Business Ethics Concepts

and Cases
Manuel G. Velasquez
Seventh Edition

The A Team
Ethics and
Business
Chapter 1
Objectives of
Studying this Morality
What is morality?

Chapter
Ethical Issues
Examples of the ethical issues, specially
in technological development

Corporate Social
Responsibility Ethics
What is corporate social responsibility What is Ethics and what are its issues
and how to approach it from a moral
in business
perspective

Globalization
What is globalization and its impact on
business ethics

Moral Behavior and

Responsibility
What is moral behavior and
responsibility and How we can
implement it
M
Morality
 /məˈralɪti/ (n) Morality is the differentiation of intentions, decisions
and actions between those that are distinguished as right and those
that are wrong.

Morality Morality has its standards.

 Involve serious wrongs or significant benefits
Should be preferred to other values including self-interest
Not established by authority figures
Characteristics of
Felt to be universal
Moral Standards Based on impartial considerations
Associated with special emotions and vocabulary
E
Ethics
 /ˈɛθɪks/ (n) The discipline that examines one’s moral standards or
the moral standards of a society to evaluate their reasonableness and
their implications for one’s life

Ethics
Types of Ethics Study

Normative Descriptive
Study Study

An investigation that attempts to reach An investigation that attempts to

conclusions about what things are good describe or explain the world without
or bad or about what actions are right reaching any conclusions about
or wrong. whether the world is as it should be.
BE

Business
Ethics
 A specialized study of moral right and wrong that
focuses on business institutions, organizations and activities.

It examines ethical principles and moral or ethical

predicaments that can arise in a business environment.

Business Ethics
 Levels of Ethical Issues in
Business
E t h i c a l i s s u e s a r e c l a s s i fi e d a t T h r e e levels

“
Ethical questions raised
about political, legal and
other institutions within
which businesses operate
(Macro Level)
“
Ethical standards are
there in the policies and
procedures of the
organization, and form an
important foundation on
which business strategy is
“
Individuals may well have
a very different set of
ethical standards from
their employer and this
can lead to tensions

built

Systematic level Corporate level Individual level

 Should Ethical Qualities
be Attributed Only to
People or Also to
Corporations?

Left thinking Middle Ground Right Thinking

humans carry out the corporation’s

actions so they are morally
corporations, like people, act
responsible for what they do and Companies are not like people but
intentionally and have moral rights,
ethical qualities apply in a primary more like machines; only humans
and obligations, and are morally
sense to them; corporations have can have ethical qualities.
responsible
ethical qualities only in a derivative
sense.
 Arguments Regarding Business
Ethics
Proposition
Business cannot survive without
ethics as customers do care about
it
Ethics is consistent with profit
seeking
Opposition
In a free market economy, the
pursuit of profit will ensure
maximum social benefit so
business ethics is not needed.
 Arguments Regarding Business
Ethics
Proposition Opposition
Ethics contribute to employee A manager’s most important
commitment obligation is loyalty to the
an ethical commitment to the company regardless of ethics.
organization improves the loyalty
to the organization.
 Arguments Regarding Business
Proposition
Ethics Opposition

Negative factors like lawsuits, So long as companies obey the

fines and bad practices lower law they will do all that ethics
stock prices. requires.
Modern investors look at profit
and also the performance
standards of the company which
include ethical practices.
CSR

Corporate
Social
 “The social responsibility of business that encompasses
the economic, legal, ethical and discretionary expectations
that society has of organizations.”
-Archie Carroll

CSR
 Arguments Regarding CSR
Proposition
Business creates problems and
hence should help solve then.
Business often has the resource
necessary to solve problems
Opposition
The purpose of business in most
societies is to generate profit for
owners.
 Arguments Regarding CSR
Proposition
Corporations are the society’s
citizens.
Business is a partner in our society
along with the government and
population.
Opposition
Involvement in social programs
gives business too much power
Businesses lack the expertise to
manage social programs
Technological development
and related
ethical issues
Communication Monitoring Governments investing in Big Data Employee Monitoring

Internet and Images Less Manpower used IPR

The Internet doesn’t forget Intellectual Property Rights
hampared
G
Globalization
 Effects of
Globalization

To a large extent Brought great benefits Blamed for many ills

driven by to developing countries including rising
multinationals including jobs, skills, inequality, cultural
income, technology, a losses, introduction of
decrease in poverty inappropriate
technologies
Globalization and
Standards

Raise the question Differences in laws,

whether managers in governments,
foreign countries practices, levels of
should follow local development, cultural
standards or their understandings
home standards
MBI

Moral Behavior
And
 Does the situation involve the infliction of serious harm on one or more people?

Is the harm concentrated on its victims so that each victim will, or already has,
sustained a significant amount of harm?
Recognizing
Is it likely that the harm will occur
Ethical Situations (or has actually occurred)?

Are the victims proximate, i.e., close or accessible to us?

Will the harm occur fairly soon (or has it already occurred)?
Is there a possibility the infliction of harm violates the moral standards we or most
people accept?
 Recognizing a situation is an ethical situation

Judging what the ethical course of action is

Deciding to do the ethical course of action

Carrying out the decision

Course of Action
-Psychologist James Rest
Conclusion
Thankyou
Any Questions??