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Presented by:

Shannah Aryanna Gorgonia


Alyssa Ashley Ausan
Ethics

Inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality where
the term morality is taken to mean moral judgments,
standards and rules of conduct.
Study and philosophy of human conduct, with an
emphasis on the determination of right and wrong.
The study of the general nature of morals and of
specific moral choices; moral philosophy; and the rules
or standards governing the conduct of the members of
a profession. (The American Heritage Dictionary)
Business Ethics Defined

Comprises principles and standards that guide behavior
in the world of business.
Whether a specific required behavior is right or wrong,
ethical or unethical, is often determined by
stakeholders, such as investors, customers, interest
groups, employees, the legal system, and the
community.
Activity

1) Should a salesperson omit facts about a products
poor safety record in a sales presentation to a client?
2) Should an accountant report inaccuracies discovered
in an audit of a client, knowing that the company will
probably be fired by the client doing so?
3) Should pharmaceutical companies widely advertise
improved lifestyle wonder drugs that should be
prescribed only to a small percentage of the
population?
Social Responsibility & Business Ethics

Social responsibility is the obligation a business
assumes toward society. To be socially responsible is to
maximize positive effects and minimize negative effects
on society.
Social responsibility can be viewed as a contract with
society, whereas business ethics involves carefully
thought-out rules of business organizational conduct
that guide decision making.
Why Study Business Ethics?

In an Ethics Officer Association survey, 48% of the
employees queried indicated that they had done
something unethical or illegal in the past year.
The cost of unethical and fraudulent acts committed by
U.S. employees total $400 billion annually.
When employees were asked to give the principal
causes of unethical behavior in the organizations, the
key reason reported was overly aggressive financial or
business objectives.
Percentage of Workers Who Say These Ethical Infractions Are Committed by
Coworkers

Lying to supervisors 45%

Falsifying records 36%

Alcohol and drug abuse 36%

Conflict of interest 34%

Stealing or theft 27%

Gift receipt/entertainment of company policy 26%

Source: Ethics Resource Center/Society for Human Resource Management, 1997


Business Ethics Survey .
General Perception of the Relationship of Ethics to Business Ethics
Statement Agree Neutral Disagree

business sense.

In the long run, good ethics makes good
99% - 1%

When choosing between doing whats


right and earning larger profits,
60% 17% 14%
American business managers generally
choose larger profits.

On the whole, my organization is more


62% 33% 5%
ethical than more U.S. companies.

Ethical conduct is not rewarded in


58% 15% 27%
business today.
Source: Ethics Resource Center/Society for Human Resource Management, 1997
Business Ethics Survey .

Regardless of what an individual or a business
organization believes about a particular behavior, if
society judges it to be unethical, whether correctly or
not, that judgment directly affects the organizations
ability to achieve its business goals.
For this reason alone, it is important to understand
business ethics and recognize ethical issues.
The Solution

Studying business ethics will help you begin to identify
ethical issues and recognize the approaches available
to resolve them.
Ethical decision-making process and about ways to
promote ethical behavior within the organization.
By studying business ethics you may begin to
understand how to cope with conflicts between your
own personal values and those of the organization in
which you work.
Applying
Moral
Philosophies
to Business
Ethics
Business
Ethics and Social


Organizational Responsibility
Performance
Ethical Issues in Business
Ethical Issues in
Business

A Framework
Business INDIVIDUAL for
Understanding
Ethics in a
Global DECISION Ethical
Decision
Economy MAKER Making in
Business

Development Organizational
of an Culture and
Effective Ethical
Ethics Decision
Program Making
Organizational
Relationships
and Conflicts
in Ethical
Decision
Making
Applying Moral Philosophies to
Business Ethics

Moral philosophies are principles or rules that people
use to decide what is right or wrong.
People learn these principles through socialization by
family members, social groups, and formal education.
Each moral philosophy has its own concept of rightness
or ethicalness and rules for behavior.
Types of Moral Philosophy

A Comparison of the Philosophies Used in Business Decisions
Teleology Morally right is they produce some desired result
Egoism Defines right or acceptable behavior in terms of the
consequences for the individual
Utilitarianism Seeks the greatest good for the greatest number of people
Deontology Focuses on the rights of individual and on the intentions
associated with a particular behavior rather than on its
consequences
Relativist Evaluates ethicalness subjectively on the basis of individual
and group experiences
Virtue ethics What the mature person with a good moral character deem
appropriate
Justice Evaluates ethicalness on the basis of fairness
Social Responsibility

The obligation a business assumes toward society.
Types of Responsibilities
Economic To produce goods and services that society
needs and wants at a price that can
perpetuate the business and satisfy its
obligations to investors
Legal Laws that businesses must obey
Ethical Behaviors or activities that are expected by
society but are not codified by law
Philanthropic Those that society desires and business
values dictate
A Framework for Understanding
Ethical Decision Making in Business

In order to establish policies and rules that encourage
employees to behave ethically and in accordance with
organizational objectives, business managers must
understand how and why people make ethical
decisions.

Ethical Issue Intensity

Business Ethics Ethical or Unethical


Individual Factors Evaluation and Behavior
Intentions

Corporate Culture
Organizational Culture and Ethical
Decision Making

Business ethics is a matter not only of understanding
moral philosophies but also recognizing how these
moral philosophies are altered or blocked by
organizational influence.
An organization that actively fosters an ethical climate
provides an example of how its employees should
behave.
Organizations must take responsibility for employee
conduct and establish an organizational culture that
provides a supportive value system encouraging ethical
conduct.
Organizational Relationships and
Conflicts in Ethical Decision Making

Individuals learn ethical or unethical behavior not only
from society in general but also from superior, peers,
and subordinates with whom they associated in the
work environment.
The more a person is exposed to unethical decisions by
others in the work environment, the more likely he or
she is to behave unethically.
The status and power of significant others are closely
related to the amount of pressure they can exert on an
employee to conform to their expectations.

In organizations where ethical standards are vague and
supervision by superiors is limited, peers may provide
the most guidance in an ethical decision.
Both opportunity and conflict influence ethical decision
making.
Opportunity is an important consideration in
understanding ethical decision making, and so is an
understanding of ethical conflict.
Development of an Effective
Ethics Program

To encourage ethical behavior, organizations must be
responsible for developing an ethics program.
A reasonable ethical compliance program for preventing
misconduct should include a code of ethics, oversight of
the program, employee training, methods for employees
to report misconduct, and provisions for monitoring and
enforcing the program,

Organizations need to analyze potential areas of ethical
risk and design a program that addresses problem
situations or internal conditions.
In addition, they should revise their program on a
regular basis in response to misconduct and overall
ethical improvement.
Organizations have to understand and abide by industry
standards of conduct and comply with all legal
requirements.
Business Ethics in a Global Economy

Businesses are operating across national boundaries
and even globally, often in cultures where different
moral standards and business ethics prevail.
Certain international business ethical issues derive
from differences in cultures; others relate to
discrimination, bribery, pricing, and the impact of
multinational corporations.
Business Ethics and
Organizational Performance

Resources used to improve corporate ethical value
systems improve business performance.
An improved ethical climate is associated with a keener
pursuit of quality, customer satisfaction, and employee
commitment.
Overall good corporate citizenship contributes to
financial performance.
A good reputation is important to creating the value of a
business.
Application

Regardless of your own personal values, the more you
know about how individuals make decisions, the better
prepared you will be to cope with difficult ethical
decisions.
Such knowledge will help you improve and control the
ethical decision-making environment in which you work.
It is your job to make the final decision in an ethical
situation that affects you.

Thank you and
God bless!

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