unit 1 moral philosophy and business

7/31/2019 Unit 1 Moral Philosophy and Business

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Unit 1Moral Philosophy

and Business


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WHAT IS ETHICSETHICS in Latin language is called Ethicus and in Greek , it is called

Ethikos. Infact, this word has originated from Ethos, meaning character,

norms, morals and ideals.

Ethics may be referred to some standardized form of conduct or behavior of

individuals understood and accepted in a particular field of activity

Ethics is a mass of moral principles or set of values about what conduct ought

to be. They give an idea what is right or wrong, true of false, fair or unfair, just

or unjust, proper or improper, e.g. Honesty, obedience, equality, fairness, etc

and respect and then doing the right thing

Simply stated, ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human

beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as

friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and

so on.


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Character

of a man

Conduct

of a person

Series

Of actions

Good or Bad,

Right or

Wrong, Moral

or Immoral


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Ethics is a branch of philosophy and is considered a normative science

because it is concerned with the norms of human conduct, as

distinguished from formal sciences such as mathematics and logic,physical sciences such as chemistry and physics, and empirical sciences

such as economics and psychology.

Ethics, as a science, involves systemizing, defending and recommendingconcepts of right and wrong behaviour.

The principles of ethical reasoning are useful tools for sorting out the

good and bad components within complex human interactions.

For this reason, the study of ethics has been at the heart of intellectual

thought and its ongoing contribution to the advancement of knowledge

and science makes ethics a relevant, if not vital, aspect of management

theor .


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Principles of Personal Ethics

Personal values are the conception of what an individual or a group

regards as desirable.

Personal ethics refer to the application of these values in everything one

does.

Personal ethics might also be called morality, since they reflect generalexpectation of any person in any society, acting in any capacity.

The principles of personal ethics are:

1. Concern and respect for the autonomy of others.

2. Honesty and the willingness to comply with the law.

3. Fairness and the ability not to take any undue advantage of others.

4. Benevolence and preventing harm to any creature.


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Principles of Professional Ethics

A profession is a vocation founded upon specialised educational

training, the purpose of which is to supply disinterested counsel and

service to others, for a direct and definite compensation, for example,

the profession of a doctor, advocate, professor, scientist or a business

manager.

A professional is a person who prosecutes anything professionally, or

for a livelihood.

Professional behavior in a work place means you conduct yourself in a

way that represents your company at all times. Proper attire, respect for

co-workers as well as management, speaking without bad language and

keep personal conversations, phone calls and emails to a minimum.

In other words.. Work is not the place for Fun..


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WHEN AND WHERE DO WE

DEVELOP ETHICAL VALUES?

According to those who study the history

and philosophy of ethics, infants would not

survive without a nurturer who teaches

them about right and wrong behavior. In

human society, a series of nurturer and

teachers influence the ethical views ofeach individual.


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Business Ethics

Business ethics means the scale where you measure the do's or don't

for the purpose of the future of business.

Ethical business behavior is expected by the public, it facilitates andpromotes good to society, improves profitability, fosters business

relations and employee productivity, reduces criminal penalties from

public authority and regulators, protects business against

unscrupulous employees and competitors, protect employees from

harmful actions by their employer, and allows people in business to

act consistently with their personal ethical beliefs.

Business ethics is based on the principle of integrity and fairness and

concentrates on the benefits to the stakeholders, both internal and

external. Stakeholders include those individuals and groups without which the

organisation does not have existence.

It includes shareholders, creditors, employees, customers, dealers,

vendors, government and the society.


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Carter McNamara has defined: Business ethics is generally coming to

know what is right and wrong in the workplace and doing what is right-

this is in regard to efforts of products/ services and in relationships with

stakeholders.Business ethics set the standard for how your business is conducted.

They define the value system of how your operate in the marketplace

and within your business. With legal scandals concerning insider trading

and employee theft making the news, it is no wonder that businesses are

increasingly giving attention to the ethical basis of their business andhow to lead in an ethical way.

While the examples above seem to be clear cut breaches of ethics, many

ethical dilemmas that not so clear cut are faced on a daily basis in

business. In fact, there may not even be a "right" or "wrong" answer tothe dilemma, but how you deal with it will say much about you and your

business. These decisions are often referred to as being in the "gray"

area. They are not black-or-white, but could be argued appropriately

either way.


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How To Resolve Ethical Dilemmas In Business

In todays business, the workforce comprises of people who are diverse

in their nationality, religion, caste, race, age, education and even

socioeconomic status.

They are all expected to work together as a team towards the success of

the organization.

Dilemmas are bound to rise in issues such as downsizing the staff,pollution control, toxic waste disposal, utilization of resources, changes

in law and technology, issues related to discrimination, employee rights

and even on product quality.

All these issues are relatively complex and are difficult to resolve.

Entrepreneurial managers have to rely on their individual judgment

while resolving all these different dilemmas related to business.


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Ethical resolution of conflicts requires discussion, analysis,

problem solving and decision making.

In order to resolve ethical dilemmas, managers need to

have interpersonal communication and negotiation skills,

conflict resolution skills and critical thinking.

Before making any decision, one has to analyze all the

positive and negative consequences that are connected with

the issue.


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Here is an example.

Ritu has been operating a consulting business for about a year and has

been doing very well.

About a month ago, she decided she needed to hire someone to help her.

After interviewing several candidates, she decided to hire the best one

of the group, Gita.

She called Gita on Monday to tell her she had gotten the job.

They both agreed that she would start the following Monday and thatGita could come in and fill out all of the hiring paperwork at that time.

On Tuesday, of the same week, a friend of Ritu's called her to say that

she had found the perfect person for Ritu.

Ritu explained that she had already hired someone, but the friendinsisted. "Just meet Pooja.

Who knows, maybe you might want to hire her in the future!" Rather

reluctantly, Ritu consented. "All right, if she can come in tomorrow, I'll

meet with her, but that's all." "Oh, I'm so glad. I just know you're going

to like her!" Ritu's friend exclaimed.


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And Ritu did like her. She like her a lot. Ritu had met with Pooja on

Wednesday morning.

She was everything that Ritu had been looking for and more. In terms of

experience, Pooja far surpassed any of the candidates Ritu had

previously interviewed, including Gita.

On top of that, she was willing to bring in clients of her own which

would only increase business.

All in all, Ritu knew this was a win-win situation. But what about Gita?

She had already given her word to Gita that she could start work onMonday.

And yet she only had the resources to hire one person at this point.

Clearly, the best business decision was to hire Pooja.

But what about the ethical decision? If her business did poorly or Gitacouldn't provide enough support, the business would suffer.

As a result, her family would suffer. Money was already tight, what with

two boys in college.

And yet she knew Gita also had a family she was supporting. Plus, she

had been so enthusiastic about starting to work.


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Obviously, Ritu had a problem - an ethical problem.

Should she hire Gita (whom she'd already given her word) or Pooja

(who was obviously the best person for the job)?

Questions like these touch on our deepest values.

Depending on who you would ask, you would get strong arguments for

both decisions.

This is what we mean when we talk about "gray" area. So what is the

answer?According to Kenneth Blanchard and Norman Vincent Peale, authors of

The Power of Ethical Management, there are three questions you should

ask yourself whenever you are faced with an ethical dilemma.

Is it legal?In other words, will you be violating any criminal laws, civil laws or

company policies by engaging in this activity?


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Is it balanced?

Is it fair to all parties concerned both in the short-term as well as the

long-term? Is this a win-win situation for those directly as well asindirectly involved?

Is it right?

Most of us know the difference between right and wrong, but when push

comes to shove, how does this decision make you feel about yourself?

Are you proud of yourself for making this decision? Would you like

others to know you made the decision you did?

Most of the time, when dealing with "gray decisions", just one of these

questions is not enough. But by taking the time to reflect on all three,

you will often times find that the answer becomes very clear.


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What is not Business Ethics?

Ethics Is Different From Religion

Though all religions preach high ethical/moral standards generally, theydo not address all the types of problems people confront today.

For instance, cyber crimes and environment-related issues are totally

new in the context of most religions.

Moreover, many persons today do not subscribe to religious beliefs andhave turned agnostics.

But ethics applies to all people, irrespective of their religious

affiliations.


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Ethics Is not synonymous With Law

Ethics is not following the law.

A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but law

can deviate from what is ethical.

Law can be a function of power alone and designed to serve the

interests of narrow groups.

Law may have a difficult time designing or enforcing standards in some

important areas, and may be slow to address new problems.Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms.

Some cultures are quite ethical, but others become corrupt -or blind to

certain ethical concerns (as the United States was to slavery before the

Civil War).

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do" is not a satisfactory ethical

standard.

For instance, our system of castes reflects an unethical streak in as much

as it tends to take for granted that some people are superior to others in

Gods creation.


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Ethics is not the same as feelings.

Feelings provide important information for our ethical choices. Some

people have highly developed habits that make them feel bad when they

do something wrong, but many people feel good even though they aredoing something wrong.

And often our feelings will tell us it is uncomfortable to do the right

thing if it is hard.

Ethics is not science. Social and natural science can provide important data to help us make

better ethical choices.

But science alone does not tell us what we ought to do.

Science may provide an explanation for what humans are like. But ethics provides reasons for how humans ought to act.

And just because something is scientifically or technologically possible,

it may not be ethical to do it.


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Code of Conduct and Ethics for Managers

Managers must observe the following ethical values:

Responsiveness to the public interest

Accountability

Honesty

Transparency

Integrity

Impartiality


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Global Ethical Issues

Wages and hours

Child labour

Discrimination

Legal and ethical business practices

Product safety and quality

Environment


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FACTORS THAT AFFECT ETHICALBEHAVIOUR

MODERATORS

INDIVIDUALCHRACTERECTICS

ORGNIZATIONALCULTURE

ISSUEINTENSITY

STRUCTURALCHARECTERISTICSOF ORGANIZATION

STAGES OFMORAL

DEVELOPMENT

ETHICALDILEMA

ETHICAL /UNETHICALBEHAVIOUR


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What causes unethicalbehaviour

Stress

Confusion

Pressure to perform at expected levels

Competition within the industry

No knowledge


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Some of the Unethical Businesspractices are :

Cutting corners on quality

Covering up incidents

Abusing or lying Lying customers

Stealing from the company

Taking credits from co-workers ideas/work Taking or giving bribe


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Government corruption

Financial scandals

Product safety

discrimination

Sexual harassment

Firing an employee for whistle blowing

Divulging confidential information

Unethical business practices(contd)


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Whats in it for me to be

ethical?

-A more accurate perception of the world around you, follow yourconscience.

-Have the courage to do what is right and do try new things evenwhen it is hard or costly.

-Dont loose heart if you fail or dont get what you want

-A stronger personality, and greater likelihood of being happy inlife

unit 1 moral philosophy and business

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