Business ethics lecture 1

Shea, 1988  “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a profession”  “standards of behaviour”  Ethical Standards  Help to guide decisions and actions  Whether Individua

Business Ethics

 Open but within etiquettes

Ethics - Origin

 Ethos (Greek)

 “Character” and “sentiment of the community”

 Ethikos (Greek) – authority of custom and

Carroll & Gannon (1997)

 Specific Def (Shea, 1988)

 “the principles of conduct governing an individual or a profession”

 “standards of behaviour”

 Ethical Standards

 Help to guide decisions and actions

 Whether Individual, corporations, professions, nations

 “rules or standards that govern

behaviours” (Toffler, 1986)

Ethics Defined

 “Customary norms and ways of behaving in a

society” (Hegel)

 “Character” and “sentiment of the community”

 “the principles of conduct governing an individual or

a profession….standards of behaviour” (Shea, 1988)

 “rules or standards that govern behaviours” (Toffler, 1986)

 “the basic ground rules by which individual acts We often give complex explanations of our actions, but

in fact we act for simple reasons The ground rules are a framework for defining which actions are

personally permissible, and which are not”

(Drummond & Bain,1994)

Ethics Defined (Contd.)

 “how people try to live their lives according to a standard of “right” and “wrong” behaviour – in both how we think and behave towards others and how we would like them to think and behave towards us.” (Ghillyer, 2010)

 Help to guide decisions and actions

 Whether Individual, corporations, professions,

nations

Business Ethics

 “Business ethics is the study of how personal moral

norms apply to the activities and goals of commercial enterprise It is not a separate moral standard, but the study of how the business context poses its own unique problems for the moral person who acts as an agent of this system” (Laura Nash)

 Falls into three basic areas of managerial decision

making

 Choices about the law

 Choices about the economic and social issues that are

beyond the law’s domain

 Choices about the pre-eminence of one’s own self-interest

Business Ethics (Contd.)

 “Business ethics involves the application of

standards of moral behaviour to business

situations” (Ghillyer, 2010)

 The application of ethical standards to business behaviour

 “the principles and standards that guide

behaviour in the world of business” (O.C Ferrell)

Business Ethics (Contd.)

 Who determines the actions as right or wrong

 Harris Interactive Poll – perception of trust

 Enron, WorldCom, Anderson Worldwide, Global Crossing, Adelphia etc.

 Involvement of individuals, Corporations, Govt

officials, Researchers, Sports

 Judgement of decisions – SOCIETY

 Reasons

 Loyalty to employer – loyalty to ideals

 Major Ethical Dilemmas

 Heightened environment concerns

 Public pressure over business accountability

 Compliance with law

 Foreign Corrupt Practices Act

 Values movement

Developments (Cntd.)

 1980s

 Ethical Climate

 Social contract

 Stringent rules – defence contractor

 Downsizing & loyalty to employer eroded

 Health care emphasized

 Code of Ethics for Government Service - 1980

 Defence industry initiative

 Ethic officers – Ombudsman

 False Claims Act

 Unsafe work practices -3rd world

 Increased corporate liability

 Financial mismanagement and fraud

Developments (Cntd.)

 2000s

 Ethical Climate

 Economic growth – financial failures

 High profile firms

 Personal data

 Hackers & data thieves

 Aggression and fundamentalism

Ethical Culture and Benefits

 The Caux Round Table

 NAFTA, WTO, EU,

Levels of BE

International Level Societal Level Association Level Organizational level Individual level

End of Session

 Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases By O.C Ferrell, John Fraedrich and Linda Ferrell

 Write down your strengths and

weaknesses on a page and

submit

Outline Chap1 & 2

 The importance of Business Ethics

 Understanding Business Ethics