BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING (HONS) CIVIL ENGINEERING

EGE3103 ENGINEER AND SOCIETY

ASSIGNMENT II
INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

STUDENT NAME
Mahmoud Abd Elfattah Abd Alla Mohamed
STUDENT ID
SUKD-1503870
LECTURER
Ir. Patrick Teo
SUBMISSION DATE
4th October 2016

TABLE OF CONTENT
PAGE

3
4

Introduction

Corporat Governance & Business Integrity

Tan Sri Abu Kassim

malaysian Corporat Governance ethics

BUSINESS ETHICS AND INTEGRITY

Corruption

10

Conclusion
References

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1.0 Introduction :
The meaning of "ethics" is hard to pin down, and the views many people
have about ethics are shaky.
Like Baumhart's first respondent, many people tend to equate ethics with
their feelings. But being ethical is clearly not a matter of following one's
feelings. A person following his or her feelings may recoil from doing what is
right. In fact, feelings frequently deviate from what is ethical.
Nor should one identify ethics with religion. Most religions, of course,
advocate high ethical standards. Yet if ethics were confined to religion, then
ethics would apply only to religious people. But ethics applies as much to the
behavior of the atheist as to that of the devout religious person. Religion can
set high ethical standards and can provide intense motivations for ethical
behavior. Ethics, however, cannot be confined to religion nor is it the same
as religion.
Being ethical is also not the same as following the law. The law often
incorporates ethical standards to which most citizens subscribe. But laws,
like feelings, can deviate from what is ethical. Our own pre-Civil War slavery
laws and the old apartheid laws of present-day South Africa are grotesquely
obvious examples of laws that deviate from what is ethical.
Finally, being ethical is not the same as doing "whatever society accepts." In
any society, most people accept standards that are, in fact, ethical. But
standards of behavior in society can deviate from what is ethical. An entire
society can become ethically corrupt. Nazi Germany is a good example of a
morally corrupt society.
Moreover, if being ethical were doing "whatever society accepts," then to
find out what is ethical, one would have to find out what society accepts. To
decide what I should think about abortion, for example, I would have to take
a survey of American society and then conform my beliefs to whatever
society accepts. But no one ever tries to decide an ethical issue by doing a
survey. Further, the lack of social consensus on many issues makes it
impossible to equate ethics with whatever society accepts. Some people
accept abortion but many others do not. If being ethical were doing whatever
society accepts, one would have to find an agreement on issues which does
not, in fact, exist.
What, then, is ethics? Ethics is two things. First, ethics refers to well-founded
standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans ought to do,
usually in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or specific
virtues. Ethics, for example, refers to those standards that impose the
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reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault,

slander, and fraud. Ethical standards also include those that enjoin virtues of
honesty, compassion, and loyalty. And, ethical standards include standards
relating to rights, such as the right to life, the right to freedom from injury,
and the right to privacy. Such standards are adequate standards of ethics
because they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons.
Secondly, ethics refers to the study and development of one's ethical
standards. As mentioned above, feelings, laws, and social norms can deviate
from what is ethical. So it is necessary to constantly examine one's
standards to ensure that they are reasonable and well-founded. Ethics also
means, then, the continuous effort of studying our own moral beliefs and our
moral conduct, and striving to ensure that we, and the institutions we help to
shape, live up to standards that are reasonable and solidly-based.

2.0 Corporat Governance & Business

Integrity
2.1 Tan Sri Abu Kassim

Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed will continue to serve as an anti-corruption service
officer until his mandatory retirement on December 6, 2020. File picPUTRAJAYA,
June 23 Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed is to discontinue service as per his request
as the Chief Commissioner of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission on August
1, said Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa.
Ali said the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, as per sub-section 5(3) of the Malaysian AntiCorruption Act 2009 (Act 694), had consented to the application by Abu Kassim, 55,
to end his service in that capacity by giving a months notice.
In a statement issued today, Ali said Abu Kassim would continue to serve as an anticorruption service officer until his mandatory retirement on December 6, 2020.
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Abu Kassim was appointed MACC chief commissioner on January 1, 2010.

The Government expresses its gratitude to Tan Sri Abu Kassim who has served the
country well in his capacity as the MACC chief commissioner, Ali said.
He said that with Abu Kassim at its helm, the MACC had discharged its functions
with excellence in line with its vision to create a Malaysian society free of corruption
based on spiritual values and high morals.
The government also congratulates Abu Kassim on his appointment as a faculty
member (guest expert) of the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria, a
world-renowned anti-corruption institution of excellence under the auspices of the
United Nations, he said.
He (Abu Kassim) will also contribute his experience and expertise as a consultant
at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), he added.
Ali said that at the international level, Abu Kassim would remain Vice-President of
the International Association of Anti-Corruption Authorities and a member of the
Board of Governance of the International Anti-Corruption Academy in Austria until
the expiry of the terms of office.
Bernama.

2.2 malaysian Corporat Governance ethics :

Corporate governance systems are developed to manage business affairs with the
aim of enhancing shareholder wealth and corporate accountability. However,
despite the many efforts made, corporate governance flaws ( i.e corporate
scandals) keep emerging, making this phenomenon a major governance issue.
Various opinions have been articulated in response to this and ethics have been
strongly recommended as a factor to solve the corporate governance issue.
Motivated by the above, this research examines the possibility of integrating ethics
into corporate governance practices. The research develops conceptual foundation
around the dimension of social contract theory. Associated with the subjective
nature of the research, the research employed social constructionist ontology, and
the process involved a qualitative approach (i.e enquiry). Interpretive analysis
techniques are employed to support the qualitative approach. The qualitative
approach provides rich description in exploring the subjects' minds i.e. prominent
corporate governance experts, and corporations which are known for their good
corporate governance reputation. Based on the interpretive analysis conducted, the
research findings answered the research questions. Social constructed views of
respondents indicate understanding of corporate governance as a social process
requiring pluralistic governance in which, support from the social dimension i.e
ethics, is crucial. Support from ethics includes practice of several key ethics
contents (such as organizational ethics structure, ethical management, ethical
leadership and ethical culture). Emergence of the key ethics contents articulates the
process of ethics integration into corporate governance practices. However, the
respondents perceived that integration of ethics is still in its infancy. This is due to
the influence of combinations of forces. Positive forces such as financial pressure,
business pressure and external pressure influence integration of ethics. Negative
forces such as internal governance matters, power, political influence, economic
desire and lack of knowledge deter the corporations from considering integrating
ethics into their corporate governance practices. This research provides several
contributions; introducing moral aspects from governance by behavioural theory is
used to understand governance phenomena, application of non positivist
methodological aspects in accounting research, so that issues are answered through
the social constructionist ontology and contribute to literature by providing a model
of the ethics process for enhancing governance practices. Overall, this research
offer a new perspective on the corporate governance concept, as it represents a
pluralism in governance approach. Due to several limitation faced in undertaking
this research, it is suggested that future research examines in - depth case studies.
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Additional empirical work such as investigating relationship between the variables is

also recommended.

2.3 Business Ethics and Integrity :

WHAT ARE BUSINESS ETHICS?
Business ethics are the code of morals that are the standard of conduct expected of
or adopted by a business. They are the set of principles which guide business or
which a business adopts as the acceptable standard of performance in respect of
various stakeholders and interested parties. These stakeholders include its
customers, its suppliers, its employees, its shareholders, government authorities
and any other party which interacts with the organisation.
WHAT IS BUSINESS INTEGRITY?
Business integrity is the reliability with which the business undertakes its
transactions with the various parties with which it interacts. It is the soundness and
honesty with which it conducts its business transactions and the relationship that it
promotes with all parties with which it interacts.
WHY HAVE BUSINESS ETHICS AND INTEGRITY?
When business ethics and integrity are present all parties dealing with the business
know they can rely on the standards with which the business conducts its business
transactions.
WHY ARE BUSINESS ETHICS AND INTEGRITY IMPORTANT?
Business ethics and integrity are important to all parties dealing with the business.
Employees will know that they will be paid on time, creditors will be confident of
being paid, government authorities will be aware that the business respects
authority, all parties transacting business with the organisation will tend to be more
cooperative and helpful. In addition the business is likely to be more ordered and
successful and not lunge from self generated crisis to self generated crisis.
How were Business Ethics Developed
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If you plan to own or manage a business, it is advisable to have knowledge of

business ethics. It is basically the code that business persons follow to ensure that
they are doing the right things to attain success. These codes were developed
through years of studies and research. Business ethics is a reflection of the norms,
values, and folkways of a certain country or place in respect of business practice.
Once you decide to own or manage a business, it is important that you are aware of
business ethics. Perhaps youre wondering how it is developed. It takes time to
develop the ethics. The latter is actually a philosophy field that studies values,
norms, and systems. In the case of managing and conducting a business, it will
guide you to do the right things. The field focuses on a commercial enterprises
conduct or policies to determine which ones are appropriate to use. It can be
difficult to determine which ethical conduct is correct. If you are a committed a
businessperson, you will take time to know what is right or wrong and subscribe to
the right ones.

Development of Business Ethics

Business ethics cover various activity including responsibilities, obligations,
employees, customers, businesses, taxation, environment, and
national/multinational governments. There are times when ethics is dictated by the
folkways and conventions although there are also times when federal, state and
local government laws dictate action as well. This is where institutionalized business
ethics enter the scenes which include the contracts product safety, pricing,
warranties, and many others. There are now professions and corporations that
contribute to the establishment of the code of ethics. Researchers usually explore
business ethics in three ways studying famous philosophers and their views,
identifying ethical concerns, and examining various case studies.
It was only in the 1970s when the business ethics concepts became popular.
Certain factors were able to contribute to the interest in ethics and a very evident
one is the change in societal values. If youre part of the executives of a new
organization, you can become part of a team to develop the code of ethics.
However, in the business industry, its typical for businesses to follow the same set
of code as set by the industry. They no longer have to create their own and in most
will just include new one that deemed fit.
The development of business ethics took a long time to be at its present level. It
embraces different generations until the present. The code wasnt developed
overnight. Businesses within a particular
trade or practice are expected to comply with the code to make sure that operations
are carried out properly and without violating morality. This is part of the industry
best practices and self regulation.
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If you want your business to stay competitive, it is important that you know the
industry code of ethics. Running a business can be very challenging. With the right
knowledge, skills, and attitude, you will soon experience success. The most
successful ones observed the code strictly, and so must your business.
For assistance and guidance with your business ethics and guidance in having a
strong business integrity , just complete the details here and we will contact you to
assist in setting up your business.

3.4 Corruption :
Corruption is a form of dishonest or unethical conduct by a person entrusted with
a position of authority, often to acquire personal benefit, Corruption may include
many activities including bribery and embezzlement, though it may also involve
practices that are legal in many countries. Government, or 'political',
corruption occurs when an office-holder or other governmental employee acts in an
official capacity for personal gain.
Stephen D. Morris, a professor of politics, writes that [political] corruption is the
illegitimate use of public power to benefit a private interest.
Economist Ian Senior defines corruption as an action to (a) secretly provide (b) a
good or a service to a third party (c) so that he or she can influence certain actions
which (d) benefit the corrupt, a third party, or both (e) in which the corrupt agent
has authority. Daniel Kaufmann, from the World Bank, extends the concept to
include 'legal corruption' in which power is abused within the confines of the law
as those with power often have the ability to make laws for their protection.
Scales of corruption
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A billboard in Zambia exhorting the public to "Just say no to corruption".

Corruption can occur on different scales. There is corruption that occurs as small
favors between a small number of people (petty corruption), corruption that affects
the government on a large scale (grand corruption), and corruption that is so
prevalent that it is part of the everyday structure of society, including corruption as
one of the symptoms of organized crime (systemic corruption).
Petty corruption
Petty corruption occurs at a smaller scale and takes place at the implementation
end of public services when public officials meet the public. Examples include the
exchange of small improper gifts or use of personal connections to obtain favors or
a speedy completion of routine government procedures. This form of corruption is
usually pursued by junior and middle level officials, who are significantly underpaid.
Grand corruption
Grand corruption is defined as corruption occurring at the highest levels of
government in a way that requires significant subversion of the political, legal and
economic systems. Such corruption is commonly found in countries with
authoritarian or dictatorial governments but also in those without adequate policing
of corruption.
The government system in many countries is divided into the
legislative, executive and judiciary branches in an attempt to provide independent
services that are less subject to grand corruption due to their independence from
one another.
Systemic corruption
Systemic corruption (or endemic corruption) is corruption which is primarily due
to the weaknesses of an organization or process. It can be contrasted with individual
officials or agents who act corruptly within the system.
Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting
incentives, discretionary powers; monopolistic powers; lack of transparency; low
pay; and a culture of impunity. Specific acts of corruption include "bribery,
extortion, and embezzlement" in a system where "corruption becomes the rule
rather than the exception." Scholars distinguish between centralized and
decentralized systemic corruption, depending on which level of state or government
corruption takes place; in countries such as the Post-Soviet statesboth types occur.
Some scholars argue that there is a negative duty of western governments to
protect against systematic corruption of underdeveloped governments.
Corruption in different sectors
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Corruption can occur in any sectors, whether they be public or private industry or
even NGOs. However, only in democratically controlled institutions is there an
interest of the public (owner) to develop internal mechanisms to fight active or
passive corruption, whereas in private industry as well as in NGOs there is no public
control. Therefore, the owners' investors' or sponsors' profits are largely
decisive.Mainly the corruption occurs in the field of politics. politicians do corruption
for their personal interest.
Government/public sector
Public sector corruption includes corruption of the political process and of
government agencies such as the police as well as corruption in processes of
allocating public funds for contracts, grants, and hiring. Recent research by the
World Bank suggests that who makes policy decisions (elected officials or
bureaucrats) can be critical in determining the level of corruption because of the
incentives different policy-makers face.
Political corruption
Main article: Political corruption
A political cartoon from Harper's Weekly, January 26, 1878, depicting U.S. Secretary
of the Interior Carl Schurz investigating the Indian Bureauat the U.S. Department of
the Interior. The original caption for the cartoon is: "THE SECRETARY OF THE
INTERIOR INVESTIGATING THE INDIAN BUREAU. GIVE HIM HIS DUE, AND GIVE THEM
THEIR DUES."
Political corruption is the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected
government officials for personal gain, by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes. It
can also take the form of office holders maintaining themselves in office by
purchasing votes by enacting laws which use taxpayers' money. Evidence suggests
that corruption can have political consequences- with citizens being asked for bribes
becoming less likely to identify with their country or region.
Police corruption
Main article: Police corruption
Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial
benefits, other personal gain, and/or career advancement for a police officer or
officers in exchange for not pursuing, or selectively pursuing, an investigation or
arrest. One common form of police corruption is soliciting and/or accepting bribes in
exchange for not reporting organized drug or prostitution rings or other illegal
activities.
Another example is police officers flouting the police code of conduct in order to
secure convictions of suspectsfor example, through the use of falsified evidence.
More rarely, police officers may deliberately and systematically participate
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in organized crime themselves. In most major cities, there are internal

affairs sections to investigate suspected police corruption or misconduct. Similar
entities include the British Independent Police Complaints Commission.
Judicial corruption
Judicial corruption refers to corruption related misconduct of judges, through
receiving or giving bribes, improper sentencing of convicted criminals, bias in the
hearing and judgement of arguments and other such misconduct.
Governmental corruption of judiciary is broadly known in many transitional
and developing countries because the budget is almost completely controlled by the
executive. The latter undermines the separation of powers, as it creates a critical
financial dependence of the judiciary. The proper national wealth distribution
including the government spending on the judiciary is subject of the constitutional
economics.
It is important to distinguish between the two methods of corruption of the judiciary:
the government (through budget planning and various privileges), and the private.
Judicial corruption can be difficult to completely eradicate, even in developed
countries. Corruption in judiciary also involve the government in power using
judicial arm of government to oppress the opposition parties in the detriments of
the state.
Corruption in the educational system
Corruption in education is a worldwide phenomenon. Corruption in admissions to
universities is traditionally considered as one of the most corrupt areas of the
education sector. Recent attempts in some countries, such as Russia and Ukraine, to
curb corruption in admissions through the abolition of university entrance
examinations and introduction of standardized computer graded tests have largely
failed. Vouchers for university entrants have never materialized. The cost of
corruption is in that it impedes sustainable economic growth. Endemic corruption in
educational institutions leads to the formation of sustainable corrupt
hierarchies. While higher education in Russia is distinct with widespread bribery,
corruption in the US and the UK features a significant amount of fraud. The US is
distinct with grey areas and institutional corruption in the higher education
sector. Authoritarian regimes, including those in the former Soviet republics,
encourage educational corruption and control universities, especially during the
election campaigns.This is typical for Russia,Ukraine,and Central Asian regimes,
among others. The general public is well aware of the high level of corruption in
colleges and universities, including thanks to the media.Doctoral education is no
exception, with dissertations and doctoral degrees available for sale, including for
politicians. Russian Parliament is notorious for "highly educated" MPs High levels of
corruption are a result of universities not being able to break away from their
Stalinist past, overbureaucratization, and a clear lack of university autonomy.Both
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quantitative and qualitative methodologies are employed to study education

corruption, but the topic remains largely unattended by the scholars. In many
societies and international organizations, education corruption remains a taboo. In
some countries, such as certain eastern European countries and certain Asian
countries, corruption occurs frequently in universities. This can include bribes to
bypass bureaucratic procedures and bribing faculty for a grade .The willingness to
engage in corruption such as accepting bribe money in exchange for grades
decreases if individuals perceive such behavior as very objectionable, i.e. a violation
of social norms and if they fear sanctions in terms of the severity and probability of
sanctions.
Within labor unions
The Teamsters (International Brotherhood of Teamsters) is an example of how the
civil RICO process can be used. For decades, the Teamsters have been substantially
controlled by La Cosa Nostra. Since 1957, four of eight Teamster presidents were
indicted, yet the union continued to be controlled by organized crime elements. The
federal government has been successful at removing the criminal influence from
this 1.4 million-member union by using the civil process.
Corruption in religion
The history of religion includes numerous examples of religious leaders calling
attention to corruption in the religious practices and institutions of their time. Jewish
prophetsIsaiah and Amos berate the rabbinical establishment of Ancient Judea for
failing to live up to the ideals of the Torah. In the New Testament, Jesus accuses the
rabbinical establishment of his time of hypocritically following only the ceremonial
parts of the Torah and neglecting the more important elements of justice, mercy
and faithfulness.[44] In 1517, Martin Luther accuses the Catholic Church of
widespread corruption, including selling of indulgences.
In 2015, Princeton University professor Kevin M. Kruse advances the thesis that
business leaders in the 1930s and 1940s collaborated with clergymen,
including James W. Fifield Jr., to develop and promote a new hermeneutical approach
to Scripture that would de-emphasize the social Gospel and emphasize themes,
such as individual salvation, more congenial to free enterprise.
Business leaders, of course, had long been working to "merchandise" themselves
through the appropriation of religion. In organizations such as Spiritual Mobilization,
the prayer breakfast groups, and the Freedoms Foundation, they had
linked capitalism and Christianity and, at the same time, likened the welfare state to
godless paganism.

3.0

Conclusion :
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Socially constructed reality findings of this study describes support of morality i.e
ethics in governance context. The designed using an interpretive epistemology
approach from the context of social construction nature of reality, found several
emerging patterns that established support to the proposition of the study, that
ethics can be integrated part of corporate governance. Key patterns such as formal
ethics structure, integration of ethical culture, ethical leadership and established
corporate value are perceived as ethical dimension that stimulate corporate
governance practices.
Integration of these variables established transparency, accountability, and
responsibility of corporations business conduct.
The study contributions towards a new paradigm of corporate governance, whereby
integration of social process is introduced.
The study is also useful for practitioners, as the practitioners able to adopted the
various ethical dimension found in the study in order to establish higher standard of
governance practices.
However, it is suggested that future research should consider a case study approach
in order to examine depth of ethics process influenced on corporate governance
practices.

4.0 References :
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http://www.businessethicsandintegrity.com/
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2016/06/23/abu-kassim-to-step-down-asmacc-chief-aug-1/
https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/ethical-decision-making/what-is-ethics/
http://ijbssnet.com/journals/Vol._1_No._3_December_2010/10.pdf
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corruption

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