Politic al Governmen tal/ regulatory

Econo mic

Industry Organizatio n Job

Legal Demograp hic/ social

Technolog ical

Environmental Dimensions Affecting Industries, Organizations, and Jobs

Primary vs. Secondary Stakeholder Groups

Consu mer

Owne rs Custome rs

Suppliers

FIR

Employee s Media

Consu mer

Secondary Stakeholders

Societ y -at-

Civil Society Groups of

Business Ethics Levels

Individual Level

QUICK TEST OF YOUR ETHICAL BELIEFS

Circle the number from 1-4 that best represents your beliefs; 1 represents completely agree and 4 represents completely disagree . 1. I consider money to be the most important reason for working at a job or in an organization. 1 2 3 4 2. I would hide truthful information about someone or something at work to save my job. 1234 3. Lying is usually necessary to succeed in business. 1234 4. Cutthroat competition is a part of getting ahead in the business world. 1234 5. I would do what is needed to promote my own career in a company short of ,short of committing a serious crime. 4 123

6. Acting ethically at home and with friends is not the same as acting ethically on the job. 1234 7. Rules are people who dont really want to make it to the top of the company. 1234 8. I believe that the Golden Rule is that the person who has the gold rules. 1234 9. Ethics should be taught at home and in the family, not in professional or higher education. 1234 10. I consider myself as the type of person who does whatever it takes to get a job done,period. 1234

Total your score by adding the numbers you circled.

Business ethics (Laura Nash) the study of how personal moral norms apply to the activities and goals of commercial enterprises. Its not a separate from moral standard, but the study of how the business context poses its own unique problems for the moral person who acts as an agent of this system. Business Ethics deals with 3 Areas of decision making 1. Choices about what the laws should be and whether to follow them. 2. Choices about economic and social issues outside the domain of law 3. Choices about the priority of self interest over the companys interest Corporate Social Responsibility Defined: According to World Business Council for sustainable Development The continuing commitment by business to behave ethically and contribute to economic development while improving the quality of life of the workforce and their families as well as the local community and the society at large. According to Singapore Compact Business efforts to achieve sustainable outcomes by community to good business practices and standards. Philosophers William Frankena defines Morality as a normative system in which judgement is made, more or less consciously out of a consideration of the effects of the actions on the lives of persons... including the lives of others.

Kant morality is the business of respecting persons as ends and NOT as means or as things Frankenas 2 traits of morality in decision making

1. Rationality lack of impulsiveness; care in mapping out alternatives and consequences, clarity about goals and purposes, attention to details of implementation 2. Respect special awareness of and concern for the effects of ones decision on others beyond seeing others as merely instrumental for ones own purposes.

Defining Responsibility/Accountability 3 Uses of the term Responsible 1. The causal sense He is responsible for this (Emphasis on holding to account for past actions Casualty- degree of participation, reward or punishment) 2. The rule-following sense as a lawyer, hes responsible for defending this client. (Emphasis on following social and legal norms) 3. The decision-making sense He is a responsible person. (Emphasis on an individuals independent judgement. (Intellectual and emotional process) Which do you think is the characteristic of moral responsibility? Why?

Why Use Ethical Reasoning in Business? 1. Many times laws do not cover all aspects or gray areas of a problem. what is moral is Not legal and what is legal is Not moral. (Ex. Tobacco Industries existence) 2. Free market and regulated market mechanisms do not effectively inform owners and managers how to respond to complex issues that have farreaching ethical consequences (Eurons Ethical Collapse) 3. Ethical reasoning is necessary because complex moral problems require. an intuitive or learned understanding and concern for fairness, justice due process to people, groups and commitments. (Company policies are limited in scope in covering human, environmental, and social costs of doing business) Ex. Microsofts alleged monopoly case, (Eurons fraud, money laundering, insider trading and crimes) Can Business Ethics Be Taught and Trained

Because laws and legal enforcement are not always sufficient to help guide or solve complex human problems relating to business situations, the question arise: Can ethics help? If so, how? And can business ethics be taught? This ongoing debate has no final answer, and studies continue to address the issue. One study, for example, that surveyed 125 graduate and undergraduate students in a business ethics course at the beginning of a semester showed that students did not reorder their priorities on the importance of ten social issues at the end of the semester, but they did change the degree of importance they placed on the majority of the issues surveyed. What, if any, value can be gained from teaching ethical principles and training people to use them in business?

This discussion begins with what business ethics courses cannot or should not, in my judgement, do. Ethics courses should not advocate a set of rules from a single perspective or offer only one best solutions, more desirable and less desirable courses of action may exist. Decisions depend on facts, inferences, and rigorous, ethical reasoning. Neither should ethics courses or training sessions promise superior or absolute ways of thinking and behaving in situations. Informed and conscientious ethical analysis is not the only way to reason through moral problems. Ethics courses and training can do the following. Provide people with rationales, ideas, and vocabulary to help them participate effectively in ethical decision making processes Help people make sense of their environments by abstracting and selecting ethical priorities Provide intellectual weapons to do battle with advocates of economic fundamentalism and those who violate ethical standards Enable employees to act as alarm systems for company practices that do not meet societys ethical standards. Enhance conscientiousness and sensitivity to moral issues and commitment to finding moral solutions Enhance moral reflectiveness and strengthen moral courage Increase peoples ability to become morally autonomous, ethical dissenters and the conscience of a group Improve the moral climate of firms by providing ethical concepts and tools for creating ethical codes and social audits

Kolbergs Stages of Moral Development Level 1: Pre-conventional Level (self-Orientation)

Stage 1: punishment avoidance: avoiding punishment by not breaking rules. The person has little awareness of others needs. Stage 2: Reward seeking: acting to receive rewards for oneself. The person has awareness of others needs but not of right and wrong as abstract concepts. Conventional Level (Others Orientation)

Level 2: -

Stage 3: Good person: acting right to be a good person and to be accepted by family and friends, not to fulfil any moral ideal. Stage 4: Law and order: acting right to comply with law and order and norms in societal institutions.

Level 3: Post-conventional, Autonomous, or Principles Level (Universal, Humankind Orientation) Stage 5: Social contract: acting right to reach consensus by due process and agreement. The person is aware of relativity of values and tolerates differing views. Stage 6: Universal ethical principles: acting right according to universal, abstract principles of justice and rights. The person reasons and uses conscience and moral rules to guide actions.

Conclusion of the Study of Kolberg:

1.) 219 Corporate Managers working in different companies typically reason at moral stages 3 or 4 like most Western adults and urban societies 2.) Managers in large to medium sized firms reason at the lower moral stages than managers who are self-employed or in small companies. Why do you think so? 3.) Managers reason at higher level when responding dilemma if the one involved is NOT a corporate employee.