ETHICS

Ethics is a code of values which guide our choices and actions and determine the purpose and course of our lives.
- Ayn Rand, Russian-American movelist and philosopher (1905 1982)

The propitious smiles of Heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right which Heaven itself has ordained. (President George Washington, 1789 Inaugural Address). To educate a person in mind and not in moral is to educate a menace to

Ethics : What Does It Really Mean ???

The principles of conduct governing an individual or a group Ethics is a study of morality. Ethics is a kind of investigation and includes both the activity of investigating as well as the results of that investigation.

What is Morality ?
Morality can be defined as the standards that an individual or a group has about what is right and wrong or good and evil. Moral norms can be expressed general rules or statements. Moral & Non moral standards. as

Moral Vs Non Moral Standards

Moral standards deal with matters that we think can seriously injure or seriously benefit human beings. Moral standards are not established or changed by the decisions of particular authoritative bodies. Moral standards should be preferred to other values including self-interest. Moral standards are based on impartial considerations. Moral standards are associated with special emotions and a special vocabulary.

ETHICS
Two key branches of ethics Descriptive Ethics; involves describing, characterizing and studying morality. What is Normative Ethics involves supplying and justifying moral systems. What should be.

Why does business have such a negative image ?

In some sense the negative image of business is unfair. Most business people do not wake up wanting to do harm to their stakeholders. But competitive pressures, individual greed, and differing cultural contexts generate ethical issues for organizational managers.

Why does business have such a negative image ?

Further, in almost every organization some people will have the inclination to behave unethically (the ethical egoist)necessitating systems to ensure that such behavior is either stopped or detected (after unethical behavior occurs) and then remedied.

Ethical dilemmas in business

A dilemma exists when you have a choice between two or more options. A business dilemma exists when an organizational decision maker faces a choice between two or more options that will have various impacts on (a) the organizations profitability and competitiveness and (b) its stakeholders.

Ethical dilemmas in business

Ethics (also called moral philosophy), involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right ad wrong behavior. Business ethics is the application of general ethical principles to business dilemmas.

Why should businesses act ethically ?

There are a number of reasons why businesses should act ethically : to meet stakeholder expectations (and protect business reputations), to prevent harm to the general public, to build trust with key stakeholder groups, to protect themselves from abuse from unethical employees and competitors.

Why should businesses act ethically ?

to protect employees, and their own

to create an environment in which workers can act in ways consistent with their values.

Ethics and the law

Remember that everything that is legal is not ethical. Business ethics encompasses a broader range of issues and concerns than laws do. (Further, it is often possible for businesses to preempt legislation and in so doing preserve some autonomy.

Ethics and the law

Most corporate ethics codes go beyond mere compliance with the law and take in a broad range of special responsibilities to various stakeholders. As weve seen from various business scandals, the costs associated with illegal and/or unethical activities are in the untold billions not to mention non-monetary costs.

Conventional Approach to Business Ethics

Conventional approach to business ethics involves a comparison of a decision or practice to prevailing societal norms

Decision or Practice

Prevailing Norms

Sources of Ethical Norms

Fellow Workers
Fellow Workers Regions of Country Profession Employer Religious Beliefs Society at Large

Family Friends
The Law

The Individual Conscience

Ethics and the Law

Law often represents an ethical minimum Ethics often represents a standard that exceeds the legal minimum
Frequent Overlap

Making Ethical Judgments

Ethics, Economics and Law

A VENN DIAGRAM MODEL FOR ETHICAL DECISION MAKING
Area 1 Area 2b Profitable, legal, ethical, Go for it Area 2a Profitable and ethical, Probably legal, to Proceed cautiously Area Profitable, legal, Proceed Cautiously 3 Legal and ethical but not profitable find who to seek profitability

Ethical Responsibility
3 2b 1 2a

Legal Responsibility

Economic Responsibility

Four Important Ethical Questions

What is ? What ought to be ? How to we get from what is to what ought to be ? What is our motivation for acting ethically ?

Models of Management Ethics

Three Types of Management Ethics