6 Characteristics of Moral Standards:

* involve serious wrongs or significant

benefits
* should be preferred to other values
including self interest

Morality: the standards that

an individual or group has
about what is right or good
and evil.

Nonmoral standards: the

standards by which we judge
what is good or bad and
right or wrong in a nonmoral
way.

Moral Standards: the norms about the

kinds of actions believed to be morally
right and wrong as well as the values
placed on what we believe to be
morally good and morally bad.

Normative Study: an
investigationEthics:
that attempts
to
The discipline
that examines one's moral standards
reach
conclusion
about
what
* felt to be universal
or the moral standards of a society to evaluate their
things are good
or bad or
reasonableness
and their implications for one's life.
* based on impartial consideration
about what actions right or
*associated with special emotions and
wrong
vocabulary
Business ethics: a specialized study of
moral right and wrong that
concentrates and on moral standards as
Kinds of Ethical Issues:
they apply to business institutions,
organizations and behaviour.
Systemic- ethical questions about the social,
political, legal, economic system within which
companies operate
Corporate- ethical questions about a particular
Should Ethical Qualities be attributed Only to People or
corporation and its policies, culture, climate,
Corporation too?
impact or actions.
Individual- ethical questions about a particular
1) Corporation, like people act intentionally and have moral
individuals decisions, behaviour or character.
rights, and obligations, and are morally responsible.
2) No sense to attribute ethical qualities to corporations since
Arguments supporting ethics in Business:
they are not like people but more like machines, only
Arguments against Ethics in Business:
humans can have ethical qualities
- Ethics applies to all human activities
- In a free market economy the pursuit of profit will
3) Middle view: human carry out the corporations actions so
- Business cannot survive without ethics
ensure maximum social benefit so business ethics
theyseeking
are morally responsible for what they do and ethical
Law of agency: a law that specifies- theEthics
dutiesis consistent with profit
is no needed.
sense to them.
Nanotechnology:
a new field
of persons who agree to act on behalf
of
- Customers,
employees, and people qualities
in generalapply in primary
- A managers most important obligation is loyalty
that encompasses the
another party and who are authorized care
by anabout ethics
to the company regardless of ethics.
development of tiny artificial
agreement so to act. - Studies suggest ethics does not detract from
- So long as companies obey the law they will do all
structures
only nanometres in
profits and seems to contribute to profit.
that ethics requires.
size.
* Not established by authority figures

C1: Ethics & Business

Genetic engineering: a large

variety of new techniques
that allows change in the
genes of the cells of human,
animals and plants.

Corporate social responsibility is a

businesss societal obligations

Globalization: the worldwide process by which the

economic and social systems of nations have become
connected facilitating between them the flow of goods,
money, culture and people.

Benefits of globalization: beneficial to

developing countries including jobs,
skills, income technology, a decrease in
poverty, specialization.

Ethical or moral relativism: the theory that there are

Some moral standards are found
no ethical standards that are absolutely true and that 4 steps leading to Ethical Behaviour:
6 criteria
of ethical
in all societies.
apply
or that should
the
companies
and reasoning:
Kolhbergs
3 levelbe
ofapplied
Moral to
Development:
Psychological Research on Moral
- Moral differences do not logically
a) Recognizing
a situation
ispeople?
an ethical
peopletheofsituation
all societies.
a) Does
involve the infliction ofReasoning:
serious
harmsuggests
on one
or
more
that
emotions
imply
relativism.
(punishment
and so that each victim will, or already
situation
Moral reasoning should:
b) Is- thePreconventional
harm concentrated
on its victims
has,
sustained a significant
are necessary for moral
reasoning.
- Reasoning
Relativisminvolves:
has incoherent
b)
Judging
what
the ethical course of
obedience)
Moral
amount of harm?
- Be
logical
Moral reasoning:action
whichishuman
consequences.
- Conventional
c) (interpersonal
Is it likely that the harm will occur (or has actually occurred)?
-the--moral
standards
which
we
evaluate
things
Rely
on
evidence
or
or course of
Relativism privileges whatever
c) behaviour,
Deciding toinstitutions
do the ethical
concordance)
d) Are the victims proximate?
information
that
is
accurate
policies
are judged
to be in
moralabout
standards
widelyevaluated
- Postconventional (social contract;
action
e) Will the harm occur fairly
soon?
- Information
whatare
is being
relevant
accordance
with
or
in
violation
acceptedand
in acomplete
society.
d)
Carrying
out
decision
universal
principle)
f) Is there
a possibility
the infliction of harm violates the moral standards we the
or
most
people accept?
Be
consistent
- A moral judgement about what is evaluated
of moral standards.
-

C1: Ethics & Business

The shareholder view of Friedman

says a managers only responsibility
is to legally and ethically make as
much money as possible for
shareholders.
Stakeholders theory says managers
should give all stakeholders a fair
share of benefits a business
produces.
Business ethics is both a part of
corporate social responsibility and
part
of the justification
CSR.
Objections
to Ethicalfor
Relativism:

C1: Ethics & Business

A Judgement about the ethical course of

action:
A person is morally responsible for an injury
Requires moral reasoning that applies
only if:
our moral standards to the information
Depending
on how
serious
a wrong
we have
about
a situation
Deciding to do what is ethical can be - Person caused or helped cause the injury, or
- Requires
realizingfor
that
information
is, moral
responsibility
it can
be
failed
to prevent
it when
he or can
she could
Carrying
out ones
decision
be and
influenced by:
about
a situation
migrated
by:may be distorted by
should by:
have.
influenced
Moral responsibility is not
- removed
The culture of an organization - - person did so knowing what he or she was
biased theories about the world, about
- Minimal contribution
nor migrated by:
- Moral seduction
- Ones strengthdoing
or weakness of will
others and oneself.
- Uncertainty
- Ones
theown
locus
- Person
did believe
so of hisabout
or her
freeofwill
- The corporation of others
- Difficulty
control
of
ones
actions.
- Following others
-

C1: Ethics & Business