BBA 361BBA 361 Business Ethics & Corporate

Governance

BBA 361BBA 361 Business Ethics & Corporate

Governance

Department of Business Administration

Faculty of Commerce

Charmaine S.Chan

Charmaine@chuhai.edu.hk www.chuhai.edu.hk/charmaine

(See Chapter 8 of “Business, Government, and Society”, Steiner/Steiner)

This chapter sets forth a wide range of principles and methods for making ethical decisions.

Lecture 2Lecture 2 Making Ethical Decisions in Making Ethical Decisions in

BusinessBusiness

Principles of Ethical Conduct

There are dozens, if not hundreds, of ethical principles in the philosophical and religious traditions of East and West.

The following 14 principles are fundamental guides or rules for behavior.

These principles distill basic wisdom that spans 2,000 years of ethical thought.

1.The Categorical Imperative

Origination: Immanuel Kant Basic premise: Act only according to

that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.

Criticism: Theory is dogmatic and inflexible.

2.The Conventionalist Ethic

Origination: Albert Z. Carr Basic premise: Business is like a game

with permissive ethics and any action that does not violate the law is permitted.

Criticism: Commerce defines the life changes of millions and is not a game to be taken lightly.

3.The Disclosure Rule Origination: Baxter International’s Global

Business Practice Standards Basic premise: Test an ethical decision by

asking how you would feel explaining it to a wider audience such as newspaper readers, television viewers, or your family.

Criticism: Does not always give clear guidance for ethical

dilemmas in which strong arguments exist for several alternatives.

An action that sounds acceptable if disclosed may not, upon reflection, be the most ethical.

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4.The Doctrine of the Mean

Origination: Aristotle Basic premise: Virtue is achieved

through moderation. Avoid behavior that is excessive or deficient of a virtue.

Criticism: The doctrine itself is inexact.

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5.The Ends-Mean Ethic

Origination: Ancient Roman proverb, but often associated with Niccolò Machiavelli.

Basic premise: The end justifies the means.

Criticism: In solving ethical problems, means may be as

important, or more so, that ends. The process of ethical character development

can never be furthered by the use of expedient means.

6.The Golden Rule Origination: Found in the great religions and

in works of philosophy. Basic premise: Do unto others what you

would have them do unto you. Criticism:

People’s ethical values differ, and they may mistakenly assume that their preferences are universal.

It is primarily a perfectionist rule for interpersonal relations.

7.The Intuition Ethic Origination: Defined by G.E. Moore in

Principia Ethica. Basic premise: What is good or right is

understood by an inner moral sense based on character development and felt as intuition.

Criticism: The approach is subjective. Self-interest may be confused with ethical

insight. No standard of validation outside the individual

is used. Intuition may fail to give clear answers.

8.The Might-Equals-Right Ethic

Origination: Thracymachus Basic premise: Justice is the interest of

the stronger. Criticism:

Confusion of ethics with force. Invites retaliation and censure, and is not

conducive to long-term advantage.

9.The Organization Ethic

Origination: Not credited. Basic premise: Be loyal to the

organization. Criticism: Many employees have such

deep loyalty to an organization that it transcends self-interest.

10.The Principle of Equal Freedom

Origination: Herbert Spencer Basic premise: A person has the right

to freedom of action unless such action deprives another person of a proper freedom.

Criticism: Lacks a tie breaker for situations in which two rights conflict.

11.The Proportionality Ethic

Origination: Medieval Catholic theology

Basic premise: A set of rules for making decisions having both good and evil consequences.

Criticism: These are intricate principles, requiring consideration of many factors.

12.The Rights Ethic Origination: Western Europe during the

Enlightenment Basic premise: Each person has protections

and entitlements that others have a duty to respect.

Criticism: Rights are sometimes stretched into selfish

demands or entitlements. Rights are not absolute and their limits may be

hard to define.

13.The Theory of Justice

Originator: Contemporary, John Rawls. Basic premise: Each person should act

fairly toward others in order to maintain the bonds of community.

Criticism: Rawl’s principles are resplendent in theory and may even inspire some business decisions, but they are best applied to an analysis of broad societal issues.

14.The Utilitarian Ethic Origination: Line of English philosophers,

including Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill. Basic premise: The greatest good for the

greatest number. Criticism:

In practice it has led to self-interested reasoning. Because decisions are to be made for the

greatest good of all, utilitarian thinking has led to decisions that permit the abridgement of individual or minority group rights.

Reasoning with Principles The use of ethical principles, as opposed to

the intuitive use of ethical common sense, may improve reasoning, especially in complex situations.

Based on the application of utility, rights, and justice, the manager’s decision in the text example to remain silent is acceptable.

Some judgment is required in balancing rights, but the combined weight of reasoning with all three principles supports the manger’s decision.

Character Development Character development is a source of ethical

behavior separate from the use of principles reasoning.

The theory that character development is the wellspring of ethical behavior can be called the virtue ethic.

Aristotle believed that by their nature ethical decisions require choice, and we build virtue, or ethical character, by habitually making the right choices.

Practical Suggestions for Making Ethical Decisions

Learn to think about ethics in rational terms using ideas such as universalizability, reversability, utility, proportionality, or others.

Consider some simple decision-making tactics to illuminate alternatives.

Sort out ethical priorities early. Be publicly committed on ethical issues. Set an example. Thoughts may be translated into action, and

ethical deeds often require courage. Cultivate sympathy and charity toward

others.

Concluding Observations

There are many paths to ethical behavior.

Not all managers appreciate the repertoire of principles and ideas that exist to resolve the ethical problems of business life.