Republic of the Philippines

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region IV-A CALABARZON
DIVISION OF RIZAL
Morong National Senior High School
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Belief Systems and Their Influence in Business Practices

Learning Task 1:

Directions: Read the situation below and answer the given questions on a separate sheet of paper.
One day, you and your female friend went to the market to buy washable face masks. The stall owner, who was
wearing hijab* approached the two of you. Your friend could not control her giggles while the Muhaajaba** was talking.
As a response, the stall owner got mad and shouted at you and your friend.
What are you going to tell the stall owner? (5 points)
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What advice would you give to your friend? (5 points)
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Rubrics:
Correctness of answer 3 pts.
Mechanics 2 pts.
Total 5 pts.

Introduction:

Religion highly affects our lives, whether personal or not. Some of the world’s major religions are Christianity,
Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, and Hinduism. Each has its own organized system of beliefs, ceremonies, and worship,
and each one offers prescriptions for a positive effort in both life and business.

1. Christianity

The Christian religion follows the Hebrew Bible by taking a positive view of physical and human creation and
by seeing God as deeply concerned with the ethical behavior of human creatures towards one another. It also teaches
that in the persona of Jesus of Nazareth, Christ entered history to redeem humanity from the self-inflicted wounds of
sin and to create a new age in which humanity will come to live God's own life of love, peace, unity and justice. The
Old and the New Testaments serve as the foundation of this religion.

In Christianity, human dignity and concern for people are crucial. This religion also emphasizes a sense of justice in
business such as strict adherence to contracts, compliance with regulations, and working for the benefit of the
common good. Christians ought to focus on how business impacts individuals, the workers in particular. They should
be well-paid and they should find their work meaningful and inspiring.

A trading Christian does not try to win another's products or services for less than it is worth. One should not
want to get a decent deal for his own wares by using extortion. If a person buys from a poor seller, that buyer must
exercise charity and justice. He/she must pay the full price that the goods are worth. If friends and relatives are not
interested in what a Christian vendor sells, the latter should not break off connection with them when they decided to
choose differently.

2. Judaism

Jews believe there is one God, who not only created the world, but who every Jew should have an intimate
and interpersonal relationship with. They believe that God works continuously in the world and affects all that people
do. Further, there is a covenant relationship between God and the Jews in exchange for the many good deeds God
has done for the Jewish people and continues to do.

Judaism, which for its written law relies on the Torah, has greatly influenced marketing and business ideology.
Jewish culture, values and ideas, including the modern market, have penetrated many aspects of modern life. Some
important points include market honesty, fair pricing, and business relationships.
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region IV-A CALABARZON
DIVISION OF RIZAL
Morong National Senior High School
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Honesty on the market. It is illegal for traders to falsify the weight and measurement of the goods or
products.
Fair pricing. There should be good value for money. You shall not cheat each other when you sell something
to your neighbor or buy something from him or her. Likewise, if a person is ignorant of the true worth of an item and
wants to sell it, the buyer should not take advantage of the confusion and underpay the seller. The Talmud
(comprehensive written version of oral laws of the Jews) cares much about price control. Business relations.
Employers are obligated to pay workers on schedule. One of the guiding principles for business ethics highlighted in
the Jewish tradition is the legitimacy of business activity and profit, conducted within a framework of religious and
ethical norms. Truly, business ethics occupies such important place in Jewish laws, culture, and tradition that at the
final judgment, the Talmud has this to ask an individual: "Were you honest in your business dealings?" In Judaism,
work, including manual in nature, is held in great esteem like a sort of human partnership with the divine.
3. Islam

Muslims believe in the Oneness of God—- that all things are created by God and that He is all-powerful and
all-knowing. They further believe that God has no offspring, sex, class, body, and He is not affected by human life's
characteristics.

For Islam, the source of rules is the Qur'an. Islamic teachings place great emphasis on respect for ethical and
moral codes in human behavior. Islamic principles prevent abusing people through putting restrictions on misleading
advertisements. Under Islamic law, if a seller sells an item by making false statements, the buyer shall have the right
to cancel the transactions. Additionally, according to Hayes (1998), the following principles are expected
among Muslim businessmen:

a. Contracts must be fair to both or all parties.

b. Speculation, such as gambling, is not allowed. If the money comes from the gambling industry, one will not be
allowed to invest in the Islamic Mutual Fund.
c. Interest is prohibited. That is probably the most common thing that is identified with Islamic finance. One
moral practice is that one is not allowed to charge or take interest.
d. When a business is in trouble, compassion is required. In every country that has Islamic traditions in its legal
system, when anyone is in bankruptcy or is suffering financial reversals, one should not put pressure on them.
Because when someone is down, it is not the right thing to do. When they are down, one does not kick them.
Muslims also believe that business should be conducted in accordance with the rules of nature which God
governs.

4. Buddhism

Founded on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, who is called “Buddha” or “the enlightened one”, is
Buddhism.
From the beginning, the basis of Buddhist practice was meditation and the observance of moral precepts. The five
fundamental moral precepts practiced by members of the monastic orders and the laity are: refraining from taking
property, behaving unchastely, speaking wrongly, stealing, and drinking intoxicants.

In business, Buddhists are guided by the following principles:

a. The goals should be defined. The clearer the goal is, the easier it is to be defined. Is it about gain? Is it
giving satisfaction to your customers?
b. The principle of cause and effect should be followed. We need to use intuition in the case of a business
proposal to work out the factors that would take us to our ultimate aim. The process resembles reverse
engineering. We begin to trace back the logical sequence of acts which would contribute to a given goal. This
framework helps identify the steps needed to accomplish the aim and provides a clear basis for a project
roadmap.
c. Empathy and compassion for the customers have to be developed. It is crucial to understand the
challenge that our potential customers may encounter, and to have an empathic approach towards it. We
need to recognize and always keep in mind the problem that our target customers have in their life and try to
solve this issue in the best possible way based on that understanding. Compassion is the basis for a
customer-first or a user centered approach in business.
d. Be flexible, innovative, and mindful of impermanence. Buddhist theory puts into practice another useful
insight: everything is constantly changing—we ourselves, the world, and all the people around us. It is very
easy to get caught with an idea that seems logical and solid, but it often becomes a trigger for narrow-minded
thinking, stubbornness, and inflexibility in a rapidly changing reality.
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region IV-A CALABARZON
DIVISION OF RIZAL
Morong National Senior High School
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

e. Your team, yourself and the consumer have to be respected. The Buddhist ethics is based on the non-
violence principle. They know everyone deserves to be happy and does not want to struggle. If we base our
actions on that understanding and try not to harm others, we gain their respect and confidence. It brings trust
and understanding in the team if we respect our colleagues. We try to stop doing something offensive behind
or in front of people and make ourselves transparent.

5. Hinduism

Hindus believe in one true, formless, boundless, all-inclusive and eternal God called Brahman. He is not an
abstract concept but a real entity that everything in the universe (seen and unseen) encompasses.

Hinduism is not an organized religion, and its value system has no single, systematic approach to teaching
nor do Hindus have a simple set of rules, like the Ten Commandments to follow. Whatever practices (local, regional,
caste and community-driven)—throughout the Hindu world influence the interpretation and practice of beliefs.

Hindus have a positive attitude towards business and wealth creation, yet wealth is not the ultimate goal.
What is more important are ethics (dharma), and salvation (moksha).

For business, prices and profits should be fair. Tax system should give reasonable rates, should be
economical in its implementation, and should not have adverse impact on economic growth. There must be high taxes
on luxury goods.
Workers should receive fair and just wages, depending on their ability and productivity.
It is worth noting, overall, that every faith has its own biases. Nevertheless, each of them has the core
concept that faith would give rise to a commitment to maintain a desirable work climate. This is why our society cannot
remove the effect of religion on modern business. We should be mindful of disparities in beliefs among various
cultures and accept them. While there are global ethical standards, we must also show respect for each community's
different values.

Learning Task 2:

Directions: Choose one belief system and create an acrostic for its business practices or principles. Write your
answers on a separate sheet of paper.
You may write your answer here:
Example: Christianity (CROWN)

C- omply with regulations

R- espectfully and strictly adhere to contracts
O- nly get a decent deal
W- ork for the benefit of common good
N- o use of extortion

Rubrics:
Correctness of answer 5 pts.
(very good-5, good-4, fair-3, poor-2, very poor-1)
Acrostic /word formed 3 pts.
Mechanics 2 pts.
Total 10 pts.

Learning Task 3:
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region IV-A CALABARZON
DIVISION OF RIZAL
Morong National Senior High School
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Learning Task 4:

Learning Task 5:
 Republic of the Philippines
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION
Region IV-A CALABARZON
DIVISION OF RIZAL
Morong National Senior High School
LEARNING ACTIVITY SHEET
BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

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