Ethics and values

• A tool to combat corruption

• Ethics has been derived from the Greek word
“ethikos” or “ethos” which stands for Custom,
Character.

• Ethics suggests certain Dos & Don’ts of

behaviour of an individual in society.

• Exhibition of conduct in agreement/consonance

with one’s conscience could be perceived as
ethical behaviour.
Ancient days - Ten commandments of the Christian

- Bhagwad Gita for Hindus are sources of

direction of Ethical Behaviour.

Code of conduct comes from three sources.

• Internal discipline
• Organisational code of conduct (Systems &
Procedure)
• Society - What is acceptable? it is the law
that lays down
- Ethics & Corporate integrity Now it is
required
- Corporate Governance
- High Ethical standards to rate
companies to build Brand equity.
- Effectiveness is the right thing to do
- Efficiency is to do thing in a right way.
 How do we Judge our value system:

Seven deadly sins according to Mahatma Gandhi

 Wealth without work.
 Science without humanity
 Pleasure without conscience
 Religion without sacrifice
 Knowledge without character.
 Politics without principle
 Commerce without morality

Each of these perversions reflects lack of values

 Value system Test:

Mama Test - Mother sees your act

Baba Test - Children sees your act

Money is not the pay off for every kind of work:

Parents bring up children with no paycheck in mind.

Hard work teaches a person the value of money.

Character is priceless

Children think that everything can be bought and sold,

ofcourse is not true.
 What money cannot Buy:
People with character integrity and the right values
are not for sale.
Money will buy:

 Amusements, but not happiness

 Food, but not appetite
 A bed, but not sleep
 A house, but not a home
 Books, but not wisdom
 Medicine, but not health
 Companion, but not friends
 Two Tragedies in life
 Not getting what we want
 Getting what we donot want.

The MIDAS Touch (king of MIDAS)

 Moral of the story – Distorted values lead to tragedy.

 Sometimes getting what you want may be Bigger

tragedy than not getting what you want.
 Commitment:
 Integral part of good value system is Commitment
 Value system is clear it will be easier to make
decisions & commitments.
Commitment implies:
 Dependability  Caring  Character
 Reliability  Empathy  Integrity
 Predictability  A sense of duty  Loyalty
 Consistency  Sincerity
If one of these ingredients is missing, commitment lose
strength.
 Commitment says

I am willing to sacrifice, because I care

I am a person of integrity and you can trust me
I will not let you down
Despite pain , I will still be there

Commitments, if not kept lead to

 Broken Houses  High stress level Loss of business
 Abandoned children  Guilt  Isolation

 Poor relationship  Unfulfilled life  Depression

Ethics
Ethics and values help us to create and maintain a
“magnetic” culture-one that attracts and retains the
best, brightest, and most integrity-driven employees.
And they, in turn, will attract the very best
customers-people who give their loyalty. That’s the
competitive advantage you earn by leading to ethics.

Most choices are not ethical choices

Ex: Clothes Buy – TU – etc personal choice.

 Ethical choices reflect objective choice between
right and wrong

That is why your conscience hurts while making an

unethical choice and does not hurt when we make a
wrong personal choice

Because in ethical matters there is a clear right choice

Ethics & values are about fairness and justice

They are not about pleasing or displeasing people

They are about respecting peoples needs & rights

Ethical Standard:
Taxi
Hotel Bill

Insurance sales man.

What affects Ethics?

GREED – Greed Doctors, Lawyers do unnecessary

procedure and surgery

FEAR
PRESSURE
 Values and ethics

 All businesses operate on the basis of core

values – implicit or explicit

 These include business values and ethical

values
 What is Business Ethics?

… the application of ethical values to business

behaviour …
 Business Ethics
Values

Ethics Culture Trust &

Reputation

Conduct AND
Financial
Performance

Risk
When does a business problem involve
ethics?
 When it is not covered by the law
 If it raises moral problems for a member of the
team
 If it makes you reflect on what is a correct and
incorrect response
 If you are forced to consider where your
obligations and duties lie.
Business Ethics
is about … Ethical Values

Ethical commitments / Corporate Responsibility

- to whom we are responsible:
- ways of working
- relationships with stakeholders

Governance Core business Policies & Codes

strategy & Targets

Business Behaviour
the way we do business
= Ethical Business Conduct
 Identifying company values
Business values
Forward
thinking Ethical values Customer
Quality focus
Respect Trust
Customer focus
Responsibility Honesty Efficiency

Openness Transparency
Teamwork
Fairness Integrity Profitability

Performance Reliability
 Who is interested?
NGOs media

employees

suppliers shareholders

COMPANY

regulators
communities
customers

stakeholders
competitors
interested
parties
Business ethics issues for
companies
 Executive pay
 Environmental responsibility
 Discrimination
 in treatment of people
Speak up policies (whistleblowing)
 Gifts and entertainment
 Conflicts of interest
 Openness with information
 Lobbying and donations
 Work / home balance
What organisations
are doing?
 Elements of an effective ethics programme
Ethical Values -> Ethics Policy

embed, implement, make

operational …
Code of Communicatio
Ethics n& Training Supporting Monitoring
Awareness & context and &
Code of Campaigns Reinforcemen Culture Accountability
Conduct t

•Guidance for what, why, induction; on- leadership, surveys,

Staff how; line; strategy; stakeholder
•The Way We understanding dilemmas, polices; engagement;
Work as well as debate; resources, business
• Business information … incentives … business goals; review,
Principles compliance; reporting…
•Our CR, CSR …
Commitments
& Standards
…
Embed values ->
 Ethical Decisions
Prior to making a decision with ethical
considerations, ask yourself these questions:
 How important is the consequence(s) of the decision in terms of both
the short and long term?
 Are you looking at the big picture of the problem or are you only relating
to the immediate needs of your chain of command?
 Could the information prevent harm to the reputation of your
organization, clients or your professional career?
 How would you handle the situation if someone else approached you with
the same problem?
 How will your decision be viewed in the long term?
 Would upper management approve of your decision?
 Can you afford to be patient and hold off an immediate decision?
 Developing Organizational
A company’s reputation is oneEthics
of its best resources. If that reputation is
tarnished for whatever reason – including unethical behavior by its
managers or employees – the company’s future can be jeopardized. To
protect your organization’s reputation, consider these suggestions:

 The outsider's perception of your organization is based on your

conduct
 Display high quality standards in all situations

 To protect and enhance the reputation of your organization, welcome

efforts of reporting wrongdoing

 A written policy should:
 Be clear and specific
 Detail the rules
 Establish guidelines for dealing with vendors competitors, and customers
 Policies that do not support strong business and personal ethics should be changed immediately
 Developing Organizational
Ethics
 Use numerous platforms to communicate your concern to
employees including job descriptions,
(continued) handbooks and policy
statements
 Encourage and support firm action to employee misconduct
and wrongdoing
 Provide ethics training courses
 Recruit employees who embrace similar organizational ethics
and values
 Create a telephone hotline for employees use to confidentiality
report ethical concerns
 Some red flags
If you hear someone say any of these, you can
expect something unethical is about to
happen!
 “Well, maybe just this once.”
 “No one will ever know.”
 “It doesn’t matter how it gets done as long as it gets done.”
 “Everyone does it.”
 “Don’t worry, it’s part of the culture.”
 “Shred that document.”
 “We can hide it.”
 “What’s in it for me?”
 “We didn’t have this conversation.”
 “I don’t want to know.”
 Doing Business Ethically

 Improves trust and morale internally

 Helps to ensure consistent conduct
 Reduces risk
 Strengthens external reputation
 Over the long term will benefit the bottom line
 Dealing With Your Manager
The key to developing a strong relationship with your manager
involves treating your manager with respect; and showing
commitment to a good relationship with integrity. The following
suggestions can help you build a stronger relationship with your
manager:
 Be open, direct, and respectful

 Show concern and interest in your manager if they value that

approach
 Give realistic completion dates for projects and then meet them

 Work out differences collaboratively

 Instead of criticizing your manager’s point of view, state your own

 If you make a mistake admit it

 Make an effort to foster open, honest, and sincere communication

Ethical leaders/ Managers share ten behavioral
characteristics. They:

Build values and ethical awareness:

They regularly communicate their shared values, operating

principles and ethical standards-making sure they are
understood, supported and accepted.

Hold people accountable

They hold themselves and others accountable for ethical

behavior. And they have zero tolerance for values
violations.
Lead by example:

They earn the right to expect others to performance with

integrity when they “walk the talk”.

Use values to drive decisions:

They apply their values and guiding principles when making

decisions. Their ethics are displayed in everything they do,
and everything they do counts

Ensure in-sync policies and practices:

Their rules and standards support their values and ethics.

When an ethical dilemma occurs, they resolve the issue
quickly and without fear of reprisal
Provide values and ethics education:

They take time-and devote resources- to help people acquire

the confidence and skills necessary to translate good beliefs
into good behaviors

Pay attention to perceptions:

They attend to the feelings, opinions and reactions of their

colleagues, employees and customers and everyone in their
circle of influence. Perceptions are reality when it comes to
ethics and integrity
 Focus on steady, incremental change

They make lots of small improvements in lots of small

improvements in lots of areas. Ethics and values
alignments are cumulative outcomes

Hire and promote ethical people

They use their mission, vision and values as criteria for hiring
and promotion. They select people who believe in these
principles and behave with integrity

Encourage initiative

They motivate people to step up and take the ethical lead

instead of complaining, pointing fingers, or waiting for others
 Summary
As a manger or an employee, your effectiveness may be
diminished if your staff/peers think you lack integrity. They may
be reluctant to entrust you with necessary confidential
information, or they may be reluctant to bring up ethical
dilemmas that your organization might be facing.

It’s important for your staff/peers to have confidence in you and

maintain a level of trust in your integrity.
Elements of Ethics in life

• Work Ethic / Devotion to duty • Trust & co-operation

• Tolerance & working

• Truthfulness
together
• Absolute Integrity
• Gratitude & Respectfulness
• Transparency & Honesty
• Harmony with self,
• Compassion & Charity society & nature

• Sacrifice • Living with High values

(unbecoming conduct)
Three attributes that make up ethical conduct
of a public servant:

1. DEVOTION TO DUTY – We work for him in

the form of worship

2. ABSOLUTE INTEGRITY

3. UNBECOMING CONDUCT – Any act of omission

/ commission on the part of public servant which
subverts or lower the image of the organization to
which that public servant belongs in the public eye,
is categorized as unbecoming conduct.