REVIEWER BEL 413
Businessman’s Myths about Business
Module 1 Ethics
Introduction to Ethics and Business It is the business leaders’ wrong
Business is part of human society, its perception of the role of Ethics in business
activities must be viewed and examined that affects their decisions.
from the perspective of morality. 1. Ethics is a Personal Affair and not a
Business without Ethics threatens the Public Debatable Matter.
survival of human society. 2. Ethics and Business do not Mix.
Business Ethics is the study of what is 3. Ethics in Business is Relative.
right and wrong human behavior and 4. Good Business Means Good Ethics.
conduct in business. 5. Business is a war.
Business Ethics is a study of the
perceptions of people about morality, Moral Reasoning in Business
moral norms, moral rules, and ethical The essence of studying Business Ethics is
principles as they apply to people and to provide managers and decision-makers
institutions in business. with a framework for the resolution of
moral issues and problems affecting
Definition and Relationship of Business business activities and the organization.
and Ethics Moral Reasoning is a process in which
Business is a good human activity. It is the ethical issues and problems are
wrong motive that makes business bad. benchmarked against a moral standard so
Business is a complex activity that that a moral judgment is made possible.
involves major activities like:
- Production Characteristics of a Good Moral Standard
- Manufacturing 1. A good moral standard is one that looks
- Marketing at the issue as something that is very
- Advertising serious, e.g., murder, graft and
- Selling corruption, stealing.
2. A good standard must be grounded on
Ethics plays an important role in business. a good moral argument. A good argument
Without morality, the business will be a is an argument that always tells the truth.
chaotic human activity. Ethics is not a A solid moral argument leaves no room
study of positive laws intended to govern for loopholes and counterarguments.
and regulate the actions of people doing 3. A good standard should be objective
business. and not subjective. It should be
universally accepted and should apply to
The importance of Business Ethics all. What is good for one person should be
- The study of Business Ethics paves the at the same time good for everybody.
way for common ground in our 4. A good standard, when violated, brings
understanding of the fundamental idea of about feelings of guilt, shame, and
what is good and what is bad in our remorse of conscience.
human conduct. Without Ethics, people
especially businessmen, will set their own
moral standards, moral rules, and moral
principles.
Characteristics of a Good Moral Practical Philosophy - studies truths to be
Judgement acted.
1. A good moral judgment must be logical. ♡ Semantics – words and its linguistic
This means, that the decision maker must forms
arrive at an informed resolution of the ♡ Axiology – discourse of value
issue based on logical reasoning. judgement
2. A good moral judgment must be based ♡ Aesthetics – principles of beauty and
on facts and solid evidence. The art
information used in the process of moral ♡ Logic – reasoning to establish truth
reasoning must not come from weak
sources like hearsay, rumors, and Morality
grapevine. - what “is”
3. A good moral judgment must be based - customs that govern the behavior of a
on sound and defensible moral principles. group of people.
A weak ethical principle is open to a lot of - refers to the quality of goodness or
criticisms. badness in a human act. Good is described
as moral and bad as immoral. It means
The Morality of Profit-Motive conformity to the rules of right conduct. It
Business as an activity is unthinkable implies judgment and refers to what we
without the profit-motive. would call moral standards and moral
Businessmen consider profit as a form of conduct while ethics is used to refer to
anticipated reward or compensation for the formal study of those standards and
the efforts they spend, skills they apply, conduct. For this reason, the study of
and returns for the capital they invested ethics is also often called “moral
in organizing the business. philosophy.”
Ethics
Module 2 - what “what ought to be”
Definition of Ethics and Philosophy - how people should behave according to
What is Philosophy? a higher standard.
Philosophy came from two Greek words - involves the study of those standards
philos = love and sophia = wisdom. and judgments which people create.
Philosophy means love of wisdom. Ethics assumes that the standards exist
and seek to describe them, evaluate
Ethics came from Greek word them, or evaluate the premises upon
ethos = characteristic way of acting which those standards exist. Ethics
basically, investigates the nature of moral
Division of Philosophy principles, ethical systems, and moral
Theoretical or Speculative Philosphy - norms that people use to justify their
studies the truth to be known. moral judgments.
♡ Cosmology – origin of Universe
♡ Ontology – the theory of being
♡ Metaphysics – Meta (beyond) Physikon
(nature)
♡ Psychology – human/animal behavior
♡ Theodicy – god on logical abstraction
♡ Epistemology – theory of knowledge
3 Categories of General Ethics: - it does not describe the moral beliefs of
1. Descriptive Ethics people, does not evaluate the process of
- focuses on how people behave moral reasoning, but simply analyzes the
- consists of studying and describing the usage and meaning of words.
morality of people, culture, or society. It
also makes comparisons and contrasts on Two branches of Meta-ethics:
the different values, principles, code of 1. Cognitivism (Realism)
ethics, beliefs, and practices of people. It - there are moral facts
serves as the foundation of normative - when we make a moral
ethics and provides a standard of the claim/judgement, we are expressing a
morality of a people, culture, and society. belief that can be verified (shown to be
true or false)
Examples:
Psychological Egoism – a concrete 2. Non-Cognitivism (Irrealism)
example of descriptive ethics is the study - there are no moral facts
of human motivation. It simply declares - when we make a moral
results based on various scientific studies. claim/judgement, we are expressing
something else (our approval)
Cultural Relativism – it describes how
people when grouped and observed in The following examples of questions that
their own cultural realities actually differ might be considered in each fields
in their behavior. It simply describes how illustrate the differences between the
people act and does not prescribe how fields:
people should act.
Descriptive ethics: What do people think
2. Normative Ethics is right?
- focuses on content of morality
- involves moral judgment based on Normative (prescriptive) ethics: How
ethical norm or theory. This consists of should people act?
both the basic moral principles and values
and the particular moral rules that govern Meta-ethics: What does "right" even
people’s behavior, which is right or moral mean?
and wrong or immoral.
- involves arriving at moral standards that
regulate right and wrong conduct. It is the
study of what you should or should not
do. Golden Rule: We should do to others
what we would want others to do to us.
3. Metaethics
- focuses on the nature of morality
- meta = above or after
- it is a branch of normative ethics.
- it is concerned with the analysis or
meaning of words and the logic of moral
reasoning.
Module 3 According to Freud psychoanalytic theory,
The “moral sense” in us the id is the irrational and instinctual part
The main difference between man and of the mind that contains sexual and
animal is that man has a moral aggressive drives and hidden memories,
perception. Man has a natural insight into the super-ego operates as a moral
morality, this being a gift of the Creator conscience, and the ego mediates
who gave a man a “moral sense”. This between the id and super-ego. It is the
moral sense is native in all persons rational self or the conscious self. It is
regardless of race, religion, culture, under constant pressure to fight off the
education, and creed. Man, therefore, is a pleasure-seeking desires of the Id.
moral being. He knows the fundamental
distinction between what is good and bad, For Freud, a healthy personality is a
what is moral or immoral. person who has an ego that does an
effective job of coping with the urges of
I. The Synderesis of Man According to St. the id and the restrictions of the
Thomas Aquinas superego.
“Synderesis” is a technical term from
scholastic philosophy, signifying the What is a strong ego?
innate principle, the heart of humans, An individual with a strong ego is thus one
while synderesis is called the conscience who is able to tolerate frustration and
of the deed done, according to Aquinas, it stress, postpone gratification, modify
is a distinctly practical reason – certain selfish desires when necessary, and
principles. resolve internal conflicts and emotional
problems before they lead to neurosis.
Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274). He died at
the young age of 49 years old. Italian What are id, ego, and superego examples?
philosopher, theologian, and a priest is The id is trying to get you to do things like
sometimes called the Prince of eat cakes and not go jogging, and the
Scholastics. superego is trying to get you to make
good decisions and be an upstanding
II. Sigmund Freud’s Psychoanalysis Theory person. So the id and the superego are
Sigmund S. Freud (1856-1938). He was the always fighting with each other, and the
founding father of Psychoanalysis, which ego steps in between the two.
is a major school of psychology. Freud
founded the Psychoanalysis Theory Business Application: A businessman may
(Theory of the Psyche) where the be tempted to cheat his customer in the
approach is to understand human process of selling (Id). He realizes,
behavior which views men and women as however, that to give in to this
constantly torn between internal enticement would be a violation of the
unconscious forces and external social Code of Ethics for Businessmen and other
forces. positive laws, like the Consumer Act,
(superego) He, therefore, discerns and
begins to rationalize that it is better not to
fool or cheat the customer (ego).
III. Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Level 3: Post-conventional Morality
Development • Stage 5 - Social Contract and Individual
Lawrence Kohlberg was an American Rights
psychologist well-known for his theory of At this stage, people begin to account for
moral development. He was able to the differing values, opinions, and beliefs
demonstrate through his research studies of other people. Rules of law are
conducted at Harvard’s Center for Moral important for maintaining a society, but
Education in the 1950s that people members of the society should agree
progressed in their moral reasoning upon these standards.
through a series of stages. • Stage 6 - Universal Principles
Kolhberg’s final level of moral reasoning is
Level 1: Pre-conventional Morality based upon universal ethical principles
• Stage 1 - Obedience and Punishment and abstract reasoning. At this stage,
The earliest stage of moral development. people follow these internalized principles
At this stage, children see rules as fixed of justice, even if they conflict with laws
and absolute. Obeying the rules is and rules.
important because it is a means to avoid
punishment. IV. Two Ethical Systems
• Stage 2 - Individualism and Exchange 1. Atheistic Ethics - assumes that only
At this stage of moral development, matter exists and man is responsible only
children account for individual points of to himself since there is no God who
view and judge actions based on how they creates and rules the universe.
serve individual needs. Reciprocity is
possible, but only if it serves one's own 2. Theistic Ethics - assumes that God is
interests. the Supreme Lawgiver. Everything must
conform to God’s eternal plan of creation.
Level 2: Conventional Morality Man is accountable for his actions and
• Stage 3 - Interpersonal Relationships deserves either a reward or punishment in
Often referred to as the "good boy-good this life or in the next.
girl" orientation, this stage is focused on
living up to social expectations and roles.
• Stage 4 - Maintaining Social Order
At this stage, people begin to consider
society as a whole when making
judgments. The focus is on maintaining
law and order by following the rules,
doing one’s duty, and respecting
authority.
