BA 203- SOCIAL, POLITICAL LEGAL, ETHICAL and ECOLOGICAL

ENVIRONMENT OF BUSINESS

ETHICAL BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT

A. Ethics and Business

Ethics
Moral principle that govern a persons behavior or conducting of an
activity
Branch of knowledge that deals with moral principles
Discipline dealing with what is good and bad with moral duty and
obligation

Business Ethics
This is known as a corporate ethics
A form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical
principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business
environment.
It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the
conduct of individuals and entire organization.
Business ethics is the study of proper business policies and
practices regarding potentially controversial issues, such as
corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination,
corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities. Law
often guides business ethics, while other times business ethics
provide a basic framework that businesses may choose to follow to
gain public acceptance.
Business ethics ensure that a certain required level of trust
exists between consumers and various forms of market
participants with businesses.

Example:
An Operations Manager of an organization has conducted a professional
development program for all employees including those who were not present
on the PD Program. This practices ensure that all employees receives fair
treatment from the Operations Manager or Head of the organization.

What is the Importance of Studying Business Ethics?

Studying business ethics will help you to identify and aware of ethical
issues when they arise.

1. To avoid ethical misconduct

2. Ethics contributes to employee commitment
3. Ethics contributes to investors loyalty
4. Ethics contributes to customer satisfaction
 5. Ethics Contributes to profits

Awareness of emerging business ethics:

Honesty- refers to truthfulness, integrity and trustworthiness

Fairness- Conflicts of Interest- quality of being just and, equitable and
impartial
Honesty and fairness- general oral attributes of decision makers
Fraud- purposeful communication that deceives, manipulates or conceal
facts to create a false impression.
Conflict of Interest- exist when individual must choose whether to advance
his or her own interest, those of the organizations, or those of some other
groups.
Discrimination-
Information Technology due to advance technology that there should be
employee privacy, consumer privacy and the protection of intellectual
property

Considerations in Ethical Decision Making

Ethical Issue Intensity

The perceived relevance or importance of an ethical issue to the individual, work
group, and/or organization
Reflects the ethical sensitivity of the individual and/or work group
Triggers the ethical decision making process
Individuals are subject to six spheres of influence
Workplace Legal system
Family Community
Religion Profession
Moral intensity: Relates to a persons perception of social pressure and the
harm his/her decision will have on others
Individual Factors

People base their ethical decisions on their own values and principles of right or
wrong
Values are learned through socialization
Good personal values decrease unethical behavior and increase
positive work behavior
Values are subjective; vary across cultures
An organization may intend to do right, but organizational or social forces can
alter this intent
Research shows that various factors influence ethical behavior
Genderwomen are more ethical than males
Education, work experience, nationality and age affect ethical decision
making

Organizational Factors
Organizational culture has a stronger influence on employees than individual values
Corporate culture: A set of values, norms, and artifacts that members of an
organization share
Ethical culture: Reflects whether the firm has an ethical conscience; is
a function of many factors
Significant others: Those who have influence in a work group
Obedience to authority: Helps to explain why many employees
unquestioningly follow superiors orders

Opportunity
The conditions in an organization that limit/permit ethical/unethical behavior
Immediate job context: Where employees work, with whom they work, and
the nature of the work
Opportunities for misconduct can be reduced by establishing formal codes,
policies, and rules
Aggressive enforcement is required
Knowledge can sometimes lead to unethical behavior
A person who has an information base, expertise, or information about
competition has an opportunity to exploit knowledge

Moral Reasoning and Its application in Business Ethics / Moral Philosophy and its
application with business ethics.

A comparison of the Philosophies Used in Business Decisions

1. Teleology Stipulates that acts our morally rights

or acceptable if they produce some
desired result, such as realization of
self-interest or utility.
Egoism Defines right or acceptable actions as
 those that maximize a persons self-
interest as defined by an individual
Utilitarianism Defines right and acceptable action that
maximizes total utility, or the greatest
good for the greatest number of people
2. Deontology Focuses on the preservation of
individual rights and on the intentions
associated with a particular behavior
rather than on its consequences
3. Relativist Evaluates ethicalness subjectively on
the basis of individual and group
experience
4. Virtue Ethics Assumes that what is moral in a given
situation is not only what conventional
morality requires, but also what the
mature person with a good moral
Character would deem appropriate.
5. Justice Evaluates ethicalness on the basis of
fairness: distributive, procedural and
interactional

Applying moral philosophy to Ethical Decision Making

Individuals use different moral philosophies depending on whether they are making
a personal or making a work-related decision.

Two reasons may explain these:

1. In the business arena, some goals and pressures for success differ from the
goals and pressures in a persons non-work life as a result, an employee
might view a specific action as good in the business sector but
unacceptable in the non-work environment.
2. Firms corporate culture

Kohlbergs Model of Cognitive Moral Development

- people make different decisions in similar ethical situations due stages of six
cognitive moral development;

Consists of six stages:

1. Punishment and obedience
2. Individual instrumental purpose and exchange
3. Mutual interpersonal expectations, relationships, and conformity
4. Social system and conscience maintenance
5. Prior rights, social contract or utility
6. Universal ethical principles
B. BUSINESS ETHICS AND FILIPINO VALUES

1. Sison and Palma-Angeles Business Ethics in the Philippines

The plurality of languages and ethnicities, the geographic fragmentation, the predominant Roman Catholic religion,
together with the still relatively short experience in nationhood account for a very peculiar understanding of business
ethics in the Philippines.

The rapid growth and liberalization of the economy, coupled with the inequitable distribution of wealth, the destruction
of the environment and corruption are the main ethical concerns. Businesspersons and the academe endeavor to
find solutions for these unique challenges.

PLS ADD, THANKS!

2. Jocano Filipino Value System

The Filipino value system or Filipino values refers to the set of values or the value system that a majority of
Filipino people have historically held important in their lives. This Philippine value system includes own unique
assemblage of consistent ideologies, moral codes, ethical practices, etiquette, and cultural and personal values that
are promoted by society. This Value System is one of the important element in Filipino culture.

Felipe Lando Jocano was a Filipino anthropologist, educator, and author known for his works in Philippine
Anthropology. Jocano identified two models of the Filipino System. The first is the exogenous model or the foreign
model, while the second is the indigenous model or the traditional model.

a. The Exogenous Model (foreign model) is described as to be a legal and formal.

The foreign model was inherited by Filipinos from Western cultures, particularly from Spaniards and the
Americans.

For example: bureaucracy exhibited in the government of the Philippines, prominent subcultures or counter
culture, increasing cultural syncretism resulting from globalization and human migration.

b. The Indigenous Model (traditional model) is described as traditional and non-formal model or guide but
is deeply embedded in the subconscious of the Filipino.

PLS ADD, THANKS!

What are Filipino values? What is distinctly Filipino in our value system? The Filipino value system
arises from our culture or way of life, our distinctive way of becoming human in this particular place and
time. We speak of Filipino values in a fourfold sense.

First, although mankind shares universal human values, it is obvious that certain values take on for us a
distinctively Filipino flavor. The Greek ideal of moderation or meden agan, the Roman in medio stat
virtus, the Confucian and Buddhist "doctrine of the Middle", find their Filipino equivalent in hindi labis,
hindi kulang, katamtaman lamang.

Secondly, when we speak of Filipino values, we do not mean that elements of these Filipino values are
absent in the value systems of other peoples and cultures. All people eat, talk and sing, but they eat
different foods, speak various languages and sing different songs. Thus, we easily recognize Filipino,
American, Chinese, Japanese or any other foreign food, language or music. The difference lies in the
way these elements are ranked, combined or emphasized so that they take on a distinctively Filipino
slant or cast.

For instance, in China, honesty and hard work may rank highest; Chinese and Japanese cultures give
great value to politeness and beauty; American culture to promptness and efficiency; and Filipino culture
to trust in God and family centeredness. In this sense of value-ranking and priority of values, we can
speak of dominant Filipino values.

Thirdly, universal human values in a Filipino context (historical, cultural, socio-economic, political, moral
and religious) take on a distinctive set of Filipino meanings and motivations. This is true not only of the
aims and goals, beliefs, convictions, and social principles of the traditional value system of the lowland
rural family (4) but also of what Fr. Horacio de la Costa, S.J. calls the Filipino "nationalistic" tradition
(pagsasarili, pagkakaisa, pakikisama, pakikipagkapwa-tao, and pagkabayani. (5)

A Filipino value or disvalue does not exist alone, in isolation or in a vacuum. Filipino values like bahala
na, utang na loob, hiya, pakikisama, pakiusap are clustered around core values like social acceptance,
economic security, social mobility, and are always found in a definite context or set of circumstances.

Both positive values and negative disvalues together form a characteristic constellation in school
(aralan at dasalan [studying and praying], kuwentuhan at laruan [story telling and game], inggitan at
tsismisan [envying and gossiping]), which differs from the configuration found in government offices
(pagkakaisa [unity] , pagkabayani [heroism], intriga [intrigue], palakasan [show of power], sipsipan
[bribery], palusot), in business firms (palabra de honor [word of honor], delicadeza

[finesse], "commission", "kickback", padulas [grease money], lagay [bribe]), or in the barrio
barangays (paggalang [honoring], pagdadamayan [comforting], bayanihan [cooperation], bahala na
[come what may], utang na loob [gratefulness], hiya[shame]/pakiusap[appear], palakasan [show of
power]).
 To change a framework of values, it may be necessary to change the constellation and context of
those negative values that hinder Filipino and Christian development.

Fourthly, we can speak of Filipino values in the sense that the historical consciousness of values has
evolved among our people. The Filipino concept of justice has evolved from inequality to equality,
and to human dignity; from the tribe, to the family, and to the nation (6) . Filipino consciousness of
these different values varies at different periods of our history.

It is only in the last two decades that the Filipino people have become more conscious of
overpopulation and family planning, environmental pollution (Kawasaki sintering plant) and wildlife
conservation (Calauit Island), and the violation of human rights (Martial Law), active non-violence and
People Power (1986 non-violent Revolution).

Generally, there are Six types of Value System:

Theoretical - places high importance on discovery of truth through a critical and
rational approach.
Economic - emphasizes on the useful and practical form of values.
Aesthetic - places highest value on form and harmony
Social - highest value is given to love of people
Political - emphasizes on acquisition of power and influence.
Religious - concerned with unity of experience and understanding of cosmos as a
whole.

3. Other Filipino Values

Elements and Composition of Filipino Values

a. Surface values-readily seen and observed values exhibited and esteemed by many Filipinos

For example:

Hiya (propriety/dignity)

Pakikisama (companionship/esteem)

Utang na loob (gratitude/ solidarity)

b. Core values- hiya, pakikisama and utang na loob are considered branches from a single origin-the core
value of the Filipino Personality-Kapwa
 Kapwa means togetherness, and refers to community, or not doing things alone. Kapwa has two
categories:

Ibang Tao (other people)

Hindi ibang tao (not other people)

c. The surface values spin off the core value through the Pivotal aspect of Pakikiramdam, or shared inner
perception (feeling for another)

d. Another notable key elements or motivations are Optimism about the future, pessimism with regards to
present situations and events, the concern and care for other people, the existence of friendships and
friendliness, the habit of being hospitable, religious nature, respectfulness to self and others, respect for
female members of society, the fear of God, and abhorrence of acts of cheating and thievery.

Enumeration of Filipino Values

a. Pakikipagkapwa-tao-this is the shared sense of identity and consciousness of the other. It means treating
others with respect and dignity as an equal, not someone below the individual

b. Family orientation-the basic and most important unit of a Filipino life is the family. Unlike in Western
countries, young Filipinos who turn 18 are not expected to move out of their parents home.

c. Joy and Humor (Biro) - this famous trait is the ability of Filipinos to fin humor in everything. It sheds light on
the optimism and positivity of Filipinos in whatever situation they are in so as to remain determined in going
through struggles or challenges.

d. Flexibility, Adaptibility, Creativity-studies show that Filipinos often have an aversion to a set of
standardized rules or procedures; they are known to follow a natural clock or organic sense of time-doing
things in the time they feel is right.

This allow them to think on their feet and be creative in facing whatever challenge or task they have even
when it is already right in front of them.

e. Faith and Religiosity

The Philippine is approximately 85 percent Christians (mostly Roman Catholic), 10 percent Muslims, and 5
percent other religions including the Taoist-Buddhist, religious beliefs of Chinese, and the indigenous
animalistic beliefs of some peoples in upland areas that resisted 300 years of Spanish colonial rule.

This is a reflection of the Filipinos strong faith in God as seen in their various practices. This includes:
numerous church holidays they observe;
the customary (and obligatory) Sunday Mass;
the individuals basis of their moral standpoints;
the influence of the Church on the minds, actions, opinions of the majority, and importance of the
Sacraments,
praying at almost any possible time of the day; and
the extreme practice during holy week.

f. Ability to Survive
 Filipinos as a people have been constantly under the rule of numerous powerful countries has over the time,
developed a sense of resourcefulness or the ability to survive with whatever they have. They have the
extraordinary ability to make something out of almost nothing.

g. Hard Work and Industry

With resourcefulness comes hard work. Filipinos are very determines and persevering in accomplishing
whatever they set their minds to.

Filipinos over the years have proven time and time again that they are people with an industrious attitude.
Sadly, this is seen by others as Filipinos being only useful as domestic helpers, working abroad to help their
families in the country.

This is also present in the countrys workforce particularly farmers. Even with little support, technological
weaknesses and the countrys seasonal typhoons, the Filipino farmer still strives to earn their daily meal.

h. Hospitality

Foreigners who come to visit the Philippines speak of Filipinos going out of their way to help them when lost,
or the heartwarming generosity of a Filipino family hosting a visitor in their poverty-stricken home.

C. ETHICAL ISSUES IN CONSUMER RELATIONS

1. Ethics of Consumer Protection

What is consumer protection?

Consumer protection is a concept designed to ensure fair competition and the free flow of truthful
information in the marketplace.

Consumer refers to any individual or households that use goods and services generated with in the
economy.

Consumer Protection laws are laws designed to prevent businesses that engage in fraud or specified
unfair practices from gaining and advantage over competitors and provide additional protection for the weak
that are unable to take care of themselves.

Market is flooded with duplicate goods having fake labels or selling drugs, food stuffs, consumables like
agarbatis, suparis etc, followed by misleading advertisements. This result is disrepute for the products of
good companies even though such fake goods are small in quantities.
 Setting high standard and enforcing reverses the position. If government notices such depletion of ethical
standard, rigid regulations are brought in and are never withdrawn.

Consumer Protection provides for better protection of the interest of consumer and for that purpose to make
provision for the establishment of the consumer councils and other authorities for settlement on consumers
dispute and for matters connected therewith.

Who is Responsible for the Consumer Protection?

a. Responsibility of Business
The business including producers and traders have due regard to consumer rights as it is their social
responsibility.

They have to come out with quality goods at reasonable prices.

b. Responsibility of Consumer

All efforts regarding consumer protection will not produce desired results if consumerism is not accepted as
a means of asserting and enjoying their rights.

c. Responsibility of Government

Innocent and helpless consumers should be protected by the Government thorugh enacting legislations.
Government will have to set its own priorities for the protection of consumers right.

2. The Consumer Act of the Philippines

a. What is R.A 7394?

RA 7394 is the Consumer Act of the Philippines which took effect on July 15, 1992.

b. Declaration of the Basic Policy

It is the policy of the State to protect the interest of the consumer, promote his general welfare and to establish
standards of conduct for business and industry.

c. What are the Objectives of the Act?

Protection of consumers against hazards to health and safety;

Protection of consumers against deceptive, unfair, and unconscionable sales acts and
practices;
Provision of information and education to facilitate sound choice and the proper exercise
of rights by the consumer;
Provision of adequate rights and means of redress; and
Involvement of consumer representative in the formulation of social and economic
policies.

d. Which Government Agencies Implement the Consumer Act?

Government Agencies Areas of Concern

 Consumer product quality and safety
Deceptive, unfair, and unconscious sales acts and practices
Weights and measures (metrication)
Department of Trade Consumer products and service warranties
and Industry (DTI) Price tag
Labeling and packaging
Liability for Products and Services
Service and repair shops
Advertising and sales promotion

Department of Agricultural products:

Agriculture (DA ) Quality and safety
Labeling and packaging

Department of
Education, Culture and Consumer education and information
Sports (DECS)
Food, drugs, cosmetics and devise and hazardous substances
Department of Health Quality and safety
(DOH) Labeling and packaging
Advertising and sales promotion
Price tag

Bangko Sentral ng Consumer credit transactions extended by banks and other financial
Pilipinas (BSP) intermediaries

Securities and
Exchange Commission Credit facilities extended to consumers by financing companies
(SEC)

e. When is the Consumer Act applicable?

The COMPLIANANT is a natural person;

The SUBJECT of the violation is a consumer product or services; and
The NATURE of the compliant is regarding any of the aforementioned concern.

3. Ethics of Advertising

What is Advertising?

Advertising is the paid, impersonal, one-way marketing of persuasive information from an identified sponsor
disseminated through channels of mass communication to promote the adoption of goods, services or ideas.

Medium of advertisements: Newspapers, magazines, radio and television broadcasts, films, stage shows, websites,
billboards, posters, wall paintings, and flyers.

In the advertising communication process there are five key players:

What is Illegal and What is Unethical?

Marketing communications has an obligation to perform legally and ethically, and with the social welfare in mind.
Advertising routinely and legitimately attacked for many of tis practices. Most of these criticisms come under the
heading of unethical rather than illegal practices:

a. Advocacy-advertising tries to persuade the audience to do something that is not correct. It is not objective
or neutral.

What does the advertising advocate?

b. Accuracy-subtle messages trouble critics, especially when aimed at groups such as the elderly or the
disabled.

How accurate is the advertising? Some of this depends on susceptibility of the audience (i.e., kids)

c. Acquisitiveness-consumers are continually persuaded that they continually need more and more new
products. However, consumers make the final decision.

What is he overall effect? Does it make us more materialistic?

What are the Common Controversial Issues Involving Advertising?

a. Puffery-a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no
reasonable person would take literally. Puff serves to puff up an exaggerate image of what is being
described and is especially featured testimonials.

For example: nothing beats a bud

b. Decency- sexual innuendo, violence

c. Stereotyping-portrayals of housewives, seniors, racial groups
d. Children-violence, dangerous acts, unhealthy habits
e. Controversy-condoms, alcohol, fashion

4. Marketing to Children

Young are the target for advertisers because of the following reasons:

a. for the money spent by themselves (the present market)

b. for their influence on the family shopping habits (the influence market);

Children has nowadays a word to say in the family's decisions to buy for a large number of products and
services, from the place where to spend the holiday to the decoration of the house, the car type, the mark of
the electronic devices or personal computers etc.

c. for their quality as future customers (the future market),

 Marketers consider children evolving consumers and are quite aware of the fact that shopping habits and
loyalty to certain trademarks are acquired constantly since childhood.

What are the Concerns on Marketing to Children?

a. A major reason for this concern is evidence based on Piagets theory of cognitive development that children
are not able to fully comprehend commercial messages.

b. Another cause for worrying is the content of commercials that can prove damaging for children by
encouraging certain bad manners or activities.

c. Finally, there is the concern that increasing amount of advertising that children view will lead to their
apprehension of values that are overly materialistic.

Advertisers spend annually hundreds of billions dollars for companies worldwide in order to encourage, persuade
and manipulate customers and lead them towards a materialistic lifestyle, based on expenditure.

Advertising, as promoting instrument, is the center point of a strong controversy, because of the deficiencies it
holds:
enhances the consumers' materialism;
lacks sincerity;
raises the products' sell prices;
accentuates the importance of symbols and of the status given by the possessions one has;
creates unrealistic expectations about the satisfaction a good may bring in one's life.

Marketing Strategies for Children

Marketers have conceived specific instruments and strategies of approaching in order to assure the success in
winning over a market with such a potential.

a. Pester power (power of insistence) refers to the children's capacity to ask repeatedly and restlessly a
product from their parents, talking them into buying goods with which they commonly do not agree.

Marketers discovered that it is easier to determine children to ask for a product rather than trying to
persuade directly the parents to buy it. This strategy permits two approaches:
Asking restlessly and persistently for a product (persistence nagging);
Stimulating the parents' desire to offer their children the best (importance nagging); an important
role is played by the parents guilt feeling that they have lesser and lesser time to spend with the
children [Sutherland Anne, 2001].

b. Using knowledge of child psychology in the development of promotion themes

Children oriented marketing becomes a social problem when it is obvious that certain promotion campaigns
are using elements of child psychology (e.g. between 3and 7 years children prefer toys that allow them to
transform in a character they admire; between 8 and 12 years they are inclined to collect various items).

By using this type of information, marketers have created strategies to stimulate the desire to buy not for the
product itself but for the accessories it brings along (Beanie Babies, cards and figurines, Pokemon or Barbie
etc.).

Advertisements to children are exploiting their vulnerabilities, like the teenagers' lack of safety and the
children's desire to belong to a group. Experts in child psychology point out that until the age of 8 or 9,
children do not understand that advertisements are not entirely real and thus it is unethical to make ads
meant for children of that age. The cognitive structure is still developing at this age and that is why they are
 so sensitive to external influences. They do not make the difference between advertisements and news and
consider both of them real.

c. Development brand name loyalty since childhood

Children are hunted by the companies since their first hours in this world mothers must decide between the
trademarks of diapers, baby oils and powders, milk formula etc. There will be many years until the child will
be considered a real consumer, but marketers efforts to gain him must start from early childhood.
The age from which marketers get interested in children is also continuously dropping( almost 2
year old, nowadays); evaluations prove that at the age of 36 months, a child recognize almost
100 trademarks and from 3-4 years, children ask frequently not a product but a specific brand of
that product.

d. Involvement in the educational process

Marketers are taking advantage of the profound fund crisis from educational sector and promote
their name and products in many ways, including:
they endow schools with devices and technology in exchange for the exhibition space in the
institutions;
they sponsor events, competitions and other activities;
they guarantee funds in exchange for exhibiting promotional materials in classrooms and on
the means of transportation;
they sign exclusive contracts with the food suppliers for children.

e. Buzz or Street marketing

A very efficient strategy among teenagers is using the youngsters with popularity in schools, true
teenagers' leaders of opinion, in order to promote clothes, beauty products, music etc. It is a
variant of word of mouthmarketing which proves to be very easy to promote especially on
Internet where young people talk to each other in chat rooms or blogs about the latest news.

f. Internet

A new dynamic domain for promotion is the Internet advertisement. Children are in the marketers
mediated by parents or professors. Thus children must give information about their preferences
and those of other family members in order to have access to on-line games. These information
are used afterwards tintit in messages sent to those children. Cartoon characters are used most
frequently for speaking and developing a long-term relationship with the children. Children before
teenage years do not comprehend the concept of privacy and private information and they are
very impressed by these characters and tend to do whatever they ask. Internet represents
therefore a really favorable environment for marketers' activity regarding youngsters because:
it is part of their culture;
children are not always supervised while navigating the Internet;
Internet ads are not respecting the specific regulations for child protection like TV
channels, for example;
it is a dependable source for collecting information about the children and their families.

g. Games and toys inspired by the programs for teenage and adults

Though the age from which a movie can be seen is established by CAN regulations, the present
norms do not establish an age limit for the toys inspired by characters from movies full of violent
scenes. The consequence is that from very small ages children are encouraged to ask for toys
inspired by Spider man or Batman (though the movies are not recommended under 16 years),
and the video games for four years old children suggest them to defeat their enemies in a blood
bath.
 As marketers target smaller and smaller children so the concern of parent groups, experts in child
psychology and education grows. Children are encourage to ask their parents over and over
again the newest toy or the latest model and every time they receive it, they only feel the
satisfaction of momentarily possessing a good and a new disappointment when he discovers that
it is not as funny as the advertise.

Family is the group with the greatest influence in a child's life, but television and the other visual
media are gaining power over the young minds. Children are spending more time in front of the
TV set than for any other activity. In every household there is a second TV for the children and
they are forgot quite often in front of it for hours and hours.

What are the Harmful Consequences of Advertisements to Children?

The arguments of those giving an alarm signal regarding the advertisements harmful consequences on
the youngsters evolution, are:

a. children do not make the distinction between reality and manipulation they consider
everything seen on TV real, advertisements being only funnier news for them;

b. Advertises have harmful results on each individual as well as on the relationships with the
others.

c. Children oriented marketing is also partially blamable for the problem of children obesity.
Studies show that a permanently growing percent of children get their necessary of calories
from snacks, while they spend more and more time in front of the TV or the computer. Fast
food advertisements are not based on the taste or nutritional values but on image and fun.
Children are hedonistic; they buy out of an impulse and do not take conscientious economic
decisions.

5. Ethical Issues on Pricing

Pricing ethics involves examining what constraints are needed on the pursuit of market share and profits when the
actions of the company affect others adversely. For example, a company that has a monopoly on a particular product
with few, if any, directs competitors needs to think carefully about raising prices if the price change cannot be
justified. Justification may be an increase in labor or material costs that can be demonstrated clearly to customers.

Pricing Ethics

a. Bid rigging is a form of fraud in which a commercial contract I promised to one party, although for the sake
of appearance several other parties also present a bid.
 b. Predatory pricing is the practice of selling a product or service at a very low price, intending to drive
competitors out of the market, or create barriers to entry for potential new competitors.

c. Price fixing- anti-competitive pricing arises where group of producers collude to raise prices above the level
that would apply in a freely operating market.

d. Collusive tendering-occurs where there is an exclusive agreement between competitors either not to
tender, or to tender in such a manner as not to be competitive with one of the other tenderers.

The essence of collusion in tendering is that there is an agreement between the bidders to win the contract
for one bidder, with the other parties receiving some other benefits, in the form of financial benefits or
agreements that they will win future contracts. Collusion aims to undermine the rationale for competitive
tendering by avoiding direct price competition between the bidders. In commercial contracts, this means
that the buyer is disadvantaged by paying more than they otherwise would, while government contracts the
ultimate loser is the taxpayer.

e. Price discrimination: anti-favoritism is the strategy of selling the same product at different prices to
different groups of consumers, usually based on the maximum they are willing to pay.

f. Price skimming: discriminating through time-occurs when the price of product is first sold at a very high
price and then gradually lowered.

This strategy is most commonly seen in the tech industry, as some consumers are willing to pay a premium
price for the newest gadgets Apple is a prime example, as prices drop within months of a release and new
alterations happen within six to twelve months
.
g. Supra competitive pricing: monopoly gouging

Sometimes the value that consumers place on a good is much greater than the cost of producing that
good.

The situation can take place during a shortage, such as price of food or fresh water after a hurricane, or
when a certain product is the only one of its kind available. Pharmaceuticals and the patents that surround
are a great example.

D. ETHICAL ISSUES IN EMPLOYER-WORKER RELATIONS

1.Ethics of Labor Contractualization

The legalization of the practice of contracting and subcontracting workers started on March 2, 1989, when a major
amendment in the Labor Code was enacted by the virtue of Republic Act (RA) 6715 or otherwise known as the
Herrera Law, it which it was named after former Senator Ernesto F. Herrera.

The implementation of labor contracting in the Philippines has created issues and concerns. Foremost in these
issues is the 5-5-5 arrangement where contractual workers are terminated after five months, and then re-hired again
for another five months.
This arrangement in labor contracting created insecurity in the labor market, depriving contractual workers of their
right to decent and full employment.

Issues on Contractualization

a. Firms employ contractual workers to generate savings by minimizing labor costs. Moreover, via labor
contracting, firms can adjust their workforce in terms of the number of employee they hire and fire.

Hiring contractual workers means saving on labor costs, as contractual workers are paid less than the
regular counterparts and are denied the full package of benefits.

Contractualization in essence makes hiring and firing easy.

b. Even though labor contracting is allowed by law, it became an instrument that caused the deprivation of
contractual workers right to decent work, especially their right to security of tenure.

Firms in the Philippines have adopted policies and developed models that resulted in5-5-5 becoming a
standard practice in labor contracting. As a result of this scheme, contractual workers became vulnerable to
insecure working conditions.

The prevalent cases of 5-5-5 arrangement in labor contracting have compromised the contractual workers
right to security of tenure. One of the clear reasons why employers tend to circumvent the law on
contracting is the evasion of having their workers to be regularized.

c. The objective of contracting is to help firms be more competitive in the market and at the same time provide
more employment opportunities especially for the unemployed.

If contractualization leads to greater employment for the unemployed, especially for those with lower skill,
the system leads to lower labor standards,for example, wages are fixed always at minimum wage and
workers have no other benefits and the lower-skilled people are not employed, then this contributes to
worsening inequality in the country.

d. The growing percentage of informal workers has led to a labor surplus. Because of this excess, only
makes it that much harder for endo workers to bargain for bigger wages and more benefits.

The surplus also assures companies that they can easily find new and willing contractual workers. Even if
you fire workers, you feel confident that when you need to hire somebody again, you can always get from
the pool of the unemployed.

e. The expanding pool of contractual workers, often outnumbering the regular workers, also has a huge impact
on organizing effort as management can use them against regular workers who launch mass actions to push
for higher wages and more benefits.

Is Contractualization Socially Responsible?

The state shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and unorganized, and promote
full employment opportunities for all-Philippine Constitution, Article 13, Section 3

In employment, it is satisfactory to consider only the legal requirements but also the social-ethical considerations. It
is essentially attached to other fundamental rights, that is, everyones right to life, the support of his dependence and
right to decent living.

2. Workplace Monitoring and Surveillance: The Problem of Trust

Employers have always had legitimate reasons to keep track of what their employees are doing while at work but
current computer and communication technologies (ICT) together with cameras, sound recording devices, global
positioning systems (GPS), and other technologies, this tracking has been made much easier.

Workplace Surveillance Justifications

There are many reasons why employers electronically monitor their employees; these justifications can be in
terms of employers, of customers, or of employees.

a. Efficiency and productivity are probably the most common reasons given for monitoring.

b. Security of products and especially of intellectual property. Vast amounts of data are collected and
stored and this has high value for the running of the business and often in its own right, as well, if it can be
sold or if it gives a business an advantage over its rivals. It is clearly in the employers interests that this data
is kept secure and most of the ways of doing this will involve technologies that can be used for monitoring
that only legitimate users access the various parts of the system.

Workplace Surveillance Concerns

Monitoring and surveillance can be seen as a violation of the rights of employees to privacy or it can be seen
as giving employers too much power over their employees. The more that others know about us the greater
can be their control over us.

Arguments:

a. Employees, because they are being paid, have no, or few privacy rights at work so no rights are
violated by monitoring Web use, for example.

b. Another is that, because they are using their employees computing equipment, no rights are violated if
their activity on that equipment is monitored.

c. Provided that the employees are informed of the monitoring, then if they are still willing to work there,
they have consented to be monitored.

In contrast:

d. People are still people when at work and should still have their rights to privacy protected.

e. Another worry concerns the health of workers. There is some evidence that monitoring and surveillance
can lead to health problems, especially stress-related ones, and be detrimental to employees wellbeing
more generally. It has been argued that electronically monitored employees suffer health, stress, and
morale problems to a higher degree than other employees.

Trust and Surveillance

a. Surveillance is detrimental for trust as it reduces scope for autonomy. An employee is autonomous in
the workplace to the extent that he can make decisions and act on them. The amount of autonomy is
significant, for it allows the employee to demonstrate that he is a conscientious worker, has initiative and
the like. Without this level of autonomy these attributes cannot be demonstrated.

-In a heavily monitored workplace I cannot show that I am a good worker. There is no freedom to do the
right thing without the possible, and plausible, retort He is only doing it because he knows that he is
being monitored.
 b. Autonomy is essential for trust. When we trust we become vulnerable and in situations where either
the trustor or trustee lacks autonomy this is not possible.

c. Surveillance reduces scope for trust. Surveillance communicates the overwhelming meta-message
to employees that they are distrusted.

E. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RELATION TO THE GOVERNMENT

1.Tax Evasion

The appeal of huge profits is tempting for business institutions so as not to pay the right amount of taxes. There are
two common ways of escaping the net of taxation: tax evasion (failure to make full disclosure to the government) and
tax avoidance (use of lawful tax planning techniques).Tax evasion is both illegal and unethical. Tax avoidance is
legal but raises some ethical questions.

Tax Evasion Differs from Tax Avoidance

Area Tax Evasion Tax Avoidance

an illegal practice where a person,

legal rearrangements of ones economic
organization, or corporation intentionally avoids
Definition activities in order to lower tax liability
paying his/her/its true tax liability.

underreporting of income, overstatement of moving capital or labor areas, geographical or

expenses, use of fictitious receipts, the keeping otherwise, where tax rates are lower and/or by
Common of double sets of books, false or fictitious manipulating the tax parameters through the
practices entries in the book, fictitious transactions in the legal means to spread or defer the tax liability
name of dummies, nonrecording of sales, and over time thereby effectively reducing the tax
others rate.

Usually planned and implemented with the help

Who is/are Usually accomplished with the help of
of experts such as accountants, lawyers and
involve/s unscrupulous government officials
financial managers.

Impact on
Loss of government revenue, increase in taxpayers after-tax income, and perverse effects on the
the
equity and efficiency goals of the tax system
economy

Why is Tax Evasion Ethically Wrong?

a. When you evade taxes you also undermine the most important purposes of taxation-to help the government
run the society and to redistribute wealth to its needy members. You do not contribute to the maintenance of
a government that ensures and promotes peace, security and the well-being of the whole society. Also you
do not participate in the promotion of a more just redistribution of wealth.

b. When you evade taxes you disobey a legitimate government entrusted to create laws that are beneficial to
the society. We assume that laws are made in order to advance the most basic ethical principles that we
hold; thus following specific governmental laws is mainly an ethical duty as well.
 It is the right of the individual taxpayer or the business establishment to find ways to reduce the amount of
their tax liabilities. However, it must be done within the bounds of the law.

Is Tax Evasion Justified in the Following Cases?

a. Unfair and unjust taxation scheme. If you think there are unfair and irrelevant provisions in the current
system, the solution is not to evade taxes. The more prudent thing to do as a responsible businessperson is
to communicate with your legislators and to advocate for the modification of existing laws.

b. What if as a taxpayer, you disagree with some policies on how the government uses its taxes? Citizens
who object to specific programs funded through tax revenues or to the fairness of tax mechanisms may
express their views through transparent engagement in the policy process rather than through refusing to
comply with the tax system.

c. What if the majority of the people believe that the government is corrupt and that the money raised
from taxes is generally embezzled by many government officials? Businesspeople who think the
government is corrupt and inefficient must positively engage in actions that would address the problems of
corruption and inefficiency. Corrupt activity cannot be resolved by another potentially corrupt activity.

2. Bribery

Bribery is generally considered as a form of corruption. Corruption is dishonesty or deliberate dereliction of duty for
personal gain by a government official or a private entity official.

Bribery occurs when property or personal advantage is offered, without the authority of law, to a public official with the
intent that the public official act favorably to the offeror at any time or fashion in the execution of the public officials
duties.

Bribery is usually related to extortion. In bribery, the company takes the initiative of offering or giving money or any
other valuable thing to the one being bribed. Typically, this payment is made to an official in exchange for his violating
some official duty or responsibility. And typically, he does this by failing deliberately to make a decision on its merits.
This does not necessary mean that a bribed official will make an improper decision. For example: A judge who is paid
to show favoritism may do so and yet, coincidentally, make the correct legal decision (the bribe offerer may in fact
have the law on her side.

Ethical issue: The violation of duty consists in deciding a case for the wrong sorts of reason.

Although the most typical and important cases of bribery concern political officials and civil servants, one need not be
a political official or a civil servant to be bribed.

In extortion, on the other hand, it is the receiver of the bribe who solicits or takes initiative. For example: A
government official approaches the bidder and solicits money to be assured of the contract.

Why is Bribery Ethically Wrong?

a. Bribery violates the fundamental notion of equality.

The briber becomes unfair in relation to other businesspersons who want to do business with the
government; the playing field is no longer level. The briber has an advantage over and against other
businesspersons. This is a violation of fundamental justice and fairness resulting to clear inequality among
businesspeople, thus bribery is considered as a crime against justice.
 b. Bribery undermines the vitality of the institutions affected.

Bribery and corruption may be contributory to why people lose their trust in public institutions such as the
government and business.

c. Bribery has many potential devastating effects.

It can seriously hurt the economy; lots of resources that may be used for meaningful programs are lost in
corrupt practices. For example, the money lost in bribery and other forms of corruption could feed starving
people.

F. ETHICAL ISSUES IN RELATION TO THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT

Environmental ethics is defined as the moral relationship between humans and the natural environment (Buzzle
2011). It is an area of environmental philosophy that faces a lot of conflict due to the various subdivisions in terms of
ethical perceptions. For traditional and religious views, some people believe that they were given dominion over
natures plants and animals to serve their needs.

1. Anthropocentric Approach to Environmental Ethics

There are a number of implications of the anthropocentric view, which strongly influence the ways in which humans
interpret their relationships with other species and with nature and ecosystems. Some of these are as follows:

a. The anthropocentric view suggests that humans have greater intrinsic value than other species. A
possible result of this attitude is that any species that are of potential use to humans are a resource to be
exploited. This has, historically, usually occurred in an unsustainable fashion that results in degradation,
sometimes to the point of extinction, of nonhuman species, as has occurred with the dodo, great auk, and
other animals.

For example: People cut-down trees to build houses, or provide jobs for low-income class. In anthropocentric
view, trees innate value in this situation is ignored therefore, destructive global outcomes emerge.

The rampant cutting of trees in the mountains of the provinces in the Philippines is morally objectionable
because it will eventually cause floods that could be fatal to the lowlanders. Trees, forest, and the animals
that dwell in the area are not really valuable in themselves, we do not have direct responsibilities towards the.
However, we have direct responsibilities to humans who will eventually be harmed by the effects of forest
depletion.

b. The view that humans have greater intrinsic value than other species also influences ethical judgments about
interactions with other organisms. These ethics are often used to legitimize treating other species in ways
that would be considered morally unacceptable if humans were similarly treated.

For example, animals are often treated cruelly in medical research and agriculture. This treatment of other
species has been labeled speciesism by some ethicists.

c. Another possible implication or assumption of the anthropocentric view is the belief that humans are the
height of the natural evolutionary progression of species and of life. This belief is often said to be in
contrast to the modern biological theory of evolution, which does not find any scientific use for ranking some
species as higher than any others (although such language has often been used by biologists over the last
two centuries).

Thus, anthropocentric views can be, and often have been, used to justify unlimited violence against the nonhuman
world. The ecological footprint that resulted from humans greediness has lead over the decades to massive
alteration in natures balance, as well as to many recognizable environmental crisis ranging from global warming,
ozone depletion and scarcity to the loss of biological diversity.

Questions arise for why people fail to respect nonhuman species and mistreat nature just to enhance their living
standards luxuriously. Various scholars tend to blame Judeo-Christian tradition, modernity, capitalism and patriarchy
(mens dominion of women) for orienting people to value nature for what it supplies to humanity which results in the
heavy consumption of natural resources.

Anthropocentric Extensionism

The anthropocentric view is also extended to those human beings who are not yet born. This view is called
anthropocentric extensionism. It is the notion that the moral duty to care for the environment is not only on
account of the presently existing human beings but also on the account of those who do not yet exist, the
unborn.

It is also called the duties to posterity or the moral obligation to the type of the future people will inherit from us.

It may appear that we have an obligation to conserve resources for the future generations because they have an
equal right to the worlds resources, then by depleting these resources, we are taking what is actually theirs and
violating their equal right to these resources.

People Who Do Not Exist Yet Can Really Have Rights?

In many countries where abortion is legal, pro-abortion groups believe that the fetus does not yet have rights equal to
those who granted to the citizens. In line with such belief, what right then, if any, would the unborn have? Because
there is a possibility that future generations may never exist, they cannot possess rights.

Perhaps it would be difficult to sustain an argument that supports extensionism on account of equal rights of future
generations.

John Rawls theory of justice is helpful in justifying the possible claim of a future generations to a better environment.

Rawl suggest that the members of each generation put themselves in the original position. Then, without knowing
what generation they belong to, they could decide what would be a just way of distributing resources between
consecutive generations.

2. Social Ecology and Ecological feminism (ecofeminism)

Social ecology and ecological feminism bring the issues of justice, oppression, and domination into the realm of
environmental ethics. For these two groups, environmental concerns cannot be understood independently of
economic and political issues.

a. Social Ecology claims that the environmental crisis is a result of the hierarchical organization of power and the
authoritarian mentality rooted in the structures of our society. The core principle of social ecology is that ecological
problems arise from deep-seated social problems.

Social hierarchy and class relationships legitimize our domination of the environment and underpin the
consumer system.

-The root causes of environmental problems are such as trade for profit, industrial expansion, and the
identification of progress with corporate self-interest.

The ecological damage done by our society is more than matched by the harm it inflicts on
humanity. Social ecology emphasizes that the destiny of human life goes hand-in-hand with the destiny of
the non-human world.

- Racism, sexism, third world exploitation are a product of the same mechanisms that cause rainforest
devastation

b. Eco-feminism

When it comes to environmental damage and health of our natural resources, gender definitely plays a role: in whos
affected, who can do what, and how we can move forward.
The United Nations Environment Program puts it pretty succinctly, saying: Around the world, environmental
conditions impact the lives of women and men in different ways as a result of existing inequalities. Gender roles often
create differences in the ways men and women act in relation to the environment, and in the ways mean and women
are enabled or prevented from acting as agents of environmental change.

Emerging in the 1970s, alongside the anti-nuclear proliferation movement and the beginnings of green political
activism, the concept of ecofeminism relates environmental damage to womens exploitation and lack of
empowerment.

Ecofeminism puts forth the idea life in nature is maintained through cooperation, mutual care, and love.

Concepts/Objectives of Ecofeminism:

a. Ecofeminism Sees A Parallel Between the Earth and Women

The perspective of radical ecofeminism: that women and the environment are exploited in the same way
by the same patriarchal dominating forces, who are seen as creating order and deriving value from chaotic
things (like women and forests).

-The devastation of the earth and her beings by the corporate warriors, and the threat of nuclear annihilation
by the military warriors, as feminist concerns.

-Literally, women are viewed in the same way as natural resources: as something to be taken, plundered, or
used.

Some radical feminists also take the same position about animal welfare, saying animals are being unfairly
exploited by current power structures in a way that harms the environment, too.

Another perspective is the Cultural ecofeminism which makes out the link between nature and women to
be empowering, picturing our gender as uniquely connected to the environment and natural processes
through things like menstruation and childbirth.

b. Ecofeminism Challenges Power Hierarchies

One of the big aims of ecofeminism is to change the worlds way of relating to things like women and the
environment: instead of domination and power hierarchies, they want to install equality communities that
interact on a level playing field.

c. Ecofeminism Points Out Womens Unique Involvement in Environmental Damage

Ecofeminism points the very real interactions that women, particularly in developing countries, have with
environment degradation, and how their disempowerment is related to serious ecological problems.

-Women are often the gatherers of food and water (whats called natural resource managers) for their
households, which mean that their lives are pretty heavily intertwined with a healthy, flourishing landscape.

-Women in their capacity as natural resource managers might have unique perspectives on how to help
stop environmental damage, but if their voices are silenced, they cant help.

What Might Be Problematic About Ecofeminism

Cultural ecofeminism is criticized for its tie between women and nature, as this is also more of gender stereotyping.
The concept points out that its hardly as men arent natural beings (they do share all other human biological
processes).

Aim of radical feminism clash with that of conventional feminism, which wants to put women into positions of
power (Hilary 2016) and give them a chance to be part of the hierarchy. Radical feminist wants to eliminate those
structures and replace them with communal decision-making and equal valuing of all people, and its worried that its
not a realistic point of view.

Eco-feminism is not a movement against men, as men are also subjected to and could become victims of the same
processes, while some women could also personally benefit. Instead, it challenges the common assumptions and
beliefs that promote these destructive and oppressive practices, such as patriarchy, hierarchy competition for
domination, religious dogma, discrimination, exploitation, suppression of emotion and empathy, unacceptable levels
of risk, and war.

3. Business Activity and Environmental Ethics

Generally speaking, business was not originally concerned with the preservation and conservation of the natural
environment. Because of the drive for profit coupled with the idea that the world is for the absolute taking of the
supreme human being the natural environment was usually compromised. However, there have been dramatic
changes to business thinking in relation to environmental thinking.

For example, tobacco manufacturers now admit that cigarette smoking is hazardous no only to the smokers but to
nonsmokers inhaling cigarette smoke as well. Ironically, some of them even contribute to health programs to mitigate
the harmful effects of cigarettes. They are also convinced that natural resources are not unlimited and they have
greater responsibility than citizens who are not engaged in business activities.

Why are Businesses duty-bound not to Harm Environment?

a. From anthropocentric point of view, harming the natural environment would eventually lead to harming
people who inhabit the environment. And just like any other citizen, business owners have the duty not to
harm people. People have the right not to be harmed, injured nor have their health be put into risk.

b. From the point of biocentrism and ecocentrism (, businesses have the duty not to harm the natural
environment because everything in it has intrinsic value and interests independent from human beings and
that all things are interrelated so that harming one part would eventually create imbalance to the whole
ecosystem.

For example, when a mining company dumps its chemical wastes into a river, it kills the fish that can be the
source of livelihood for the fishermen. It kills other organisms that may be food for other predators.

Biocentrism which literally means the centrality of life, is an ethical perspective holding that all
life deserves equal moral consideration or has equal moral standing. It assigns intrinsic moral value
to still living organism. In this view, human beings are held to be a mere animal species, coexisting
with others and without any outstanding dignity over other animals.

Ecocentrism which literally means house-centered. For ecocentrists, the natural environment is
a house for everybody and everything: living things and nonliving things alike.