UNETHICAL

DECISION
MAKING
“ No such thing as
business Ethics.

2
Oxymoron
￮ A concept that combines
opposite or contradictory
ideas.

3
1 Ethics
Resource
Center
Survey
1,324
Employees

747
U.S. Companies

48%
of Employees

5
The Common Questionable
Behaviours
Cutting Corners on Quality 16%

Covering Up Incidents 14%

Abusing or Lying about Sick Days 11%

Lying or Deceiving Customers 9%

6
52%
At least one type of misconduct.

55%
Reported it

7
2 Reasons for
Unethical
Behavior
Reasons:
1. People are not aware.
2. No worldwide standard of
conduct.
3. Cultural norms.
4. Different values.

9
Country’s
Governance System
1. Rule-Based
￮ Companies do not have the choice
of ignoring the rules
￮ All companies are required to meet
the same minimum standards of
corporate governance.
￮ Investors confidence in the stock
market might be improved if all the
stock market companies are
required to comply with recognised
corporate governance rules.
10
Country’s
Governance System
2. Relationship-Based
￮ Tend to less transparent
￮ Have a higher degree of corruption

11
The Six Values
Measured by the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey
Study of Values

1. Aesthetic
2. Economic
3. Political
4. Religious
5. Social
6. Theoretical

12
The Six Values
Measured by the Allport-Vernon-Lindzey
Study of Values

U.S. & UK Executives

Highest Economic and Political

Values
Lowest Social and Religious

Same with Japan, Korea, India &

Australia.
13
“LET THE BUYER BEWARE”
Traditional saying in free-market capitalism.

14
 Moral
Relativism
Moral relativism
￮ The view that ethical
standards, morality, and
positions of right or wrong
are culturally based and
therefore subject to a
person's individual choice.
16
Descriptive moral relativism
￮ Moral standards are
culturally defined.

￮ Honesty and Respect

17
Meta-ethical moral relativism
￮ There are no objective grounds for
preferring the moral values of one
culture over another.

￮ Unique beliefs
￮ Customs
￮ and Practice.

￮ The “right” moral values are the values

18
that exist in their own culture.
Normative moral relativism
￮ The idea that all societies
should accept each other’s
differing moral values, given
that there are no universal
moral principles.

19
Moral absolutism

￮ That there is always one

right answer to any ethical
question.

20
 Kohlberg’s
Stages of
Moral
Development
 Lawrence Kohlberg’s stages
of moral development
￮ A comprehensive stage theory of moral
development based on Jean Piaget’s theory
of moral judgment for children (1932) and
developed by Lawrence Kohlberg in 1958.

￮ Cognitive in nature, Kohlberg’s theory

focuses on the thinking process that occurs
when one decides whether a behaviour is
right or wrong. Thus, the theoretical
emphasis is on how one decides to respond
to a moral dilemma, not what one decides or
22
what one actually does.
 Theoretical Framework
￮ The framework of Kohlberg’s
theory consists of six stages
arranged sequentially in
successive tiers of complexity.
He organized his six stages into
three general levels of moral
development.

23
 Level 1: Preconventional
level
￮ Morality is externally controlled.

￮ Rules imposed by authority figures are

conformed to in order to avoid
punishment or receive rewards.

￮ This perspective involves the idea that

what is right is what one can get away
with or what is personally satisfying.
24
Level 1: Preconventional
level
￮ Stage 1: Punishment/obedience
orientation
Behaviour is determined by
consequences. The individual will obey in
order to avoid punishment.

￮ Stage 2: Instrumental purpose

orientation
Behaviour is determined again by
consequences. The individual focuses on
receiving rewards or satisfying personal
needs. 25
Level 2: Conventional level
￮ Conformity to social rules remains important
to the individual.

￮ The emphasis shifts from self-interest to

relationships with other people and social
systems.

￮ The individual strives to support rules that

are set forth by others such as parents,
peers, and the government in order to win
their approval or to maintain social order.
26
Level 2: Conventional level
￮ Stage 3: Good Boy/Nice Girl orientation
Behaviour is determined by social approval. The
individual wants to maintain or win the affection
and approval of others by being a “good
person.”

￮ Stage 4: Law and order orientation

Social rules and laws determine behaviour. The
individual now takes into consideration a larger
perspective, that of societal laws. Moral decision
making becomes more than consideration of
close ties to others. The individual believes that
rules and laws maintain social order that is
27
worth preserving.
Level 3: Postconventional or
principled level
￮ The individual moves beyond the
perspective of his or her own society.

￮ Morality is defined in terms of abstract

principles and values that apply to all
situations and societies.

￮ The individual attempts to take the

perspective of all individuals.
28
 Level 3: Postconventional or
principled level
￮ Stage 5: Social contract orientation
Individual rights determine behaviour. The individual views
laws and rules as flexible tools for improving human purposes.
That is, given the right situation, there are exceptions to rules.
When laws are not consistent with individual rights and the
interests of the majority, it does not bring about good for
people and alternatives should be considered.

￮ Stage 6: Universal ethical principle orientation

According to Kohlberg, this is the highest stage of functioning.
However, he claimed that some individuals will never reach
this level. At this stage, the appropriate action is determined
by one’s self-chosen ethical principles of conscience. These
principles are abstract and universal in application. This type
of reasoning involves taking the perspective of every person
29
or group that could potentially be affected by the decision.
Thanks!
Any Questions?

30