An Overview

Learning Objectives
0 1. Define business ethics and explain what it
means to act ethically in business.
0 2. Explain the importance of good ethics for
business people and business organizations.
0 3. Explain how you can recognize an ethical
organization.
4/18/2024
 Group Work
Case Study

0 “Mommy, Why Do You Have to Go to Jail?”

0 Top 10 Crooked CEOs,” Time Specials, Time.com,
http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/
0,28804,1903155_1903156_1903160,00.html

4/18/2024
Open Discussion
0 Give a brief hint about the case study.

0 Why do such incidents happen (and with such

apparent regularity)?

0 Who are the usual suspects?

0 What action can be taken—by individuals,

organizations, and the government—to
discourage such behavior?
4/18/2024
 Ethics
0 Ethics is the study of morality—“right” and
“wrong”—in the context of everyday life,
organizational behaviors, and even how
society operates and is governed.

4/18/2024
1) What Is Ethics?
0 Ability and willingness to distinguish right
from wrong and when you’re practicing one or
the other.
0 The code of moral principles and values that
govern the behaviors of a person or group with
respect to what is right or wrong.
0 to be ethical: to know right from wrong and to
know when you’re practicing one instead of the
other.
0Ethics is about how we
meet the challenge of
doing the right thing
when that will cost more
than we want to pay.

4/18/2024
What Is Business Ethics?
0 Business Ethics:
- is the application of ethical behavior in a business
context.
- Acting ethically in business means more than simply
obeying applicable laws and regulations:.
- It also means being honest, doing no harm to others,
competing fairly, and declining to put your own interests
above those of your company, its owners, and its workers.
- If you’re in business you obviously need a strong sense of
what’s right and wrong.
- You need the personal conviction to do what’s right, even if
it means doing something that’s difficult or personally
disadvantageous.
4/18/2024
 Corporate Social
Responsibility
0 Corporate social responsibility deals with actions
that affect a variety of parties in a company’s
environment.
0 A socially responsible company shows concern for
its stakeholders—anyone who, like owners,
employees, customers, and the communities in
which it does business, has a “stake” or interest
in it.

4/18/2024
Management’s relationships with
stakeholders

4/18/2024
Difference between Ethics and
Corporate Social Responsibility
0 Social responsibility is concerned with
functions, programmes and policies of an
enterprise,
0 whereas business ethics is related with the
conduct and behaviour of businessmen.
0 But social responsibility of business and its
policies are influenced by ethics.

4/18/2024
How Can You Recognize an Ethical Organization?
Most lists of ethical organizational activities include the
following criteria:
0 Treating employees, customers, investors, and the public
fairly.
0 Making fairness a top priority
0 Holding every member personally accountable for his or her
action.
0 Communicating core values and principles to all members
0 Demanding and rewarding integrity from all members in all
situations.

4/18/2024
How Can You Recognize an unethical Organization?
By contrast, employees with the following attitudes tend to
suspect that their employers aren’t as ethical as they should
be:
0 They consistently feel uneasy about the work they do.
0 They object to the way they’re treated.
0 They’re uncomfortable about the way coworkers are treated.
0 They question the appropriateness of management directives
and policies.

4/18/2024
Example:, many workers in Sears automotive service centers
shared suspicions about certain policies, including the ways in
which they were supposed to deal with customers. In particular,
they felt uncomfortable with a new compensation plan that
rewarded them for selling alignments, brake jobs, shock
absorbers, and other parts and services. Those who met
quotas got bonuses; those who didn’t were often fired.
The results shouldn’t be surprising: In their zeal to meet quotas
and keep their jobs, some employees misled customers into
believing they needed parts and services when, in fact, they
were not needed. Before long, Sears was flooded with
complaints from customers—as were law enforcement
officials—in more than forty states.
Sears denied any intent to deceive customers but was forced not
only to eliminate sales commissions but also to pay out $60
million in refunds.
4/18/2024
Why Study Ethics?
0 Leaders, need a much sharper understanding of the difference
between what is and isn’t ethically acceptable.
0 Learn how to recognize and deal with the ethical challenges
that will confront us in business field.
0 Moreover, knowing right from wrong will make you more
marketable as a job candidate
0 Asked what he looked for in a new hire, Warren Buffet, the
world’s most successful investor, replied: “I look for three
things. The first is personal, the second is intelligence, and the
third is a high energy level.” He paused and then added: “But if
you don’t have the first, the second two don’t matter.” matter.”
Quoted by Adrian Gostick and Dana Telford, The Integrity
Advantage (Salt Lake City: Gibbs Smith, 2003), 3–4.
4/18/2024
 Group Exercise
0 Think of an action by a business organization (sole
proprietor, partnership, or corporation) that was legal but
still strikes you as wrong. What was it? Why do you think
it was wrong?

0 Think of an act by an individual or a corporation that is

ethical but not legal.? Do you have any thoughts as to why?

4/18/2024