Professional Documents
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Chapter1 PDF
Chapter1 PDF
1- What is Ethics?
Ethics via Latin ethica from the Ancient Greek [] "moral philosophy",
from the adjective of thos "custom, habit"), a major branch of philosophy.
= The study of values and customs of a person or group. It covers the analysis and
employment of concepts such as right and wrong, good and evil, and responsibility
Value= investigates how people positively and negatively value things and concepts
It has long been commonplace for firms to move production and low-skill jobs from their
home countries, to other which offer lower production costs, in foreign countries. Including
lower labor issues, these practices sometimes result in unfavorable publicity and may even
expose fundamental issues associated with potential human right violations. Child labor is one
of the most denunciated practices nowadays. One in every eight children in the world is still
subjected to the worst forms of child labor, which endangers the child's physical, mental or
moral well-being. The exploitation of children through child labor occurs in more than two-
thirds of all countries in the world.
- Discriminations
The United Nations 1948 Declaration of Human Rights promoted the concept that All human
beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. Unfortunately, in the workforce, people
are often victim of discrimination.
Discrimination at work could be sex discrimination. The Sex discrimination Act 1975 makes
it unlawful for an individual to be discriminated against in the workplace in relation to
selection for a job, training, promotions, work practices, dismissal or any other disadvantage
such as sexual harassment.
Discrimination is divided into two main categories, direct and indirect discrimination. Direct
discrimination occurs where a person is treated differently on the grounds of their gender.
Indirect discrimination is where an employer applies a requirement or policy, which though
on the face of it has nothing to do with gender, in practice tends to affect one sex rather than
another.
Bribery is the deliberate attempt to persuade someone (usually in a position of power and
authority) to act usually in favor of the briber by offering money or gifts or material gain.
Bribery has been the root of corruption in many countries and is considered an unethical
behavior for companies. Bribery occurs when property or personal advantage is offered,
without the authority of law.
- Overtime work
Often, companies ask their employees to do overtime, to avoid new employments and often
people are unpaid for these hours.
Around 15% of the employees declared that they worked overtime.
In some cases, overtime is an indirect way for companies to threaten their employees. Most of
the time employees show enthusiasm and hold on to their positions within the company.
Furthermore, sometimes the work is exciting and people voluntarily work over and above
their regular hours without asking for remuneration.
Employers use the tolerant employee attitude towards overtime work to their advantage and
do not offer payment.
- Environment
One of the most modern debates concerning the business ethics is the show of respect for the
environment by the companies. Indeed, companies are often accused to be unethical by the
non-respect of the environment. Companies should respect the environment, either in a legal
or moral sense.
Although products produced in an environmentally unfriendly way may appear at first to be
cheaper, the cost to the purchaser is not the final cost. Damage to the environment is paid for
by increases in ill health, and irreversible loss of biodiversity.
Companies do not always health and safety regulations. There are those who employ people
in bad and/or illegal conditions, especially in factories, for example the utilization of toxins
and using un-safe machinery.
This is usually to achieve and a high turnover of produce therefore a higher profit.
- Animal testing
Animals are routinely used to test the safety of consumer products before their products are
launched on the market.
Indeed, this knowledge can be used in the medical field for the benefit of humans, like
diseases.