Part One
An Overview of Business
Ethics
Chapter 1
The Importance of Business
Ethics
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

1

Business
Ethics
Ethics is a part of decision making at all levels of work and management  As important as functional areas of

business
 Questions whether practices are acceptable  There are no universally accepted approaches for resolving issues
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

2

Business Ethics
Defined
Comprises organizational principles, values, and norms that may originate from individuals, organizational statements, or from the legal system that primarily guide individual and group behavior in business
 Ethical decisions occur when accepted

rules no longer serve and decision makers must weigh values and reach a judgment
 Values and judgments play a critical role

when we make ethical decisions
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

3

Business Ethics
Defined
 Morals: Refer to a person’s personal

philosophies about what is right or wrong
 Morals are personal and singular

 Principles: Specific and pervasive

boundaries for behavior that should not be violated  Human rights, freedom of speech and justice

 Values: Enduring beliefs and ideals that

are socially enforced
 Teamwork, trust and integrity
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

4

A Crisis in
Business Ethics
Nearly half of employees observe at least one form of misconduct in the workplace  After the financial crisis, business

decisions and activities have come under scrutiny
 The financial sector has not fully regained stakeholder trust
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

5

Global Trust in
Industry Sectors

Source: Edelman Global Deck: 2013 Trust Barometer, http://www.edelman.com/trustdownloads/global-results-2/ (accessed January 30, 2013).

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

6

Observed Misconduct
In The Workplace









Misuse of company resources
Abusive behavior
Harassment
Accounting fraud
Conflicts of interest
Defective products
Bribery
Employee theft

© 2015 Cengage Learning. All rights reserved. May not be copied, scanned, or duplicated, in whole or in part, except for use as permitted in a license distributed with a certain product or service or otherwise on a password-protected website for classroom use.

7

Reasons for Studying
Business Ethics
 Having good individual morals is not

enough to stop ethical misconduct
 Ethics training helps provide collective agreement in diverse organizations
 Business ethics decisions can be complicated  Helps to identify ethical issues when they arise and recognize the approaches available to resolve them
© 2015 Cengage Learning. All