ETHICS AND ITS CONCEPTUALIZATION IN LIFE

(it goes back to us) Our own self-reflection or conscience in addressing the 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 is a set of principles that contains behavioral codes to determine what is right or wrong. Ethics
outlines the moral duty and obligations that any human being should practice. It is therefore a study
of action and how man should act. It relates to one’s behaviour and in order to act ethically, one is
dependent on epistemology of ethics knowledge

Normative is aiming at discovering what ought to be. it refers to an expression of designating some
actions or decisions as is it gives the right or wrong outcomes. Normative statements are valued
base statement.

Descriptive ethics is the actual behavior. It concerned with what people actually do and describes
the behavior rather than prescribing it. Its purpose is to assess what people actually do. It reflects
the normative or what you believe as to the descriptive or actual situation

Morality = your own principle, the inner believe

Ethics = standards that are established by others, ethical conduct

GOLDEN RULE OF LIFE - do to others what you want others to do to you -

Factors influencing individual’s ethical value

1. religion – Islamic, Buddhist, Christian

2. western perspective – emphasis on secularism and universalism (man-made ethical theories &
principles)

3. eastern perspective – more on religious and cultural principles

INTERNALIZING ETHICS IN THE CONDUCT OF BUSINESS

Kohlberg’s Model of Cognitive Moral Development = discuss about moral development

-3 level-

1. Pre-conventional

2. Conventional

3. Post-conventional

Trevino’s Person-Situation Interactionist Model of ethical reasoning = individuals’ decision are

influenced in company
3 levels of decision making

1. individual

2. organization

3. business system

Ethical management: acting ethically as a manager by doing the right thing for individual success
and organizational effectiveness

Management of ethics: Acting effectively in situation that have an ethical aspect

Effective Business Decision

- Economic Dimension = concerns business benefits

- Legal Dimension = concerns administrative decisions and the legalities involved
- Moral Dimension = concerns the best course of action to avoid harm to others

ETHICAL THEORIES AND PRINCIPLES

Moral Philosophy: 5 branches

 Metaphysics = study of existence

 Epistemology = study of knowledge
 Ethics = study of action
 Politics = study of force
 Aesthetics = study of art

Ethics: 2 branches

 Meta-ethics = the study of where ethical concepts came from and what they mean.
o Moral relativism = depending on person, situational decision, -not absolute-
o Moral objectivism = independent of human opinion, situation, -absolute-, god made
+ man made principles

 Normative ethics = a set of principles that guide or regulate human conduct

o Teleological / consequential theories = the rightness of actions is determined solely
by the amount of good consequences they produce
 Utilitarian theory = our obligation or duty in any situation is to perform the
action that will result in the greatest possible balance of good over evil / if the
action benefit majority then it is consider good decision although it produce less
benefit to some aspect
- Classical Utilitarianism = you are doing something that are not okay but the
outcome is okay
 - Rule Utilitarianism = the action is right if it conforms to a set of rules
o Deontological / non-consequential theories = it denies that consequences are
relevant to determining what we ought to do
 Kant’s Ethics of Duty Theory ~an action is morally right if and only if the actor is
motivated by good will~
- First Categorical Imperative = Act only according to that maxim by which you
can; at the same time, will that it should become a universal law
- Second Categorical Imperative = Act so that you treat humanity, whether in
your own person or in that of another, always as an end and never as only a
means
 Aristotle’s Virtue Ethics Theory ~value-based, moral virtues = honesty, self-
control, courage, justice, respect, prudence and shame of failures
 Rational dimension
 Irrational dimension

 Giligan’s Ethics of Care Theory ~ talking about caring, contradict to western

society
- Caring about something form
- Caring after someone form
- Caring for someone form