B&PE

1) Write a short note on ‘Care Ethics’.

● The ethics of care is a theory that emphasizes the importance of responsibility,

concern, and relationship over consequences (utilitarianism) or rules (deontologism).

● Ethics od care theory originated during the 1970s and 1980s in association with
challenges to the standard moral theories of utilitarianism and deontologism,
primarily by women philosophers.

● This theory places emphasis on care and relationship over logic and reason.

● Care ethics is widely applied to a number of moral issues and ethical fields,
including caring for animals and the environment, bioethics, and more recently public
policy.

● In this theory, the basic question isn’t about oneself; it’s not “What should I do?”
Instead, it’s always about a larger us: “What should be done to nurture the
connections among those of us closest to each other?”

● This theory also focuses on the weak and vulnerable sections of society.

● It is considered to be ethical, as per this theory, when the outcome of the actions
performed are beneficial to the ones who need support (like children, workers,
underprivileged groups etc.)

● In a personal context, this theory suggests that the conduct of an individual, in

organizations or otherwise, he or she should prioritize

● In the business context, this theory suggests that the processes and products a
businesses comes up with should not harm the unprivileged and rather support
them.
 2) Differentiate between Teleological and Deontological theories of ethics.

Teleological is an approach to ethics that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of

actions by examining its consequences while deontological is an approach to ethics
that focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, instead of
examining any other considerations. Therefore, this is the key difference between
teleological and deontological ethics. Thus, teleological ethics is a consequentialist
theory while deontological ethics is a non-consequentialist theory. However, it is not always
possible to predict the consequences of an action; this is a weakness of the teleological
approach. Moreover, the deontological approach also has the disadvantage of being too
rigid.
3) Do business people have any social responsibility? Discuss.

Social responsibility empowers employees to leverage the corporate

resources at their disposal to do good.
Being a socially responsible company can bolster a company's image
and build its brand.
Social responsibility programs can boost employee morale in the
workplace and lead to greater productivity, which has an impact on how
profitable the company can be.
Businesses that implement social responsibility initiatives can increase
customer retention and loyalty.
Socially responsible companies have the opportunity to stand out from
the competition because they cultivate superior and positive brand
recognition

Companies are increasingly ramping up their focus on social

responsibility, whether they are championing women’s rights, protecting
the environment, or attempting to obliterate poverty, on local, national,
or global levels. From an optics perspective, socially responsible
companies project more attractive images to both consumers and
shareholders alike, which serves to positively affect their bottom lines.

● Social responsibility empowers employees to leverage the corporate

resources at their disposal to do good.
● Being a socially responsible company can bolster a company's image
and build its brand.
● Social responsibility programs can boost employee morale in the
workplace and lead to greater productivity, which has an impact on how
profitable the company can be.
● Businesses that implement social responsibility initiatives can increase
customer retention and loyalty.
● Socially responsible companies have the opportunity to stand out from
the competition because they cultivate superior and positive brand
recognition
 4) Whistleblowing in India.

● Whistleblowing is exposing an employer’s wrongdoing to outsiders – media or regulatory

agencies.

● It can also be referred as the internal reporting of misconduct to management (especially

anonymous reporting mechanism – hot lines)

● Whistleblower –is a person who exposes secretive information or activity that is deemed
illegal, unethical or not correct within a private or public organization.

● In its simplest form, whistle blowing involves the act of reporting wrongdoing within an
organization to internal and external parties.

● Instances of unethical practices adopted by certain organizations, which is required to be

reported or for which whistle should be blown are:

● Theft, Harassment, Unethical practices, Fraud, Dishonesty, Discrimination, Lack of

Independence of Board/Committees, Improper Director Remuneration Packages, Lack of
Independence of Auditors, Violation of Regulations and Code of Conduct, Insider Trading,
Corruption, Bribery, Lack of Workplace Safety Hazards, Financial Statement Misrepresentation,
etc.

● Example: Satyendra Dubey (Engineer) - a whistleblower, who exposed corruption at

Golden Quadrilateral Highway Construction project by writing a letter to PM was later killed.

Whistleblower Protection Act, 2014

● The act establishes a mechanism to receive complaints related to disclosure of

allegations of corruption or wilful misuse of power or discretion, against any public servant, and
to inquire or cause an inquiry into such disclosure.

● The act also provides adequate safeguards against the victimization of the person
making such complaints.

● Thus the act focuses on setting up an efficient mechanism to protect the identity of the
whistleblower along with setting up an efficient mechanism to receive complaints.

● The scope of the Act is only limited to the public sector thus excluding the private sector.
 5) Work place Surveillance

Surveillance at Work - Workplace Fairness

6) Why is the business world replete with instances of unethical practices? Explain your
views.

Write short notes on:

1. Virtue Ethics

● ANSWER: Virtue Ethics (or Virtue Theory) is an approach to Ethics that emphasizes an
individual's character as the key element of ethical thinking, rather than rules about the actions.
This theory treats the concept of moral virtue as central to ethics.

● Virtue ethics is currently one of three major approaches in normative ethics. It may be
identified as the one that emphasizes the virtues, or moral character, in contrast to the approach
that emphasizes duties or rules (deontology) or that emphasizes the consequences of actions
(consequentialism/teleological).

● Suppose it is obvious that someone in need should be helped. A utilitarian will point to
the fact that the consequences of doing so will maximize well-being, a deontologist to the fact
that, in doing so the agent will be acting in accordance with a moral rule such as “Do unto others
as you would be done by” and a virtue ethicist to the fact that helping the person would be
charitable or benevolent.

● A virtue is a habit or quality that allows individuals to succeed at their purpose. According
to critics, a major problem with the theory is the difficulty of establishing the nature of the virtues,
especially as different people, cultures and societies often have vastly different opinions on what
constitutes a virtue.

Just for understanding : (Virtue ethics is a philosophy developed by Aristotle and other ancient
Greeks. It is the quest to understand and live a life of moral character. This character-based
approach to morality assumes that we acquire virtue through practice. By practicing being
honest, brave, just, generous, and so on, a person develops an honorable and moral character.
According to Aristotle, by honing virtuous habits, people will likely make the right choice when
faced with ethical challenges. To illustrate the difference among three key moral philosophies,
ethicists Mark White and Robert Arp refer to the film The Dark Knight where Batman has the
opportunity to kill the Joker. Utilitarians, White and Arp suggest, would endorse killing the Joker.
By taking this one life, Batman could save multitudes. Deontologists, on the other hand, would
reject killing the Joker simply because it’s wrong to kill. But a virtue ethicist “would highlight the
character of the person who kills the Joker. Does Batman want to be the kind of person who
takes his enemies’ lives?” No, in fact, he doesn’t. So, virtue ethics helps us understand what it
means to be a virtuous human being. And, it gives us a guide for living life without giving us
specific rules for resolving ethical dilemmas)

2. Utilitarianism

● ANSWER: Utilitarianism gets its name from the term "utility," which in this context does
not mean "useful" but, rather, means pleasure or happiness. Utilitarianism is a theory of morality
that advocates actions that foster happiness or pleasure and oppose actions that cause
unhappiness or harm.

● Utilitarianism would say that an action is right if it results in the happiness of the greatest
number of people in a society or a group.

● Utilitarianism is a reason-based approach to determining right and wrong, but it has

limitations. Utilitarianism does not account for things like feelings and emotions, culture, or
justice.

● Utilitarianism holds that an action is right if it tends to promote happiness and wrong if it
tends to produce sadness, or the reverse of happiness—not just the happiness of the actor but
that of everyone affected by it.

● Utilitarians believe that the purpose of morality is to make life better by increasing the
amount of good things (such as pleasure and happiness) in the world and decreasing the
amount of bad things (such as pain and unhappiness).
● They reject moral codes or systems that consist of commands or taboos that are based
on customs, traditions, or orders given by leaders or supernatural beings. Instead, utilitarians
think that what makes a morality be true or justifiable is its positive contribution to human (and
perhaps non-human) beings.

The Three Generally Accepted principles of Utilitarianism State that:

● Pleasure, or happiness, is the only thing that has intrinsic value: To say that something
has intrinsic value means that it is simply good in itself. Pleasure and happiness, though, are
unique in being valued purely for their own sake. No other reason for valuing them needs to be
given. It is better to be happy than sad. This can't really be proved. But everyone thinks this.

● Actions are right if they promote happiness, and wrong if they promote unhappiness

● Everyone's happiness counts equally

3. Is Corporate Social Responsibility a legal issue or an ethical issue? Explain your

view.

I believe that CSR is much more than just a legal issue or requirement. It is actually in its true
sense an ethical issue.

Corporate Social Responsibility, or “CSR,” refers to the need for businesses to be good
corporate citizens. CSR involves going beyond the law’s requirements in protecting the
environment and contributing to social welfare. It is widely accepted as an obligation of modern
business. CSR goes beyond earning money for shareholders. It’s concerned with protecting the
interests of all stakeholders, such as employees, customers, suppliers, and the communities in
which businesses operate. Examples of CSR include adopting humane employee practices,
caring for the environment, and engaging in philanthropic endeavors. Some people contend that
companies owe no duty to society outside making as much money as possible within the law.
But those who support Corporate Social Responsibility believe that companies should pursue a
deeper purpose beyond simply maximizing profits.

A business' social responsibilities frequently clash with its ethical responsibilities. Corporations
are legally responsible for looking after shareholder profits. At the same time, they are socially
responsible for minimizing socially damaging business decisions. Ethical business leaders
therefore face the challenge of making a profit without forcing society to foot the bill.
4. Briefly analyze W. D. Ross’ seven prima facie moral rules.-

OR

Ross initially identified seven distinct prima facie duties:

1. Fidelity. We should strive to keep promises and be honest and truthful.

2. Reparation. We should make amends when we have wronged someone else.

3. Gratitude. We should be grateful to others when they perform actions that benefit us and we
should try to return the favor.

4. Non-injury (or non-maleficence). We should refrain from harming others either physically or
psychologically.

5. Beneficence. We should be kind to others and to try to improve their health, wisdom, security,
happiness, and well-being.

6. Self-improvement. We should strive to improve our own health, wisdom, security, happiness,
and well-being.

7. Justice. We should try to be fair and try to distribute benefits and burdens equably and evenly.

The prima facie duties include

1. Fidelity. Duties of fidelity are duties to keep one's promises and contracts and not to engage
in deception. Ross describes them as "those resting on a promise or what may fairly be called
an implicit promise, such as the implicit undertaking not to tell lies which seems to be implied in
the act of entering into conversation . . . or of writing books that purport to be history and not
fiction"

2. Reparation. This is a duty to make up for the injuries one has done to others. Ross describes
this duty as "resting on a previous wrongful act"

3. Gratitude. The duty of gratitude is a duty to be grateful for benefactions done to oneself and if
possible to show it by benefactions in return.

4. Non-injury. The duty of non-injury (also known as non-maleficence) is the duty not to harm
others physically or psychologically: to avoid harming their health, security, intelligence,
character, or happiness. Non-injury instructs us generally to avoid intentionally, negligently, or
ignorantly (when ignorance is avoidable) harming others.

5. Harm-Prevention.
 Harm prevention instructs us generally to make a real effort to prevent harm to others from
causes other than ourselves. Once again, this is the prima facie duty of a person to prevent
harm to others from causes other than him- or herself.

6. Beneficence. The duty to do good to others: to foster their health, security, wisdom, moral
goodness, or happiness. This duty, says Ross, "rests upon the fact that there are other beings in
the world whose condition we can make better in respect of virtue, or of intelligence, or of
pleasure"

Beneficence and harm-prevention are clearly related. There is an obvious sense in which to
prevent harm to persons is to do them good.

7. Self-Improvement. The duty of self-improvement is to act so as to promote one's own good,

i.e., one's own health, security, wisdom, moral goodness, and happiness. Ross himself
mentions "virtue" or "intelligence" in this connection.

8. Justice. The duty of justice requires that one act in such a way that one distributes benefits
and burdens fairly. Ross himself emphasizes the negative aspect of this duty: he says that this
type of duty "rests on the fact or possibility of a distribution of pleasure or happiness (or the
means thereto) that is not in accord with the merit of the persons concerned; in such cases
there arises a duty to upset or prevent such a distribution". Thus the duty of justice includes the
duty, insofar as possible, to prevent an unjust distribution of benefits or burdens.

5. Doing business globally provides innumerable opportunities for growth as well as

poses many intricate challenges. Enumerate the major ethical issues in international
business practices.

As businesses expand internationally, they must not only understand an organization’s mission,
vision, goals, policies and strategies but also must take into account the legal and ethical issues
in international business. When companies plan their long-term expansion into a foreign
environment, they must tackle serious moral and ethical challenges and decision-making in
order to make their expansion a success.

Some of the most common ethical issues in international business include outsourcing, working
standards and conditions, workplace diversity and equal opportunity, child labor, trust and
integrity, supervisory oversight, human rights, religion, the political arena, the environment,
bribery and corruption. Businesses trading internationally are expected to fully comply with
federal and state safety regulations, environmental laws, fiscal and monetary reporting statutes
and civil rights laws.
Cultural considerations can also make or break a company conducting business globally. Every
culture and nation has its own history, customs, traditions and code of ethics. Cultural barriers
include language, which often means a company must rely on translators when speaking to
business contacts and customers. Gender can be an issue in countries where women do not
have the same rights as men. Religious holidays and other cultural events can prohibit trade at
certain times. Acting in accordance with ethical and cultural values is crucial for a multinational
company to win clients’ support and business and to achieve a competitive advantage in a
particular market.

Employment Practices and Ethics

In most of the countries, employment practices may lead to ethical issues. Some of the specific
conditions of one country may be considered as inferior in other countries where the
multinational companies have their setups. It is suggested by many of the experts to have
similar norms with regard to pay and work but this concept is not worked by any one.

Some of the employment norms are common in developing countries such as 12-hour
workdays, minimal pay, daily minimum wages to the employees, protection coverage for
workers in chemical companies etc. To what extent that the multinational companies follow the
norms of the country in which they are being operating is the main concern.

Human Rights

Some of the basic human rights are not accepted in many countries. The human rights that are
not universally accepted are freedom of speech, freedom from political repression, freedom of
association etc.

One of such well-known illustration is the case of South Africa during the period when whites
were ruling. Some of the basic political rights were denied from practicing for non-white people
and a majority of south Africa constituted non-whites. Whites were provided with many
privileges. The businesses that prevailed in South Africa were mostly from western countries.
This lasted till the recent times of 1994. It is still not completely removed and this is practiced in
some of the parts of South Africa.

Environmental Pollution

Ethical issues with respect to environmental pollution arise when the concerned regulations of
the host country seems to be much inferior to the regulations of the home country. With regard
to emission of waste and pollution, many regulations have been framed by all the countries. But
these regulations may not be that strict in developing countries because when multinational
companies of the host countries.

It is not fair on the part of multinational companies to pollute the developing countries. The
MNCs should follow the environment pollution norms and take appropriate measures as per the
government regulations with respect to the pollution in the host country and as per the
regulations of the host country and after clearing the environment norms laid out by the
respective governments.
Corruption

Corruption is also a major ethical issue in almost all the countries and is still prevailing.
Corruption is in the government itself in all the countries. As these officials attract towards bribe,
most of the international businesses bribe these officials and obtain the business and financial
advantage, this act is completely unethical.

An illustration of Corruption in Japan

Lockheed Corporation, an MNC in Japan paid a huge amount of almost $12.5 million to
Japanese agents and some of the Japanese government officials way back during 1970s in
order to sell their jet airways to All Nippon Airways. Once it was identified, the US government
officials charged the company in the aspects of tax violations and manipulation of the records.

Thus a scandal was created in Japan as well. The government officials and agents who
accepted the bib were also charged and one out of then committed suicide. Even the Prime
minister of Japan at that time was taken into prison. The citizens of Japan were being outraged.
The president of Lockheed corporation was engaged in the unethical act.

Moral Obligations

It is considered as the social responsibility of the international business to return back the
resources to the society. For any actions that are being taken up by the international business,
the social consequences of the same should be considered and thus the basic concept of social
responsibility arises.

The actions taken by the international business should have social and economic consequence
and should be meaningful. The appropriate behaviour of the business is to behave socially
responsible. The business should identify the social and moral obligation and hence have to
give back the resources to the society.