Areas of Business Most in

Need of Ethical Attention

Review
Ethics, are moral principles that
guide the conduct of individuals.

Main Reasons that may persuade a business to act

ethically:
– Legal reasons, of which there are several
different sorts
– Public image reasons, which again, might
encompass a number of different types
– Pragmatic reasons, acknowledging
that sometimes, acting ethically
might be the most direct path to
business success

–Moral reasons, where it is affirmed

that these reasons are different
from each of the other three types
Business’ role in poverty alleviation

Poverty is experienced and understood

differently people in different regions and
at different times. Broadly, “poverty” is
conceptualized as a deficiency or
shortages of some sort.
Historically, this shortage has been
considered synonymous with lack of
income, or at least insufficient income to
meet a household’s daily needs.
Continuing extreme poverty in
midst of economic growth
Even average economic growth is high,
part of a country may be bypassed for years or
decades (Sachs 2005)
Even when government have the
revenue, they may neglect the poorest of the
poor if the destitute groups are the part of
ethnic or religious minorities (Sachs 2005)
The women, often illiterate, are poorly
treated by in-laws and lack the social standing
and perhaps legal protections to ensure their
own basic health and well-being (Sachs 2005)
Businesses’ Role in Overcoming the
Poverty Trap

All good things tend to move together

at each rising rung: higher capital stock,
greater specialization, more advanced
technology, and lower fertility (Sachs
2005).
Areas of business most in need of ethical
attention
• The social responsibilities of capitalist
business practices
• The Morality of advertising
• basic employee rights, job discrimination,
other labor-related ethical issues
• Insider trading
• pollution and resource depletion
• Whistle Blowing
The social responsibilities of
capitalist business practices

• Milton Friedman (American economist)

famously stated that the only social
responsibility of business is to increase
profits. On the other hand, William Sauser, in
the Journal of business ethics article “Ethics in
business: answering call,” explained that
business organizations have four levels of
responsibility: (1) Earning a profit; (2) legal
responsibility; (3) Ethical Responsibility; (4)
Discretionary responsibility.
The Morality of Advertising

Article 108 of the Consumer Act of

the Philippines (Republic Act No.
7394) declares that “The state shall
protect the consumer from
misleading advertisements and
fraudulent sales promotion practices
.”
Activity!
 Charades-Pass the Message
• Divide the class into two equal groups.
• Each group will have a representative to have a piece
of paper containing a word from the lesson
• The word will be sent to other members only
through whisper when the time have started, and
when it reached the last member—
• The second to the last member will give clues
(language, syllable, etc.) to the last member with
non-verbal gestures.
• The group that is faster will earn points and will be
collected afterwards to declare the winning group.
Morality
Poverty
Ethics
Ma’am Riza Laxamana