BUSINESS ETHICS

Greek word
Ethos-

custom or character of ethics:

Etymology

Individual character Rules that govern and limit our conduct Ultimate rules concerning right and wrong

 Look

up for the meaning of ethics in dictionary. Ethical is what my feelings tell me is right. But this is not a fixed standard

Morality
Morality

refers to human conduct and values and ethics refers to the study of those areas. The standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong or good and evil.

Characteristics of moral standards

Behavior

that is of serious concern for human welfare. priority over other standards.

Takes

Depends

upon adequacy of the reasons that support or justify them.

 Involved

benefits. Not established by law or legislature. Should be preferred to other values including self-interest. Based on impartial considerations. Associated with special emotions and vocabulary.

with serious injuries or

Etiquette

Refers

to any special code of behavior or courtesy

Law
Statutes,

regulations, common law and constitutional law. action can be illegal but morally right.

An

An

action that is legal can be morally wrong.

To summarize moral standards

That Are

are of serious consequence.

not changed or established by the decisions of particular authoritative bodies. Are preferred to other values
Special

emotion and special vocabulary

 Normative

ethics-what things are good or bad or what actions are right or wrong. ethics-It just describes the world without reaching any conclusions

Descriptive

 Business

ethics is a specialized study of moral right and wrong that concentrates on moral standards as that apply to business institutions , organizations and behavior.

Kinds of ethical issues

Systemicsocial systems or institutions within which business operates. Corporate-An individual company taken as a whole Individual- a particular individual or individuals within a company and their behaviors and decisions.

Where do moral standards come from?

Our

early upbringing Our peers behavior Explicit and implicit standards of our culture Experiences Critical experiences

Difference between morality and ethics.

Ethics

is the discipline that examines ones moral standards.

Ethics

will determine whether the standards are reasonable or unreasonable in order to apply them to concrete situations and issues.

 Although

ethics deals with morality, it is not quite the same as morality. Ethics is a kind of investigation and includes both the activity of investigating as well as the results of that investigation. Morality is the subject matter that ethics investigates.

PrisonersDilemma
Two

prisoners Both disagree If one confesses and the other doesnt-the one who keeps quiet gets 3 years jail If both confess, each gets two years jail. If neither admits then they get 1 year jail

Professional code
Members

of a profession abide by some codes.

Client confidentiality Professional etiquette Billing of services to other professionals

The case for ethics in Business

Ethics

should govern all voluntary human activities. businesses require a stable society.

All

For

multinational to operate in more than one country.

 Ethics

applies to all human activities. Business cannot survive without ethics Ethics is consistent with profit seeking. Customers and employees care about ethics. Prisoners dilemma argument

Why some feel ethics is not required?

In

a free market economy the pursuit of profit will ensure maximum social benefit. A managers most important obligation is to the company. Business ethics is limited to obeying the law.

 The

philosophical issues is whether the principles we have can be justified?