ETHICS

Dictionary meaning: “system of morals, rules and conduct”. The origin of this word
is from ETHOS which means character. Ethics is defined as the ability to distinguish
between right and wrong and act accordingly.

Ethics is a discipline that examines one’s morality or the moral standard of the
society.

Ethics means excepted standard in terms of your personal and social welfare.

Ethics include morality, honesty, entricity, responsibility etc.

Ethics attempt to distinguish b/w right from wrong, good from bad and decides a
desirable conduct from a particular set of social circumstance.

Ethics – The inner-guiding moral principles, values, and beliefs that people use to
analyze or interpret a situation and then decide what is the “right” or appropriate
way to behave

Definitions

Ethics involves a discipline that examines good or bad practices within the context
of a moral duty

Moral conduct is behavior that is right or wrong

Business ethics include practices and behaviors that are good or bad

Two Key Branches of Ethics

Descriptive ethics involves describing, characterizing and studying morality

“What is”

Normative ethics involves supplying and justifying moral systems

“What should be”

Conventional Approach to Business Ethics

Conventional approach to business ethics involves a comparison of a decision or

practice to prevailing societal norms

Pitfall: ethical relativism

Decision or Practice Prevailing Norms

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Sources of Ethical Norms

The need to study Business Ethics

If business managers see the need to focus on ethical behavior, so should business
students

Preparation for career in contemporary business

Consumers are affected by decisions made by businesses

Values and Ethics: Doing Good and Doing Well

Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies by James Collins and Jerry
Porras

Key finding: Exceptional and enduring companies place great emphasis on a set of
core values

These core values are essential and enduring tenets defining the company, and not
to be compromised for financial gain.

What are values?

Those beliefs or standards that incline us to act or to choose in one way rather than
another

A company’s core values are those beliefs and principles that provide the ultimate
guide in the company’s decision-making.

Corporate Culture

Another way of saying a corporation has a set of identifiable values.

But there is no “right” set of core values.

Values vs. Ethical Values

What are the ends that our core values serve?

Financial values serve monetary ends.

Religious values serve spiritual ends.

Aesthetic values serve the end of Beauty.

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What ends are served by ethics?

Elements of Ethical Values

Ethical values serve the ends of human well-being.

The well-being promoted by ethical values is not personal and selfish well-being.

No one person’s well-being is to be counted as more worthy or valuable than any

other’s.

Ethical values promote human well-being in an impartial way.

Disagreements about Ethics

People disagree about what ethics commits us to and what ends are served by
ethical values.

Ethical values can conflict, and may result in serious illness and death to others.

So how do you decide if a company is an ethical company?

The Nature & Goals of Business Ethics

Business ethics refers to those values, standards and principles that operate within
business.

Business ethics is also an academic discipline that studies those standards, values
and principles while seeking to articulate and defend the ones that ought or should
operate in business.

But…

There is a growing body of literature in business ethics about the right ways to
teach and learn business ethics.

There are a set of principles, standards, concepts, and values common to business
ethics.

Ethical Judgment vs. Behavior

From the time of Aristotle we have noticed a discontinuity between judging some
act as right and behaving rightly.

Knowing what is right is different from doing what is right.

People vary in strength of character and motivation and fortitude.

The Goals of Business Ethics

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To treat students as active learners

To engage students in an active process of thinking and questioning

To allow students to think for themselves

To deal with the mess of relativistic conclusions

The unexamined life is not worth living (Socrates).

Reasoning and Business Ethics

The process of ethical reasoning must be emphasized.

Reasoning is distinct from answers.

Begin with an accurate and fair account of the facts from all “sides”.

Be objective and open-minded.

Analyze each issue fully and rigorously.

Business Ethics and the Law

Compliance with the law will prove insufficient for ethically responsible businesses.

The Law is rife with ambiguity. Many acts are not illegal until a court rules that they
are.

Court cases demonstrate that you cannot always rely on the law to decide what is
right or wrong.

Whether we examine ethical questions explicitly or not, they are answered by each
of us every day in the course of our lives.

Ethics and Ethos

The word “ethics” is derived from the Greek ethos, meaning “customary” or
“conventional.”

To be ethical in the sense of ethos is to conform to what is typically done, to obey

the conventions and rules of one’s society and religion.

Philosophical Ethics

Denies that simple conformity and obedience are the best guides to living

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Rejects authority as the source of ethics

Defends the use of reason as the foundation of ethics

Seeks a reasoned analysis of custom and a reasoned defense of how we ought to

live

Distinguishes what people do value from what people should value

Requires we stand back, abstract ourselves from what is typically done and reflect
upon whether or not what is done, should be done.

The difference between what is valued and what ought to be valued is the
difference between ethos and ethics.

Business Ethics

A branch of philosophical ethics

Reflect: In what ways do the practices and decisions made within business promote
or undermine human well-being?

How ought we to live?

Morality, Virtues and Social Ethics

Morality: How should I live my life? How should I act? What should I do? What kind
of person should I become?

Virtues: character traits that constitute a life worth living

Social Ethics: How ought society be structured? How ought we live together?

Business institutions are human creations

Humans can not avoid responsibility for something they have created or contributed
to.

Business institutions have a tremendous influence on human lives and the quality of
human life.

As business people we face particular business decisions about our corporations,

but as citizens we have to decide whether or not to regulate those businesses for
the public good.

Ethical perspectives

Managerial ethics: What should a business manager do in various situations?

The types of questions asked will vary from perspective to perspective.

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All decisions faced by business managers, from finance to marketing to ethics and
human resources, exist in a social and legal context.

View on ethics

Utilitarian – view of ethics

Right view on ethics

Theory of justice- via- ethics

Interrogative social contrast theory

Utilitarian

Under this view ethical decision are made solely on the basis of outcomes or
conciseneous.

It considers how to provide greatest goods for the greatest no: of utilitarian.

It encourages efficiency and productivity and inconsistence with the goal of profit
maximization .

View on ethics

Responsibility and protecting individual privileges such as:

right to privacy

Freedom of conciseness

free speech

Life and safety.

Theory of justice

Managers are impose and enforce rule fairly and impartially and do so by following
all legal rules and regulation.

Interrogative social contest

Ethical decision should be based on empirical normative function.

Manager need to look at existing ethical norms in industry and companies in order
to determine what constitute right and wrong decision and action

Model of mgmt in socio-political environment

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Indian model of management may be best defined on the basis of important
parameter of management.

Parameter of management is as follows

Delegation of authority

Trade union

Transfer policy

Performance appraisal

Customer’s grievances

Planning

Recruitment and selection

Human resources and development

Training and development

Employer’s employee relationship

Delegation of authority

Although delegation of authority is a significance function of mgmt but it is nearly

an informal activities.

Excessive centralization is present in it. Subordinate are always or in most of the

case unwilling to accept responsibility due to such condition decision are always
centralized.

Trade union

In Indian corporate sector trade union are always dealt as an enemy of employers.

the trade union on their parts are always pressuring the employees for the benefits
of their member. Trade union are now just as formality and to enjoy political
influences.

Transfer policy

In Indian public sector, there are rare transfer policies

such policies exist only on papers, transfer are basically done on the basis of
punishment, favoritism and recommendation .

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 in private sector some transfer policy still exist but that’s to for top level
employees.

Performance appraisal

It means evaluation of performance of an employee.

In Indian mgmt model there is no concrete appraisal system.

Appraisal is not done on the basis of actual performance.

Customer grievance

In practical situation such system seldom (rarely) used and grievance are dealt
mostly on the basis of mutual settlement.

But now a days, due to excessive competitive atmosphere companies have started
giving first preference to customer grievance.

Planning

India has a well established planning commission under prime minister which
formulate five year plan.

In private corporate sector, a specially a medium and small scale farms only short
ranged planning is in existence. India has hardly been able to achieve any five year
plan objective in a successful manner due to lack of proper implementation of
programs.

Profit maximization is the sole consideration of business organization neglecting

other aspect of planning.

Recruitment and selection

In public sector most of the recruitment and selection is done on the basis of
recommendation reference of present employees are giving the priority providing
less importance to the performance of the desired candidate.

Human resources and development

No proper policy of employees motivation and leadership exist in reality.

decision on promotion and tenure of service are based on recommendation and

reference rather than performance

An ambiguous human resources policy is a main cause of employed dissatisfaction

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Training and development

No proper policy to determine the need of training and development

Expenses allocation for training is very less.

No proper atmosphere to learn and understood the importance of the concept of

training on development.

Employer employee relationship

Relation ship between employee and employer are not very cordial (understanding)
and comfortable.

Employer are at lower level are given very lower autonomy (power authority) .

They hardly participate in any mgmt function; employees are threaded just as
commodity or cost centers.

Work ethos

Work ethos can be defined as the principles, values, norms, required to be followed
when an individual is at work

Different level of work ethos

Discipline

Commitment and accountability

Loyalty

Responsibility

Work culture

Discipline

It is mainly confined to coming at work on time, behaving with respect and dignity
to subordinates, colleague and superiors, staffing properly at work during working
hrs, not wasting work time.

Commitment and accountability

Work ethics is also about the commitment and accountability.

To know does the worker feel responsible for the tasks assigned to him.

The one who make all possible efforts to accomplishment the work in the time and
also in a satisfying manner.

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Loyalty

Work ethics is also dealt with loyalty towards the organization, by not talking
negatively about the organization, by protecting the interest of the organization.

Responsibility

People in the organization have different attitude toward at their work. This can be
notices though job description, performance, evaluation career development, formal
training etc.

Work culture

India has considered has strong work culture which includes punctuality, proper
dress code, proper behavior and respect towards your superior, peers and
subordinates, strictly following the rules and regulation of the organization.

A good work culture can also be introduced through effective induction program.

Indian heritage production and consumption

To Indian heritage to men’s attitude toward his social existence shifted toward
duties obligation and sacrifice.

He believed in “simple living and high thinking.”

Indian heritage emphasized that the assent of civilization lies not in multiplication of
quant but in the purification of human character.

Indian heritage for production

From the point of Buddhist, economics production from local resources for local
needs is the most rational ways of economic life.

Dependence of import and consequent needs to produce for export is highly

uneconomic.

Now days a bulk of non renewable resources like coal and oil are being wastefully
used in production of good and services that are not really useful to man.

in the Buddhist economic planning non renewable and scares resources would be
conserved because the priorities in production would be determined according to
the man basic need of food, clothing and housing. Rather than producing arms,
drugs, alcohol and harmful chemicals.

production for basic requirement should be prime outlook

Indian heritage for consumption

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According to modern economies a major of standard of living is judged by the
amount of annual consumption.

Whereas a Buddhist economist would consider this approach totally irrational; since
consumption is mainly the means to human well being.

Rather the aim should be to obtain the maximum well being with minimum of
consumption.

Indian heritage for other economic activities

Increase in per capita income and human welfare

A performance of the plant is judged by the criteria how quickly a country is able to
increase its per capita income.

The Buddhist economic system or Indian heritage system not pay much attention
of per capita income because it’s only a static’s figure. In Indian heritage only good
value can increase a mans material and spiritual well being.

it would exclude harmful drugs, alcoholically liquors, narcotics, weapons, slaughter

of animals, chemical that are dangerous to man and which would ultimately result
in moral and material degradation

Use of resources

Another of model development planning is to full use of the productive

resources of a company. Buddhism advocates economic use of resources in the
interest of man.

Avoiding indiscriminate and irresponsible use of resources. An Indian would

use resources rationally while promoting their conservation. By replicating forest
resources man destroy at one stroke, what nature has taken thousand of years to
build.

Employment

The provision of full employment is an important objective in all development

plants but Buddhist economist pays much greater attention to this because
achievement of other objective depends upon it.

Buddha said poverty should be eliminated and a country should prosper by

providing employment to every one since employment is the source of income for
every individual for their survival Buddhist belief one way to providing more

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employment is to use more man then machines in production technology should not
be allowed to dominate man .

Public and private saving

Buddha has advised laymen to save one fourth of what they earn .

If a nation could limit consumption to three fourth of the national product it

would be saving one fourth which could be invested for developing the economy.

This implies that at least one fourth of the total production of the community
would be set aside for the future.

TQM total quality management

TQM is a continuous process of improvement, for individual, group of workers

and all the whole organization towards quality.

TQM is a participative process because every employee in the organization is

involved and expected to take responsibility for improving the quality every
movement.

You can only improve that “ which you can “measure “ “Buddha” has said
“be become what we think” which implies what it is thought about a business and
we can improve.

Four guiding principle into TQM

µ §Does it right, first time

This can be fulfill only when , when the right information is provided to the all levels
of the organization.

So that decision can be TQM quality oriented

Customer oriented

Business considered customer as their king .

Thus goods and services rendered to them must meet their satisfactory and
demanding levels.

Customer now days focus on the quality of the product even if they have to pay
more.

Team empowerment

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The more people feel involved themselves in group or in a team, the greater will be
their commitment to the organization, its goodwill , customer satisfaction and
quality

Continuous improvement

It recognizes that how much may have improve, since there are no limitation in the
expectation of customer of quality.

Therefore continuous improvement must be establish with the ever-changing affairs

in the business.

Indian insight into TQM

Nothing is perfect, there is always a better way of doing things.

Hence TQM is ongoing process.

The Indian insight into TQM indicates that “mind” is the master of total excellence
of performance in any field of activity.

Mind is a energy source of all the people in the organization to realize mission.

Manpower governs the quality of collective

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