Quiz 1 Flashcards
David Hume’s Is-Ought
What is does not imply what ought to be
Ethics
The principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing an individual or group
VUCA
Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, Ambiguous
The good company
Good management: Links ethics to management
Good organization: Managing ethics inside the organization
Good citizenship: Going beyond organizational boundaries
These 3 are the pillars for good company, business and society is the foundation
3 levels of analysis
Macro Level - Government, Geopolitical environment, Economic growth
Meso Level - Business wrongdoing, media coverage
Micro Level - Individuals behave in their own self-interest, balance between informed pursuit of wealth and cruel, malicious greed
Two Views of human decision making
Rational Model
- “Homo Economicus”
- Optimal decisions
- Prevailing descriptive model in classical micro-economics and game theory
- prescriptive model in decision sciences
Bounded Rationality Model
- Goal Directed but not rational in economic sense
- Choice emerges from conscious goals and non-conscious goals
- Prevailing model in psychology, behavioral economics, management, marketing
Adam Smith
Father of modern capitalism
- “Invisible hand”
Business Ethics
the rules, standards, codes, or principles which provide guidelines for morally right behavior and truthfulness in specific situations
Popular Ethical Theories
Agent-focused
- Personal virtue ethic
- Ethical egoism
- ethic of caring
Goal-focused
- utilitarian
Deontological
- Universal rules ethic
- Individual moral rights ethic
- Ethic of justice
- Ethic of holism
Ethical egoism
Individuals should act according to their own self interest
1. Act according to your own self-interest
2. Set your own standards for judging ethical implications of your actions based on self benefit
3. Altruism is not acceptable
Enlightened self-interest
Draws the egoist into relations with others who are required to assist or enable the accomplishment of the egoist’s self-interest
1. Act according to self-interest
2. Moderate self-interest with an awareness that what is in the public interest is eventually in the interest of all individuals and groups involved
Ethic of Caring
Advocates that decision-makers work toward building a sense of community through care .. to find equitable solutions for reducing the harm or suffering of others
1. an action is only right if it promotes the well-being of all involved, in particular, those who are valuable in they decision circumstance
2. Treat others as you with to be treated
3. Check your gut feeling before proceeding
Virtue Ethics
Aristotle
Actions are morally good when they exemplify virtuous character traits – not because they are in line with some moral rules
Aristotle’s philosophy
- a virtue is a tendency to control a certain class of feeling and to act rightly in a certain kind of situation
Deontology
- comes from Greek word deon, meaning “duty”
right vs. wrong thing to do, no matter what
Utilitarianism
the greatest good for the greatest number
Utilitarian ethics
focuses on the principle of utility or the distribution of benefits and harms to all stakeholders with the view to maximize benefits for “the greatest good for the greatest number”
Effective Altruism
Peter Singer
uses evidence and reason to identify ways to help others
Deontological: Kantian ethics
Categorical imperative is the ultimate moral standard
- everyone should live by, no matter what
The formula of Universal law
- Act only in accordance with that maxim through which you can at the same time will that it become a universal law
The formula of Humanity as End in itself
- Act so that you use humanity, as much in your own person as in the person of every other, always at the same time as end and never merely as means
Deontological: Ethic of Justice Ethical principles
Distributive justice: all actions and policies have an equitable and fair distribution of benefits and burdens on those involved
Procedural Justice: ensure the establishment of all actions and policies occur within the parameters of a fair, impartial, transparent, objective process
Retributive justice: ensure a fair imposition of punishments and penalties on those who harm
Compensatory justice: ensure that those who have been harmed receive fair compensation
Deontological: Ethic of holism
ecocentric worldview that accepts that all living and non-living, sentient and non-sentient beings are equally important in the ecosystem
1. Act in such a way that individual and collective well-being are nurtured through focus on harmony within oneself, peace with others, and balance with nature
2. Ensure we harvest from nature in a way such that it does not compromise future generations
Kincentricty: humans and nature are extended family
Seven generations thinking: balancing actions now to ensure we are not stealing from future generations and their capacity to live a good life
Businesses are stewards: they do not own but take care of their surroundings for themselves and future generations
Ethic of holism: Worldviews
Ecocentric: all living and non-living things are equal
Biocentric: All living beings are equal and important
Anthropocentric: Humans are the most important
Egocentric: The self is most important
Society
a community with broad groupings of people with common traditions, values, and history.
Business
private, commercial-value oriented legal enterprises
Businesses cannot succeed in societies that fail
Social licence
the privilege of operating in a society with minimal formalized restriction – legislation, regulation, or market requirements
not static
Integrity
in the business environment, ethics is captured by integrity, which refers to the appropriateness of a corporation’s behavior and its adherence to moral guidelines acceptable to society such as honesty, fairness, and justice
Economic system: Capitalism
an economic system that allows for private ownership to the means of production (land, labor, and capital) and assumes that economic decision-making is in the hands of individuals or enterprises
Economic system: Free enterprise system
an economic system characterized by ownership of private property by individuals and enterprises, the profit motive, a competitive market system, and no government involvemenbt
Economic system: Laissez-faire capitalism
An economic system operating with absolute minimum of interference by the government in the affairs of business. Government involvement is strictly limited to providing essential services like police and fire protection
French, means “allow to do”
Economic system: Responsible enterprise system
An economic system operating as a free enterprise system but incorporating the element of accountability
Ethical Decision Making
a conscious and rational process of choosing what is a good/bad goal or right/wrong way for achieving the desired goal in a given context or circumstance
Personal virtue ethic
first considers what the character traits of a good person or citizen might be and it postulates that character is built through, desire, learning, and continuous practice, resulting in a habit
Ethical Decision-Making Process
- Recognize Moral Issue
- Make Moral Judgements
- Establish Moral Intent
- Engage in Moral Behavior
Ethical Dilemma
a situation or problem where a person has to make a difficult choice between two alternatives, neither of which resolves an issue or problem in an ethically acceptable fashion
- lesser of two evils
- damned if you do and damned if you dont
- between a rock and a hard place
Moral reasoning
A systematic approach to thinking or reasoning through the implications of an ethical dilemma
