Module-II

Business Ethics
Understanding Business Ethics
Chapter-6

 Meaning of Business Ethics

Business ethics means how a business can be conducted ethically. It
helps businessmen in determining the difference between the correct
and incorrect and ethical and unethical activities. A set of moral
standards is provided by business ethics which helps in carrying-out
business ethically.
To consider business ethics each and every person is engaged in
executing and administrating business and it is required to adhere to
these moral standards. Business ethics is a type of applied ethics as it is
the application of ethical values, codes and principles and preferences to
be followed by the organisations.
According to Andrew Crane, “Business ethics is the study of business
situations, activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are
addressed”.

 Characteristics of Business Ethics

Characteristics of business ethics are-

 Provide Boundaries:- Business is like an individual as it is also

regulated by laws and restrictions made by society. Not only social
environment, business is also regulated with cultural, legal and
economic environment.
 Explains Relationship between Business and Society:- Business
ethics includes conditions and principles which define the
relationship between business and society.
 Linked with the Society:- Business is an important institution in a
society. Business ethics focuses on the fact that business should
first positively contribute for the betterment of the society and
then for itself.
 Embraces Values:- Business and society are linked with each
other. Working of business has direct and indirect impact on the
society. Business ethics embraces several ethical and moral values
 with which businessman can check and control his activities
considering the betterment of the society.
 Relative Term:- Different words have different meaning at
different places. An action is considered as unethical in some
countries and can be understood as ethical in other countries.
Example- bribery, betting etc.
 Analytical in Nature:- Business ethics is both standardised and
positive in nature as it examines the situations in the same way as
they happen.
 Investigative Nature:- To understand the ethical and unethical
actions in business, business ethics investigate several processes,
procedures and techniques used in business.
 Assessing Nature:- Business ethics not only diagnoses processes
and procedures of business but also assesses these processes and
procedures to determine whether an organisation is working
ethically or not.
 Recommending Nature:- Business ethics recommends several
methods to reduce the wrong doings and bring firm out of the
vicious circle of immoral doings and remain ethical.

 Scope of Business Ethics

The scope of business ethics are-

 Business Ethics at societal Level-

 Focus towards poor and exploited sectors of the
society.
 Equal treatment for all sections and groups.
 Ensure that business activities are not harmful for the
environment.
 Conserve scarce and depleting resources.
 Help in raising the standard of living of the society at
large.

 Business Ethics at Stakeholders Level-

 Employees
 Conducive work environment
 Better recommendations
 Participative management
  Well amenities
 Job securities.

 Customers
 Improvised quality of goods.
 Availability of goods and services at
reasonable cost.
 Fair pricing
 Transparency about product
information.
 Shareholders
 Surety of raise in capital
 Regular dividends to the investors
 Transparency between organisation and
shareholders
 Safeguard shareholders interest in any
situations
 Banks and other Lending Institution
 Ensuring security of borrowed funds
 Quick settlement of loans
 Government
 Following instructions and protocols
 Payment of taxes and duties timely
 Proper involvement in the growth of the
country
 Business Ethics at Internal Policy Level
 Impartial policies related to recruitment and
employee appraisal
 Motivation to employees for achieving higher
objectives in life
 Proper communication in organisation.
 Business Ethics at Personal Policy Level
 Not to mistreat others for personal benefits
 Non-involvement in policies for individual growth
 Increased chance of promotion
 No personal usage of official resources and amenities
 Encouraging mutual trust
 Co-operation among employees
 Fair practice for personal gain
 Promotion of non-violence
  Value of assets and resources.

 Need of Business Ethics:-

Need of business ethics are-

 Protect Consumer Rights- As today’s consumers are the
kings of the market so all business keep focus to fulfil their
needs. But actually businessmen are keen to earn profit for
themselves instead taking care of consumer’s interest.
Business ethics is required to protect consumer rights by
implementing different rules and regulations by the
government.
 Socially Accountable- If any organisation exploits
employees and customers unethically then business ethics
is a tool to make an organisation socially answerable and
accountable for its activities to protect consumer, society,
employees and natural resources.
 Introducing Socialism- Business ethics helps in introducing
theory of socialism in a country. The success and growth of
any business depends on stakeholders, employees,
creditors, customers etc.
 Protect Small-Scale Industries- Business ethics helps small-
scale industries to stand in the market by providing ethical
standards and code of conduct.
 Consumer Strength- Consumers are nowadays becoming
more aware of their rights due to increase consumer
knowledge and awareness.
 Strengthening Business Society Relationships- Business
ethics helps in strengthening the connection between
business and society by ethically helping each other.
 Focus Shifts from Sellers to Buyers- Now focus has shifted
from sellers to buyers to satisfy customers.
 Benefits to Business and Society- Business ethics helps to
protect consumer and employees interest, promote healthy
competition and sustaining values and morals of society for
the growth of the society.
 Ethical Principles In Business
Ethical principles in business are-

 Be Credible:- Business should be based on credibility and it

explains that customers can do business with an organisation only
if they have faith and confidence in the organisation.
 Be Broad Minded:- For the success of a company, leaders of
company should be broad-minded. They should be willing to
consider ideas of others.
 Fulfil Liabilities:- No business can go through good times forever.
There are also the situations of crisis. So, businessmen should try
to fulfil their liabilities to keep faith of the creditors.
 True Documentation:- One of the important principles of business
ethics is documentation. Organisations reach to their customers
through advertisements, pamphlets, brochures etc. and all these
would provide correct, clear, concrete information.
 Involvement in Society:- business should actively contribute to
the society for its betterment. For this, business should indulge in
social activities and solve the social problems.
 Proper Check of Financial Statements:- Companies should make
proper records of accounting and financial statements. This helps
to depict the true financial conditions of a company.
 Respect others:- Respect can be gained only by giving respect to
others. Businessmen should treat everyone with humility and
dignity.

 Types of Business Ethics

Naturally there are 4 types of business ethics-

 General Business Ethics:- It is concerned with the basics of

business and to fulfil one objective of company. It includes
corporate social responsibility to maintain ethical rights and
liabilities. It also should take the ethical liabilities regarding trust,
ethical rights and liabilities of stakeholders.
 Functional Business Ethics:- Business includes several functions
like production, marketing, HR, finance etc. Functional business
ethics refers to ethical issues which arise in the functional areas of
business and ethical guidelines to solve those issues.
  International Business Ethics:- It is considered from 1970 and got
pick from the year1991 due to globalisation and unethical issues
also started to occurring at global level . Issues like collaborating
values of different countries also increase inclination towards
international business ethics.
 Ethics of Economic System:- Ethics of economic systems is related
with policies and programmes of government regarding financial
system, disbursement of funds, etc. It checks whether funds are
distributed fairly or not among industries.

 Factors Highlighting the Importance of Business Ethics

Business ethics can be derived from society. Factors that highlight the
importance of business ethics are-

 Social Institutions:- Different social institutions exist in a

society family, school, religion, government. These
institutions are also linked with each other. Individuals
acquire the values taught by these institutions.
 Organisational Goals:- Ethics in business is also affected by
goals and objectives of organisation. Companies have to
make decisions to achieve their goals. These decisions can
be in contradiction to the ethical values of managers.
 Work and Career:- One of the important factors affecting
business ethics is work and career. Work means the job or
tasks to be performed by the individual whereas career is
systematic arrangement of different work profiles of an
individual during his lifetime.
 Superiors:- It also affect ethical values of subordinates.
Subordinates are forced to do activities which are beyond
the ethical boundaries.
 Peers and Colleagues:- These are the other factors which
affect ethical values of an individual. An individual cannot
work alone. He has to make informal relationship with peer
and co-workers also. Group norms are the standards to be
followed by all group members.
 Professional Codes:-These are the codes made by the
management to influence the actions of members of their
organisation. There are several professional organisations
 are in India Iike ICWAI, ICAI, AIMA etc. who control and look
after the ethical aspects of the employees, organisations,
consumers and society.

 Myths About Business Ethics

Myths and realities of business ethics consists with –

 Business Ethics Considered as concept of Religion than that of

Management:- The purpose of business ethics is not to modify the
soul and beliefs of people, instead it aims to manage the conflicts
among them.
 Needless to concentrate if Employees are Ethical:- Managers face
various ethical dilemmas at the workplace and most of them are
very complex. It is related with honesty, courtesy, golden rule etc.
 Direction of Business Ethics Effectively by Philosophers:-
Managers and leaders do not often participate in the programmes
of business ethics, which develops a belief in people that business
ethics has nothing or very little applicability in the routine
operation operations of a company.
 Business Ethics is about Good Person:- By expressing grief for the
bad business situations, some writers look like that they are
projecting their high moral standards.
 Business Ethics Ensure Good Practices:- Most of the people
believe that business is a new concept whereas it was formulated
2000 years ago.
 Business Ethics relate to Social Responsibility:- The movement of
social is just a part of the wide concept of business ethics. It
relates with corporate world and it is related to business and
society that evaluate business.
 Less relevancy of Business Ethics:- Managing workplace ethics is
all about arranging the moral values according to their importance
and then behaving in accordance with it; this practice is known as
‘Value management’. It is important to consider TQM(Total
Quality Management), Diversity Management, Strategic
Management etc.
 Ambiguity in Business Ethics
The word ambiguity means “unclear or uncertain”. The examples
of ethical ambiguity are –

 Consumers believed that Listerine mouthwash is used for

oral infections like – sore throat, bacteria etc. due to its
ambiguous advertisement. That’s why FTC ordered Listerine
to make disclaimer to eliminate the confusion.
 Sara Lee is the consumer goods company. While promoting
the light classics desserts the message which reaches to
consumer was that it contains low calories than other
deserts of Sara Lee but when the media asked the concept
of light she said that light here is in the context of texture
and not calories.
As the consumers are free to make interpretations like what
they want to make, it does not mean that advertisers are free
from the liability of delivering clear information. Advertisers
need to provide clear information about their products.
Therefore, the responsibility of the manufacturers and
advertisers increase as the advertisement is dependent on
interpretation.

 Meaning and Definition of Ethical Values

Values display an individual’s ability to choose between right
and wrong. Values are major determinant of how an individual
behaves. An individual’s conduct, thought process, level of
motivation and personality traits clearly reflects his/her values.
These are inculcated in such a manner that they stay with an
individual for long –term. In organisation managers design and
encourage ethical values for employees of the organisation.

According to Stephen P. Robbins, “Values are specific mode of

conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially
preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end-
state of existence”.
 Characteristics of Ethical Values
The characteristics of ethical values show-

 Social Phenomenon- In society, a number of individuals share

their cultural practices and values. Culture is not an individual
behaviour, nature or perception. It consists with behaviour of an
entire group and social pressure leads to formation of these
groups.
 Integral Cultural Part- People needs to follow the culture which is
practices in their societies. Values along with ideas and attitudes
constitute culture.
 Learned Phenomenon- Being a member of a particular
community the values have to be learnt by human beings unlike
animals. Human should react and behave in a certain manner in
response to different situations.
 Taught- values need to be taught through certain institutes or
specific bodies throughout generations. The first and foremost
teaching takes place in one’s own family followed by schools,
religious institutions, cultural groups, etc.
 Reward for Acceptable Values- Society tends to appreciate and
promote acceptable values but when these values do not meet
the biological needs of society members, they are rejected
completely and become unacceptable.
 Adaptive Ability of Values- Different groups in the society adapt
values slowly. In a situation where any culture or value is confined
to a specific group, other groups tend to introduce a new value
system for themselves which is based on a revolution.

 Objectives of Ethical Values

The objectives of ethical values are-

 To Develop Human Spirit- Values aim at utilising an individual’s

potential to the fullest and developing his/her spirit.
 To transform Human Nature- Values form the basis of human
behaviour and aim to transform human nature, promote
innovation and ensure better human development.
  To Ensure Growth- Another objective of values is to ensure waste
reduction, develop potential to face hardships and unceasing
growth.
 Self- Management- Values aim at providing a situation in which
none of the parties lose. They also ensure an individual’s self-
management.
 To Develop Business- By facilitating group thoughts and creative
ideas, values help the business to develop and function efficiently.
 To Give Guidance- In the events where an organisation is not sure
of the future course of action, values play the role of a guide.
 To Give Feedback- An important objective of values is to provide
effective feedback.
 To Maintain and Develop Relationships- Values are at building,
maintaining and developing relationships.
 To Construct Culture- A strong culture is constructed by values.
 To Ensure Employee Familiarity- Both new and old employees are
able to familiarise with each other through values.
 To Facilitate Decision Making- Values help in efficient decision
making and aim at resolving conflicts.

 Types of Values
There are naturally two types of values-

 Terminal Values- The ultimate goals of an individual are

represented by terminal values. These goals may be security of
family status, sense of achievement, luxurious life, etc. In case of
organisations, the terminal values are accountability, creativity,
perfection, moral values, qualitative services, economy and
revenues.
 Instrumental Values- The ways or methods used by an individual
to achieve the desired objectives are known as instrumental
values. Those can be truthfulness, trustworthiness, honesty,
clarity of goals, determination or imagination power. The
instrumental values adopted by organisations are respect for
customs, alertness, hard work, being economical, innovation,
being ethical, fairness, risk-taking and setting high qualitative
standards.
 Classification of Values
Basically values can be classified in 9 phases-

 Human Values- It consists with honesty, peacefulness, affection,

truthfulness, trustworthiness i.e., values which are generally expected
out of each and every individual.
 Social Values- The values practiced and followed within a specific
society, group or culture by individuals having common requirements
and interests are known as social values. These values are aimed at
welfare of society. Social values can be mutual harmony, acceptance,
patience, respect, understanding, assistance etc.
 Business Values- In order to meet the customer’s needs and to satisfy
them, businesses follow certain ethical and fair practices which are
known as business values. Business values ensure transparent and fair
business dealings. These include sensible profit earning and working
under the legal framework.
 Community Values- These are recommended by specific institutions,
ethnic associations, community clubs etc. Most prominent of these
recommendations come from “Gram Panchayats” in rural areas. These
values are designed and practiced for well-being of communities.
 Family Values- The mutual behaviour which we expect from children
towards their elders and vice-versa comes under family values. These
values encompass the relationship between family members and the
level of respect for each other irrespective of being a nuclear or joint
family.
 Professional Values- The values prescribed for various professionals for
their ethical conduct, morality and good behaviour with clients are
termed as professional values.
 National Values- With the aim of spreading national peace, unity, and
maintaining harmony among different communities the citizens of a
country have several rights and duties. These are collectively known as
national values.
 Secular Values- It treats each individual equally irrespective of the caste,
religion and superiority. These values are practical in nature and are
based on scientific facts rather than religion based discriminations.
 Spiritual Values- It has a significant effect on human being. In
spirituality, an individual works with complete dedication to satisfy or
fulfil needs of others. A manager must be able to assess the good as well
as bad impacts of his/her decisions or activities. So, it enhance the
conscious level of an individual.

 Importance of Ethical Values-

The importance of ethical values are-

 Develops Thoughts- Positive values help an employee to develop

his/her thought process which in turn enhances work
performance. On the other hand, low value levels adversely affect
an employee’s career and leads to punishment at times.
 Enhances Motivation Level- Values play a crucial role in
determining the rewards an employee deserves. Irrespective of
the monetary or non-monetary nature of rewards, employers give
due attention to what the employees prefer. The entire
motivation system is linked to values.
 Guides Behaviours- The patterns of behaviour and beliefs followed
by individuals and organisations are guided by value systems. Mere
preaching of values is not enough until it is practiced and imbibed.
 Helps in Bringing Change- Organisations are united through values.
Values also facilitate organisational change when they are re-
assessed and brought in line with the organisational objectives.
 Drives Positive Attitude- Being the most fundamental building
block of attitude, values are kept in mind by the manager while
designing and implementing policies and procedures. When values
are congruent to the organisational objectives, the employees as
well as the organisation strive towards success together.
 Builds Positive Image- A value based organisation has a strong
goodwill in the society and among those who recognise the
organisation just by its value system and not its field of operations.
 Reduces Conflicts and Improves decision Making- An organisation
with right values is less likely to face conflicts among the
 employees. Also, more beneficial decisions are expected out of a
value driven, fair and honest manager.

 Values and Ethics

Values and ethics are interrelated. Values help in deciding whether a particular
action is right or wrong; whereas ethics teach us about “doing” what is wrong
and doing what is wrong and doing what is right. Ethical behaviour means
behaving right and morally in our day-to-day life. Values get influenced by
ethics in number of ways. Ethics set a benchmark for behaviour of human
beings. Ethics and values are related to each other because both are centred
on the concept of morality. Mission and objectives of an organisation are
recognised by organisational values. Ethics of an individual are influenced by
values of that individual. Values and ethics are used in place of each other.

Distinction between Values and Ethics

The difference between values and ethics are-

 Values are based on personal beliefs that an entity follows; entity can
either be an individual or a group. Whereas ethics is a value which is a
value which is general in nature.
 Business ethics set a limit within which a business has to function, if it
wants to be called as an ethical business. On the contrary, values provide
an element of choice.
 Values are the principles that guide the life of an individual; also the
decisions of that are also derived from his set of values. On the contrary,
ethics or ethical codes of conduct are the rules that a company follows
or the legal provisions that a country abides by.
 Values of individuals are something which is of utmost importance to
them. Values are generally complicated in nature and different
individuals of a society may have different set of values, which may give
rise to unrest in the society. On the other hand organisational ethics is
brought into use so that a more systematic and organised society can be
constructed, and a common set of values can be constructed and a
 common set of values can be created which can be applied to entire
organisation or society.

 Ethical Codes

 Concept of Ethical Code

Ethical code of ethics of an organisation consists of the beliefs and
norms followed by that organisation. Norms refer to the standard or
ideal behaviour that every employee is expected to behave in certain
situations of ethical dilemma. Code of ethics of an organisation is a
group of those practices and philosophies which that organisation
believes in.

 Need for Ethical Code

There are several reasons behind the need for ethical codes in an
organisation-
 To become an organisation that understands its responsibility
towards society.
 To set the guidelines regarding behaviour of employees.
 To abide by the legal provisions.
 To foster improved culture in the organisation.
 To stop the issues related to contradictory interests among
entities.
 To use the resources optimally.
 To protect the information that is not for public use.
 To avoid unethical practices going on within the organisation.

 Formulating and Implementation of Ethical Code

The formulation of corporate code of ethics, it is done by a group of people,
particularly from the top management of the company. Only the top
executives and shareholders are allowed to contribute during the formulation
of these codes.
Anyone can have the ability of acknowledging the unethical activities, which is
why it is recommended to include everyone during the formulation and
implementation of corporate code of ethics.

The input of top level executives are considered during formulation process
but other employees are kept out of it, this practice looks morally wrong. So, in
time of implementation of codes, an organisation can foster the environment
in which ethical issues can be resolved much openly and easily.

The formulation and implementation of ethical code follows -

 Identification of the values which are required to resolve the issues

existing in the organisation.
 Identification of the values that is need, which is found through SWOT
analysis.
 Assessing those values which are required in order to abide by legal
provisions.
 Evaluating the values through which top ethical traits of an entity can be
derived.
 Giving thought to some of the best values which stake holders may
appreciate.
 Combining all the values to formulate a corporate code of ethics and try
to establish a link with each other.
 Communicating the newly formulated code of ethics in the organisation.
 The code of ethics should be updated at regular interval of time.
 The reaction of the employees against every ethical dilemma should be
taken into consideration.
 Ask the important members of the organisation to analyse the code and
give feedback on it.

 Benefits of Corporate Ethical Code

Ethical codes have some benefits like –

  Promotes Environment of Mutual Respect- Corporate code of
ethics helps in promoting an environment of trust within an
organisation. When these codes are communicated to every
person of the organisation and everyone obeys it and it helps to
build trust, confidence and respect towards actions of each
other. The effectiveness of corporate code of ethics can only be
seen if the members are assured that the rules will surely be
imposed in the organisation.
 Fosters Honesty and Trust- Corporate code of ethics basically
provides a set of rules which builds trust among the members. In
case any employee violates the code then the problem should
be rectified and employees should learn from it. Corporate code
of ethics should not be very rigid and it should provide scope of
improvement to employees so that they can learn new things
and improve their understanding regarding the codes.
Employees who abide by the codes sincerely can earn trust of
their co-workers.
 Responsibility- The advantage of corporate code of ethics is
responsibility. It not only benefits to other but also helps in
making the employees more connected to each other to be
more beneficial. One of such benefits is low employee turnover.
Companies that promote rules can protect all the employees as
well as benefit them equally and are mostly the preferred choice
of employees to work with.

 Absolutism
Absolutism is one of the important theories of morality which refers to taking
moral decisions based on some standards or norms. Absolutism follows an
approach which states that there is only one right solution to a situation
regardless of what the condition or perspective is. For example- it is always
wrong and unethical to kill anyone, even if it is done in self-defence. Further-
more, not only human beings but animals and plants also come under this
category, hence, cutting green trees and killing any animal is also wrong and
unethical.

Advantages of Absolutism-

 It allows the critical evaluation of rules and regulations.

 Since, rules do not allow any variation or biasness, every person receives
equal treatment.
 The rules and regulations of absolutism are universal; hence if an ethical
rule is correct then there is no need for any other rule.

Disadvantages of Absolutism-

 There are different circumstances arising out of different situations.

Hence, treating everyone equally at times is not appropriate.
 Different people face different situations throughout their life.
Therefore, fixed and same rules for every person and in every situation
are inappropriate.

 Relativism-
Relativism proposes that ethics are relative to the personal, social and cultural
circumstances in which one finds oneself. Relativists are torn by ethical
dilemmas, since they do not believe that the truth can be discovered by soul
searching.

Relativism explains that choices of every individual are different because

choices are derived from the moral standards of a person and everyone has
different moral standards. An individual cannot morally judge the behaviour of
any other person because the behaviour is influenced by numerous factors.

Role of relativism separates the public role of an individual from his actual own
self. The public roles may demand different set of moral standards than the
standards an individual have. For example- a person working in slaughter
house may personally do not like the killings of animals but he has to keep the
personal outlooks away from his public role in order to achieve the objectives
of the firm.
Advantages of Relativism-

 There are some practices which are practiced in some places whereas
they are considered taboo in other places. Thus, relativism gives a
special reference to diversity of culture, beliefs, traditions etc.
 The factor of context is given much importance.
 People from different cultures feel that they follow more justified
practices than others. Approach of relativism gives reference and
acceptance to the difference in cultural beliefs.

Disadvantages of Relativism-

 Different people or group have different beliefs or values but it is not

necessary that their belief or values are morally correct. For
example- As per Nazis, it was morally correct to kill the disabled,
homosexuals and Jews. Hence, giving consideration or support to
this type of approach will be immoral. But relativists could not
criticise this approach because for them, all cultural beliefs have
equal importance.
 Under relativism the meaning of anything good gets reduced to
socially acceptable. For example- if crime against women is
permitted under a culture, then as per relativism it becomes morally
acceptable.
 Since different cultures follow different practices, it becomes hard to
decide when rules require any modification or changes.

 Absolutism versus Relativism

 Relevance of Context- Absolutism has no relevance therefore

correct is correct and wrong is wrong regardless of the situation.
Relativism shows ethical right and wrong deeds which are decided
by the context because different cultures have different beliefs.
  Nature of Moral Statements – In Absolutism, ethical statements
are considered objective facts statement where opinion or
perspective has no relevance.
In Relativism ethical statements are considered opinion
statements where, ethics changes with different approaches.

 Deciding the Correct Ethics – In Absolutism what is ethical and

what is not is decided on the basis of human reason. Hence, a
close view of situation is not needed to decide the ethical
behaviour.
In Relativism ethics is based on human emotions where it
fluctuates continuously. Hence, to decide an ethical behaviour, a
close look on situation is needed.

Questions –
A. Short Answer Type Questions –( 5 marks)
1) Write a short note on business ethics.
2) What are the needs of business ethics?
3) Explain ambiguity in business.
4) Discuss the classification of ethical values.
5) Describe the benefits of having corporate ethical code.
6) Describe the characteristics of business ethics.
7) Explain ethical principles.
8) What are the factors to be considered in business ethics?
9) Show the different types of business ethics.
10) What are the characteristics of ethical values?
11) What are the objectives of ethical values?
12) Explain the importance of ethical values.
13) Distinguish between value and ethics.
14) Differentiate between absolutism and relativism.

B. Long Answer Type Questions – ( 15 marks)

 1) “The scope of business ethics is not limited to internal business
activities but it is much broader.” Elaborate the statement.
2) There are various myths associated with business. Explain
some of them.
3) “Both values and ethics are interrelated.” Do you agree? If yes
give a suitable reason.
4) “Formulation of ethical code is a systematic process and while
formulating them few measures are kept in mind.” Explain the
statement.
5) Explain the concept of ethical code. Why it is needed?
Formulate and implement ethical code.
6) What is absolutism and relativism? What are the advantages
and disadvantages of both?

C. Multiple Choice Questions:- ( 1 mark )

1) ---------------- ethics attempts to answer specific moral questions
concerning what people should do or believe.
a) Applied b) Descriptive c) Normative d) Meta
2) ------------- approach states that ethical decision making cannot be
based on knowledge alone because ethics deal principally with
what ought to be and not with what is.
a) Objective b) Independent c) Optimistic d) Universal
3) Principles and standards that govern behaviour in the world of
business are called --------------.
a) Corporate ethics b) Code of conduct c) Business ethics
d) Corporate values
4) Which of the following terms refers to the ideals, beliefs, norms
and ethos that arouse an emotional response for or against them
in a given community?
a) Ethical climate b) Community values
c) Organisational ethics d) Personal ethics
5) The form of ethics that endeavours to help professionals decide
what to do when they are confronted with a case or situation that
raises an ethical question or moral problem is referred to as
 a) Ethical climate b) Organisational ethics c) Business ethics
d) Professional ethics
6) It is important to understand the six subsystems that make up an
organisation and its dynamics because
a) They will dictate your own ethical viewpoints
b) Each of the subsystems can influence ethical decisions
c) They might influence the way you receive supervision
d) It shows that you are a responsible employee