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Ethics and Law

Moral:
concerned with the principles of right and wrong
Value:
importance or worth
Ethic
a set of moral principles
Law:
rules regulating the actions and enforced by the
imposition of penalties

(Concise Oxford English Dictionary, 11th Edition)

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Theories of Ethics
Ethical theories may be generally categorized as
under:
Teleological Ethics
Deontological Ethics
Virtue Ethics

Teleology & Ethics

TELOS (Greek) = End
Teleological systems focus on what are the
consequences of an action. Therefore also called
consequentialist system.
If consequence of action is good then action is
considered ethical. If consequence of action is bad
then action considered unethical.
Merit: Easily understood
Demerit: Ignores means. Sometimes used to justify
acts like lying, breaking promise, etc.
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Deontology & Ethics

DEON (Greek) = Duty
Deontological systems focus on adherence to
independent moral duties.
If duties have been followed then behavior is
considered ethical. If there is failure to follow duties,
then behavior is considered unethical.
Merit: Means considered as important as end.
Demerit: Sometimes difficult to practice in real life
situations.
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Kantian Deontology
Internal duty: thinking with morals
External duty: act with morals
Emotions cannot go with morals
Fundamental criteria of categorical imperative
oUniversality: any act right for one is right for others
oRespect: accord self-respect and respect others
oPublicity: good acts must be openly acknowledged

Ross Deontology
Seven Rules:
Promises must be kept and truth always spoken
Reparation must be made to compensate injuries
Duties must be performed to return favors
Distributive justice should prevail always
Duties of beneficence must be performed
Virtue and intelligence have to be improved
Injury to others must be avoided

Virtue Ethics
Teleological and Deontological systems ask the
question: what should I do?
Virtue Ethics asks the question:
what sort of a person should I be?
Does not judge action as right or wrong but rather
character of person performing the acts.
Lays less emphasis on which rules should be
followed. Instead focuses on development of good
character traits such as kindness and generosity.
Such virtues will allow the person to take ethical
decisions.

Business Ethics
Business ethics is generally coming to know what is right
or wrong in the workplace and doing what is right this in
regard to the effects of products/services and in
relationship with stakeholders.
- Carter McNamara

3Cs of Business Ethics

Compliance
Laws
Principles of morality
Policy of the company
Contribution
Core values
Quality of products and services
Employment
Consequences
Environment
Social responsibility
Image
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Some Issues in Market Ethics

Consumer protection
Advertising
Packaging and labeling
Consumer privacy
Industrial espionage

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Consumer Exploitation
Fixing high price
False discounts
Sub-standard quality
False product differentiation of goods and services
Sale of goods that are injurious to health
Suppression of information about quality etc of the product
Reduction of competition through collusion
False and misleading advertisement
Supply of adulterated goods
Not honoring guarantees and warranties
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UN Principles for Consumer Protection

1.Protection of the consumer from hazards of health and safety
2.Promotion and protection of economic interests
3.Provision of adequate information to the consumers
4.Provision of consumers education related to the product/service
5.Effective redresses of grievance
6.Encouraging business chambers to resolve consumer disputes
7.Freedom to form groups on issues affecting consumers
8.Promotion of sustainable consumption pattern

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Consumer Rights in India

Consumer Protection Act, 1986
1. Right to safety against hazardous goods and services
2. Right to be informed about quality, quantity, purity, standard,
and price
3. Right to choose from a variety at competitive prices
4. Right to be heard of complaints and grievances
5. Right to seek redress of grievances
6. Right to consumer education on matters relating to
consumption
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Advertizing

Deception, puffery and manipulation

Adverse effect of public interest or public morality

Vulgarity and violence

Portrayal of women

Advertisement costs push prices up

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Packaging & Labeling

Label information

Packaging graphics

Packaging safety

Environmental implications

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Consumer Privacy

Informed consent must be sought from customers before

gathering private information

Purpose of collecting information must be legitimate

Information collected must be treated as confidential

Database must contain only relevant information

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Industrial Espionage

Social Engineering
Infiltrating the target company through an agent who
befriends existing employees socially and gets them to
unwittingly divulge information
Infiltrating the target company through an agent who
obtains employment therein and gains access to data

Computer hacking

Stealing Documents

Dumpster Diving

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Ethic Issues in HR
Discrimination in recruitment and appointment
Discrimination during service
Dealing with harassment
Dealing with favoritism
Unfair labor practice
Though prohibited by law, the ground reality is that
it is more a matter of organizational ethics law enforcement
Dealing with complainants and whistle blowers

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