BUSINESS ETHICS AND

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
CODES OF ETHICS AND
BUSINESS CONDUCT
 LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

AT THE END OF THE WEEK, IT IS EXPECTED

THAT THE LEARNERS MUST BE ABLE TO:

•FORMULATE A “CODE OF ETHICS” THAT

REFLECT CORE PRINCIPLES DERIVED FROM
ANALYSIS (ABM _ESR12-IIIA-D-1.6)
 Definition of Ethics

“ETHICS” COMES FROM THE GREEK WORD ETHOS,

MEANING CHARACTER, OR “A CHARACTERISTIC
WAY OF ACTING,”

“MORALITY” COMES FROM THE LATIN WORD

MORALIS, MEANING CUSTOMS, OR MANNERS.
Ethics is the study of the moral
behavior, or conduct of man as viewed
from ultimate principles in so far as
these principles are known by human
reason. Briefly ethics is a philosophical
science dealing with the morality of the
human act.
 Code of Ethics
• REFERRED TO AS AN “ETHICAL CODE,” THAT MAY ENCOMPASS
AREAS SUCH AS BUSINESS ETHICS, A CODE OF PROFESSIONAL
PRACTICE AND AN EMPLOYEE CODE OF CONDUCT.
• IT CAN ALSO BE A GUIDE FOR PRINCIPLES DESIGNED TO HELP
PROFESSIONAL CONDUCT BUSINESS HONESTLY AND WITH
INTEGRITY.
• A CODE OF ETHICS DOCUMENT MAY OUTLINE THE MISSION AND
VALUES OF THE BUSINESS, HOW PROFESSIONALS ARE SUPPOSED TO
APPROACH PROBLEMS, AND THE ETHICAL PRINCIPLES ARE BASED
ON THE ORGANIZATION’S CORE VALUES AND THE STANDARDS TO
WHICH THE PROFESSIONAL IS HELD.
 What is the Purpose?
• The purpose of a code of ethics is to provide
guidance and set common ethical standards to
promote consistency in behavior across all levels
of employment.

• It is concerned in an individual’s moral judgements

about right and wrong. Ethical behavior and
corporate social responsibility can bring significant
benefits to the business.
Ethical values guide us along a pathway
to deal more effectively with ethical
dilemmas by eliminating those
behaviors that do not conform to our
sense of right and wrong and our best
rational interests without sacrificing
others.
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations
1. DECORUM
DEFINED AS AN APPROPRIATE, POLITE BEHAVIOR IN
A PARTICULAR SOCIETY. OFFICE DECORUM IS
ABOUT THE DO’S AND DON’TS TO BE OBSERVED IN
A WORKPLACE. IT CONSIDERS A SIMPLE LIST OF A
GUIDELINES WHICH HELP IN MAKING THE OFFICE
ENVIRONMENT A BETTER PLACE TO WORK.
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations
2. Protocol
Generally, means an official set of procedures for what actions to take
in a certain situation. It is the proper procedure of conduct and a
standard set of rules that allow employees to communicate with each
other. The business protocol is an important aspect for the formation
of relationships within a company and between companies. It also
helps ensure that all employees understand their role in the company,
their task and challenges on how to act on it accurately and quickly.
The purpose of business protocol is to encourage employees to act in
a uniform manner.
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations
3. Policies and Procedures
It provides employees a clear understanding of what is being
expected to them and it also provide a fair, predictable and consistent
approach in managing a workplace and its issues. Company policies
and procedures are being implement to protect the rights of the
employees as well as the business interest of the employers. It
establishes the rules of conduct within the organization and outlining
the responsibilities of both employees and employers.
 Common Practices in Business Organizations

4. Marketing
This refers to the activities of a company undertakes to promote the buying and
selling of its product and services. It includes promotion, doing research,
advertising, selling, and distribution of the services and its goods.

Seven Elements of Marketing:

1. Product
2. Price
3. Promotion
4. Place
5. Packaging
6. Positioning
7. People
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations
5. Bookkeeping
A system of maintaining records and data of a particular business with
centralized book of records to balance daily sales and cash receipts as
well as to reconcile bank accounts. It is considered as the organization
of financial information in which you are keeping your records
organized and make it easier to locate and provide to appropriate
parties. It is important because it helps with business analysis, a tool
used by management to analyze business performance.
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations

Features of Bookkeeping:
a. Recording financial transactions.
b. Posting debits and credits
c. Producing Invoices
d. Maintaining and balancing subsidiaries, general
ledger, and historical accounts
e. Completing payroll
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations
6. Reportorial requirements
Stricter for companies that sell securities to the
public, are listed in the stock exchange or are
classified as public companies. It is stipulated by
laws such as the Securities Regulation Code and the
Corporation Code of the Philippines.
 Common Practices in Business
Organizations

7. Documentation
All books, records, files, business records and plans,
reports, correspondence, documentation in respect of
agreement and other financial and customer data. It
helps to tell the narrative for decision made and how the
client responded to different situations.
 Creating Corporate Codes of Ethics

Saucer and Sims (2013) give the following

suggestions for creating Codes of Ethics in business
organizations:
1.Adopt a code of ethics
2.Provide ethics training
3.Hire and promote ethical people
4.Correct unethical behavior
5.Take a proactive strategy
 Creating Corporate Codes of Ethics

6. Conduct a social audit

7. Protect whistle-blowers
8. Empower the guardians of integrity
9. Assure commitment from the top
10. Communicate the standards of conduct widely
throughout the organization and the industry
11. Designate an ethics officer with clear responsibility for
enforcing ethical standards
 Creating Corporate Codes of Ethics

12. Establish a process for reporting violations of ethical

standards and actively investigate all reported violations.
13. Assure due diligence by the organizations board of all
directors
14. Above all, lead by example.
 Human Act and Act of Human

A Human Act is one that proceeds from

the deliberate free will of man. It is an act
that is deliberately and knowingly
performed by one having the use of
reason. Therefore, both intellect and will
are in play. It is an act proper to man as
man.
 Human Act and Act of Human
Quite different from a human act is an act of man.
An act of man is one that is not dependent upon
intellect and free will. It is done by a human person
but is not proper to him as a person because it does
not stem from those faculties which are peculiar to
man, namely, intellect and will. Thus in everyday
language, an act of man is essentially an animal act.
 Human Act and Act of Human

If a man walks in his sleep, he performs not a human

act but merely an act of man
 Human Act and Act of Human
For an act to be considered a human act, it must
possess the following essential attributes:

1. Performing by a conscious agent who is aware of

what he is doing and of its consequences.
2. Performing by an agent who is acting freely, that is,
by his volition and powers.
3. Performing by an agent who decides willfully to
carry out the act.