Ethics Flashcards
Define ethics
The standard moral of behaviour; that is, behaviour that is accepted by society as right versus wrong
3 major formal ethical approaches and their meanings
- Utilitarianism - the ethical choice is the one that provides the most good for the most people
- Kantian ethics - universal moral principles apply in all situations and contexts (do not lie)
- Virtue ethics - examines what it means to be a good person. Virtues are perceived as character traits that lead to correct thinking feeling and action.
Components of Moral Action
Moral sensitivity ; recognizing the presence of a moral issue
Moral judgement ; deciding upon a course of action
Moral focus (motivation) ; following through on a course of action
Basic ingredients for moral leadership
- awareness of one’s own limitations and control of associated problem behaviours
- genuine concern for others
- Avoiding ethical violations
- Leading with moral courage
- Overcoming arrogance
Barriers to moral leadership
Selfish, narcissistic, ego, driven, and psychopathic behaviors. Also apathy.
Nash’s 12 questions to assess decision morality
- Have you defined the problem accurately?
- How would you define the problem if he stood on the other side?
- How did the situation occur in the first place?
- To whom and to what do you give your loyalty as a person, group, and member of the organization?
- What is your intention and making the decision
- How does this intention compared to the likely result?
- Who could your decision or action injure?
- Can you engage the affected parties in a discussion of the problem before you make your decision?
- Are you confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time?
- Could you disclose without qualms your decision to the CEO board of directors your family or the general public?
- What is the symbolic potential of your action?
- Under what conditions would you allow exceptions to your stand?
Examples of Displaying courage as a leader
- Accept responsibility
- do not conform unconformity is nonfunctional, even in the face of pressure
- Push beyond your own comfort zone
- Ask for what you want
- Say what you think
- Fight for your beliefs
- Prepare effective moral arguments in advance
What are common ethical blind spots?
- overestimating your own ethicality, rationalization, and not/or recognizing our compromises
- In group favoritism, and implicit prejudices
- Judging based on outcomes, not processes
- Focusing only on the short term
- Minimizing significant but unlikely risks
- Following the crowd
What are examples of creating a culture of ethical behavior?
- Clear, ethical expectations and guidelines
- Modeling/tone from the top
- Ethics training with a focus on moral judgement and focus
- Individually signed ethical charters
- Consequences for lack of ethics, even among high performers
- Attentiveness to structure in a way that minimizes opportunities for fraud
(fraud triangle: pressure, opportunity, rationalization)
What are the two different types of ethics codes?
- Compliance based ethics codes, emphasize, preventing unlawful behaviour by increasing control, and buy penalizing wrongdoers.
- Integrity based ethics codes are ethical standards that to find the organizations cutting values, create an environment that supports ethicalMy sound behaviour, and stress, a shared accountability among employees.
What are whistleblowers?
Whistle blowers are people who report illegal or enough to go behaviour among employees
- Bill C-11 the public servants protection disclosure act
- There are no provisions to protect private sector whistleblowers
What are the six steps to improve ethics?
- Top management support.
- Expectations begin at the top.
- Ethics embedded in training.
- Ethics office set up.
- External stakeholders informed.
- There must be enforcement.
Define corporate social responsibility
It is the concern businesses have for the welfare of society. It includes everything from hiring minority workers to making safe products, minimizing, pollution, using energy wisely, and providing a safe work environment that is, everything that has to do with acting responsibly within society, and towards employees.
Define corporate philanthropy
Corporate philanthropy: charitable donations
Define corporate social initiatives
Corporate social initiatives include enhanced forms of corporate philanthropy that are more directly related to the companies competencies
Example as a part of the 2004, Asian tsunami disaster relief UPS and FedEx shipped emergency relief supplies for free from all over the world and Johnson and Johnson sent medical supplies.
