Business ethics and social responsibility

Ethics- are the rules that help us to tell the difference between right and wrong.
Ethical behaviour- is behaviour that conforms with ethic-individual beliefs and
social standards about what is right and good.
Values- tell us what we think is important and this,in turn, help us to decide what
is right and wrong.
Moral- are the rules we use to decide what is good and bad.
Ethical dilemma- is moral problem with potential right or wrong answers.
Two key branches of ethics
Descriptive ethics
Normative ethics
Ethics and the law
- law often represents an ethical minimum.
-ethics often represents a standard that exceed the legal minimum.
Stage of moral and ethical development
Stage 1: preconventional
Stage 2: conventional
Stage 3: postconventional
Structure of an ethical environment
Ethical awareness
- code of conduct, formal statement that defines how the organization expects
and requires employees to resolve ethical question.
Ethical education
- codes of conduct, cannot detail a solution for every ethical situation, so
corporation provide training in ethical reasoning.
Ethical action
- helping employees recognize and reason trough ethical problems and turning
them into ethical action.

Ethical leadership
- executives must demonstrate ethical behavior in their actions.
Areas of responsibility
Responsibilities to the general public
- public health issues
- protecting the environment
- recycling
- developing the quality of the workforce
- corporate philanthropy
Responsibilities to customers
- the right to be safe
- the right to be informed
- the right to choose
- the right to be heard
Responsibilities to employees
- workplace safety
- quality of life issues
- ensuring equal opportunity
- age discrimination
- sexual harassment and sexism
Responsibilities to investors
- obligation to make profits for shareholders.
- expectation of ethical and moral behavior.
- investors protected by regulation by the securities and exchange commission
and state regulations.

12 ethical principles
1. Honesty. Ethical executives are, above all, worthy of trust.
2. Integrity. Ethical executives earn the trust of others trough personal integrity.
3. Promising-keeping. Ethical executives can be trusted because that make every
reasonable effort to fill the letter and spirit of their promises and commitments.
4. Loyalty. Ethical executives justify trust by being loyal to their organization and
the people they work with.
5. Fairness. Ethical executives strive to be fair and just in all dealings.
6. Caring- concern for others. Ethical executives are caring , compassionate,
benevolent and kind.
7. Respect for others. Ethical executives demonstrate respect for the human
dignity, autonomy, privacy, rights, and interest of all those who have a stake in
their decisions.
8. Law abiding. Ethical executives abide by laws , rules and regulations relating
to their business activities.
9. Commitment to excellence. Ethical executives pursue excellence in performing
their duties, are well informed and prepared, and constantly endeavor to increase
their proficiency in all areas of responsibility.
10. Leadership. Ethical executives are conscious of the responsibilities and
opportunities of their position of leadership and seek to be positive ethical role
models by their own conduct and by helping to create an environment in which
principled reasoning and ethical decision making are highly prized.
11. Reputation and morale. Ethical executives seek to protect and build the
companys good reputation and the moral of its employees by engaging in no
conduct that might undermine respect and by taking whatever actions are
necessary to correct or prevent inappropriate conduct of others.
12. Accountability. Ethical executives acknowledge and accept personal
accountability for the ethical quality of their decisions and omissions to
themselves, their colleagues, their companies, and their communities.

Social responsibility towards employees

The workers basic rights
Equal work opportunities for all
-the state shall protect labor, promote full employment, provide equal opportunity
regardless of gender, age, religion, race or creed, and regulate employeesemployer relations.
Security of tenure
-every employee shall be assured security of tenure no employees can be
dismissed from work except for a just or authorized cause, and only after due
process.
Just cause- refers to any wrongdoing committed by an employees
Authorized cause- refers to an economic circumstance not due to the employees
fault
Due process-in case of just cause involves
Contractualization
- contractualization or labor contractualization is the replacing of regular workers
with temporary workers who recieve lower wages with no oe less benefits.
Right of contractual employee
- the contractor or subcontractor shall informed the contractual employee of the
foregoing terms and conditions on or before the first day of his employment.
Work days and work hours
-work days refers to any day during which an employee is regularly to work.
Hours of work refers to all the time an employee renders actual work, or is
required to be on duty or to be at a prescribed workplace.
Weekly rest day
- a day-off of 24 consecutive hours after 6 days of work should be scheduled by
the employers upon consultation with the workers.
Wages and wage-related benefits

- wage is the amount paid to an employee in exchange for a task, piece of work,
or service to an employer.this includes overtime, night differential, rest day,
holiday and 13 month pay.
Payment of wages
-wages shall be paid in cash, legal tender at or near the place of work.
Employment of women
- in industrial undertaking from 10PM to 6AM
- in commercial/non-industrial undertakings from 12MN to 6AM
- in agricultural undertakings, at night time unless given not less than 9
consecutive hours of rest.
Employment of children
-minimum employable age is 15 years.no person below 18 years of age can be
employed in a hazardous or deleterious undertakings.
Safe working conditions
- employers must provide workers with every kind of on the job protection against
injury, sickness or death through safe and healthful working conditions.
Right to self-organizations and collective bargaining
- the right to self organization is the right of every worker, free of any interference
from the employer or from government ,to form or join legitimate workers
organization, association or union of his or her own choice.
EC benefits for work-related contingencies
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