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BUSINESS ETHICS

Prof. P. K. BRAHMA IMT,CDL

How lonely are the Humans! . A bundle of contradictions, Ignorance and arrogance, Prejudice and superstitions, Bigotry and fanaticism, Illusions and hallucinations. Tamoso Maa Jyotirgamayo. Let the Lights remove all Darkness, Let Noble Thoughts come from all sides. .

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1.1 Definition of Ethics 1.2 History of Ethics and Business Ethics 1.3 Scope of Business Ethics 1.4 Applicability of Business Ethics

1. Introduction: Concepts of Market, Business and Ethics

2. Theoretical Issues of Business Ethics


2.1 Deontological Theory of Emanuel Kant 2.2 Utilitarianism 2.3 Cognitivism vs Non-Cognitivism Non2.4 Consequentialism vs non-Consequentialism non2.5 The Concept of Rights 2.6 Ethical Relativism 2/9/2012 2,7 Secular Morals vs Religious Morals

3.Indian Ethos- Ethical Heritage of India Ethos3.1 Vedic and Vedantic Ethics 3.2 Ethics of the Gita 3.3 Buddhist Ethics 3.4 Ethics of Jainism 3.5 Philosophy and Ethics of Swami Vivekananda 3.6 Philosophy and Ethics of Mahatma Gandhi 3.7 Philosophy of Rishi Aurobindo 3.8 Philosophy of Rabindra Nath Tagore
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4. Ethics in Action: Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility


4.1Ethics and Laws- the Iron law of Responsibility Laws4.2 Basic Responsibilities of Companies and Corporations 4.3 Shareholders vs Stake-holders Stake4.4 Economic Responsibilities 4.5 Social Responsibilities 4.6 Total Social Responsibilities 4.7 Corporate Social Reporting 4.8 Social Audit
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5. Ethics in Action: Ethics of Professions


5.1 Ethics of Chartered Accountants / Public Auditors 5.2 Ethics of Doctors and Medical Profession 5.3 Ethics of Engineers 5.4 Ethics of Lawyers 5.5 Ethics of Public Servants 5.6 Ethics of Teachers and Education Profession

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6. Ethics of Finance
6.1 Ethics of Accounting and Accounts Manager 6.2 Ethics of Financial Advisor 6.3 Ethics of Investment Bankers and Lenders 6.4 Ethics of the Stock Exchange 6.5 Ethics of Investments 6.6 Positive and Negative Areas of Investment 6.7 Government Control in Investment 6.8 Ethics of Investment in Social Sectors-Educational SectorsInstitutions and Healthcare
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7. Ethics in Action: Ethics of Production


7.1 Safety and Security of Industrial Establishments and Equipment 7.2 Working Conditions and Environment in factories and Offices 7.3 Quality, Quantity, Price and Supply of Products 7.4 Control of Pollution- Air, Water, Soil and PollutionEnvironment 7.5 Transparency in Disclosure of Contents of Products

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8. Ethics in Action: Ethics of Sales and Marketing


8.1 Ethics of Commercial Advertising 8.2 Control of Advertising 8.3 Customer Service and After-sales service After8.4 Customer Complaints Redressal Mechanism 8.5 Media Ethics- Paid News Ethics8.6 Aggressive Marketing, Hostile Takeovers, Manipulations 8.7 Mergers and Aquisitions
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9. Ethics in Action : Ethics at Work Place and . Organization culture


9.1 Factors Contributing to Bad Work Culture and Factors Promoting good Work Culture 9.2 Role of HRD and Qualities of a Good Manager 9.3 Age of Stress Manifestations of Stress at Work Place 9.4 The Executive as a Yogi- the Indian Solution Yogi9.5 Ethical Behaviour of Employers 9.6 Unethical Behaviour of Employees 9.10 White collar Crime 9.11 Sexual harassment 9.12Whistle Blowing
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12. Ethics in Governance-Ethics of the State Governance12.1 Ethics of the Political System-the Politicians System12.2 Ethics of Policing 12.3 Business-Politician-Criminal-Police Nexus Business-Politician-Criminal12.4 Ethics of the Bureaucracy 12.5 Ethics of the Judiciary

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International Business Ethics and Ethics of Economic Systems


12.1 Economic Blocs and Cartels 12.2 Discriminatory Treatment of Nations on Issues like Child Labour, Subsidy, Exploitation etc. in Trade 12.3 Ethics of Intellectual Property Rights 12.4 Political Influence of Transnational Companies 12.5 Discriminatory Treatment world Bodies like the IMF, World Bank, WTO etc.. 12.6 Treatment of Democratic and non-Democratic nonRegimes
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Chapter 1:Introduction
Introduction Shakespeare said the world is a stage (he meant acting we are all actors) but today, the entire world is a stage not for acting but for business and marketing.  You find business anytime, anywhere and in anything. And if there is Business (i.e. an economic activity where there are buyers, sellers and transactions for a consideration), there will be a Market.  Except perhaps for a few hours at home ,you will always find yourself in some market place or other.
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Types of Markets
The Retail Markets Food, Vegetables, fruits, groceries, books, medicines etc. 2. Commodity Markets food grains, Cotton, jute etc. 3. The Raw Materials Markets Inputs for finished products. 4. The Finished Goods Markets 5. The Capital Goods Markets 6. The Labour Markets 7. The Financial Markets- stock market, Banking, MarketsInsurance etc. 8. The Service Sector Markets Transportation-air Transportationroad, railways ,water Communications, Health, Hospitality, Entertainment ,Sports, Marriage Beauty etc.. 9. International Markets- Export-Import etc. Markets- Export2/9/2012 14 10. Cyber Market
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Applicability of Business Ethics The common concept is business ethics concerns the corporate sector. Modern concept is it should cover:  Ethics of companies & corporations.  Ethics of Public Accountants.  Ethics of Doctors and Medical profession.  Ethics of Lawyers and Law Firms.  Ethics of Public Administrators.  Ethics of Engineers  Ethics of Educators, Teachers & Educational Institutions.  Ethics of traders, retailers and vendors.  Ethics of NGOs, Trusts and Institutions.
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Definition of Business and Ethics


Business is an economic activity , a transaction where an offer is made by a seller and the offer is accepted by a buyer for a consideration with the hidden agenda of a gain or profit .  Ethics comes from the Greek word Ethos which means character of the individual or the culture of the community.  Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and business organizations as a whole. Applied ethics is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions in many fields 2/9/2012 16 such as medical, technical, legal and business ethics.


Business ethics being part of the larger social ethics, always been affected by the ethics of the epoch. At different epochs of the world, people, especially the elites of the world, were blind to ethics and morality which were obviously unethical to the succeeding epoch. History of business, thus, is tainted by and through the history of slavery history of colonialism and later by the history of cold war. The current discourse of business ethics is the ethical discourse of the post-colonialism and post-world wars. The postpostneed for business ethics in the current epoch had begun gaining attention since 1970s.Historically, firms started highlighting their ethical stature since the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the world witnessed serious economic and natural disasters because of unethical business practices. The Bhopal disaster, disaster, and the fall of Enron are instances of the 2/9/2012 major disasters triggered by bad corporate ethics.

History of Business Ethics

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It should be noted that the idea of business ethics caught the attention of academics, media and business firms by the end of the overt Cold War. Cold Wars, seen . War. through and through pages of history were fought fought for American business firms abroad. Ideologically, promotion of firms owned by American nationals were presented as if it were freedom and the local resistance against the excess of American firms were labeled as communist upraising sponsored by the Soviet Block. Further, even legitimate criticism against unethical practice of the firms were presented as if it were infringement into the 'freedom' of the entrepreneurs by activists backed by communist totalitarians. This scuttled the totalitarians. discourse of business ethics both at media and academics. Overt violence by business firms have decreased to a great extent in the democratic and media affluent world of the day, though it has not ceased to exist. The war in Iraq is one of the recent 18 2/9/2012 example of overt violence by the liberal western

Plethora of Laws, Rules and Regulations to govern Business


         

The Companies Act The Income Tax Act The SEBI Act The Factories Act The Environment Act The Minimum Wages Act The Provident Fund Act The Hazardous Substances Act The FEMA The Consumer Protection Act etc.etc.
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Two Questions which arise: 1.When there is a plethora of Acts ,Rules and Regulations to control business, where is the need to frame a separate Code of Business Ethics? 2.Why should the Corporate world be periodically rocked by scandals in spite of having the Code of Business Ethics? The answer is Ethics begins where the Law ends.
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1.2 Indianness of Indian Business-Rediscovery of Indian Schools of thought and Philosophy. Treasure of Indian Philosophy and Ethical Values:  The Vedas (4)- Rigveda, Samaveda,Yajur-veda, Atharvaveda (Nalayira Divya PrabhandhamTamil)  The Upanishads (123 books; 13 basic)  The Puranas (18)  The Greatest Epics -The Ramayana & The Mahabharata  The Greatest Book of Philosophy-The Gita  Indian Schools of Philisophy (6)  Buddhism, Jainism, Jataka Tales,Panchatantra and a treasure of unparalled Sanskrit & Pali 2/9/2012 21 Literature, Ayurveda, Economics,Law, Logic etc.

Chapter 2. Indian Ethos: Ethical Heritage of India

Many Hindu intellectual traditions were classified during the medieval period of Brahmanic-Sanskritic Brahmanic. scholasticism into a standard list of six orthodox (astika) schools (darshanas), the "Six Philosophies" ( ad-dar ana), all of which cite Vedic authority as adtheir source: 1.Nyaya, the school of logic 2.Vaisheshika, the atomist school 3.Samkhya, the enumeration school 4.Yoga, the school of Patanjali (which provisionally asserts the metaphysics of Samkhya) 5.Purva Mimamsa (or simply Mimamsa), the tradition of Vedic exegesis, with emphasis on Vedic ritual, and 6.Vedanta (also called Uttara Mimamsa), the Upanishadic tradition, with emphasis on Vedic philosophy.
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Ethical Principles of Indian Society Individuals. Business and Governance 1.Aims of Life: Four Phases of Life- Brahmacharya(Duties as Student life), Grihastha (Duties as a Householder), Banaprastha (Pilgrimage and Meditation), Moksha (Salvation). 2. Duties of Life: Artha, Kama, Moksha, Dharma Every individual including businessman and ruler must conduct himself according to DHARMA i.e. honesty, fairness, equity and with a sense of divine duty and Nishkam Karma. 3. Style of Living: Spiritualistic against Materialistic: Simple Living and High Thinking 4. Reverence for Elders: Matrideva bhaba, Pitrideva bhava, acharyadeva bhaba , Atithideva bhava 5.Attitude towards Self: Inner Happiness, peace of mind, Detachment, Yoga and Meditation. Chidanandam 6.Attitude to the World: Shanti, Sukham, Anandam-let there World: Anandambe peace evrywhere-to humans, to vegetation, to the evrywhereuniverse. 2/9/2012 23 Vasundhara Kutumbakam- the whole world is your family. Kutumbakam---Universalism ---Universalism

Indian Concept of Indebtedness


Five Categories of Indebtedness (Rin) 1.Devarin :-Indebtedness to supra- human powers suprafor the gifts of Sun, air, water light etc.  2.Rishi Rin :-Indebtedness to sages who leading a life of utter self denial, realised the highest truths and gave the wisdoms.  3.Pitri Rin :-Indebtedness to Parents and ancestors for their cumulative contributions to us.  4.Nri Rin :-Indebtedness to humanity at large, to countless people who have contributed to make existence a reality.  5.Bhuta Rin:-Indebtedness to all sub-human .Bhuta Rin: subspecies - trees, animals, birds, fish, insects etc. for their incalculable gifts to us. 2/9/2012 24  Albert Einstein had the same concept.

Principles of the Gita


Raj Yoga, Gyan Yoga, Bhakti Yoga (the Beauty of Surrender)  Karma Yoga -Nisham Karma-Egoless work with Divine KarmaDuty. Karmanye aadhikaresthey maa phaleshu kadachana  Soul is indestructible- as you discard old clothes, the Soul indestructiblediscards the old body and enters into a new body.  The cycle of death and birth is painful. You can avoid this cycle and achieve Moksha (Salvation) through Nishkam Karma and Surrender to God.  Be Fearless and do your duty with Dharma .  Dont fear death because death is certain when one is born and birth is certain when one dies- so why worry? dies A person who can give up ego, power, pride, lust ,anger and taking favours, he only is qualified to think of 2/9/2012 25 achieving Brahma.


System of Education in Ancient India- Vedic IndiaSystem and Buddhist System Essentials of Indian Philosophy:  The law of Karma, Rebirth and Salvation (idea of liberation)-Brahmacharya, Grihastha, liberation)Baanprastha, and Moksha.  Eight Schools of Thoughts or Philosophy.  Common principlessimple living high principles thinkingthinking-nonattachment to material things.  Difference with Buddhist philosophy.
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Ethics of Buddhism-the principle of SufferingBuddhismSufferingexistence, causes and cessation of sufferings.


Eightfold Noble Path or Madhyapantha 1.Sat Vakya - Right Speech 2.Sat Karma- Right Action (Right Conduct) Karma3.Sat Chinta- Right Thinking (Right Resolve) Chinta4.Sat CheshtaRight Effort Cheshta 5.Sat Smriti- Right Remembrance (Right Views) Smriti6.Sat Jeevan- Right Livelihood Jeevan7.Samyag Drisht- Right Perception ( Mindfulness) Drisht8.Smyag Samadhi- Right Meditation - ( Concentration). SamadhiShortShort-cut principles for ordinary people- dont steal, peopledont lie, respect ladies and abjure violence.
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Ethics of Buddhist Economics




  

Sustainable Growth-Planting and nurturing of trees Growthand nature. Utilization of local resources Full employment Dana-giftsDana-gifts-and charities to others-profit- sharing others-profit(ethics of the wealthy and the business class) Least expenditure on armies and promote development through non-violence (ethics of nongovernance) Following Dharma by the Rulers (ethics of rulers)
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Ethics of Jainism
1.Ahimsa (Abstinence from all injury) 2.Satyam (Abstinence from falsehood) 3.Asteyam (Abstinence from stealing) 4.Brahmacharyam (Abstinence from self-indulgence) self5.Aparigraha (Abstinence from all attachments)  Bondage of the soul: causes: anger, pride, infatuation and greed.  Liberation of the soul: dissociation of the soul from the matter.  Believes in the Theory of Karma and Rebirth but not in God.
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Swami Vivekananda-Philosophy & Ethics Vivekananda

Dont forget that the poor, the down-trodden, and downthe untouchables are your brothers & sisters. You will reach God by playing football rather than by reading the Gita. You can not preach religion to people with empty stomachstomach-food and education come first before anything else. Education, education, & education for allall- womens freedom, enlightenment and freedom from superstition and blind faith. Service to Humanity .Those who are serving jiva i.e living beings are serving God. Building of a strong nation and character through education, economic and spiritual development.
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Philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi




  

  

 

Ahimsa- NonAhimsa- Non-violence ( imbibed Buddhism & Jainism & Tolstoy) DharmaDharma- Moral Law (Gita) TruthTruth-Truth is God and God is Truth (Aristotle: know Thyself) Communal Harmony (Indian tradition of tolerance and harmony) Equality of all human beings and Women (Western thoughts) Harijans- upHarijans- up-liftment of the downtrodden (Vivekananda) Khadi & Village development- dev. from grassroots development(innovation) Trustee for Industries & Industrial Houses (innovation) Sarvodaya & Community Development ( Marxism)
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Philosophy of Rishi Aurobindo-the Divine Man AurobindoEvolution of Consciousness. Divine Life on earth. Money not despised-it is an instrument of Life despisedDivineDivine- I do not regard business as something evil or tainted..  Super-consciousness and mind-ascent of human Supermindsoul to Supreme Spirit.  India cannot perish ...among all the divisions of mankind, it is to India that is reserved the highest and most splendid destiny, the most essential to the future of human race. It is she who must send forth from herself the future religion of the entire world, the eternal religion which is to harmonize all religions, science and philosophies and make mankind one soul. It is for this Shi Ramkrishna 2/9/2012 32 came and Vivekananda preached.


Philosophy of Rabindranath Tagore Universalism against Nationalism;  Humanism; Humanizing Education System in natural environment (Shantiniketan); Agricultural development (Sriniketan);  The religion of Man;  Peace and Non-violence; Non Unity of Mankind,  Freedom and Fearlessness;  Truthfulness; those who do injustice and those who tolerate injustice are equally condemnable.  Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high.  Tagore epitomized the entire Indian Culture of five 2/9/2012 thousand years. A unique example of Total Quality 33 Management.


   

Chapter 3. Theoretical Aspects of Ethics Cognitivism and Non-cognitivism NonConsequentialism and Non-consequentialism NonDeontological Theory of Emanuel Kant -goodwill UtilitarianismUtilitarianism- maximum good for the maximum number -Jeremy Bentham EgoismEgoism- Enlightened Egoism- Market Ethic (Adam EgoismSmith), Protestant Ethic (work ethic-Max Weber), Liberty ethicEthic (John Lock). Rights Principles- Animal Rights, Human Rights, PrinciplesDemocratic Rights, Women Rights, Childrens Rights Theory of Justice-based on principles of rights, fairness Justiceand equality. Distributive Justice. Retributive Justice. Compensatory Justice. Ethical Relativism- attitudes of races, religion & societies RelativismSecular Ethics- truth, rationality and humanism. Ethics34

 

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Ethics is all about distinguishing between: *Good & bad or good and evil *Right & wrong *Morality & immorality *Rationality & irrationality *Justice & Injustice *Reason & unreason or prejudice *Fairness & unfairness *Truth and untruth
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Cognitivism and Non-Cognitivism NonMoral principles which can be identified or recognized. (mainly religion based e.g. abortion, drinking, cow slaughter or killing of animals for meat or hunting, female infanticide, sati, interest on deposits etc.)  The second view is Moral principles can never be known because there is nothing in the world which is absolute truth and which does not depend upon or vary with time, place, situations and circumstances. What is moral today may be immoral tomorrow, what immoral in one society may be moral in another society depending on the cultural differences. There is nothing in the world which is unconditional except mans Free will and Good Will. 2/9/2012 36  Ethical Relativism


Consequentialism & Non-Consequentialism NonConsequentialism: Consequentialism:  UtilitarianismUtilitarianism-Jeremy Bentham  EgoismEgoism- Enlightened Self Interest Adam Smith NonNon- Consequentialism:  Deontological Theory of Emmanuel Kant (Duty and Goodwill).  Justice Principles Distributive Justice, Retributive Justice, Compensatory Justice.  Rights Principles Human Rights, Women Rights, Animal Rights, Environmental Rights, Children Rights, Minority Rights, Education Rights,
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Human Values For Indian Managers In spite of the fact that ancient India set highest ethical, moral and spiritual standards, there is no evidence of those in Corporate governance. While Japan has largely retained their own cultural values in management Indian managers are governed by western values which are mainly materialistic. Need for moral regeneration and adopt an Indian Style of Management.
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Basic Questions in EconomicsWHAT, Economics . HOW and FOR WHOManswers all WHOM questions. When there are plethora of Acts, Rules, Guidelines and Regulatory Authorities to regulate Business ,the question arises why should there be a separate set of Business Ethics? The answer is Acts and Rules are not enoughenoughBusiness has to do much more than this and that brings us to the question of Morality and Moral Judgements.
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Nature of Business Ethics


Three Approaches to Study of Business Ethics:  Descriptive (describing practices, moral codes and beliefs)  Prescriptive (attempt to formulate and defend basic moral norms)  Conceptual study of ethics (analysing central ethical terms such as right, good, justice, virtue-an attempt virtueto distinguish what is moral and what is immoral). FourFour-part structure of Business Ethics: 1.Specification of Moral Judgement. 2.Moral Judgement and Moral Standards. 3.Logical Reasoning and Moral Standard. 5.Moral Judgement and Moral Responsibility.
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Various Aspects of Business Ethics.


1.General Business Ethics . This part of business ethics overlaps with the philosophy of business, one of the aims of which is to determine the business, fundamental purposes of a company. If a company's main purpose is to maximize the returns to its shareholders, then it should be seen as unethical for a company to consider the interests and rights of anyone else.  Corporate social responsibility or CSR: an umbrella term under which the ethical rights and duties existing between companies and society is debated.  Issues regarding the moral rights and duties between a company and its shareholders: fiduciary responsibility, stakeholder concept v. shareholder concept.
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Ethical issues concerning relations between different companies: e.g. hostile take-overs, take-overs, . industrial espionage. espionage. Leadership issues: corporate governance; governance; Corporate Social Entrepreneurship Political contributions made by corporations. Law reform, such as the ethical debate over manslaughter. introducing a crime of corporate manslaughter. The misuse of corporate ethics policies as marketing instruments.

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2. Ethics of Accounting and Financial Information  Creative accounting, earnings management, accounting, management, . misleading financial analysis. analysis.  Insider trading, securities fraud, bucket shops, trading, fraud, shops,  . forex scams: concerns (criminal) manipulation of scams: the financial markets.  Executive compensation: concerns excessive compensation: payments made to corporate CEO's and top management.  Bribery, kickbacks, facilitation payments: while Bribery, kickbacks, payments: these may be in the (short-term) interests of the (shortcompany and its shareholders, these practices may be anti-competitive or offend against the values of antisociety.  Cases: accounting scandals, Enron, WorldCom, scandals, Enron, WorldCom, 2/9/2012 Satyam 43

. 3. Ethics of Human Resource Management The ethics of human resource management (HRM) . covers those ethical issues arising around the employeremployer-employee relationship, such as the rights and duties owed between employer and employee.


Discrimination issues include discrimination on the bases of age (ageism), gender, race, religion, (ageism), disabilities, disabilities, weight and attractiveness. See also: affirmative action, sexual harassment. action, harassment. Issues arising from the traditional view of relationships between employers and employees, also known as At-will employment. Atemployment.

Issues surrounding the representation of employees and the democratization of the 2/9/2012 workplace: union busting, strike breaking. busting, breaking.


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. Issues affecting the privacy of the employee: workplace surveillance, . surveillance, drug testing. See also: testing. privacy. privacy.  Issues affecting the privacy of the employer: employer: whistle-blowing. whistle-blowing.  Issues relating to the fairness of the employment contract and the balance of power between employer and employee: slavery, indentured slavery, servitude, servitude, employment law. law.  Occupational safety and health. health. All of the above are also related to the hiring and firing of employees. An employee or future employee can not be hired or fired based on race, age, gender, religion, or any other discriminatory 45 2/9/2012


4. Ethics of Sales and Marketing Marketing, which goes beyond the mere provision of information about (and . access to) a product, may seek to manipulate our values and behavior. To some extent society regards this as acceptable, but where is the ethical line to be drawn? Marketing ethics, ethics overlaps strongly with media ethics, because marketing makes heavy use of media. However, media ethics is a much larger topic and extends outside business ethics.  Pricing: price fixing, price discrimination, price fixing, discrimination, skimming. skimming.  Anti-competitive practices: these include but go Antibeyond pricing tactics to cover issues such as manipulation of loyalty and supply chains. See: antianti-competitive practices, antitrust law. practices, law.  Specific marketing strategies: green wash, bait wash, and switch, shill, viral marketing, spam switch, shill, marketing, 2/9/2012 46 (electronic), (electronic), pyramid scheme, planned scheme,

. Content of advertisements: attack ads, subliminal ads, messages, messages, sex in advertising, products regarded as advertising, immoral or harmful .  Children and marketing: marketing in schools. schools.  Black markets, grey markets. markets, markets.  See also: , disinformation, advertising techniques, disinformation, false advertising, advertising regulation advertising,  Cases: Benetton. Benetton.

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5. Ethics of Production This area of business ethics usually deals with the . duties of a company to ensure that products and production processes do not cause harm. Some of the more acute dilemmas in this area arise out of the fact that there is usually a degree of danger in any product or production process and it is difficult to define a degree of permissibility, or the degree of permissibility may depend on the changing state of preventative technologies or changing social perceptions of acceptable risk.  Defective, addictive and inherently dangerous products and services (e.g. tobacco, alcohol, weapons, motor vehicles, chemical manufacturing, bungee jumping). jumping).
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Ethical relations between the company and the pollution, ethics, environment: pollution, environmental ethics, . carbon emissions trading Ethical problems arising out of new technologies: genetically modified food, mobile phone radiation food, and health. health. Product testing ethics: animal rights and animal testing, testing, use of economically disadvantaged groups (such as students) as test objects. See also: product liability Cases: Ford Pinto scandal, Bhopal disaster, disaster, asbestos / asbestos and the law, Peanut law, Corporation of America
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6. Ethics of Intellectual Property, Knowledge and Skills  Knowledge and skills are valuable but not easily "own able" as objects. Nor is it obvious who has the greater rights to an idea: the company who trained the employee, or the employee themselves? The country in which the plant grew, or the company which discovered and developed the plant's medicinal potential? As a result, attempts to assert ownership and ethical disputes over ownership arise.  Patent infringement, copyright infringement, trademark infringement, infringement, infringement. infringement.  Misuse of the intellectual property systems to stifle competition: patent misuse, copyright misuse, patent troll, misuse, misuse, troll, submarine patent. patent.  Even the notion of intellectual property itself has been criticized on ethical grounds: see intellectual property. property.  Employee raiding: the practice of attracting key employees raiding: away from a competitor to take unfair advantage of the knowledge or skills they may possess.  The practice of employing all the most talented people in a 2/9/2012 specific field, regardless of need, in order to prevent any 50 competitors employing them.

7. I International Business Ethics and Ethics of Economic Systems . International business ethics  While business ethics emerged as a field in the 1970s, international business ethics did not emerge until the late 1990s, looking back on the international developments of that decade. Many new practical issues arose out of the international context of business. Theoretical issues such as cultural relativity of ethical values receive more emphasis in this field. Other, older issues can be grouped here as well. Issues and subfields include:  The search for universal values as a basis for international commercial behaviour.  Comparison of business ethical traditions in different countries. Also on the basis of their respective GDP and [Corruption rankings]. [Corruption rankings]. 2/9/2012 51  Comparison of business ethical traditions from various religious perspectives.

. Ethical issues arising out of international business transactions; e.g. bioprospecting and biopiracy in the pharmaceutical industry; the fair trade movement; . transfer pricing. pricing.  Issues such as globalization and cultural imperialism. imperialism.  Varying global standards - e.g. the use of child labor. labor.  The way in which multinationals take advantage of international differences, such as outsourcing production (e.g. clothes) and services (e.g. call centres) to low-wage countries. low The permissibility of international commerce with pariah states.  Foreign countries often use dumping as a competitive threat, selling products at prices lower than their normal value. This can lead to problems in domestic markets. It becomes difficult for these markets to compete with the pricing set by foreign markets. In 2/9/2012 2009, the International Trade Commission has been 52 researching anti-dumping laws. Dumping is often anti-

Ethics of Economic Systems  This vaguely defined area, perhaps not part of but only related to business.ethics, is where business ethicists venture into the fields of political economy and political philosophy, focusing on the rights and philosophy, wrongs of various systems for the distribution of economic benefits. John Rawls and Robert Nozick are both notable contributors. I.Theoretical Issues in Business Ethics - Conflicting interests  Business ethics can be examined from various new perspectives, including the perspective of the employee, the commercial enterprise, and society as a whole. Very often, situations arise in which there is conflict between one or more of the parties, such that serving the interest of one party is a detriment to the other(s). For example, a particular outcome might be 2/9/2012 good for the employee, whereas, it would be bad for 53 the company, society, or vice versa. Some ethicists

Unit 4 Features and Purpose of Ethics


 

   

Ethics a Normative Science. Postulates of Ethics-(a) Free will, (b) Reason, and (c) EthicsPersonality. Motive or Intention-What is the Objective of Moral IntentionJudgment? The Scope of Ethics-Concerns all sciences and all Ethicsactions of individuals, politics and society. The Need for Ethics The Need to go beyond Ethics Spirituality is not Denial of the World Ethics and Religion
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Features of Values-Types of valuesValuesvaluesFormulation of values


The Relevance of Human Values in Management  Elements of Indian Ethos Secular Vs Spiritual Values in Management.  An independent rational morality not based on religious faith or commandments. Work Ethos.  Development of work culture  Factors responsible for poor work culture in an organization.
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Unit 5. Importance of Ethics and Moral standards


Importance of Ethics in Business-essential for long-term Businesslongsuccess in business. - Unethical behaviour will damage Public Image, erode Goodwill( biggest Asset), affect efficiency and will invite Govt. Intervention. Unethical Behaviour from a Macro Perspective. Perspective.  Bribery  Coercive Acts  Deceptive Information  Theft  Discrimination
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The Macro Perspective-Ethics and Trust PerspectiveTrust in Supplier Relations  Trust in Customer Relations  Trust in Employee Relations Moral Standards Essential Elements of Social contract theory Consequentialist Principles-decision ethical or Principlesunethical will depend on consequences.  Egoism-individuals personal interest. Egoism Utilitarianism-utility to individual & community. Utilitarianism
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Unit 6. Model of Management in the Indian SocioSocio-political Environment


 

  

Role of Indian Ethos in Management : A TwentyTwentyFirst Century Perspective Fragmentation of human consciousness accelerated by science and technology is a prime cause of the widespread fall in the level of human values reflected in our lives. Prospective scenario of the Future Organization: Stress -second nature of Executives Total Quality Control-zero-defect product, quality Control-zeroconscious production, increased creativity, reduced obesity, flattened hierarchy, customer satisfaction etc.
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Relevance of Indian Ethos to Future Organizations


  

The Executive as a Yogi- Karma and Dharma YogiImaan and Izzat. The East and the West Plain Living and High Thinking : a Study in Contrast

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Problems Relating to Stress in Corporate Management and Indian Perspective


       

Age of Discontinuity (Peter Drucker) Age of Uncertainty (J.K. Galbraith ) Age of Future Shock (Alvin Toffler ) Age of Anxiety ( Karl Albrecht ) STRESS : Symptoms ,causes and Solutions Environmental Factors & Life style Indian Perspectives :Meditation, Yoga, Mindfulness, Music, Self-introspection, Brain Selfstilling, family values and bonding.
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Unit 7 Corporations and Social Responsibilities


The concept of Social Responsibility  Plethora of Acts, Laws, Rules and Regulations exist, then why other responsibilities?  Howard Bowen ( Social Responsibilities of Businessman )  K. R . Andrews (intelligent and objective concern )  Keith Davis social responsibility begins where the law ends.
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Need for Social Responsibilities


    

  

The iron Law of Responsibility To fulfil long-run Self-interest To establish a better Public Image To avoid Government Regulation or Control To avoid misuse of National resources and economic power To avoid Class conflicts To convert resistance into Resources To minimize Environmental damage.

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Responsibility of Business Towards Society Four Categories of Responsibilities: 1.Resposibility Towards the Shareholders. 2.Responsibilities Towards their own Employees. 3.Responsibility Towards the Consumers and the Government. 4.Responsibility Towards the Society in General especially Environment.  Economic Objectives  Social Objectives ( profits can no longer be the 2/9/2012 63 Sole objective of BusinessUrwick) Business

. Social Responsibility towards Government:


1.Be Law abiding Citizen. 2 .Pay Taxes and dues to Govt. honestly and promptly . 3.Not to corrupt Govt. Servants and the Democratic processes for selfish ends. 4.Not purchase Political support by unfair means. 5 Not to produce and sell Sub-standard commodities Suband services . 6.Not to resort to hoarding and unfair Trade practices.

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Place of Ethics and Values. To Whom Are Organizations Socially Responsible? Total Social Responsibilities  Economic Responsibilities  Legal Responsibilities  Ethical responsibilities  Discretionary Responsibilities *Social Responsibility and Economic Performance. *Milton Friedmans Thesis *Ethics in Management.

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Corporate and Socio-Economic Conflict SocioThe Social Audit *  The Sachar Committee Recommendations*  Corporate Social Reporting*  Corporate Social Objectives  Social Report in Practice : -Environmental controls, -Minority Employment -Responsibility to personnel -Community activities -Product Improvement (Fortune 500 companies )

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Unit 8 .Ethics and Environment


Environmental Ethics-1 : Ethics Bhopal Gas Tragedy (Union Carbide)  Chernobyl Nuclear power plant Tragedy (USSR)  Ecological Sustainability  Indira Gandhi on Environment. (development without environmental destruction)  Environmental Ethics-II (John Locke) the Earth is Ethicsgiven to men to protect and comfort all beings.  A Brief Historical Sketch of Environmental Ethics *  Rachel Carson-Silent Spring. Peter Singer-Animal CarsonSinger2/9/2012 67 Liberation. Ancient Indian Values. Ashokas Edicts.

Unit 9. Ethics in Action Ethics of Professions


A. Medical

Profession.

International Code Of Medical Ethics:  Duties of Doctors in General :THE HIPPOCRATIC OATH. (Ancient Greece)  Duties of Doctors Towards the Sick:  Duties of Doctors Towards Each Other:  THE DECLARATION OF GENEVA (General Assembly of World Medical Association,1948)
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B. Code Of Ethics For Engineers Code of Ethics for Corporate Members mandated by the Institution of Engineers(India),1954 , 1997.  The Tenets of the Code Ethics: 11 Codes of Conduct and 10 Instructions as Guidelines. C. Professional Ethics for Chartered Accountants:( Chartered Accountants Act,1949.  The Council of the Institute has two bookletsbooklets2/9/2012 69 (i ) Code of Conduct and (ii) Professional


Fundamental Principles for Chartered Accountants  Integrity  Objectivity  Professional Competence and Due Care (e.g. Satyam Scandal-PWC ) Scandal Confidentiality  Professional Behaviour. (Professional Misconduct Defined by the CA Act) Four Basic Needs to be met:  Credibility  Professionalism  Quality of Service and 2/9/2012  Confidence

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D. Professional Ethics for Lawyers-Not LawyersCodifiedCodified-Fundamental Moral Values Only.  The Universal Moral Codes are wantonly violated in this Profession  No Accountability( Ghaziabad Treasury Scandal)  Justice Delayed, Justice Denied  Plight of Common Maneither you lose all Man your money or lose your life before justice comes.  Strict Codes for both inside and outside courts 2/9/2012 71 needed for speedy justice.

Modern Concept of Professional Behaviour Responsibilities Towards Clients  Responsibilities Towards the Profession Itself  Responsibilities Towards Society * Professional Ethics in Public and Private Organizations.


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Unit 10. Ethics in Action-Ethics at Work ActionPlace


What Are Work Ethos? Work Culture- discipline, commitment, sense of Culturebelonging, sense of pride Unethical or Dysfunctional Behaviour in Organizations: Employees & Employers  Lying  Free-riding Free Employee Crime  White Collar Crime  Embezzlement and Fraud  Sexual Harassment  Bribery 2/9/2012  Whistle Blowing

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Operational Systems for improvement of work culture




     

Job Enrichment- Herzbergs two-factor Enrichmenttwotheory theoryHygienes and Motivators Job Rotation Quality Circles* Workers Participation Organizational Development ( OD ) Labour Welfare Human Engineering-to fit man into machine. Engineering74

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Modern Concept of Professional Behaviour Responsibilities Towards Clients  Responsibilities Towards the Profession Itself  Responsibilities Towards Society * Professional Ethics in Public and Private Organizations.


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Unit 11. Ethics and Employees


      

DecisionDecision-Making and Morality Moral Approbation Organizational Culture Organizational Climate Organizational Goals Decision Processes Total Benefit Test
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Embedding Ethics in Organizational Culture *Decision Support Model .*Ethical Models  Developing Organizational Values :  Selection  Promotion  Transfer  Termination Prevent other unethical practices: 1.Sexual harassment, 2. Unfair labour practices, 3Unsafe work places, bad conditions and long working hours ,4.No redresal of ILO grievances ,and 5. Non -implementation of ILO 2/9/2012 77 conventions.

Qualities of a Personnel Manager 1. Training and learning opportunities 2. Growth opportunities 3.Accountability along with power for decision making 4. Openness 5. Nurturing innovation and allowing paticipation 6 Employee welfare
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An Ethical HRD Manager




   

A Personnel Manager must be a good manager and to be a good manager,one has to a good man-bigman-big-hearted, genuine concern for others, commands respect,big-minded and respect,bigdevelopment of people below manager. HR men should provide proper Leadership. You shall others as equals You should show the ability to forgive You shall love your fellowmen and women
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Unit 12. Ethics of Advertising Critics of Advertising argue:  Ad is unethical, is inherently a social evil.  It induces people to buy things they dont need or cant afford. Increases expectations.  Propagates and perpetuates Capitalistic value system.  It creates undue pressure on the Consumers  Big firms can afford it but small producers cant  Huge money involved should be better spent on improving the quality of products 2/9/2012 *The critics blame the tool and not the user like 80 blaming weapons.

Impact of Advertisement : To Influence


Advertisements can be categorized into 7 groups: 1.Informative1.Informative-to create awareness of the presence of a company or a product- Govt. Advt; launching of productnew products. 2.Neutral and Aesthetic. (specially with children, dogs) 3.Message Bearing (Tata Tea) 4.Competitive and Comparative( cars) 5..Aggressive and Offensive 6.Dangerous Stunts 7.Deceptive *Deception is the main problem it is immoral & 2/9/2012 81 unethical

Regulation of Advertising
 

  

LegislationLegislation-Govt. Control Voluntary-SelfVoluntary-Self-Regulatory Control-Ad ControlCouncil as Watchdog Media Control Consumer Fora Public Control

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UNIT 13 Ethics in Business and Investment


Negative and Positive Forms of Ethical Investment.  Negative Criteria in Ethical Investment Decisions  Positive Criteria Influencing Ethical Investment Decisions  Animal Rights-A Moral Concept ?-The Big Rights?DebateDebate- International Movement for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.
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Other Leading Ethical Investment Target Industries


Alcoholic Beverages Production and Distribution.  International Narcotics Trade  International Arms Trade  Use of Additives in Food Production. Different Value Systems in Different Cultures Kants Kingdom of Ends Other Possible Approaches

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Unit 14 Ethics in SCI-TECH and SCILAW


*Bio-Ethics*Bio-Ethics-Manufacture of Medicines, Medical Treatments (sex determination, fertility etc.) *Bio-Technology*Bio-Technology-Limits ? *Genetic Engineering Moral and Safety Issues *Human Genome Project *Stem Cell Research.

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