Week 1 Defining Ethical Behaviour

7/31/2019 Week 1 Defining Ethical Behaviour

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Week 1:Define Ethics and

Ethical Behavior.Reading:

Pages 3 - 13


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What is Ethics?O Brainstorm: What do you think?


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Text Book AnswerO Ethics concerns attempts to distinguish

right and wrong, good from bad and

what constitutes desirable conduct in aparticular set of social circumstancesPg. xiv, Mellahi, Morrell & Wood, 2010

O Lets talk about the above for a

moment.


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Introduction to EthicsO Different things to different people

O In this course, we attempt to apply tools andconcepts from philosophers to distinguishright from wrong in different circumstances

in a business concept

O Emphasis on human and organisationalbehaviour, locally and on an internationalscale


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Business EthicsO Relatively new term.

O Study of business from an ethical point ofview.

O Argued that business ethics should not be anydifferent to ethical decisions in general.but

different motivations could make us makedifferent decisions in different circumstances.

O Lets look at 4 small case studies.


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Oxymoron?O Profit or ethical behaviour? Can you have

both?

O Highly profitable companies make moneyfrom unethical sources:

O Espionage

O Unethical outsourcing

O Products that harm, such as tobacco andweapons

etc.

O What do you think?


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Chapter 1, first partO General terms of what constitutes ethical

behaviour

O Can there be any definite or fixedstandards about ethics?

O Moral standards always changing?


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For example:O Ethical Relativist:

O Belief that what counts as right or wrong depends onthe circumstance;

O a product of whatever society or community created the

beliefs;O Relative to context community or situation

O Anti-relativist/Absolutist:

O Moral Absolutes - no matter what, a moral standingshould be applied regardless of the circumstances:

O e.g. Killing is bad

O However, you could be one some of the time, andanother at different times.


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Chapter 1, second partO Assessing the extent to which dilemmas

can be resolved through philosophical

theory questions like:O Does what is considered right and wrong

vary from society to society/business tobusiness?

O Are their broader issues of a global

relevance?


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TheoryO Review of the main schools of philosophical

thought applied to understanding businessethics

O UtilitarianismO Deontological ethics

O Virtue ethics

O Rights- based approaches

O Post-modern approaches

O We will study the meanings of these nextweek and you should read pages 13-28before then!


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Business ResponseO Business must be seen to be acting ethically

pressure from government and consumers.

O Motivated by external pressures without moralworth?

O Credit for ethical behaviour, even if it is forselfish gain?

O Responses are always different which iswhy we study this as a subject in a businessdegree.


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1.2 Moral Relatives and Ethical

Absolutes1.2.1 What is Ethical Conduct?

Ethics vs. moral codes:O Ethics:

a general term ethical theories and dayto day moral beliefs

O Moral codes:

Differ greatly from society to society canyou think of some examples?


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What counts as ethical

conduct?Let us talk about golden rule theory puttingsomeone else first.

O Altruisticexamples: letting someone cross theroad in front of your car; holding open a door;donating blood.

O Psychological egoism we are only doing theabove for some self interest, we look good doingthis or feel good because of it.

O If psychological egoism is true, how can we takecredit for altruistic actions?

O E.G. Bank decides not to lend to business theyconsider acting unethically (making weapons oremploying children) but the use this to advertisethat they are an ethical bank


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Some say we should always be

selfish!O Ethical egoism: where we act in a way

that is ethical because it is for our self-

interestO Self-interest and good ethics often

coincide feel good to be good!


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The LawO The publics agency for translating morality into

specific social guidelines and practices, andspecifying punishments.

O Different countries different laws!

O However, can we assume that if we follow the lawwe are acting ethically?

O Legally acceptable does not necessarily meanmoral

O Example: Shayla ban in France


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In practice.O Theory is easy, practice is much harder

O E.g. Killing is bad.always? What about war?Euthanasia? As punishment?

O Let us practice:See the Hospital Case Study

O Two core business subjects: accountancy andeconomics:O Both want utility maximum the most to benefit the

company/countryO Ethical? Discuss

O Can we really state something is right or wrong?


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Absolutes1.2.2 Why does business ethics matter?O It is difficult to define ethical conduct.

O Ethical dilemma: downsizing a workforce of loyal

employees vs. a cost cutting requirement ofmanagement competing interests:O Those who want the firm to survive and therefore

feel the cost cutting in necessary;O The employees who are directly affected by the

loss of their job;O The employees and direct line managers who are

left to deal with work with fewer workers and adeclining morale.

O Is there a solution? Maybe not, just a bestscenario from whose point of view though.


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Competing ElementsO Obligation by the company to deal with competitors

and make profitsO Must also deal with each other on a social scaleO The social community area also involved.

O Need a sense of community and cooperation to havea successful firm (Solomon, 1992)

O Virtue goodness likely to benefit society as a whole is needed both individual and corporately.

O What is good for one however, may be bad foranother

O Balance and debate the ability to makeethical decisions in light of dilemmas withmore than one answer is necessary inbusiness.


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We need.O To be ethically acceptable to our society

O Bad press is bad for business (e.g. Nike)

O Community inside and outside the companymakes a productive company

O Productive companies survive= good business!

O Altruisticand Psychological egoismareneeded.


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Absolutes1.2.3 Practice and Theory

O Does this happen, or do business claim tobe ethical without being so? Can youthink of any examples? (see page 10 for more)

O Who is monitoring business to check theyare behaving in an ethical way?


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Three basic approachesBeauchamp and Bowie (1997) claim threeapproaches:O Prescriptive

Attempt to formulate and defend basic moralnormsO Descriptive

focusing on describing practices, moral codesand beliefs

O Conceptual Study

involving analysing central ethical termsright, good, justice etc.


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PrescriptiveAttempt to formulate and defend basic moral norms

O Does rule setting like this erode freedom for individuals?

O What about when a dilemma does not fit the accepted rulebook? E.G. Someone stealing food to feed their child?

O Is this needed thoughE.G. banning CFCs to save theenvironment.

O This reflects what ethical relativistbelieve do you remember what their viewpoint is?

O Is this Cultural Imperialism imposing one countries beliefsystem on another?What do you think?


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Descriptivefocusing on describing practices, moral codes and beliefs

O Underlying principles of morality are oftensimilar:

O Most people agree that sometimes the

interest of the individual needs to be sacrificedfor the good of society as a whole do youagree?

O Whether we come from ethical relativism or amore universal approach, some social

structures are accepted worldwide can youthink of some? (See page 11 for tips!)

O Sometimes these are describedclearly,sometimes unwritten but known.


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Conceptual Studyinvolving analysing central ethical terms

O This is required to meet the shortcomings ofprescriptive and descriptive approaches.

O We need to analyse and compare to make ethicaldecisions on dilemmas in business.

O See example of Enron on page 11-12 read and discuss!

O The modern firm is perceived as an arena whereindividuals have the opportunity to exchange ideas,share different opinions and have a shared respectand commitment to some underlying ethical values


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Absolutes1.2.4 What is Ethics Practice?

Singer (1995) rejects ethical relativism bystating do what increases happiness and

reduces suffering = utilitarianism next week!

He says that accepting ethical relativismmakes way for situations that could beconsidered unfair e.g. use of child labour


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In the end.O An applied discipline, ethics is about deeds

actions.

O Immanuel Kant and Adam Smith emphasizedthat day to day actions should be guided byenlightened self-interest and altruism(what didthis mean again?!)

O We all want a fair world to live in ethicaldebate tries to give this by dealing withunfairness and inequity


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For next week.O You need to READ pages 13 28

O Divide into 5 teams and choose one theory each:Utilitarianism, Deontological ethics, Virtue ethics, Rights-based approaches and Post-modern approaches

O Next class your team will give a 10 minutepresentation to show:O What is the theoryO What does it meanO ExampleO What is positive about it

O What is negative about it

Week 1 Defining Ethical Behaviour

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