Republic of the Philippines

Department of Education
National Capital Region
DIVISION OF CITY SCHOOLS – MANILA
Manila Education Center Arroceros Forest Park
Antonio J. Villegas St. Ermita, Manila

Business Ethics and

Social Responsibility
Classical Philosophies and their
implications in business practices

Quarter 1 Week 4 Module 4

Learning Competency:
Illustrate how philosophies are reflected into business practices.
ABM_ESR12-IIIe-h-2.1 Week 3
 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

HOW TO USE THIS MODULE?

Before starting the module, I want you to set aside other tasks that
will disturb you while enjoying the lessons. Read the simple
instructions below to successfully enjoy the objectives of this kit. Have
fun!

1. Follow carefully all the contents and instructions indicated

in every page of this module.
2. Write on your notebook the concepts about the lessons.
Writing enhances learning, that is important to develop
and keep in mind.
3. Perform all the provided activities in the module.
4. Let your facilitator/guardian assess your answers using the
answer key card.
5. Analyze conceptually the posttest and apply what you have
learned.
6. Enjoy studying!

PARTS OF THE MODULE

 Expectations - These are what you will be able to know after completing
the lessons in the module.
 Pre-test - This will measure your prior knowledge and the concepts to
be mastered throughout the lesson.
 Looking Back to your Lesson - This section will measure what
learnings and skills did you understand from the previous lesson.
 Brief Introduction- This section will give you an overview of the lesson.
 Activities - This is a set of activities you will perform with a partner.
 Remember - This section summarizes the concepts and applications of
the lessons.
 Check your Understanding - It will verify how you learned from the
lesson.
 Post-test - This will measure how much you have learned from the
entire module

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

LESSON
4 Foundations of the Principles of Business Ethics

EXPECTATIONS

After going through this module, you are expected to:

1. Illustrate how certain philosophies are reflected into business
practices
2. Relate the topic in real life experiences
3. Demonstrate learning by presenting own works

PRETEST

DIRECTION: Write the letter of the correct answer that best completes the
sentence.
1. ________ This philosopher has the same name with the “Head Gamemaker
in Catching Fire, Hunger Games” movie.

A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Plutarch D. Socrates E. Epicurus

2. ________This philosopher has the same name with a Congressman from

Cagayan De Oro City who is a graduate of the De La Salle University
(Ab Economics '75) and the University of the Philippines College of
Law.

A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Rufus D. Socrates E. Epicurus

3. ________This man was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the

Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato

A. Plutarch B. Rufus C. Aristotle D. Socrates E. Epicurus

4. This man was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of
the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral
philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought

A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Socrates D. Plutarch E. Epicurus

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
5. This man was from Athens, a Greek philosopher, author of an ethical
philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement. He founded
schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century BC until
the 4th century AD.

A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Epicurus D. Socrates E. Rufus

Great, you finished answering

the Pre-Test. You may request
your facilitator to check your
LOOKING BACK TO YOUR LESSON work. Congratulations and keep
on learning!

VISUAL THINKING APPROACH

Directions: Analyze the situations based on the pictures and its descriptions. Discuss
based on the hint or instructions in its opposite box, explain by writing on the
space provided for.

Business Scenario Discussion

1
An employee realized that he gave
a shortchange to a customer who already left the
store premises. The right change is 694 pesos, but he
only gave 194 pesos. Discuss what business ethics
issues present on this situation. What can be done?

A pregnant employee who

violated several attendance rules due to her physical
conditions. She is about to get fire by the HR manager
of the company. Discuss what business ethics issues
present on this situation. What can be done?

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

3
A homeless who found
shelter and comfort within the Mc Do Store perimeter
or premises. Some customers complained on the
smell. Some give him food to eat. Discuss what
business ethics issues present on this situation.
What can be done?

4 Drinking session every

Friday night after work is normal in Company A.
Those who join the drinking session get to have a
favor from the management. Those who don’t join are
already subjected to heightened scrutiny on normal
things that they do in the workplace every day.
Discuss what business ethics issues present on this
situation. What can be done?

5
To get permits and licenses
renewed on time, Company Y availed the services of
fixers to do transactions in some government offices
for the speedy renewal of permits and licenses. Extra
money is paid then. Discuss what business ethics
issues present on this situation. What can be done?

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

BRIEF INTRODUCTION

Business owners can always have something to learn from our classical
philosophers in terms of running their organizations.

Rufus, on keeping track of one’s ethical progress

Musonius Rufus was known as the Socrates of Rome. He was another Stoic,
who taught that philosophy cannot just be theoretical. If you want to be an ethical
individual or an ethical company, you can't just study ethics, you must practice
it, every day, to get into good habits. The ancient Greek word for ethics is the same
word for habit. (The Guardian, 2020)
You also need to keep track of your progress, to see how you are performing.
You cannot just rely on your intuitions, because they are often wrong. So, the
ancient Greeks learned to keep accounts of themselves. They would track their
daily behavior in journals, keeping account of how many times they lost their
temper, for example, or got too drunk. Then they could see if they were really
improving their behavior, or just going around in circles. (The Guardian, 2020)
In organizational terms, keeping track of ourselves means trying to take an
evidence-based assessment of our performance. We might say we are a green
company, but how do we know if we are making progress? We might say we are
a happy organization, but how do we know? We can keep track of this, for
example by asking our employees (anonymously) how worthwhile they feel their
job is. Then see if, in a year, we have managed to enhance their sense of
purpose. (The Guardian, 2020)
Today, we use balanced score card, where we keep track on our performance
from begging one cycle to the end.

Plutarch, on being a good role model

Plutarch, the ancient Greek historian and educator, understood that
humans are incredibly social creatures, who constantly observe the people around
them and imitate them. (The Guardian, 2020)
Unfortunately, people often grow up surrounded by bad role models.
However, we can steer people, by providing them with better patterns to imitate.
That's what Plutarch tried to do with his famous work, Parallel Lives, which offered
biographical sketches of some of the great Greek and Roman heroes – Cicero,

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Caesar, Alexander the Great, Pericles – to give young people something to emulate.
(The Guardian, 2020)
In organizational terms, that means what you say to your employees is less
important than what you do. They will watch how you behave, how you treat
others, how you cope with pressure and whether you follow through on your
promises. And they will imitate you. If you talk about ethics and then cut corners
at the first opportunity, they will follow your lead. Set a good example and they
will follow it. Plutarch would also warn that your best young employees will use
you as a bar to aim for and exceed. That's natural. Let them compete with you and
encourage them to go further. (The Guardian, 2020)

Aristotle, on letting people seek fulfillment

Aristotle was a great biologist as well as a great philosopher. He based his
ethics on a psychological theory of human nature, insisting that we are naturally
virtuous, rational, social and happiness-seeking. Governments and organizations
need to build the best systems to let humans fulfill their natural drives. Aristotle's
philosophy was an influence on Edward Deci and Richard Ryan's Self-
Determination Theory, which suggests that employees will work harder for you,
and perform better, if you give them tasks, they find meaningful and morally
worthwhile. (The Guardian, 2020)
Humans want to believe in something and to serve it. Appeal to your
employees' best nature and they will answer that call. Our employees will also be
more motivated if you give them the opportunity to feed their natural curiosity
through learning opportunities. That could be vocational training, but it could also
simply be learning about the world, ideas, culture. Does your company have an
evening or lunch-time lecture series, such as Google Talks? Could it give credits
for evening adult learning classes, as companies such as Cadbury and Ford once
did? (The Guardian, 2020)

Socrates, on daring to disagree

Socrates, one of the first philosophers, insisted on our right to think for
ourselves. Too often, he warned, humans sleepwalk through life, simply going
along with the crowd. (The Guardian, 2020)
This is dangerous in questions of morality, and particularly in corporate
governance. When corruption is uncovered, too often people say, "everyone else
was doing it". But our characters are our responsibility. Socrates was prepared to
die rather than go against his conscience. Does your organization encourage
independent thinkers, and people who follow their conscience? Does it allow

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
people to give critical feedback to managers? Does it create opportunities for good
people to blow the whistle on bad behavior? (The Guardian, 2020)

Epicurus, on the art of happiness

Epicurus was a fourth century Greek philosopher who taught, rather

scandalously, that the aim of life was simply to be as happy as possible here on
Earth, before we die and dissolve back into the atomic universe. He warned that
humans are very bad at being happy, and very good at inventing reasons to be
miserable. Philosophy should teach us how to be happy, he suggested. For
example, it could teach us how to bring our attention to the present moment, to
savor it. It could also teach us to limit our desires to what is easy to get, not
inflating our needs with endless artificially stimulated desires. (The Guardian,
2020)
Today, some companies are embracing Epicurus' philosophy, and trying to
teach their employees the art of happiness. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of American shoe
company Zappos, is so committed to the company's courses in happiness that he
sold the company to Amazon on the agreement it would be able to continue with
its unique happy culture. (The Guardian, 2020)
The Guardian Author Says that companies should be careful about forcing
all their employees to follow one philosophy of the good life. As we have seen, there
are many different approaches to achieving happiness or welfare. Perhaps
companies could create an ethical culture that embraces all these different ways
of living. (The Guardian, 2020)

ACTIVITIES

Activity 1: Venn diagram activity

Objective: Demonstrate the learning on philosophies reflected in business
Materials: Pen and Paper
Procedure:
1. Draw two overlapping circles. Label each circle
2. In each circle, fill in the characteristics of each item.
3. Identify which characteristics appear in two circles. These characteristics
go in the intersection (where the two circles overlap).
4. What are the similarities and differences that the Venn diagram illustrates?
5. After comparing the ideas, come up with your own idea on which
philosophy is the soundest for the company and explain why?

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
Guide
a. Characteristics of the company in terms of keeping track ethical
progress of each applicant of the company.
b. Characteristics of the company in terms of keeping track ethical
progress of each individual member of the company.
c. Methods of the company on how to promote each employee to a role
model for everyone.
d. How does the company deal with employees who seem to be
unsatisfied with the salaries and wages offered by the company?
e. How does the company deal with the employees who always oppose
to suggestions and changes in the management or operations?
f. How does the company manage to have a happy culture for all
employees?

Company A: McDonalds Company B: Jollibee

Modify and be creative

Try your own activity! You may design and explore more to check your
understanding. Ex. You may do other similar activity, then answer the same
question/s.

REMEMBER

Rufus, on keeping track of one’s ethical progress:

In organizational terms, keeping track of ourselves means trying to take an
evidence-based assessment of our performance. IPCRF for public school teachers,
OPCRF for offices and its heads in the Government, or Balanced Score Cards in
the private companies.

Plutarch, on being a good role model:

In organizational terms, that means what you say to your employees is less
important than what you do. They will watch how you behave, how you treat
others, how you cope with pressure and whether you follow through on your

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
promises. And they will imitate you. If you talk about ethics and then cut corners
at the first opportunity, they will follow your lead.

Aristotle, on letting people seek fulfillment:

Governments and organizations need to build the best systems to let
humans fulfill their natural drives. This suggests that employees will work harder
for you, and perform better, if you give them tasks where they find meaningful
and morally worthwhile.

Socrates, on daring to disagree:

It is about our right, as human beings, to think for ourselves. We oppose
when we think something is wrong. We see oppositions rally on the streets against
the government, or employees rally outside of the workplace against the
management.

Epicurus, on the art of happiness:

Some companies are embracing Epicurus' philosophy, and trying to teach
their employees the art of happiness. It is about work-life balance and the
organization is providing both monetary and non-monetary benefits to employees
including family time, and travel.

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Freedom of Speech Work- Life Balance Corruption

Critical Thinking Questions

1. In your own words, discuss as to how philosophies are reflected into business
practices. Give concrete examples. Develop it into a paragraph with at least 300
words.

2. Given the problem on proper waste disposal in our city, how does your learning
of this lesson can be of help to solve this environmental problem?

3. How does learning this lesson can shape your life and can create an impact to the
lives of your family? Be Specific. Ask an elder at home to comment on your answers
and it being useful in your daily life as a student.

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
4. How does learning the concept of marketing research or market research make
you a better member of your community?

5. ICT integration. Using a multimedia equipment like a computer or a mobile phone.

Create your own Audio Video Presentation (AVP) of this topic. Be sure to use
wholesome materials.

POSTTEST

DIRECTION: Write the letter of the correct answer on the space provide after each
number.
1. _______This philosopher has the same name with the “Head Gamemaker in
Catching Fire, Hunger Games” movie.

A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Plutarch D. Socrates E. Epicurus

2. _______This philosopher has the same name with a Congressman from

Cagayan De Oro City who is a graduate of the De La Salle University
(Ab Economics '75) and the University of the Philippines College of
Law.

A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Rufus D. Socrates E. Epicurus

3. _______This man was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the

Classical period in Ancient Greece. Taught by Plato

A. Plutarch B. Rufus C. Aristotle D. Socrates E. Epicurus

4. _______This man was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as

one of the founders of Western philosophy, and as being the first
moral philosopher of the Western ethical tradition of thought

A. Rufus B. Aristotle C. Socrates D. Plutarch E. Epicurus

5. _______This man was from Athens, a Greek philosopher, author of an ethical

philosophy of simple pleasure, friendship, and retirement. He founded
schools of philosophy that survived directly from the 4th century BC
until the 4th century AD.

A. Plutarch B. Aristotle C. Epicurus D. Socrates E. Rufus

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

REFLECTIVE LEARNING SHEET

Directions: Write a reflective learning on the (topic) by answering the questions

inside the box. You may express your answers in a more critical and creative
presentation of your great learning. Have fun and enjoy!

Philosophies reflect
in business What learnings have What other
practices guide me I found from this examples can I
lesson? contribute to explore
to ponder on…
and think more?

What learnings can I What good character What is my

share with my have I developed conclusion on the
family and peers? from this lesson? lesson?

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

E-SITES

https://slideplayer.com/

REFERENCES

https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/business-learn-from-
ancient-philosophers

Acknowledgements
Development Team of the Module

Writers:
Mark Vincent B. Emit, PhD
Mutya S. Capili, MBE

Editor: Isabel A. Gumaru, DBA

Evaluator: Ellaine I. Dela Cruz, DBA

Validators & Reviewers:

Remylinda T. Soriano, EPS, Math
Angelita Z. Modesto, PSDS
George B. Borromeo, PSDS

Management Team:
Maria Magdalena M. Lim. CESO V,
Schools Division Superintendent-Manila,
Aida H. Rondilla-Chief Education Supervisor
Lucky S. Carpio-EPS
Lady Hannah C Gillo, Librarian II-LRMS

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 Learning Module for Business Ethics and Social Responsibility

ANSWER KEY

PRETEST:

I.

1. C
2. C
3. C
4. C
5. C

LOOKING BACK TO YOUR LESSON

Rubrics:
4 Expert – Piece is extraordinary, and very informative and well organized
3 Accomplished – Piece has an interesting style, and somewhat informative and organized.
2 Capable – Piece has little style, gives some new information but poorly organized.
1 Beginner - Piece has no style and gives no new information and very poorly organized.

ACTIVITIES:

Activity 1:

Rubrics:
4 Expert – Piece is extraordinary, and very informative and well organized
3 Accomplished – Piece has an interesting style, and somewhat informative and organized.
2 Capable – Piece has little style, gives some new information but poorly organized.
1 Beginner - Piece has no style and gives no new information and very poorly organized.

Activity 2:

Rubrics:
4 Expert – Piece is extraordinary, and very informative and well organized
3 Accomplished – Piece has an interesting style, and somewhat informative and organized.
2 Capable – Piece has little style, gives some new information but poorly organized.
1 Beginner - Piece has no style and gives no new information and very poorly organized.

CHECK YOUR UNDERSTANDING

Activity 1:

Rubrics:
4 Expert – Piece is extraordinary, and very informative and well organized
3 Accomplished – Piece has an interesting style, and somewhat informative and organized.
2 Capable – Piece has little style, gives some new information but poorly organized.
1 Beginner - Piece has no style and gives no new information and very poorly organized.

POSTTEST

I. Multiple Choice

1. D
2. B
3. B
4. C
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