Introduction to Ethics with special

reference to Business Ethics.

• The Oxford English Dictionary defines ethics as
the moral principles that govern a person’s
behaviour, and as the branch of knowledge
that deals with moral principles.
• If you can choose the behaviour that is in your
own long-term benefit, then that behaviour
must not be unethical behaviour.
• Ethics then, is what makes sense in the long run.
And business ethics is what makes sense for
organisations in the long run – for their
customers, their employees, their investors and
their wider stakeholders based on the best
possible rational decisions in their interests. There
is a wealth of evidence and research supporting
this.
• Many businesses operate on the false premise
that business ethics is an oxymoron.
• Very few people critically evaluate what the
purpose of ethics really is, just as we often don’t
take time to reflect on what we really want.
• Individuals have absolute power to choose their
own moral principles, and to decide how they
behave. They are responsible for what they
choose to do. This does not justify actions on a
whim in search of short term gains in the name of
ethics. Something that may appear beneficial right
now often destroys value in the long run.
• Our busy lives force us to focus on the short
term, often at the expense of the long term
while ethical decision making allows us to
balance these conflicting choices. It requires
self-awareness, a commitment to values, and
critical thinking to ascertain what really is in
your sustainable interest.
• Assessing the causes and effects of your
business actions, both in terms of their impact
on yourself, your company and on others is a
part of this process. Your role in making either
a positive or negative contribution to others,
influences you in so many more ways that are
not readily apparent. We are more connected
with each other than we like to think we are.
 Fairness & Objectivity

• If business ethics had to be described in two

words, they are “fairness” and “objectivity”.
• Ethics embodies rational self-interest in the long
term.
• Objectivity facilitates rational thinking that is
congruent with the truth of reality, helping to
avoid delusive or ambiguous decision-making.
• Fairness disqualifies bias, discrimination, envy and
other value-destroying behaviours. It ensures
judgments are made on individual merits to allow
for the best possible decisions in the long run.
• A common error in thinking is that unfairness can
be used for personal gain. A deeper analysis
reveals this as inaccurate for two reasons.
• Firstly, over the long term, people learn to
mistrust those who are unfair and avoid dealing
with them. In business, reputations are hard
earned and easily lost.
• Secondly, self-esteem has been linked to integrity
so those who do not act fairly or objectively, often
suffer in other ways.
• Fairness and objectivity are powerful concepts that
contradict some of the societal conditioning that has
been applied to these words as being ‘soft’ or ‘naïve’.
Being fair has nothing to do with being weak, or
missing any commercial opportunities. Leaders can be
highly assertive and successful, while being fair. It is, in
fact, a commanding competitive advantage. Similarly,
being objective has nothing to do with lacking the
‘cunning’ to gain supposed advantage through bias or
discrimination. Objectivity is seeing beyond the short
term with an honest appraisal of the best course of
action in the sustainable interest of the individual or
company.
• Fair and objective decision-making is
undeniably beneficial in the long-term, and
the foundation for organisational ethics.
• As O. C. Ferrell maintains, there is no universally
accepted approach for resolving ethical questions, all
business person must resolve ethical issues daily.
• Having sound personal ethics is important but may not
be sufficient to handle ethical decision making in a
business organization.
• Personal values that an individual learns through
socialization may not provide specific guidelines for
complex business decisions.
• Even what constitute an ethical issue is often difficult.
• O. C. Ferrell asserts that the purpose of
business ethics is to help you improve your
ability to make ethical decisions in business by
providing a framework for you to identify ,
analyze , and govern ethical issues in business.
.
– In this sense,
business ethics can be defined as comprising moral
principles and standards that guide behavior in the world
of business.
• Business ethics does not tell you what is right and wrong , but
instead attempt to prepare you to make informed
decisions.
– Business ethics does not moralize by telling you what to do in a
specification .
– It provides you with an overview of moral philosophers and
decision-making process; it does not prescribe any one philosophy or
process as best or most ethical.
– It will not make you more ethical , nor will it tell you how to judge the
ethical behavior of others.
– Its goal is to help you understand and use your current values and
convictions in making business decisions, and to encourage you to
think about the effects of your decisions on business and society.
• Ethics cannot be taught. However, by studying
this you will begin to understand how to cope
with conflicts between your own personal values
and those of the organization in which you ( will)
work.
• As mentioned earlier, studying business ethics
will improve your ethical decision by developing
you ability to identify ethical issues and to
recognize the ethical approaches/ theories
available to resolve them.
Thus it can be said that
Business Ethics addresses such questions as:
how moral obligations may conflict with the
profit motive and how these conflicts may be
resolved.
Other topics often pursued are the nature
and scope of the social responsibilities of
corporations, their rights in a free society, and
their relations to other institutions.
• It should be noted here that there is a difference
between business ethics and corporate social
responsibility.
• Social responsibility is the obligation a business
assumes to maximize its positive effect and
minimize its negative effect on society. It can be
viewed as social contract with society, whereas
business ethics relates to moral principles and
rules that guide decision makers.
The development of business ethics

The study of business ethics evolves through five distinct

stages:
• Before 1960, business ethical issues were discussed
primarily from a religious perspective.
• The 1960s saw the rise of many social issues in
business and the beginning of a social conscience.
• Business ethics began to develop as an independent
field of study in the 1970s.
• Development has continued and expanded to
the present time.
• The field of business ethics is now a
recognized discipline, with academics and
practitioners exploring ethical issues and
attempting to understand how individuals and
organizations make ethical decisions.
• [Source : Business Ethics ( v.1.0- This book
was accessible as of December 29, 2012, and
it was downloaded then by Andy Schmitz
(http://lardbucket.org) in an effort to preserve
the availability of this book.]
• KEY TAKEAWAYS
• • Morality is the set of rules defining what ought to be
done; ethics is the debate about what the rules should be;
metaethics investigates the origin of the entire field.
• • Normative ethics concerns what should be done, not what
is done.
• • Ethics is only one of a number of ways of making
decisions.
• • Business ethics as an academic study is a recent
development in the long history of ethical reflection.
• • With respect to individuals, the development of ethical
thought may be studied, as well as notions of responsibility.