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• Business


  An activity that is part and parcel of human society. Society will not exist without business.
• Business is as old as human civilization
• For as long as people have needs and wants, there will always be business
• Those who have capital will continue to produce and sell good and services that will satisfy the needs and wants of customers
• Business


  An integral part of society, its activities must be examined from the ethical perspective
• Fundamental reasons for examining business activities from the moral perspective

  • Promotion of the common good
  • Protection of the individual's interests
  • Preservation of the human society in general
• Without Ethics, business will be a chaotic human activity because there will be no common understanding and agreement about what is wrong and right human conduct
• Business is a complex enterprise that involves major activities like production, manufacturing, marketing, advertising, selling, purchasing, accounting, and the like
• Businessmen deal with suppliers, customers, workers, employees, and even competitors
• Business is a good human activity. It is the wrong motive and personal interests of unscrupulous businessmen that make business bad
• Business Ethics


  Paves the way for common ground in our understanding of the fundamental idea of what is good and what is bad in our human conduct
• Without Ethics, people, especially businessmen, will set their own moral standards, moral rules, and moral principles
• Business people will consider some of their actions good but unacceptable to others, e.g. cheating the customers to gain profit may be acceptable for some businessmen but bad for others
• Ethics


  Provides us with a common understanding of the universal, objective and irreversible moral principles that should govern our human behaviour and guide our moral decisions
• Some business enterprises today are using quantitative techniques to measure the viability and profitability of business
• The resolution on some ethical issues like sexual harassment, bribery, misrepresentation, graft, insider trading, among others, cannot be solved by quantitative techniques but by moral reasoning
• Business ethics


  Enhances the human and interpersonal skills of managers so they can be more effective in managing the human side of the organization
• Ethics play an important role in business. Without morality, business will be a chaotic human activity
• Business


  • An integral part of human society, therefore the actions of individuals and institutions in business must be subjected to moral rules and moral evaluation
  • What is legal may not necessarily be moral
  • Laws are insufficient, they cannot cover all aspects of our human behaviour
  • Managers and business leaders must also be prepared to complex situations bearing ethical consequences
• Moral Reasoning


  The process in which ethical issues and problems are benchmarked against a moral standard so that a moral judgment is made possible
• It is the responsibility of managers to help in the resolution of moral issues that may have adverse effects to the operations of the business
• Framework for Moral Reasoning

  1. Ethical Issues/Problems

  2. Reality Check

  3. Moral Norm

  4. Moral Standard

  5. Company Policy

  6. Ethical Principle

  7. Moral Judgment

  8. Resolution

  9. Decision
• Characteristics of a Good Moral Standard


  • Looks at the issue as something that is very serious
  • Grounded on good moral argument
  • Objective and not subjective, universally accepted and should apply to all
  • When violated, brings about feelings of guilt, shame and remorse of conscience
• Requirements for a Good Moral Judgment

  • Must be logical, based on facts and solid evidence, and based on sound and defensible moral principles
• Profit


  A form of anticipated reward or a compensation for the efforts that businessmen spend, skills they apply, and returns for the capital they invested in putting up and organizing the business
• Reasons people go into business

  • For personal satisfaction
  • To earn livelihood
  • To serve the society through the goods and services they offer to the customers
  • To make a profit (MOST COMMON REASON)
• The Good Side of Profit-Motive


  • It motivates people to do something meaningful
  • It promotes ingenuity and cleverness in running a business
  • It makes people productive
  • It generates potential capital for the business, something that can be invested to establish new businesses
• The Bad Side of Profit-Motive

  • It promotes rivalry among competitors
  • It makes people focus only on making money without considering whether or not these products satisfy the needs and wants of consumers
  • It turns businessperson from being a reflective and a questioning person because he focuses his attention only on the practical activity of making money
  • It promotes self-interest rather than the common good
• Moral Responsibility


  1. Holding to people morally accountable

  2. Implies duty to be performed by a person depending on his role in the society

  3. One's capacity for making moral or rational decision on his own
• Business Ethics


  The study of what is the right and wrong human behavior and conduct in business
• Business Ethics


  The study, evaluation, analysis and questioning of ethical standards, policies, moral norms and ethical theories that managers and decision makers use in resolving moral issues and ethical dilemmas affecting business
• Peter Drucker, a famous management guru: 'Enterprise is an organ of the society and therefore, its actions and decisions have a great impact on society and people.'
• Power of Taxation.This refers to the inherent power of the state to exact an enforced contribution upon persons, properties or rights for the purpose of generating revenues for the use and support of the government.
• Power of Eminent Domain.

  This refers to the inherent power of the state to expropriate private property for public purpose in return for a just or reasonable compensation.
• Police Power.

  This refers to the inherent power of the state to promote general welfare of the people by limiting or regulating the rights or properties of any person.