Business Ethical Norms Today, Tomorrow

Business Ethical Norms
Today, Tomorrow
What is Business Ethics ?
 Moral principles concerning acceptable and unacceptable
behaviour by business people.
 Business ethics is the behaviour that a business adheres to in its

daily dealings with the world.
 To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and

that is the bottom line. Making money is not wrong in itself.
 It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves

that brings up the question of ethical behaviour.
Ethical Decision-Making Process
CHARACTERISTICS OF THE
DECISION MAKER
ETHICAL OUTCOMES
DECISIO
SITUATION N
SIGNIFICANT
INFLUENCES
What’s driving
Business Ethics today ?
 Today, a multitude of factors is driving corporate interest in
ensuring that ethical business standards are upheld.
 Some of those factors arise from the business environment, while

others arise from the larger social environment via new laws,
politics, and cultural understanding.
 Many business persons are strongly influenced by their religious

beliefs and the ethical norms that they have been taught as part of
their religion, and apply these norms in their business activities.
 Aaron Feuerste kept his workers on the payroll until he could
rebuild his Malden Mills factory complex after fire.
 He has stated often and publicly that he just did what his Jewish
faith told him was the right thing to do.
Business Ethics today..
Today there are several reasons to run a

business in ethical manner
 Protection of brand and reputation
 The right thing to do
 Customer trust and loyalty
 Investor confidence
 Public acceptance/recognition
Top Five Business Drivers today , in terms of their Impact on

Business Ethics
 Corporate scandals
 Marketplace competition
 Demands by investors
 Pressure from customers
 Globalization
External Drivers in Terms of Their Impact on Corporate Ethics

 Legal Laws and Regulations
 Technology
 CSR
 Economic Environment
 Societal Pressures
Business Ethics Tommorow
 Growing importance of business ethics in the future because
moral standards and ethical norms are becoming more and more
important in our society and this trend will only progress
accompanying the social development.
 Unfortunately, not all of businessmen and top managers realize

this fact and they do not treat the problem of the business ethics
seriously.
 Technology
 Privacy
 today easier to track people, their communication, activities and
purchases through internet usages, credit cards, GPS system.
 It will be ethical which data organization share with outside entities.
 e.g.:
 Employment tracking system.
 New x- ray scanner .
 Artificial intelligence.
Global Trends
 Global free trade initiatives
 Shifting demographic trends
 Integrated global labor force
 social conflicts among different cultural and religious factions
 disparities in the wealth of different regions.
 shifting of geopolitical power.
 manage global diversity.
 Organizational Structure
 expanded flow of information, technology, capital, goods, services
and human resources throughout world .
 companies will be to develop an “agile mindset.”
 Socioeconomic Trends
Wealthier nations have enjoyed an abundance of inexpensive but
high quality goods.
 Tending to segment into two general category
 low-cost producer
 value-added one
Environmental Trends
 Global Warming
 Environmental and health problem
 The Kyoto climate change protocol will effect on business policy decision
in future
 Organizations that have a reputation for “being green” could enhance their
reputations and protect their market share.
Transformation of Ethics
Old Ethical Favors New Ethical Favors
• Work • Leisure
• Savings • Debt
• Responsibility • Rights
• Sex roles • Unisexism
• Sacrifice • Self-interest
• Equality - Inequality • Equality
• Wealth accumulation • Wealth redistribution
• Risk aversion • Risk assumption
• Productivity • Quality of life
Ethics and the Law
Law often represents an ethical minimum

Ethics often represents a standard that exceeds the legal
minimum
Frequent Overlap
Ethics Law
Business Ethics in China
 Communist Party’s Central Committee issued a code of ethics
specifying 52 unacceptable practices and warned that violators
would be “severely” disciplined and subject to criminal charges.
 accepting cash or financial instruments as gifts
 using influence to benefit spouses, children or others in employment,

stock trading or business.
 using public funds for personal interests
 engaging in insider trading
 spending “inappropriately large” amounts of government funds on the
purchase of vehicles, office receptions, recreational activities and overseas

tours.
Internal Practices for
Ensuring an Ethical Culture
 Code of conduct
 Ethics training
 Corporate social responsibility programs
 Ombudsman
 Ethics helpline
 Ethics audits
Take Away
 Business ethics are absolutely critical today, but first organizations
must define what is ethical and understand that what is ethical today
may not be ethical tomorrow.
 What becomes a ethical guideline today is often translated to a law,

regulation or a rule tomorrow
“When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad.
That’s my religion”
– Abraham Lincoln
“Always do right—this will gratify some and astonish

the rest”
- Mark Twain
Thank you…

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Business Ethical Norms

 Business ethics is the behaviour that a business adheres to in its

 To some people, businesses are interested in making money, and

 It is the manner in which some businesses conduct themselves

 Some of those factors arise from the business environment, while

 Many business persons are strongly influenced by their religious

Today there are several reasons to run a

Top Five Business Drivers today , in terms of their Impact on

External Drivers in Terms of Their Impact on Corporate Ethics

 Unfortunately, not all of businessmen and top managers realize

Law often represents an ethical minimum

 using influence to benefit spouses, children or others in employment,

 engaging in insider trading

 spending “inappropriately large” amounts of government funds on the

purchase of vehicles, office receptions, recreational activities and overseas

 What becomes a ethical guideline today is often translated to a law,

“Always do right—this will gratify some and astonish

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