently and vigorously?
• Are practices that once were socially acceptable no
longer socially acceptable?
16

Business Ethics: What Does It Really Mean?


Business Ethics: Today vs. Earlier Period
Society’s
Expectations
of Business
Expected and Actual Levels

Ethics
of Business Ethics

Ethical
Problem
Actual
Ethical
Business
Problem
Ethics

1950s Time Early


2000s
17

Business Ethics: What Does It Really


Mean?
• Ethics involves a discipline that examines good or bad
practices within the context of a moral duty

• Moral conduct is behavior that is right or wrong

• Business ethics include practices and behaviors that are


good or bad
18

Two Key Branches of Ethics


• Descriptive ethics involves describing,
characterizing and studying morality
• “What is”

• Normative ethics involves supplying and justifying


moral systems
• “What should be”
19

Conventional Approach to Business


Ethics
• Conventional approach to business ethics involves a
comparison of a decision or practice to prevailing societal
norms
• Pitfall: Ethical Relativism

Decision or Practice Prevailing Norms


20

Sources of Ethical Norms


Fellow Fellow Regions of
Workers Workers Country

Family Profession
The Individual

Conscience
Friends Employer

The Law Religious Society at


Beliefs Large
21

Ethics and the Law


• Law often represents an ethical minimum

• Ethics often represents a standard that exceeds the


legal minimum
22

Making Ethical Judgments

Behavior or compared Prevailing


act that has with norms of
been
acceptability
committed

Value judgments
and perceptions
of the observer
Ethics, Economics, and Law
Four Important Ethical Questions
• What is?

• What ought to be?

• How do we get from what is to and what ought to be?

• What is our motivation for acting ethically?


Benefits of Managing Ethics in the
Workplace
• Improves society.

• Maintains a moral course in turbulent times.

• Cultivates employee teamwork, productivity, morale and


development.

• Acts as an insurance policy.


Benefits of Managing Ethics in the
Workplace (cont’d)
• Establishes values for quality management, strategic
planning and diversity management

• Promotes strong public image

• It is the RIGHT thing to do!


Ethical Tips for Individuals
• Establish personal values

• Be aware of ethical events

• Develop critical thinking techniques

• Be reflective

• Make it a priority every day

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