Technical institute of Shingal

Ethics

1st. lecture
Introduction

 Ethics derives from, the Greek word “ethicos” which means arising from custom
or from the French word “ethos” meaning custom. According to Websters’s
dictionary ethics is a concept that deals with moral issues of good and bad, based
on societal norms. Ethics, is the code written or unwritten that guides the
behaviour of human beings, in the context of different cultures and situations.
This moral code may vary from society to society. However there are certain
aspects that hold good in every situation.
 ‘Management Ethics’ is related to social responsiveness of a firm. It is “the
discipline dealing with what is good and bad, or right and wrong, or with moral
duty and obligation. It is a standard of behaviour that guides individual managers
in their works”
Six ethical terms form the foundation of trust upon
which ethical business practice is built:

 Ethics
 Values
 Morals
 Integrity
 Character
 Laws
Professional Ethics

 Professional ethics are ethics that refer to the moral rules and regulations
governing the professional world OR, they are the moral values that guide the
way corporations or other business makes decisions. Professional ethics are
standards or codes of conduct set.by people in a specific profession.
 Ethical dimensions in professions are needed to:
1. have clear boundaries
2. have commonly accepted norms of behaviour
3. enhance respect within and outside the profession
4. protect the rights of the consumer/ client
5. protect the rights and privileges of the professional
Principles of ethics

 Autonomy
 Beneficence
 Justice
 Non-maleficence
 Confidentiality
 Dissipation of knowledge
 The professional obligation to keep a secret arises from the fact that harm will
almost certainly follow if the information is revealed. There are three types of
secrets:
 Natural secret: information which, if revealed, is harmful by its nature.
 Promised secret: information that we have promised to conceal which, if broken,
leads to public mistrust.
 Professional secret: knowledge which, if revealed, will harm the client, the
profession and the society that obtain services from the profession. A professional
secret is the most serious of all secrets, because its violation can cause the
greatest harm.
Types of Management Ethics:

 Immoral management: It implies lack of ethical practices followed by

managers. Managers want to maximise profits even if it is at the cost of legal
standards or concern for employees.
 Moral management: According to moral management ethics, managers aim to
maximise profits within the confines of ethical values and principles. They
conform to professional and legal standards of conduct. The guiding principle in
moral management ethics is “Is this action, decision, or behaviour fair to us and
all parties involved?”
 Amoral management: This type of management ethics lies between moral and
immoral management ethics. Managers respond to personal and legal ethics only
if they are required to do so; otherwise there is lack of ethical perception and
awareness.
Types of amoral management:

 (a) Intentional: Managers deliberately avoid ethical practices in

business decisions because they think ethics should be followed in
non-business activities.

 (b) Unintentional: Managers do not deliberately avoid ethical

practices but unintentionally they make decisions whose moral
implications are not taken into consideration.
A successful business depends on the trust of
various parties

 Employees
 Managers
 Executives
 Customers
 Suppliers
 Competitors .