BUSINESS ETHICS

BUSINESS ETHICS

NGUYEN THI QUYNH NGA

PhD, Lecturer in IB
 Course Introduction
1. Course objectives
2. Course content
3. Reading materials
4. Teaching method
5. Learning method
6. Course assessment
 1. Course Objectives
• Provide an introduction to the study of ethics in an organizational
context and to provide some useful resources for the study of
business ethics.
• Introduce some theories of applied ethics in professional
perspectives of management where ethical evaluation centers on
consequences of action, motive of duty and justice for the decision
maker and a small surrounding group of individuals.
• Analyze the importance of business ethics in managing enterprises
to build sustainable development.
• How to become a businessman who does business ethically and
how to make contribution to organization, community and society
through a greater understanding of learning theories, case study
and classroom inquiries
 1. Course Objectives
• Analyze the concepts of business ethics from a
personal and an organizational perspective.
• Assess the ethical issues facing business leaders.
• Explain the significance of ethics-based decision
making in the business environment.
• Analyze the importance of business ethics in
managing enterprises to build sustainable
development.
• Evaluate the need for ethical standards, codes of
ethics, and practices in business.
 COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
1. Knowledge
• CLO1. Understand concepts of ethics, business ethics and
professional ethics, Corporate social Responsibility
• CLO2. Understand theories of ethics and business
• CLO3. Identify stakeholders and the roles of stakeholders in
corporate social responsibility
• CLO4. Understand and demonstrates the principles of
marketing, human resource, accounting and environmental
management ethics
• CLO5. Understand and build the codes of conduct in the
organization
 COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
2. Skills
• CLO6. Ability to debate and argue to defend
your point of view based on ethical principles
• CLO7. Build self-learning and self-study skills
• CLO8. Build and enhance problem-solving and
decision-making ability in management
situations in general, and in human resource
management in particular.
• CLO9. Improve human skills such as team
work, communication and presentation.
 COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
3. Autonomy and responsibility
• CLO10. Be cooperative and proactive in
teamwork
 2. Course Content
Introduction to Business Ethics

Theories of ethics and business

Stakeholders and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)

Ethics and Human Resource Management

Ethics and Marketing

Ethics and the Environment

Ethics, Accountancy and Corporate Governance

 3. Reading Materials
Textbook(s)
• 1. William H. Shaw, (2014), Business ethics (8th), Cengage
Learning.
• William H. Shaw, (2017), Business ethics (9th), Cengage
Learning.
• 2. Stephen M. Byars, Kurt Stanberry, 2018, Business Ethics,
OpenStax
Optional reading(s)
• Thomas Donaldson, et al., 2008, Ethical issues in business- A
philosophical approach (8th), Pearson Prentice Hall.
• Laura P.Hartman, et.al, 2014, Business Ethics- Decision
making for integrity and social responsibility, Mc. Graw Hills
Textbook
• William H. Shaw, (2014),
Business ethics (8th),
Cengage Learning.
• William H. Shaw, (2017),
Business ethics (9th),
Cengage Learning.
Textbook
• Stephen M. Byars, Kurt
Stanberry, 2018,
Business Ethics,
OpenStax
3. Reading Materials

- Textbook: Boatright, J.
R., and Smith, J. D.
(2017). Ethics and the
conduct of business
(8th ed.). Pearson.

- Handouts
4. Teaching Method

• Based on the lectures

(handouts) given
to students
• Practice-based approach
• Case study
• Socratic dialogue
5. Learning Method

• Critical Thinking
• Discussion
• Group Presentation
• Self - Study
 6. Course Assessment
Attendance: 10%
Mid-term assignment: 15%
Quick test, 30 minutes: 15%
Final exam MCQ + writing (60 - 90 mins): 60%
 6. Course Assessment
Requirements for final examination
• Students are allowed to take the final exam only if the
following conditions are satisfied:
• Students must attend at least 70% class periods (11/15
sessions)
• Attendance is also required for all examination/ assignment
periods. Students are expected to pass at least 50% of those
examinations. For courses those only requires one
examination, students are expected to earn at least 5 points
out of 10.
 6. Course Assessment
Bonus point policy
Students who contribute in class discussions and are recognized by the
teacher will be credited to the attendance, mid-term scores.
Assignment policy
All assignments must be the result of the students own work and
effort.
If 40% similarity is detected; the assignment’s score will be deducted.
If more than 40% similarity is detected; the assignment will be zero-
scored.
Late submission will result in 10% deducted from assignment score for
each day late. Missed work or more than 3-day late submission will be
zero-scored.
BUSINESS ETHICS

Chapter 1

An Introduction to
Business Ethics
 Course Learning Outcomes for Unit I
Upon completion of this unit, students should be able
to:
1. Analyze the concepts of business ethics from a
personal and an organizational perspective (What is
ethics?)
2. Understand concepts of ethics, business ethics, roles
of ethics at work place (Ethical terms in organizational
contexts)
3. Assess the ethical issues facing business leaders
 Contents
• 1. What is ethics?
• 2. Ethical terms in organizational contexts
• 3. Concepts in business ethics
• 4. Role of ethics in business
• 5. Why ethical problems occur in business
 Ethics
William H. Shaw, (2017):
• Ethics deals with individual character and the moral
rules that govern and limit our conduct.
• It investigates questions of right and wrong, fairness
and unfairness, good and bad, duty and obligation,
justice and injustice, as well as moral responsibility
and the values that should guide our actions.
 Ethics
• Discipline that examines one’s moral
standards or the moral standards of a society.
• Cambridge dictionary: a system of accepted
beliefs that control behaviour, especially such
a system based on morals
→ One needs to ask whether these are
reasonable or unreasonable and whether they
are supported by good reasons.
 Ethics
• Ethics is the discipline that examines one’s moral
standards or the moral standards of a society to
evaluate their reasonableness and their implication
for one’s life.
• Đạo đức là tập hợp các nguyên tắc, quy tắc, chuẩn
mực xã hội nhằm điều chỉnh, đánh giá hành vi của
con người đối với bản thân và trong mối quan hệ với
người khác và với xã hội.
 Morality
•Morality: Standards that an individual or group has
with respect to what is right and wrong.
Cambridge dictionary: a personal or social set of standards
for good or bad behaviour and character, or the quality
of being right, honest, or acceptable
•Moral standards: Applies morality to a set of
standards that are considered the norm of what is right
and wrong.
 Ethical and Moral
• Almost everyone uses “ethical” and “moral”
interchangeably to describe people we
consider good and actions we consider right,
and “unethical” and “immoral” to designate
bad people and wrong actions.
• The textbook follows that common usage
 Business Ethics
• Business ethics is the study of what
constitutes right and wrong, or good and bad,
human conduct in a business context (William
H. Shaw, 2017)
• Business ethics: Study of moral right and
wrong with a focus on moral standards as
applied to the behavior within business
organizations.
 Organizational ethics
• An organization is a group of people working together
to achieve a common purpose.
• The purpose may be to offer a product or a service
primarily for profit, as in business.
• But the purpose also could be:
– health care, as in medical organizations;
– public safety and order, as in law enforcement
organizations;
– education, as in academic organizations; and so on.
• The cases and illustrations deal with moral issues and
dilemmas in both business and nonbusiness
organizational settings
 Why study business ethics
• The study of business ethics should not aim
simply to help you learn about ethics, but it
should also aim to help you do ethics and be
ethical.
• The goal of business ethics is more than just
teaching and learning about what happens in
business.
• The goal is also to help each of us become more
ethical and to help us all create and promote
ethical institutions.
 Moral versus non-moral standards
• Moral standards concern behavior that seriously
affects human well-being (that is of serious consequence to
human welfare, that can profoundly injure or benefit people)

• Three characteristics set moral standards:

– The standards that govern our conduct in these areas
(seriously affect human well-being) are moral standards.
– Moral standards take priority over other standards.
– The soundness of moral standards depends on the
adequacy of the reasons that support them
 Morality and Etiquette
• Etiquette refers to the norms of correct
conduct in polite society or, more generally, to
any special code of social behavior or courtesy
• The rules of etiquette are prescriptions for
socially acceptable behavior. If you violate
them, you’re likely to be considered ill-
mannered, impolite, or even uncivilized, but
not necessarily immoral.
 What is law?
• Law is a set of rules laid
down by Parliament for the
State.
• Every citizen is bound by the
law and breaking the law
allows the State to punish.
What are morals?
• Morals are beliefs and
values shared by a society
or section of society – they
tell us what is right and
wrong.
• Breach of morals results in
disapproval or feelings of
guilt
 Law and Morality
An action can be illegal but morally right
Helping a Jewish family to hide from the Nazis was
against German law in 1939, but it would have been a morally
admirable thing to have done.
Revealing the gender of an embryo for non-medical
reasons.
An action that is legal can be morally wrong
 WHY LAW IS NOT ENOUGH
• First, the law is inappropriate for regulating certain aspects of
business activity
• Second, the law is often slow to develop in new areas of
concern.
• Third, the law itself often employs moral concepts that are
not precisely defined
• Fourth, the law itself is often unsettled, so that whether some
course of action is legal must be decided by the courts.
• Fifth, a pragmatic argument is that the law is a rather
inefficient instrument, and an exclusive reliance on law alone
invites legislation and litigation where they are not necessary.
Morality
Ethical relativism
Ethical relativism
 Why ethical problems occur in
business
• Ethical issues created by diverse business
situations and relationships
• The level of decision-making required to address
the ethical issues
• Being successful at work may therefore consist of
much more than simply earning money and
promotions.
• It may also mean treating our employees,
customers, and clients with honesty and respect

Copyright © 2017, 2012, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Table 1.1: Levels of Decision Making in
Business
Level Type of Problem Relevant Question

The Individual The problem confronts an individual and What do I do?

requires that person to make a decision
about his or her own response.

The Organization The problem requires that the individual What do we as an

decision maker act on behalf of the organization do?
organization to resolve the situation and
possibly bring about some organizational
change.
The Business The problem results from accepted What do we as a
System business practices or from features of the society do?
economic system which cannot be
effectively addressed by any single
individual or organization.

Copyright © 2017, 2012, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
 Table 1.2: Acting Ethically and Legally
Argument
1. The law cannot regulate all aspects of
business activity.
2. The law is often slow to develop in new
areas of concern.
3. The law often employs moral concepts
that are not precisely defined.
4. The law itself is unsettled on whether
some course of action is legal.
5. An exclusive reliance on law alone and
failure to act responsibly can result in
legislation and litigation.
Copyright © 2017, 2012, 2009 Pearson Education, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Implication
Not everything that is legal is moral.
Not everything that is immoral is illegal.
Businesses should not wait to “do the right
thing” until forced to act by law.
To abide by the law, business leaders need to
understand key moral concepts well enough to
use their own judgment when making
decisions.
The courts are often guided by moral
considerations in making a decision. Where
there is doubt about what the law is, morality
is a good predictor.
Self-regulation and observing ethical standards
can prevent unnecessary lawsuits and new laws
that may interfere with business.
 Steps to ethical behavior within an
organization ethical decision-making
• Recognizing a situation as an ethical situation
• Judgment of ethical actions
• Decision to execute ethical action
• Implementing ethical decision