Ethics

Ethics in Latin language is called Ethicus .

In Greek Language it is known as Ethicos. This word originated from Ethos meaning character

or manners. Therefore ethics has to do with rightness or wrongness of the decisions and behaviours of individuals and the organisations of which they are members.

Ethics
The discipline that examines ones moral standards or

the moral standards of the society. Ethical is what my feelings tell me is right. Ethical means accepted standards in terms ones personal and social welfare ; what one believe is right.

Business Ethics
Business ethics is a specialised study of moral rights

and wrong that concentrates on moral standards as they apply to business institutions, organisations and behaviour. Therefore business ethics are the application of general rules to business behaviour.

Morality
The standards that an individual or group has about

what is right and wrong good or evil.

Moral Standards
The norms about the kinds of actions believed to be

morally right and wrong as well as the values placed on the kinds of objects believed to be morally good or morally bad. Nonmoral standards on the other hand the standards by which we judge what is good or bad and right or wrong in a nonmoral way.

Values
Stable, long lasting beliefs what is important in a

variety of situations that guide our decisions and actions. Values can be stated as the basic convictions that a specific mode of conduct or end state of existence is personally or socially preferable to an opposite or converse mode of conduct or end state of existence.

Ethical Dilemmas
Some ethical issues involve factors that blur the

distinctions between Right and Wrong. As a result employees may experience ethical dilemmas.

Unethical Behaviour
Five main unethical behaviour in organisation as per a

survey report:
Cutting corners on quality Covering up errors Lying about sick days Deceiving customer on quality of products Putting inappropriate pressure on others

Making Ethical Decisions

Decisions and behaviours in organisations have an

underlying foundation of ethical concepts , principles, and rules. In fact, ethical issues influence the decisions that employee make. There are no single rule for making ethical decisions . However assessment of alternatives will be improved by examining various key components that comprise the foundation of ethical decision making.

Components of the Foundations for making Ethical Decisions

Ethical Intensity

Determination of Rights

Ethical Principles & Rules

Ethical
Decisions

Benefits and Costs

Affected People

Concepts of Utilitarianism and Universalism

Utilitarianism
Utilitarianism refers to an action is morally right if the consequences of the actions are more favourable than unfavourable to every one.
It is a general term that for any view that holds that actions and policies should be evaluated on the basis of the benefits and costs they will impose on society.

Utilitarianism
It is also the basis of the techniques of economic cost-

benefit analysis.
This analysis used to determine the desirability of

investing in a project by figuring whether the present and future economic benefits outweigh its present costs and future economic costs.

Principles of Utilitarianism
The Utilitarian principle hold that
an action is right from an ethical point of

view if and only if the sum total of utilities produced by that act is greater than the sum total of utilities produced by any other act the agent could have performed in its place.

Theory of Rights

Theory of Rights
The theory holds that all people have basic rights.
Examples are: Right to freedom of conscience Free speech In the rights ethical theory the rights set forth by a

society are protected and given the highest priority.

 Rights are considered to be ethically correct and valid

since a large or ruling population endorses them. Individuals may also bestow rights upon others if they have the ability and resources to do so. Example:
a person may say that his friend may borrow the car for

the afternoon. The friend who was given the ability to borrow the car now has a right to the car in the afternoon.

 The society has to determine what rights it wants to

uphold and give to its citizens. In order for a society to determine what rights it wants to enact, it must decide what the society's goals and ethical priorities are. Example:
The American government upholds freedom of religion

while the Nazi government did not uphold it and, instead, chose to eradicate the Jewish religion and those who practiced it.

Theory of Justice

Theory of Justice
The justice ethical principle states that ethical theories

should prescribe actions that are fair to those involved. This means that ethical decisions should be consistent with the ethical theory unless circumstances that can be justified. Example:
A policeman is allowed to speed on the highway if he

must arrive at the scene of a crime as quickly as possible in order to prevent a person from getting hurt.

 Justice, like rights, is an important moral concept with

a wide range of applications. It evaluates not only the actions of individuals but also social, legal, political and economic practices. The word just is sometimes used interchangeably with right and good. It generally has a more restricted meaning , that is closer to fair. Question of justice arise when there is something to distribute.

 Theory of justice demands that decision makers be

guided by fairness and equity, as well as impartiality. It is the philosophy used in making ethical decisions to ensure the equal distribution burdens and benefits. These principles include a belief that people should be treated equally, that rules should be applied consistently and that people who harm others should be held responsible and make restitution.

Types of Justice
Retributive Justice

Types of Justice
Distributive Justice
Compensatory

Justice

Distributive Justice
It implies justified distribution of benefits and burden.
The fundamental principle of distributive justice is

that equals should be treated equally and unequals treated unequally. It arises mostly in the evaluation of our social, political and economic institutions .

Retributive Justice
This implies blaming, punishing or penalizing a

person for doing wrong. A just penalty is one that in some sense is deserved by the person who does wrong.

Compensatory Justice
It concerns the just way of compensating people for

what they lost when they were wronged by others. A just compensation is one that in some sense is proportional to the loss suffered by the person being compensated.

Virtue Ethics and Ethics of care

Virtue Ethics
Virtue theory is an approach to ethics which

emphasizes the character of the moral agent, rather than rules or consequences, as the key element of ethical thinking. Aristotle described virtue as character trait manifest itself in habit action. A virtue is also something we actually practice.

Ethics of Care
The fact that we have an obligation to exercise special

care toward those particular persons with whom we have valuable close relationship, particularly relations of dependency is a key concept in the ethic of care. An ethic of care implies an ethic that emphasizes caring for the concrete well being of those near to us.

 An ethic of care: Claims ethics need to be impartial Emphasizes preserving and nurturing concrete valuable relationships It emphasizes that we should care for those dependent on and related to us.

Law and Ethics

Law
Law represents a rough approximation of societys

ethical standards. The law serves to educate about the ethical causes in life. The law should not be treated as a vehicle for expressing all of societys ethical preferences.

Law and Rules

Law refers to a set of rules established to govern

individuals behaviour in the society. Rules on the other hand refers to collective moral judgments made the members of the society to guide individual behaviour. Rules provide a basis for individuals to act in a desired manner to maintain relationship with others within society. Law helps and guide people who are confronted with an ethical dilemma to take right and proper decision.

Law - Definition
Law can be defined as a consistent set of universal

rules that are widely published, generally accepted and usually enforced. Law states the consequences of not following the rules.

Law and Moral Standards

Laws govern human conduct in society.
Incase of interpretation of law and taking managerial

decisions moral standards should be maintained. Moral standards focus on what ought to be done and what ought not to be done. Therefore, moral standards deal with the right and wrong behaviour , whereas law compels the individual to act in the right manner.

Law and Moral Standards

Law and moral standard may overlap Bank robbery is violation of law as well moral standards Law does not always represent collective moral

judgment
Chemical releases are considered harmful to people but

there is law for it Charity is a moral act but there is no law

Law tend to be negative whereas moral standards tend

to be positive
Law forbids theft or robbery, but there is no laws to help

the needy

Environmental Pollution and Society

Pollution
Pollution refers to the undesirable and unintended

contamination of the environment by the manufacture or use of commodities. Environmental damage inevitably threatens the welfare of human beings as well as plants and animals.

Air Pollution
It has been with us since the Industrial Revolution. Industrial revolution introduced the world to belching

factory smokestack. Air pollution affects vegetation, decrease agricultural yield. And create loss for the timber industry. Construction materials get discolored, and corroded thereby causing deterioration. Air pollution is hazardous to health and life. It threatens catastrophic global damage in the form of global warming.

Greenhouse Gases
Carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, methane, and

chlorofluorocarbons are gases that absorb and hold heat from the sun, preventing it from escaping back into space, much like a greenhouse absorbs and holds the suns heat. The increase in temperature around the globe due to rising level of greenhouse gases is termed as Global Warming.

Environmental Ethics
It is a branch of applied ethics, which examines the

moral basis of environmental responsibility. Any damage caused to environment has an impact on society at large. Environmental issues such as toxic wastes , contamination of ground water, carbon dioxide, fluorocarbon that create greenhouse effect and deplete the ozone layer etc. need to tackled by environmental ethics.

Environmental Ethics
The approaches concerning moral

responsibility can be enumerated below: Anthropocentrism approach Anxiological approach Eco-centric approach

Anthropocentrism Approach
This approach focus on the utility that human being

can derive by protecting the environment. It is the moral responsibility of human being to support and preserve the environment for their own survival and well being.

Anxiological Approach
According to this approach it is the moral

responsibility of the human being to protect animals . It implies the responsibility of environment with regard to preservation of animals and animals rights. This approach states that it is essential for a human being to have moral standing towards animals.

Eco-centric Approach
The theory states that, environment has to be

influenced from direct moral consideration but not that one which is derived from the human interest. The term direct responsibility implies, doing such activities, which aim at preserving the inherent nature and environment.

Marketing Ethics and Consumer Protection

Ethical Issues in Marketing Strategy

The ethical issues in marketing involve the stance

adopted by a company towards its competitors. Strategies framed by companies can bring rivalry among market players and sometimes wipe out the competitors. By wiping out competitors unemployment is generated, besides consumer choices reduces.

Ethical Issues in Marketing Mix

Marketing Mix is crucial for the marketing decision

making process. It is basically the 4 Ps that play a crucial role in framing of strategies. These 4 Ps are:
Product Price Place Promotion

Product

Product
The right to consumers to be protected from harmful

products raises a number of problems for manufacturers as products can injure and also can cause fatal. The following are the theories of product liability which determine the ethics related to a product:

The due care theory The contractual theory The strict liability theory

The Due Care Theory

According to this theory it is the obligation on the part

of the manufacturer to ensure that products they put on market are free from defects that may cause harm. The disadvantage of this theory is the difficulty in ascertaining what constitute due care and whether the manufacturer exercised it.

The Contractual Theory

In this theory the seller and buyer relation is viewed as

a contractual relation. There may not be an explicit written contract but the existence of implicit contract that can be understood between the behaviour of two parties. Manufactures must honour this contract

The Strict Liability Theory

The theory is the outcome of legal decisions of various

courts. The theory states that the Manufacturers are responsible for all harm resulting from defective product even when due care has been exercised. This phenomena is gaining wider acceptance in the court and provides a powerful incentive for manufacturer to take extreme precautions and create a acceptable legal framework for compensating consumers.

Product Dilemma
Though the product satisfies consumer needs and

many time society and government face ethical dilemmas whether to ban or to market a product. These products include alcohol, tobaccos and many more such products.

Price

Price
The ethical marketing decision involved in price is not

always visible. Variation of price may be attributed to demand and supply. Questions have been raised about whether it is ethical of a company to charge a higher price for products that are in great demand. Companies adopt the practices of increasing the prices because of consumers ignorance then they are pricing unethically.

Four Areas of Price Fixing

Deceptive Prices

Price Fixing

Four Areas of Pricing which are Unethical and Illegal in US

Bait and Switch Pricing Inflated Price Unfair Pricing Price Discrimination

Place

Place
It is locations where the product moves from

manufacturer or supplier to the consumers. Place is the point where the customer
Is able to access the information about a product or

services Get the final product

Place is the is the process of distributing the product

and type of delivery services that is offered to a final customer.

Unethical Practices at Place

Unethical practices arise at place when:
Marketer stop distribution at a particular place

because of not yielding profits and hence exploitation. Using coercion in the marketing channel. Exerting influence over the resellers choice to handle a product.

Promotion

Promotion
Customers are attracted through advertising and other

public relations(PR) practices. The consumer movements are powerful to bring about change in business practices and business laws. Advertisement code of ethics and consumers on the other hand constantly monitor and conduct scrutiny of advertisement through which the businesses promote their products and communicates to the customer.

Common Deceptive Practices in Promotion

False and misleading presentation of facts. Deliberate omitting of required information. Implying and impression upon a benefit that hardly exists. Exaggerations. Using unnecessary and unwanted technical jargons. Creating cultural degeneration. Creating ambiguities in the minds of consumers. Creating fear in consumers. Plagiarism Open criticism of competitors

Ethics in Human Resource Management

Ethics in HRM
In order to achieve its long term objectives and

maximize stakeholders value, the business must behave ethically towards its employees. The ethical issues are mostly related to employment contract, hiring, remuneration, and downsizing. Other ethical issues may be related to discrimination and sexual harrassment.