BUSINESS ETHICS Flashcards
MORAL INTUITION
- We all have intuitive moral feelings about certain things
- When we explore these acts further, we may change our minds or at least see another viewpoint
KEY ISSUES WITH BUSINESS ETHICS
- Business ethics and public opinion
- What does ‘Business ethics’ mean?
- Four important ethics questions
- Three models of management ethics
- Developing moral judgement
- Elements of moral judgement
PUBLICS OPINION ON BUSINESS ETHICS
- Public’s interest in business ethics increased during the last 4 decades: Collapse of the financial market and Govt bailouts
- Public’s interest in business ethics spurred by the media: investigative reporting on TV shows
ETHICAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS
- Employee-Employer Relations (e.g. employee theft)
- Employer-Employee Relations (e.g. discrimination)
- Company-Customer Relations (e.g. poor quality goods)
- Company-Shareholder Relations (e.g. poor reporting practices)
- Company-Community/Public Interest (e.g. environmental issues)
- Sole practitioner- client relations (e.g. misrepresentation to clients)
BUSINESS - DEFINITION
Business – person or person offering goods or services to others with the aim of making a profit
- E.g. as an Osteopath you will offer your services to your clients in return for them paying you a fee
ETHICS - DEFINITION
Ethics – Moral principles governing a person’s behaviour
- Ethical behaviour usually viewed as being positive i.e. telling the truth, behaving with integrity etc
WHAT DOES BUSINESS ETHICS MEAN?
- Moral principles concerning acceptable and unacceptable behaviour by business people.
- Business ethics is the behaviour that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world.
- To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and that is the bottom line. Making money is not wrong in itself.
- It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves that brings up the question of ethical behaviour.
WHY SHOULD BUSINESSES BEHAVE ETHICALLY?
- Protection of brand and representation
- The right thing to do
- Customer trust and loyalty
- Investor confidence
- Public acceptance/recognition
- Disadvantages – short term costs
ETHICAL RELATIVISM
- Ethical relativism - One can argue that there are no moral absolutes, no moral rights or wrongs but instead based on social norms
- Indeed, the conventional approach to business ethics appears to involves a comparison of a decision or practice to prevailing societal norms
ETHICAL RELATIVISM - ADVANTAGES
Advantage – allows people/businesses to adapt ethically as culture, knowledge and technology changes in society
ETHICAL RELATIVISM - DISADVANTAGES
Disadvantage – Ethics is relative, just because a group of society think something is right, does not necessarily make it so