chapter 4 Flashcards
(27 cards)
what are ethics?
Ethics is the set of moral principles or values that define right and
wrong for a person
what is ethical behaviour ?
Ethical behaviour is the behaviour that matches the society’s accepted principles of right and wrong.
what is an ethical issue?
An ethical issue is a situation where the actions of a manager can harm or benefit a person or group
what is organisational ethics?
Organisational ethics is the application of ethics in the organisation.
Four forces that influence ethical conduct
Individual perspective
Societal norms and culture
Laws and regulations
Organisational practices and culture z
Individual perspective( internal and external)
Internal
• Value system and morals
• Integrity
• Character
External • Environment • Peers • Leaders and managers • Family, social groups, and culture
What does Societal norms and culture comprise of
Ethical standards mainly develop from the society one is living in:
Local standards
Belief system
Culture
Force 3: Laws and regulations
Laws usually guide people about what is right or wrong with a series of rules and regulations formed over time by a certain group of people.
A country’s legal system gives an indication of its ethical standards.
What is Organisational practices and culture about
Is about shared meaning and beliefs held by members that distinguish the organisation
define ethical culture
Ethical culture can thus be defined as all those elements in an organisation’s values, assumptions, and beliefs that support or do not support the ethical code of conduct.
What are the 7 dimensions of a company with a mature ethical culture
– Ethics accountability and responsibility – Employee (non-managerial) commitment – Middle management commitment – Senior management commitment – Ethical treatment – Ethics talks – Ethics awareness 10
what is formal guidance
Rules, rituals and regulations, the organisational code of conduct, the
organisation’s set of values, publications, content of the training programs, reward systems, or the disciplinary actions by the organisation.
What is a moral person
A moral person refers to a person with good character. That is honest, trustworthy and respected by employee
What is a moral manager
A moral
manager will lead his or her employees to make ethical decisions – and to follow through with it
Four guidelines that will help managers to manage ethics
- Understand the exciting ethical culture of the organisation and society
- Communicate the ethical standards to all role players.
- Use the reward system to enhance ethical behaviour.
- Promote ethical leadership throughout the organisation.
how does the principles of business ethics help improve ethical decision- making
by providing managers with the appropriate knowledge and tools to allow them to identify, diagnose, analyse, and provide solutions to the ethical problems and dilemmas with which they are confronted, correctly.
what are the approaches to ethical decision making (name and describe them (7))
1)Long-term self-interest
• All decisions and action should lead to the organisation’s long-term self-interest.
2)Personal virtue
• Do the right and honest thing, as he or she would not want bad publicity in the newspapers.
3)Religious injunction
• Never take a heartless and harmful decision to the community or the individual.
4)Utilitarian benefits
• Outcome must increase the happiness or decrease the misery of the greatest number of people over the long term
5)Moral rights
• Decisions should be in line with the rights of the society.
6)Justice
• Make decisions and take actions that equally distribute the benefits and costs among individuals and groups.
7)Combination of approaches
Define Descriptive theories
Describes five modes of the preferred ways in which an organisation would like to manage ethics
Describe the five modes of the preferred ways in which an organisation would like to manage ethics. [VERY IMPORTANT]
- The immoral mode is where unethical conduct is good business.
- The reactive mode is where organisations experience challenges and make some gestures towards ethical intent, but unethical behaviour is ignored and remains unpunished.
- The compliance mode is when organisations show commitment towards the management and monitoring of ethical behaviour.
- The integrity mode has an ethical system that is built on a value- based set of principles.
- The Totally Aligned Organisation (TAO) mode - the integration of
ethics is seen in their mission, vision, goals and values.
What are Normative theories
Go beyond mere descriptions of ethical states of affairs and venture into the domain of how, ideally, specific ethical affairs should be. They make value judgements that set a specific standard for how things should be.
three theories that provide us with standards for judging whether an action or state of affairs could be considered ethical or not(name and describe)
- The virtue theory of Aristotle. He believed that one should always ask oneself “what would the virtuous man do?”. His theory is built on the assumption that morality is needed and is the key to a well- developed human being.
- The utilitarian theory of Bentham and Mill states that whatever one decides, the outcome must increase the happiness or decrease the misery of the greatest number of people over the long term.
- Kant’s deontological theory states that it is impossible to determine what we should do by studying what other people do. Kant thought that every action should have a pure intention. If an action is acceptable to all rational parties involved, it is ethical and,
secondly, one must always treat other people as ends, never
merely as means.
What is the importance of managers to behave ethically
Customer satisfaction and loyalty – organisation must have good ethical reputation
Employees follow what managers do rather than listening to what they say
Retain good employees – get talented and ethical employees
Develop a positive work environment – good example evokes a sense of pride in the organisation
Improve society - Managers take actions that are beneficial to society
Avoid legal problems with good ethical decisions
Positive stakeholders – confidence in brand grows
What is a Code of ethics
Formal document that states an organisation’s primary values and the ethical rules it expects employees to follow:
– Beliefs and values in code of ethics should be internalised by everyone in the organisation.
– Address their unique business situation.
– Inform the public what the organisation stands for.
The code of ethics must be…
Concise
Properly enforced in the organisation to achieve the objectives
An ongoing process and requires that organisations must review and evaluate
