Teaching PowerPoint Slides - Chapter 1

1
ETHICS AND ITS

CONCEPTUALIZATION
IN LIFE
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

 Define and differentiate between ethics and morality
 Describe how ethics is developed in an individual
 List and explain the various factors that influence ethical values of
an individual
 Compare and contrast ethics and legality
 Compare and contrast Western and Eastern perspectives on ethics
critically
 Relate the role of religion as a key contributing factor in shaping
ethical values in individuals
 Identify universally accepted moral values
 Recognize ethics and its importance in the global business world
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

© Oxford Fajar Sdn. Bhd. (008974-T), 2018 1–3
Introduction
 Ethics as a concept is different from morality.

 Ethics is important in life, what more in business.
 We can compare and contrast the concept of ethics from
Western and Eastern perspectives, and discuss the role of
religion in shaping one’s values.
 We often reflect and ask ourselves some basic questions:
– How should I lead my life?
– What type of person should I strive to be?
– What values are critical for me to lead a rewarding life?
– What standards or principles should I follow to conduct my life?

Introduction (cont.)
 Our self-reflection and conscience in addressing these

personal issues immerses us in the study of right and wrong
or moral reasoning. Moral reasoning leads us to the study of
morality, i.e. ethics.

Ethics in Definition
 Ethics can be described as a set of ‘principles that contains

behavioural codes to determine what is right or wrong’
(Khalidah et al., 2012).
 ‘The term ethics is derived from the Greek word, ethos,
which means character, spirit and attitudes of a group of
people or culture’ (Rahman, 2003).
 Ethics outlines the moral duty and obligations that any
human being should practise.
 ‘The values an individual uses to interpret whether any
particular action or behaviour is considered acceptable and
appropriate’ (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2009).

Ethics in Definition (cont.)
 Velasquez (2012) and Nickels (2008) regard ethics as a

‘discipline that examines one’s moral behaviour or the moral
standards of a society’.
 According to Abdullah and Zainol Abidin (2011), ethics
‘concerns itself with what is good or right in human
interaction’. It revolves around three central concepts: ‘self’,
‘good’ and ‘other’.
 Ethics is also defined as ‘a critical analysis of human acts to
determine their rightness or wrongness in terms of two major
criteriatruth and justice’ (Mauro et al., 1999).

Normative versus Descriptive
Ethics
 The study of ethics is normative.

 However, different approaches are adopted from social
science fields such as anthropology, sociology and
psychology (Velasquez, 2012).
 Although ethics is a normative endeavour as approached by
ethicists, the social sciences engage in a descriptive
approach in the study of ethics.
 A normative study is investigative and attempts to find
conclusions on what acts are rightful or wrongful. It thus aims
at discovering ‘what ought to be’.

Normative versus Descriptive
Ethics (cont.)
 A descriptive study, on the other hand, attempts to explain

the actual life situations in the world without arriving at any
conclusion whether certain acts are wrongful or rightful.
 This is the approach more often taken by anthropologists and
sociologists. They may study the moral standards of a
society and culture but will not delve on assessing whether
these moral standards are rightful or wrongful.
 Ethics scholars will study the moral standards from different
perspectives, for example from individual, organizational or
societal levels, and justify whether certain acts are right or
wrong.

Contrast Between Ethics and
Morality
 Morality refers to norms, values and beliefs embedded in

social processes, which define right and wrong for an
individual or a community.
 Ethics in contrast is the study of moral standards whose
explicit purpose is to determine, as far as possible, whether a
given moral standard or judgement based on that standard is
more or less correct (Velasquez, 2012).
 This thus demands for analytical thought and application of
reason to determine specific rules, principles or ethical
theories that determine right or wrong for a given situation.

Morality (cont.)
 In addition, these rules and principles must give an account

of the rights or entitlements we have and what is just or fair
(Boatright, 2012).

Origin of Ethics
 ‘It comes from our inner feelings which subsequently

translate into our moral behaviour’ (Khalidah et al., 2012).
 Ethics thus begins with each one of us.
 According to Shaw (2011), rationally, we learn and adapt to
the ethics and moral principles through our:
 Upbringing
 Socialization (i.e. the behaviour around those around us)
 Experiences and our critical reflections on those
experiences (self-reflection)
 The explicit and implicit standards of our culture

Importance of Ethics in Life
 Although we value individual privacy, freedom of speech and

material wealth, we also value happiness by sharing and
complementing others. We value compassion, respect,
fairness and gratitude.
 If these values, among others, become the standards for a
society’s quality of life and well-being, we will arrive at a
consensus that ethics is integral in life.
 Ethics deal with individual character and moral values that
govern and limit one’s conduct.
 Only ethical societies will sustain economic growth,
prosperity and well-being. Without doubt, only ethical
societies will sustain civilization and the dignity of humans as
guardians of the universe.

Legality
 Ethics covers a broader scope. It relates to questions of right

and wrongdoing, rights and justice. Ethics reflects people’s
relations with one another. Legality carries a narrower scope.
It refers to laws that we have written to protect ourselves
from fraud, theft and violence.
 An ethical person is someone who obeys the law, however,
obeying the law need not necessarily justify that a person is
ethical. Many immoral and unethical acts fall well within our
laws (Nickels et al., 2008).
 They need not necessarily drive one’s self-conscience to
internalize good values, reflective of an ethical person.

Legality (cont.)
 Ethics thus rests upon one’s conscience and commitment to

do good deeds as a social responsibility under all
circumstances.

Religion and Ethics
 Religion is one of the critical factors influencing an

individual’s ethical values. ‘Most religions embody the idea of
a Transcendent Reality which has some bearing on the
purpose and meaning of life, how one lives on earth, and
what lies beyond this finite mortal existence’ (Chandra
Muzaffar, 2009).
 Most religions have an ethical component. The Golden Rule
of Life, ‘do to others what you want others to do to you’, is
found in all religions. ‘Unfortunately, the international
community has yet to recognize and appreciate the
significance of this rule.’ (Chandra Muzaffar, 2005:2).

Religion and Ethics (cont.)
 In fact, ‘For many people, ethics is not only tied up with

religion, but is completely settled by it. Such people do not
think too much about ethics, because there is an
authoritative code of instructions, a handbook of how to live.’
(Blackburn, 2001:9).

Islamic Ethics: Ethics of the Soul

(cont.)

(cont.)

(cont.)

Buddhist Ethics

Christian Ethics
 Christian ethics are based on the teachings in the Bible.

 Christianity offers a view of human beings as unique
products of a divine intervention that have been endowed
with consciousness and the ability to love (Shaw, 2011).
Christian ethics in general stresses the need for love, grace,
mercy and forgiveness because of sin.
 In sum, the key principles of Christianity (i.e. the Kingdom of
Heaven where Christ is King according to Scripture) are
based on the following:
– Humility or faith and trust in God.
– Communication with God through prayer and self-denial.

Christian Ethics (cont.)
– Observance of the Law which is written in Scripture and in the

hearts of those who love the truth.
– The offering of sacrifice to God and partaking of the sacrificial
offering.

Eastern and Western
Perspectives on Ethics
 The West has somewhat compromised religion as a factor

influencing ethics in support of secularism and universalism.
The East still sees religion as an important contributing factor
to shape one’s ethical values.
 The West has placed emphasis on secularism and
universalism as ideologies to shape not only individual
ethical values but to construct the state. These form the
foundation of human rights, freedom of thought and rational
thinking of the West.

Eastern and Western
Perspectives on Ethics (cont.)
 In resolving ethical issues, the East has been seen to fall

back more on religious and cultural principles, much as the
East respects the ‘liberal/universalistic’ views of the West.
Man-made ethical theories and principles which are
practically based on rational thinking and objectivity seem to
be applied more by the West compared to the East.

Ethical Principles
 The Golden Rule

 Immanuel Kant’s Categorical Imperative
 Descartes’ Rule of Change
 The Utilitarian Principle
 The Risk Aversion Principle
 The Ethical ‘No Free Lunch’ Rule

Ethical Principles (cont.)
 Universality
of the
Golden Rule
in the World
Religions

Universally Accepted Moral
Values

Importance of Ethics in Business
 The Business Environment in a Global Context

– There are a lot of challenges in the global business world.
– Apart from fulfilling the profit maximization objective which drives
aggressive competition in a free market system, businesses
have to face another challenge–managing the global
workforce.
– Society is undergoing dramatic change in values and societal
norms.
– There has been concerns on the decadence of moral values
among the younger generation, especially Generation Y.
– Generation Y employees who grew up in the ICT era and
represent the bulk of today’s workforce are more likely to see
unethical behaviour as justifiable in pursuit of their goals.
Importance of Ethics in Business
(cont.)
 Importance of Managing Businesses Ethically
– Managing a business ethically is related to being socially
responsible, as businesses are a part of society.
– Any unethical business conduct will have negative impacts on
society. Although businesses are set up to generate profit, they
must be responsible and accountable in their undertakings while
serving the society.
– It is necessary to manage businesses ethically in order to:
• Keep existing customers
• Attract new customers
• Avoid lawsuits
• Reduce employee turnover
• Please customers, employees and the society


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1

ETHICS AND ITS

At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Ethics as a concept is different from morality.

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Our self-reflection and conscience in addressing these

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Ethics can be described as a set of ‘principles that contains

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Velasquez (2012) and Nickels (2008) regard ethics as a

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 The study of ethics is normative.

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 A descriptive study, on the other hand, attempts to explain

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Morality refers to norms, values and beliefs embedded in

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 In addition, these rules and principles must give an account

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 ‘It comes from our inner feelings which subsequently

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Although we value individual privacy, freedom of speech and

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Ethics covers a broader scope. It relates to questions of right

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Ethics thus rests upon one’s conscience and commitment to

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Religion is one of the critical factors influencing an

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 In fact, ‘For many people, ethics is not only tied up with

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 Christian ethics are based on the teachings in the Bible.

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

– Observance of the Law which is written in Scripture and in the

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 The West has somewhat compromised religion as a factor

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 In resolving ethical issues, the East has been seen to fall

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 The Golden Rule

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

 The Business Environment in a Global Context

BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved

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