CONTENT:
1- Ethics Definition
- Business Ethics
- Historical Background
- Take responsibility of your actions
- Social Responsibility
* Brainstorm and Discussion
2- Elements that defines ethics
- Religion
- Culture
- Policies and regulations
* Brainstorm and Discussion
3- Implementing Ethics
- The Ethical Program
* Definition
* Elements of an Ethical Program
- Benefits of applying ethics (Ethical Program benefits)
* Brainstorm and Discussion
CONTENT (Continued):
4- Unethical Practices
- Unethical Conduct Examples
*Plagiarism Definition
*Examples on Plagiarism
*Other unethical Practices
* Brainstorm and Discussion
6- Extra Discussion Topics
7- Resources.
Ethics Definition
What are ethics?
‫ هي ضوابط و خطوط عريضه متفق عليها من قبل المجتمع تحدد سلوك االنسان سواء كانت‬: ‫االخالق‬
.‫صحيحه ام خاطئ‬
Business Ethics definition:
A set of standards, rules, morals and behaviors that any
respectful organization should adhere to solve problems that
arise in the business environment while performing their daily
business activities
whether their dealing with large business organizations or with
a single customer.
It applies to all aspects of business in the business environment.
Historical Background
Ethics is the area of philosophy concerned with the evaluation of human
conduct. Business ethics has only existed as an academic field since the 1970s.
During the 1960s, corporations found themselves increasingly under attack over
unethical conduct. As a response to this, corporations - most notably in the US developed social responsibility programmers which usually involved charitable
donations and funding local community projects. This practice was mostly ad
hoc and unorganized varying from industry to industry and company to
company.
in 1970s when philosophers began to write on the subject of business ethics. Previous
to this
development, only management professionals, theologians and journalists had
been highlighting problems of this nature on a regular basis.
When philosophers became involved they brought ethical theory to bear
on the relevant ethical issues and business ethics became a more
institutionalized, organized and integral part of education in business. Thereafter
annual conferences, case books, journals and text books were more regular and
established.
• From the website of “Markkula Center for Applied Ethics”.
If a company does not adhere to business ethics and breaks the laws, they
usually end up being fined. Many companies have broken ethical and
environmental laws and received fines worth millions. The problem is that
the amount of money these companies are making outweighs the fines
applied. Billion dollar profits blind the companies to their lack of business
ethics, and the dollar sign wins.
Every action causes a reaction. When you're using the Internet, computers
on campus, or your employer's computer, you should be aware of the
following:
Responsibility: Accepting potential costs, duties, and obligations for your
decisions.
Accountability: Determining who should take responsibility for decisions
and actions.
Liability: Legally placing responsibility with a person or group.
That’s why organizations that are considered as “Entities” should feel the sense of
responsibility towards the public and the society around them.
And they can show this by following and adhering:
1- Ethics Laws
2- Environmental Laws
And also participate in causes important and beneficial to the society.
Brainstorm & Revision:
-What are ethics and how can we relate them to
business?
-Why does some companies break and violate ethical
laws?
-What is the relationship between Responsibility
,Accountability and Liability?
Elements That
Defines Ethics
‫‪Business Ethics In Islam‬‬
‫اهتم االسالم بأمر العمل والعمال وامر العامل ان يتقن عمله وان يتقي ربه ويخلص في اتمام عمله قال‬
‫صلى هللا عليه وسلم ‪ ( :‬ان هللا يحب اذا عمل احدكم عمال ان يتقنه ) واوضح ما على العامل‬
‫وصاحب العمل من واجبات يجب االهتمام بها ومن ذلك‬
‫‪ ‬اخالق مطلوبة من العامل ‪:‬‬
‫‪ -1 ‬القوة ‪:‬سواء كانت قوة بدنية او قوة عقلية يستعين بها العامل ألداء المطلوب منه على اكمل وجه‬
‫‪.‬‬
‫‪ -2 ‬االمانة ‪ :‬قال صلى هللا عليه وسلم (" اإليمان أمانة وال دين لمن ال أمانه له") فهي من اهم‬
‫االمور الواجب توافرها في العامل ‪ ,‬فبدون االمانة ال يتقن العمل واليتم بالطريقة الصحيحة ‪.‬‬
‫‪ ‬قال تعالى ‪ (:‬قالت إحداهما يا أبت استأجره إن خير من استأجرت القوى األمين )‬
‫‪ ‬اخالق مطلوبة من صاحب العمل ‪:‬‬
‫‪ -1 ‬ان يكون العمل المراد انجازه واضحا للعامل مع بيان الوقت واالجر ‪.‬‬
‫‪ -2 ‬ان ال يكلفه فوق طاقته قال تعالى ( ال يكلف هللا نفسا اال وسعها )‬
‫‪ -3 ‬ان يعطيه حقه بال مماطلة قال صلى هللا عليه وسلم ( اعطو االجير اجره قبل ان يجف عرقه )‬
Where does these ethics come from? And who creates them?
There are a collection of elements, organizations and governmental
institutions that participate and affect the creation and standardization
of these ethics.
For example organizational culture has a huge effect on these
ethics and how will they are established thus said we conclude that what
may be right in an organization can be considered wrong in another
meaning that these ethics will be different in different business
environments.
Some of the groups that take part in the process of setting such rules:
1- Business Associations.
2- Stakeholder groups.
3- International and governmental institutions.
Brainstorm and Revision
-Who creates these ethics?
-How does the organization’s culture or society culture
effect these ethics?
-Is setting regulations or laws considered always
effective while applying ethics? Why?
Implementing
Ethics
Implementing these ethics in the organization:
Business Ethical Program:
)‫(برنامج اإلمتثال‬
Also referred to as “The Compliance Program”
is a systematic approach to raise ethical awareness among
employees, provide guidelines and education about ethics and
provide resources to identify and solve ethical issues that arise
in the business environment.
Elements of a Business Ethical Program
• The Above Illustration was originaly posted at the website of “Institute of Business Ethics” (ibe).
• http://www.ibe.org.uk/index.asp?upid=58&msid=11
1- Written policies and procedures.
2- Designated compliance officer and compliance
committee .
3- Effective training and education for employees.
4- Effective lines of communication
5- Internal monitoring and auditing
6- Enforcement of standards through well-publicized
disciplinary guidelines.
7- Prompt response to detected problems through corrective
actions.
It can also include other elements which vary from one
organization to another.
•“Elements of an Effective Compliance Program” from Amgen Website.
•http://www.amgen.com/about/effective_compliance_program.html
Benefits of an effective Ethics program:
1- Establish a code of conduct that reduces risk of criminal behavior.
2- Detect wrongdoing and foster quick investigations, minimize
consequences.
3- Demonstrate company’s ethical/legal philosophy during an
investigation
4- Reduce fines if company is found guilty of wrongdoing.
5- Enhance company reputation and stature.
• Information was originally posted in an article entitled “How to Build a Business Ethics Program”.
•http://www.bizmanualz.com/information/2005/01/03/how-to-build-a-business-ethics-program.html
Brainstorm and Revision
-How can we implement ethics in an organization?
-Define and describe the “Compliance Program”?
-What are the elements of an ethical program and does
they vary from one organization to another?
-How do we benefit from applying these programs?
Unethical Practices:
AKA “Unethical Conduct”.
Unethical behavior in the organization could extend to every aspect of the
business environment whether in a, faculty or while achieving daily activities
even the way you park your car in the employee parking lot could be considered
unethical if you are taking someone’s spot or blocking them.
Some examples of unethical behavior:
1- Plagiarism )‫(سرقة األفكار أو اإلنجازات و نسبها لنفسك‬:
is the act of taking another person's writing, conversation, song, or even idea
and passing it off as your own.
Some Examples of Plagiarism:
a-Taking credits for an idea
b- Stealing Blog content
c- Failing to list a Source
d- Using Other’s Images
•An article by Miranda Brookins.
•http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-plagiarism-workplace-11971.html
Other unethical Practices include:
2- Selective misquoting
3- Misinterpreting numbers
4- Distorting visuals
And many other acts that are considered unaccepted in an organization.
•An article by Miranda Brookins.
•http://smallbusiness.chron.com/examples-plagiarism-workplace-11971.html
Brainstorm and Revision
-Based on your understanding of the definition of
ethics define and describe “Unethical Practices”?
-What is plagiarism? Mention some examples?
-List and discuss some other “Unethical Behaviors” ?
Additional Discussion:
•"Just because you can, doesn't mean you should“
[DISCUSS]
•“Many businesses have gained a bad reputation just by being
in business. To some people, businesses are interested in
making money, and that is the bottom line. It could be called
capitalism in its purest form. Making money is not wrong in
itself. It is the manner in which some businesses conduct
themselves that brings up the question of ethical behavior.”[1]
•Should we bring “unethical problems” to the awareness
by punishing people responsible or by taking corrective
actions? [DISCUSS]
• [1] An Article entitled “What is Business Ethics?” by Garry Crystal.
• http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-business-ethics.htm
Other Resources:
The Business Ethics Manual:
-“Business Ethics – A Manual For Managing A Responsible Business Enterprise In
Emerging Market Economies”
Wikipedia
Business Ethics
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics