INTRODUCTION

BUSINESS is part of human society.

And since it is part of the complex
web of interaction among institutions
and people, its activities must be
viewed and examined from the
perspective of morality.
NATURE OF BUSINESS
 Business is old as human civilization.
 Business is an activity that is part and parcel of human society.
 Business is also a complex enterprise that involves major activities like purchasing,
manufacturing, marketing, advertising, selling and accounting.
THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN BUSINESS
 The study of Business Ethics paves the way for a common ground in our understanding
of the fundamental idea of what is good and what is bad in our human conduct.
 Another important aspect in business that needs profound examination is the manner in
which business leaders and managers confront ethical issues and problems affecting the
flow and dynamism of business activities.
 Business Ethics opens a novel way of resolving moral problems and ethical dilemmas
affecting business transactions and the interactions of people in the corporate world.
BUSINESSMAN’S MYTHS ABOUT BUSINESS ETHICS
 MYTH #1- Ethics is a personal affair and not a public matter.
 MYTH #2- Ethics and business do not mix.
 MYTH #3- Ethics in business is relative.
 MYTH #4- Good business means good ethics.
 MYTH #5- Business is a war.
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICS AND BUSINESS
 Business is an integral part of human society. Therefore, the actions of individuals and
institutions in business must be subjected to moral rules and moral evaluation.
 In business, as in any other human endeavor, “what is legal may not necessarily be
moral.” People tend to confuse legality with morality.
An action may be legal but not necessarily moral, capital punishment (death by lethal injection).
For some, this is legal but in truth, this is immoral. Ethics provides us with a clear distinction
between morality and legality.
 Law are insufficient. They cannot cover all aspects of our human behaviour. Laws are
sometimes absent or unclear in some areas of our human conduct. Ethics is the
unwritten law, written in the hearts of men. In the absence of the law, ethics will help us
discern the correct conduct to follow based on the dictates of conscience and reason.
 In today’s technocrat-oriented business education, the trend is to train managers to
maximize profits by quantifying the operations of business.
 Peter Drucker argues that “the business enterprise is an organ of society and its actions
have a decisive impact on the social science.” Drucker simply reminds us that a business
corporation is not just created to make profits but also to consider its moral and social
obligations to its stakeholders. Business organizations should not just look after their
own interests but also the interest of the common good.
MORAL REASONING IN BUSINESS
MORAL REASONING is a process
in which ethical issues and
problems are bench market
against a moral judgement is
made possible.
Characteristics of a Good Moral Standard
1. One that looks at the issue as something that is very serious, murder, graft and
corruption, stealing.
2. Must be grounded on good moral argument. A good argument that always tells the
truth. A solid moral argument leaves no room for loopholes and counter arguments.
3. It should be objective and not subjective. It should be universally accepted and should apply
to all. What is good for one person should be at the same time good for everybody.
4. A good standard when violated, brings about feelings of guilt, shame and remorse of
conscience.
MORALITY OF PROFIT-MOTIVE
 Business as an activity is unthinkable without profit as motive.
 Businessman consider profit as aform of anticipated reward or a compensation for the
efforts they spend, skills they apply and returns for the capital they invested in putting
up and organizing the business.
 Traditionally, business people have looked at the profit-motive as the most important
aspect of business.
CONCEPT OF MORAL RESPONSIBILITY
 Man is rational being.
 Man is free being.
WILLIAM H. SHAW, an author, came up with 3 meanings of moral responsibility:
 refers to holding the people morally accountable for some past action.
 means care, welfare or treatment of others.
 refers to one’s capacity for making moral or rational decisions on his own.
BUSINESS ETHICS DEFINED:
 as the study of what is the right and wrong human behaviour and conduct in business.
 is a study of the perceptions of people about morality, moral norms, moral rules and
ethical principles as they apply to people and institutions in business.
 is the study, evaluation, analysis and questioning of ethical standards, policies, moral
norms and ethical theories.