Download - Week 1 p ps
Ethics & Corporate
Governance
Week 1
Slides linked to Mellahi, Morrell & Wood Book p.3-13
What is the difference between Ethics, Values
& Morals? Ethics: Doing what is good & what is bad. Values: knowing what is good & what is bad. Morals: Judgment of the goodness or badness
of a human action or character.
Introduction
Business Ethics: right/wrong, good/bad &
desirable non-desirable in business world. It’s the study of Business from an ethical point
of view. Question: profitable companies from non-
ethical businesses (e.g. counterfeit, smuggling, trafficking, tobacco, arms) they do pay back to the society, but how ethical does that make them?
Introduction
Ethical Theories
Moral Relativism It says there are no universal: Moral principles.
Morality: is a matter of customs, opinions, habits, emotions, culture, tradition. Relativism: says that we don’t really know what is good or bad.
Morality is a matter of culture or social norm or it even depend on the situation.
If someone is torturing me for a long time is it ok to kill him?
Are you Anti-Relativist? Does what is good and bad vary from society to
society, organization to organization or there is certain global relevance?
The principle or practice of unselfish concern
for or devotion to the welfare of others. It is also looked at as an Ethical Conduct..
putting someone else first.. Acting for other’s sake
Like: letting someone cross the road in-front of your car, holding the door for someone, donating blood or organ.
Opposed to Egoism!
Altruism
In Ethical Egoism it is necessary for an action to be
morally right if it maximizes one’s self interest. Ethical Egoism differ in context from standard
morality. What will “I” gain out of my actions or sacrifice? Its said: “There are Altruistic actions, but there are
always egoistic explanation for those actions”. A bank is being ethical for refusing to lend money
to a tobacco company then the bank advertise an ethical lending policy to attract more customers. How ethical is that?
Egoism:
Law Code is written and made public. The fact that an action is legally acceptable
does not make it moral. Example of that Hurwitz took over Pacific
Lumper doubled the rate of tree cutting in redwood forest to pay off the debts, his action was branded immoral :
but was legally perfect.
Legalism:
valuable/ critical/ crucial in todays turbulent:
and fast changing environment? Without a sense of community and
cooperation there would simply be no firms. Without individual and corporate virtue : to benefit society all success would be empty.
Society has a reaction against unethical business practices. For example, in marketing, towards environment, working conditions, accounting, employee treatments,
Why is Ethics Important?
There is a danger that Business Ethics is looked at
as Whitewash without real changes in conduct! Example: There is little doubts that environmental
claims for good conduct can help to sell products like wood from sustainably managed plantation which can cause thirsty trees that can disturb rainfall areas.
Business Ethics is an oxymoron: (contradiction)Why? What does it mean to you?(Firms exist to make profits, so do they really care about the society?!)
Practice & Theory
How to monitor & control managers &
employees behavior so they act ethically?Your views (perspectives/opinions) will be culturally biased: Why? How do we deal with this knowledge?
There are 3 basic approaches to studying Business
Ethics: 1) Prescriptive “formulate & defend basic moral
norms” : authoritarian??? 2) Descriptive “describe practices, moral codes &
beliefs” 3) Conceptual “analyzing ethical terms such as:
right, good, justice & virtue to distinguish between moral (fair) and immoral (unfair) managers/ employees/ customers/ suppliers / etc.
Increase happiness and decrease suffering!
What is Ethics Practice?
The business may only be acting ethically for
selfish reasons. e.g. What are your impressions/ thoughts of Unilever and their lifebuoy antibacterial soap (visit their web site) Who are they helping? Why? Who benefits?
(Take 10 minutes to come out with answers with your group)
For the next lesson: In teams of 4 students Make a 4 slide Prezi power point presentation
summarizing pages 3–13 by using pictures or 1 minute video clips.
This should take no more than 4 minutes to present to your peers, in the first lesson of next week’s class
Home Work
Ethics/ Moral norms/ Absolute right, Ethical implications Justice, Fairness, Virtue Oxymoron Culturally biased/ Cultural imperialism Altruistic Psychological egoism Utilitarianism
Vocabulary listBe sure to know these words