VALUES, NORMS & BELIEFS

DEFINITIONS Values A principle, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable Deeply held beliefs a bout right, wrong, good, and bad He has very conservatives values"

Norms Norms can be defined as attitudes and behaviours common to members of a particul ar group, or what they believe is normal Norms can be seen as reflection of values the current middle-class norm of two children per family.

Beliefs Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of some thing He refuses to compete on Sundays because of his religious beliefs

VALUES

Values are deeply held beliefs that guide our behaviour and decisions Values are deep-seated and remain constant over time. We accumulate our values from childh ood based on teachings and observations of our parents, teachers, religious lead ers, and other influential and powerful people In later years, as a result of cr itical thinking and life experiences, we may discard some values and add others But many values that subconsciously operate as a basis for choices, decisions, a nd behaviors are the core values assimilated during our early years Jennifer fel t stressed out and didn't know what to do when her boss implied she should lie t o a client; honesty is one of Jennifer's most deeply held values.

Values are considered subjective, Vary across people and cultures and Are in man y ways aligned with belief and belief systems. Human values are a set of emotion al rules people follow to help make the right decisions in life Types of values include Ethical/moral values, Doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, Socia l values, and aesthetic values.

WHY ARE VALUES IMPORTANT

Human values are a set of emotional rules people follow, to help make the right decisions in life A life based on a personal code of values brings meaning, purp ose, and direction to living When we face a decision and choose A instead of B, it's often because A feels right to us. We might use words such as, "it's the ri ght thing to do," or "that's the right way." We tend to think of our values as a bsolute and universal, what feels right to us must be right for everyone, but is it? Still, there are times when we bristle at someone's behavior, becoming outr aged and angry, especially when a value we hold is challenged or violated any sp ontaneous and strong reaction to a situation can more than likely be traced to a values conflict

NORMS Norms are expectations of proper behaviour Are the ways an individual expects al l people to act, when faced with a given situation A norm is usually not publish ed, may not be obeyed and cannot be enforced It is not consistent nor universal As per Sociologists, norms are collective expectations regarding a certain type of behaviour

NORMS Our choice of words, our tone, and our body language are all norm-based Nearly e verything in human society is governed by norms of some kind As groups, organisa tions have their own norms When you move from one job to another, whether betwee n companies, or even within the same organisation, part of learning your new rol e is not just understanding the tasks you must perform but also the unwritten rules t he norms associated with that task

Norms give a sense of shared values, but values can also create their own norms.

Norms have an "oughtness". the Golden Rule, Do They include moral prescriptions like

unto others as you would have them do unto you notions of etiquette like where to place a knife or fork next to one's plate, an d sensible maxims such as "Look before you leap."

BELIEFS Beliefs are standards of thought The intention is to encourage ways of thinking and patterns of attitudes that will pave way towards the wanted behaviour Especially done by the senior executives in an organisation Beliefs are the ways an individual expects people to think about given concepts Beliefs are different from norms since there is no action and is abstract Belief s tend to support individual norms

MORALS Adhering to conventionally accepted standards of conduct Principles of behaviour in accor dance with standards of right and wrong Changes in the moral standards results i n change in legal requirements Moral standards are absorbed as a child from fami ly and various societal influences

ETHICS vs MORALS Ethics A set of principles of right conduct "An ethic of service is at war with a cravi ng for gain Morals Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character A person of loose morals; a decline in the public morals

Morals are ones personal guiding principles Ethics are keys that these moral are applied to decisions Moral implies conformity with the generally accepted standa rds of goodness, rightness in conduct or character It is generally used to descr ibe people Morals are who we are and our unique personality Moral decisions are made without much thought because they are based on principles and values we bel ieve in most deeply Ethics are an extension and expression of our morals

The character of a man is expressed in terms of his conduct Conduct of a person is a series of actions which when taken together is termed as Good or bad Right or wrong Moral or immoral

Ethico-moral actions pertain to a set of actions engineered by the character and expressed th rough behaviour Honesty Truthfulness Sincerity Generosity Transparency Cooperation Integrity

ETHICAL CODES Ethical codes in business organisations was in existence since early 1940s In th e event of criminal proceedings, the existence of a company code or events is lo oked into In order to improve standards of behaviour, many American organisation s have introduced codes on their own They may refer to general areas of business conduct or may apply to a specific area of a firms business

ETHICAL CODE - conveying moral standards Can the ethical code convey the moral standards of the organisation effectively? Who selects these codes? Executive committee Board of directors chairman

Is it possible to state the norms and beliefs of an organisation relative to the various constitutional groups, without offending at least one of the following groups? Employees Customers Suppliers Distributors Stock holders General public

An organisation cannot give more weight to one group for its success, without me ntioning the other groups Hence codes are usually written in general terms, Noting obligations to each of the groups, but Not stating the level of precedenc e in any given situation

The basic difficulty which arises with codes of ethics is that they do not estab lish priorities between Norms Beliefs

Priorities are the true values of a firm and they are not included Codes only pr ovide guidance a broad, written framework

To see what is right and not to do it, is want of courage Chinese philosopher, C onfucius A person who values his privileges above his principles, soon loses bot h David Eisenhower Try not to become a man of success, rather try to become a ma n of value Albert Einstein You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help hi m to discover it in himself - Galileo When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad , I feel bad, and that is my religion Abraham Lincoln Ethics and religion must n ot stay at home when you go out to work Not life, but good life, is to be chiefl y valued Socrates Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing Oscar Wilde

ETHICAL THEORIES

Ethical theories are the foundations of ethical analysis because they are the vi ewpoints from which guidance can be obtained along the pathway to a decision Eac h theory emphasizes different points such as predicting the outcome and followin g one's duties to others in order to reach an ethically correct decision They em phasize different aspects of an ethical dilemma and lead to the most ethically c orrect resolution according to the guidelines within the ethical theory itself P eople usually base their individual choice of ethical theory upon their life exp eriences Ethical theories are broadly divided into two categories: Teleological (ex. Utilitarian) Deontological (ex. Kantianism)

TELEOLOGICAL THEORY

Telos as per Greek is end or purpose A teleological school of thought is one that holds all things to be designed for or directed toward a final result, That ther e is an inherent purpose or final cause for all that exists

Teleology would say that a person has eyes because he has the need of sight Dete rmine the ethics of an act by looking to the consequences of the decision Rightn ess of actions is determined by the good consequences they produce The word tele ology was first used by the German philosopher, Christian Wolff

Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solel y by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure. It is thus a form of conseq uentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outco me