BUSINESS ETHIC AND VALUE : INTRODUCTION

Overview
1. Fundamentals of Values, Ethics, and Morality
2. Applications of Ethics and Values in Business and Economy
3. Ethics, Values and the Manager
4. Evolution of Moral and Ethical Thoughts
5. Normative Ethics
6. Ethics of Virtue and Character
7. Evolution of Business and Economy in the Market Society
8. Foundation of Business
9. Environment of Business
10. Corporate Power and its Impact on Society and Stakeholders
11. Corporate Social Responsibility
12. Corporate Governance

Introduction
-ethics came from the Greek word ethos, which means customs or the fabric of values that makes a society what it is
-distinguishing disposition, character or attitude of a specific people, culture or group - Solomon (1984)
-a systematic attempt to make sense of our individual and social moral experience in such a way as to determine the rules that ought to govern human conduct, the values worth pursuing and the character traits deserving development in life - De George (1999)
-in short, ethics is actually the study of the moral content of people's behavior against moral principles

Ethics and Etiquette
-Etiquette refers to behavior that is considered socially acceptable, as opposed to morally right or wrong.
-For example, etiquette might require one to use a handkerchief upon sneezing or to shake the hand of a person one is meeting for the first time.

Ethics and the Law
-Ethics and the law often overlap but this may not always be the case.
-Some laws could be considered amoral (have no moral value).
-Many acts that are legal might still be considered to be unethical.
-In other cases, laws themselves may be determined to be unethical.

Ethics and Religion
-Ethics and religion are related to each other.
-Many of our ethical prescriptions, such as don’t kill or steal, derive from religious doctrine.
-However, certain religious prescriptions have been considered by others to be immoral or unethical. E.g.: abortion.

What is Business Ethics?
-Business Ethics is the art and discipline of applying ethical principles to examine and solve complex moral dilemmas.
-Business ethics asks, “What is right and wrong? Good and bad?” in business transactions.

History of Business Ethics
-Ethics in business has been an issue since the very first business transaction
-Prior 1960s - business was primarily considered to be an amoral activity
-1960s - a number of social issues in business began to emerged
-1970s - the field of business ethics took hold in academia
-1980-1985 - business ethics field continued to consolidate
-1985-1995 - business ethics became integrated into large corporations
-Since 1995 - issues related to international business activity have come to the forefront

Why Study Business Ethics?
-To provide people with rationales, and ideas to help them solve ethical dilemma
-Ignorance is one of the reasons why people do unethical acts
-Education can reduce ignorance

Why Businesses have to be Ethical?
-To meet demands of business stakeholders
-To enhance business performance
-To comply with legal requirements
-To prevent or minimize harm
-To promote personal morality

Ethical Reasoning and Standards
-Ethical reasoning involves the application of reasoning and logical thinking to arrive at moral judgement
-Criteria of ethical reasoning includes:
logic,
accuracy, and
consistency
-ethical standards deal with matters that have serious consequences on the harmony and well being of mankind such as moral issues arising out of the conduct of individuals and groups

Ethical Relativism
-Ethical relativism holds that no universal standards or rules can be used to guide or evaluate the morality of an act.
-What is right for you may be wrong for me.
-This view argues that people set their own moral standards for judging their actions.

Nature of Values
-defined as fundamental principles or enduring beliefs about the most desirable conditions and purposes of human life
-determine our actions and behavior, and they enable us to understand why people act the way they do
-values are normally what we want to have or to be associated with in life
-sources:
upbringing,
religion,
social norms
experiences

Nature of Morality
-Rules that govern what is right and wrong and the values that are embedded, fostered or pursued by activities and practices - De George (1999)
-In short, we can say that morality is the governing rules concerning right and wrong actions or conduct
-Moral principles are based on an individual’s conscience - moral instructions internalized by parents/ authority figures that raise individuals

Kohlberg’s Moral Development
==Level1: Pre-conventional (self-orientation)
Obedience and punishment
Individualism and reciprocity
==Level 2: Conventional (others orientation)
Interpersonal conformity/“the good boy/nice girl” stage
“Social system/”the law-and order” stage
==Level 3: Post-conventional, autonomous, principles (universal, human kind orientation)
“Social Contract”
“universal ethical approach”

Differences between Ethics and Morality
-Morality and ethics differ in their nature and scope
-Moral refers to conformity to general standards of goodness or rightness in conduct or character
-Ethics refers to the conformity to an elaborated, ideal code of moral principles such as those often found in the codes of professional organizations
-Ethics is also the 'discipline' or field of scholarly study among the fields of philosophy

Similarities between Ethics and Morality
-both of them are used as a guide in making ethical decisions
-the issues and content of ethics and morality are actually the same but applied to different stages of moral consciousness