Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
TY-BMS (Sem – 5)
Section – 2
A) Indian Perspective of Ethics
1. Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha
2. Concept of Dharma
B) Ethics: A Global Perspective:
1. Ethics in Global Marketing & Advertising
2.
Ethical perspective in Employment including the international labour Organization Std.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Ethics and IT: E-commerce, Privacy Codes.
Environmental Ethics: Indian and Western perspectives
Ethics and Cross- culture influences
Ethical issues and functional aspects of business
A) Indian Perspective of Ethics
1. Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha
2. Concept of Dharma
Purusha means either God or a human being.
Artha means an object or objective. "Purusharthas" means objectives of a human being.
Purusha does not mean male in the physical sense, but any soul in its differentiated
aspect.
So the purusharthas are applicable to both men and women equally.
The purusharthas serve as pointers in the life of a human being. They are based on the
vision of God which is evident in the creation He manifested and which can be followed by
man to be part of that vision and in harmony with His aims. His worlds are established on
the principles of dharma. They are filled with the abundance of material and spiritual beings
and energies, who seek fulfillment by achieving their desires and liberation. Since man is
God in his microcosmic aspect, he too should emulate God and manifest the same reality in
his own little world. He should pursue the same aims, experience life in its fullness and be
an instrument of God by serving the purpose for which he has been created. The four chief
aims or purusharthas are:
1. Dharma (righteousness),
2. Artha (wealth),
3. Kama (desire) and
4. Moksha (salvation or liberation)
The rationale behind these purusharthas becomes clear when we consider the basic
tenets of Hinduism. Man is an aspect of God. He is God's objective reality in creation. He
exists in relationship with God like a reflection in the mirror that is somewhat different
yet inseparable and somewhat similar. Veiled in him is the true self by the influence and
involvement of Prakriti or primordial nature.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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The purpose of his life upon earth is to follow the law (dharma) of God and achieve
salvation (moksha) or freedom from his false self (ahamkara) by leading a balanced life
in which both material comforts and human passions have their own place and
legitimacy.
Man cannot simply take birth on earth and start working for his salvation right away by
means of just dharma alone. If that is so man would never realize why he would have to
seek liberation in the first place. As he passes through the rigors of life and experiences the
problem of human suffering, he learns to appreciate the value of liberation. He becomes
sincere in his quest for salvation. So we have the four goals, instead of just one, whose
pursuit provides us with an opportunity to learn important lessons and move forward on
the spiritual path. What the purusharthas characterize is not a life of self-negation, but of
balance, complexity, richness, opportunities and moderation in a cosmic drama of immense
proportions in which man ultimately envisions and experiences his true grandeur and fulfills
the very purpose of his creation.
Every individual in Hindu society is expected to achieve these four objectives with
detachment, without any expectation and as a sacrificial offering to God in the ritual of
human life. They have to be pursued selflessly for a higher and greater cause. Depending
upon the attitude and the manner in which we pursue them, they either set us free or
entangle us deeper with the allurements of human life.
Dharma
The first of the goals is dharma, a word which is difficult to translate in English. Since the same
word is used in many eastern religions, it means many things to many people and eludes a true
definition. It has been variously translated as duty, faith, religion, righteousness, sacred law,
justice, ethics, and morality and so on. According to one school of Hinduism, dharma is an
obligatory duty as prescribed by the Vedas to be performed by an individual in accordance with
the rules prescribed for the caste to which he or she belongs. God is an upholder of dharma
because he performs His duties even though they are not obligatory and He is without desire or
preference.
There is no word in Latin or English that can truly explain the complex meaning of dharma. Its
first letter "dha" is also the first letter of dharitri, the earth, which is suggestive of its connection
with the earth or earthly life. In a wider sense, dharma is the secret glue, the binding force,
which upholds and regulates this entire creation just as the gravitational force controls and
holds the entire material universe as one piece. It is the divine constitution that defines our
roles and responsibilities, our social and moral order, our purpose and goals and the rewards
and punishments that are appropriate for our actions. It is the law of God that is sacred,
inviolable and pervasive. It is responsible for order, regularity, harmony, control, predictability
and accountability. According to Manusmriti, dharma is four footed in the Krita age and loses
one leg in each successive age. Thus in the fourth and last age of Kali, it becomes crippled and
rests upon just one leg.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Dharma exists in all planes, in all aspects and at all levels of creation. In the context of human
life, dharma consists of all that an individual undertakes in harmony with divine injunctions and
his own sense of morality and justice. However to comprehend the true nature of dharma is not
an easy task. The world is enveloped in illusion as our human minds are. What we see in the
world and learn from it may not be true and reliable. What we consider as right and wrong or
dharma and adharma may not stand the test of truth. Hence to practice dharma we are advised
to rely upon the scriptures and follow the injunctions contained there in.
The sources of dharma are the Vedas, the Vedangas, the Sutra literature of which the most
important are the Dharmashastras, and scriptures such as the Bhagavadgita. In ancient India
dharmashastras (law books) played an important role in guiding people on the path of dharma.
It is however difficult to say how far they are relevant in the present age. One should also
remember that dharma should not be viewed as end in itself but the means to a still higher end,
liberation.
Artha
Artha means wealth. Hinduism recognizes the importance of material wealth for the overall
happiness and well being of an individual. A house holder requires wealth, because he has to
perform many duties to uphold dharma and take care of the needs of his family and society. A
person should not seek wealth for wealth sake but to uphold dharma and help the members of
his family and society achieve their goals. Hinduism therefore rightly places material wealth as
the second most important objective in human life. While dharma and moksha are meant for
oneself, wealth and sex are to be pursued for the sake of others. Lord Vishnu is the best role
model for any householder. He leads a luxurious life, served by the goddess of wealth herself,
but is very dutiful, helpful, responsive and righteous. So was Lord Krishna while he was in human
form. He lived a very luxurious life, but was righteous, detached and balanced.
Hinduism advocates austerity, simplicity and detachment, but does not glorify poverty. Wealth
is not an impediment to self-realization, but attachment to wealth is. Desire for wealth is
different from greed for wealth. Selfless desire for wealth is preferable to selfish desire for
wealth. Money and wealth are a form of divine energy. God is abundance. He is endowed with
eight kinds of wealth. But as Sri Aurobindo pointed out we have negative attitude mostly about
wealth because hostile and negative forces want us believe so and thereby prevent its use for
righteous reasons.
Seeking wealth through human actions is not discouraged in Hinduism. The vedic hymns are
mostly invocations addressed to gods and goddesses by men desiring wealth and prosperity.
However they also emphasize the need for right intention, right means and moderation in the
pursuit of wealth. Aiming for wealth is a virtue, but greed is not. Amassing wealth for the family
and for the welfare of oneself is not sinful, but taking what does not belong to one is. Hinduism,
Jainism and Buddhism benefited greatly in the past by the individual contribution of rich
merchants, their wives and children.
Poverty has become a grotesque reality in present day Hindu society and erroneously
considered by many as a virtue. This is a Christian influence. Hindus have become so poverty
conscious that if a saint or a sage leads a comfortable life, they scoff at him, saying that he is not
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a true yogi. They have to remind themselves of the simple fact that none of the Hindu gods and
goddesses are really poor. While they always help the poor and the needy, none of them glorify
poverty as a virtue. According to Hinduism all experiences are self created and provide an
opportunity to learn. So is poverty and so is wealth. Renunciation does not mean to leave aside
wealth or denounce the wealthy. It means detachment from wealth. To become indifferent to
the comforts and discomforts of life caused by wealth.
Hinduism advocates moderation and balance in the pursuit of material and spiritual goals. Some
Hindus think otherwise, ignoring the fact that what is applicable to an ascetic does not apply to
a householder. Swami Vivekananda rightly said that religion was not for the empty stomachs.
When a person is beset with survival problems, he would hardly find any solace in religion.
Soothing words would not comfort a hungry soul as much as a morsel of food.
Kama
Kama in a broader sense means desire. Both Hinduism and Buddhism consider desire as the
root cause of human suffering. According to the Bhagavadgita, desire leads delusion and
bondage to the cycle of births and deaths. The way out of suffering is to become detached from
the sense objects through such practices as yoga and meditation and perform desireless actions
as sacrificial offerings to God with a sense of duty, accepting God as the doer and without
hankering after the fruit of one's actions. According to Manusmriti man performs sacrifices
because of the desire for rewards, with the expectation that his actions will bear fruit. Not a
single act of him here on earth appears ever to be done by a man free from desire. So he who
performs his prescribed duties out of desire in the right manner will obtain the fulfillment of all
the desires and reach the deathless state or even beyond. As we can see the right way to fulfill
one's desire is by performing one's obligatory duties in the right manner but not by neglecting
them so that the way of the dharma also becomes the way of fulfillment of desires.
Moksha
The pursuit of dharma regulates the life of a human being and keeps him on the righteous path.
The pursuit of artha and kama enrich his experience and impart to him valuable lesson. The
pursuit of moksha or salvation liberates him and leads him to the world Brahman. The pursuit of
dharma usually begins in the early age when one is initiated into religious studies. The pursuit of
artha and kama begins in most cases after one becomes a householder. The pursuit of moksha
however is the most important of all aims and can begin at any time. The other aims are
preparatory for this final aim. However, in most cases, though not correctly, moksha becomes
an important pursuit in the old age during vanaprastha or the age of retirement. Moksha is both
a purushartha and a paramartha (transcendental aim), which is important not only for men but
also for the divine beings.
Moksha actually means absence of moha or delusion. Delusion is caused by the inter play of the
triple gunas, the activity of the senses, attachment with and desire for sense objects. A person
achieves liberation when he increases the quality of sattva, suppressing rajas and tamas and
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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overcomes his desire for sense objects by detachment, self control, surrender to god and
offering of one's actions to God. There are many paths to salvation and all of them lead to God.
The main paths are the path of knowledge, of action, of devotion and of renunciation. Each path
has its own advantages and disadvantages. whatever may be the path, the help and guidance of
a guru is indispensable to one's spiritual journey. A guru is God in human form whose his chief
purpose is to remove the darkness hidden in the hearts and minds of his disciples and help them
find their true selves.
The purpose of purusharthas is to ensure that people would not neglect their obligatory duties
in their deluded state by becoming obsessed with particular desires that may lead to moral and
social decadence and destruction of family values. The four Purusharthas are responsible for
balance in human life. They make life a rewarding and enriching experience. They cater to the
spiritual and material aspirations of human beings and lead them in the right direction on the
path of liberation. The exemplify the very functioning of God who, without any particular aim or
desire, detached, seeks to establish these four aims in the entire manifest creation through his
trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha and Himself as the highest and supreme aim of all. Thus
by worshipping Brahma we can gain the knowledge of dharma and perform our obligatory
duties with precision and perfection. By worshipping Vishnu we can gain material and spiritual
wealth and work for the welfare of our families and society. By worshipping Siva we can seek
the fulfillment of our desires and overcome our delusion and finally by pursuing Brahman, or
any of these gods as Brahman, we can achieve liberation by becoming Brahman Himself.
The Concept of Dharma:
Dharma is the path of righteousness and living one's life according to the
codes of conduct as described by the Hindu scriptures.
Dharma is a term that is frequently used in Indian spiritual thought. Though it is a
term with wide and far reaching ramifications, it essentially signifies a sense of
duty, a sense of obligation or a sense of responsibility.
Good Dharma = Good Karma
“Dharma basically means ‘to nourish’, ‘to uphold’ and signifies whatever supports the
universal order and also the individual life in society. Dharma is the basic value in life as
well as in transactions - social, religious, secular and vocational. Dharma is the first of
the three normal human purposes, the other two being the acquisition of wealth (artha)
and the enjoyment of pleasures (kama). Dharma is characterized by certain common
human values like truth, generosity, compassion, sympathy, self-restraint, forgiveness,
non-enmity, friendliness, absence of envy and rectitude in conduct.
The scriptures say ‘attend to this, the essence of dharma, do not do to others what you
would not do to yourself. Put yourself in the position of others and then act’. In other
words, dharma is the inner light of clear conscience, mindful of the welfare of all and
minimizing ego involvement and selfishness in institutional behaviour.
.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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Dharma is closely linked with the idea of original human indebtedness or inescapable
obligation. Every human being is born with three debts. The first is towards his
ancestors, the second is towards the sages and the third is what he owes to the Gods.
By continuing the family line by having his own children, he discharges his debts towards
his ancestors, by studying, understanding the cultural context and milieu into which he
is born, he discharges his debt towards the sages, as the sages have been responsible
for the unbroken cultural heritage of the land. By respecting and worshipping the
elemental and environmental forces like the air, the rivers, the mountains, plants,
animals etc, he discharges his debts to the Gods. (The stress on environmental
awareness is to be noted here). This concept of indebtedness is the very source of
dharma, which shifts the focus from desire gratification to duty fulfillment, thus making
human life meaningful and worthwhile
.
The two great epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata both emphasize the
role of Dharma in individual life as well as in collective existence. If the Ramayana
illustrates the need to subordinate wealth and enjoyment to dharma, thus making it the
mirror of Indian culture, the Mahabharata expounds on the challenges that dharma
faces from greed and wealth in personal and public life and how real dharma is
sabotaged by surrogates and counterfeits.” This is Dharma, the bedrock of human
existence.
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Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
TY-BMS (Sem – 5)
B) Ethics: A Global Perspective:
1. Ethics in Global Marketing & Advertising
2. Ethical perspective in Employment including in the international labour
Organization Std.
3. Ethics and IT: E-commerce, Privacy Codes.
4. Environmental Ethics: Indian and Western perspectives
5. Ethics and Cross- culture influences
6. Ethical issues and functional aspects of business
1) Ethics in Global Marketing & Advertising:
"A customer is the most important
visitor of our premises.
He is not dependent on us we are dependent on him.
He is not an interruption on our work he is the purpose of it.
He is not an outsider on our business he is a part of it.
We are not doing him a favour
by serving him He is doing us a favour by giving us
an opportunity to do so."
- Mahatma Gandhi
The Oxford University Press defines global marketing as “marketing on a worldwide
scale reconciling or taking commercial advantage of global operational differences,
similarities and opportunities in order to meet global objectives.”
- Oxford University Press’ Glossary of Marketing Terms
Marketing ethics is the area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles
behind the operation and regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics
(ethics of advertising and promotion) overlap with media ethics.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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Fundamental Issues in the Ethics of Marketing
Frameworks of analysis for ethical marketing Possible frameworks:
 Value-oriented framework, analyzing ethical problems on the basis of the values
which they infringe (e.g. honesty, autonomy, privacy, transparency). An example
of such an approach is the AMA Statement of Ethics.


Stakeholder-oriented framework, analysing ethical problems on the basis of
whomsoever they affect (e.g. consumers, competitors, society as a whole).
Process-oriented framework, analysing ethical problems in terms of the
categories used by marketing specialists (e.g. research, price, promotion,
placement).
None of these frameworks allows, by itself, a convenient and complete categorization of
the great variety of issues in marketing ethics.
Nature and Scope of Marketing Ethics
Marketing ethics is viewed as important because of marketing’s interface with many
diverse stakeholders. Marketing is a key functional area in the business organization
that provides a visible interface with not only customers, but other stakeholders such as
the media, investors, regulatory agencies, channel members, trade associations, as well
as others. It is important when addressing marketing ethics to recognize that it should
be examined from an individual, organizational, and societal perspective. Examining
marketing ethics from a narrow issue perspective does not provide foundational
background that provides a complete understanding of the domain of marketing ethics.
The purpose is to define, examine the nature and scope, identify issues, provide a
decision-making framework, and trace the historical development of marketing ethics
from a practice and academic perspective.
DEFINITION OF MARKETING ETHICS
Ethics has been termed the study and philosophy of human conduct, with an
emphasis on the determination of right and wrong. For marketers, ethics in the
workplace refers to rules (standards, principles) governing the conduct of organizational
members and the consequences of marketing decisions. Therefore, ethical marketing
from a normative perspective approach is defined as “practices that emphasize
transparent, trustworthy, and responsible personal and organizational marketing
policies and actions that exhibit integrity as well as fairness to consumers and other
stakeholders. Marketing ethics focuses on principles and standards that define
acceptable marketing conduct, as determined by various stakeholders and the
organization responsible for marketing activities.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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While many of the basic principles have been codified as laws and regulations to require
marketers to conform to society’s expectations of conduct, marketing ethics goes
beyond legal and regulatory issues.
Ethical marketing practices and principles are core building blocks in establishing trust,
which help build long-term marketing relationships. In addition, the boundary-spanning
nature of marketing (i.e. sales, advertising, and distribution) presents many of the
ethical issues faced in business today.
Both marketing practitioners and marketing professors approach ethics from
different perspectives. For example, one perspective is that ethics is about being a
moral individual and that personal values and moral philosophies are the key to ethical
decisions in marketing. Virtues such as honesty, fairness, responsibility, and citizenship
are assumed to be values that can guide complex marketing decisions in the context of
an organization. On the other hand, approaching ethics from an organizational
perspective assumes that establishing organizational values, codes, and training is
necessary to provide consistent and shared approaches to making ethical decisions.
Key Issues in Marketing Ethics
By its very nature, marketing ethics is controversial, and there is no universally accepted
approach for resolving questions. Ethical issues address a problem, situation, or
opportunity that requires an individual, group, or organization to choose among several
actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong. The organization and stakeholders
define marketing ethical issues that must be identified and resolved to build trust and
effective relationships with stakeholders. Because marketing ethics sometimes deals
with subjective moral choices, this requires decisions about the moral standards to
apply and the definition of ethical issues. However, many groups in society, including
government, are defining ethical and legal issues and proactive approaches to deal with
these issues. For example, millions of blogs or personal web logs exist on the Internet
without any formal code of ethics or regulation. Many firms, such as Audi, have their
own blogs with many stakeholders requesting the formation of an ethics committee to
create unified standards. Organizations are being asked to prevent and control
misconduct by implementing ethical compliance programs. Ethics brings many rewards
to organizations that nurture it, but managing ethics requires activity and attention on
several levels—complying with the law, setting ethical standards, and dealing with the
complex decisions related to trade-offs between the bottom line and ethical conduct.
High ethical standards require both organizations and individuals to conform to sound
moral principles. Fair Trade has emerged to link ethically minded consumers with
marketers concerned with disadvantaged producers in developing nations. Starbucks
works to treat coffee farmers fairly in their business relationships by paying premium
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
TY-BMS (Sem – 5)
prices, long-term contracts, affordable credit, direct purchasing, and investing in social
projects in coffee communities
.
However, general special factors must be considered when applying ethics to marketing.
First, to survive, marketers must contribute to profits or other organizational objectives.
Second, marketers must balance their desire for success against the needs and desires
of society. Maintaining this balance often requires compromises or tradeoffs. To address
these unique aspects, society has developed rules—both legal and implicit—to guide
marketers in their efforts to reach their objectives in ways that do not harm individuals
or society as a whole.
External stakeholders’ interests, concerns, or dilemmas help trigger ethical issue
intensity. For example, the National Do-Not Call Registry has tremendous impact on
telemarketers’ business practices. Organizational culture (internal stakeholders) and
individual moral philosophies and values influence the recognition of ethical issues and
marketing ethics decisions. New Belguim Brewing Company, the third largest craft beer
brewer in the United States, uses only wind energy and co-generation as well as a
vigorous recycling initiative. In addition, the company practices open-book
management. The decisions or outcomes are evaluated by both internal and external
stakeholders.
Marketing ethics relates to issues such as honesty and fairness, conflicts of
interest, discrimination, privacy, and fraud. Government regulatory agencies and selfregulatory groups such as the Better Business Bureau have developed formal
mechanisms to deal with ethical issues related to marketing. The Federal Trade
Commission (FTC) enforces consumer protection laws. Within this agency, the Bureau of
Consumer Protection works to protect consumers against unfair, deceptive, or
fraudulent practices. In addition to the FTC, other federal agencies such as the Food and
Drug Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, and the Federal
Communications Commission try to assist consumers in addressing deceptive,
fraudulent, or damaging conduct. At the state level, consumer protection statutes exist,
and deceptive trade practices laws exist in most states. In New Jersey, the Attorney
General’s office has filed a lawsuit against Blockbuster, Inc. for not properly disclosing
terms associated with its “No More Late Fees” policy. Overdue rentals are automatically
converted to sales on the eighth day after the due date. The New Jersey Consumer
Fraud Act could result in Blockbuster paying civil penalties of up to $10,000 for each
violation (Merritt, 2005). These regulatory agencies help define many of the issues that
should be an ethical concern for marketers. Examples of issues include marketing
communications that are false and misleading, material misrepresentations in external
and internal communications, and the use of telecommunications to deceive customers.
Antitrust, deception in pricing, product liability, and marketing channel relationships all
encompass ethical decisions.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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A Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making In Marketing
Ethical decision making in marketing parallels ethical decision making across all
organizational domains. There is much overlap between marketing ethics and business
ethics because the basic frameworks that describe ethical decision making in an
organization include decisions that encompass marketing. In other words, within the
context of an organization, there is an ethical component to business decisions,
regardless of whether it is marketing or some other functional area component.
External stakeholder interests, concerns or dilemmas help trigger ethical issue intensity.
For example, PETA has encouraged KFC and other fast-food restaurants to make the
ethical treatment of animals a priority. Organizational culture (internal stakeholders)
and individual moral philosophies and values influence the recognition of ethical issues
and marketing ethics decisions. The decisions or outcomes are evaluated by both
internal and external stakeholders. While it is impossible to describe precisely how or
why an individual or a work group may make a specific decision, we can generalize
about average or typical behavior patterns within organizations.
First, as previously discussed, marketing can identify the importance of
stakeholders, stakeholder issues, and gather information to respond to significant
individuals, groups, and communities. Next, in the decision-making process, marketers
should identify the importance or relevance of a perceived issue– i.e., the intensity of
the issue (Jones, 1991). The fast food industry is being pressured by government
agencies, consumers, and special interest groups to offer healthier menu options,
particularly for children. The intensity of a particular issue is likely to vary over time and
among individuals and is influenced by the organizational culture, values and norms; the
special characteristics of the situation; and the personal pressures weighing on the
decision. McDonald’s restaurants were the targets of negative publicity associated with
the release of the movie Super Size Me. In response, the company introduced more
salads and healthful portions and alternatives. Individual factors are obviously important
in the evaluation and resolution of ethical issues, and familiarity with principal,
theoretical frameworks from the field of moral philosophy is helpful in determining
ethical decision making in marketing (Murphy, Laczniak, Bowie, and Klein, 2005).
Personal moral development and philosophy, organizational culture, and coworkers,
determine why different people perceive issues with varying intensity.
The ethical climate of an organization is a significant element of organizational
culture. Whereas a firm’s overall culture establishes ideals that guide a wide range of
behaviors for members of the organization, its ethical climate focuses specifically on
issues of right and wrong. The ethical climate is the organization’s character or
conscience. Codes of conduct and ethics policies, top management’s actions on ethical
issues, the values and moral development and philosophies of coworkers, and the
opportunity for misconduct all contribute to an organization’s ethical climate. In fact,
the ethical climate actually determines whether or not certain dilemmas are perceived
as having an ethical intensity level that requires a decision.
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Opportunity usually relates to employees’ immediate job context—where they
work, with whom they work, and the nature of the work. The specific work situation
includes the motivational “carrots and sticks” that superiors can use to influence
employee behavior. Pay raises, bonuses, and public recognition are carrots, or positive
reinforcement, whereas reprimands, pay penalties, demotions, and even firings act as
sticks, the negative reinforcement. For example, a salesperson who is publicly
recognized and given a large bonus for making a valuable sale that he or she obtained
through unethical tactics will probably be motivated to use unethical sales tactics in the
future, even if such behavior goes against one’s personal value system. Research has
shown that there is a general tendency to discipline top sales performers more leniently
than poor sales performers for engaging in identical forms of unethical selling behavior
(Bellizzi and Hasty, 2003). Neither a company policy stating that the behavior in
question was unacceptable nor a repeated pattern of unethical behavior offsets the
general tendency to favor the top sales performers. A superior sales record appears to
induce more lenient forms of discipline despite managerial actions that are specifically
instituted to produce more equal forms of discipline. Based on their research, Bellizzi
and Hasty concluded that an opportunity exists for top sales performers to be more
unethical than poor sales performers.
In 2004, the American Marketing Association approved a new code of ethics
entitled; “Ethical Norms and Values for Marketers”. The AMA code provides values
which are assumptions about appropriate behavior, as well as norms that provide
suggested behaviors. The AMA recognizes the diversity of marketing, and encourages
members to access codes of ethics that address specific functional areas such as
marketing research, direct selling, direct marketing, and advertising.
AMA Code of Ethics
Members of the American Marketing Association are committed to ethical professional
conduct. They have joined together in subscribing to this Code of Ethics embracing the
following topics:
Responsibility of the Marketer
Marketers must accept responsibility for the consequences of their activities and make every
effort to ensure that their decisions, recommendations and actions function to identify, serve
and satisfy all relevant publics: customers, organizations and society.
Marketers’ Professional Conduct must be guided by:
1. The basic rule of professional ethics: not knowingly to do harm;
2. The adherence to all applicable laws and regulations;
3. The accurate representation of their education, training and experience; and
4. The active support, practice and promotion of this Code of Ethics.
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Honesty and Fairness
Marketers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the marketing profession
by:
1. Being honest in serving consumers, clients, employees, suppliers, distributors and the public;
2. Not knowingly participating in conflict of interest without prior notice to all parties involved;
and
3. Establishing equitable fee schedules including the payment or receipt of usual, customary
and/or legal compensation for marketing exchanges.
Rights and Duties of Parties in the Marketing Exchange Process
Participants in the marketing exchange process should be able to expect that
1. Products and services offered are safe and fit for their intended uses;
2. Communications about offered products and services are not deceptive;
3. All parties intend to discharge their obligations, financial and otherwise, in good faith; and
4. Appropriate internal methods exist for equitable adjustment and/or redress of grievances
concerning purchases.
It is understood that the above would include, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities
of the marketer:
In the area of product development and management:
• disclosure of all substantial risks associated with product or service usage;
• identification of any product component substitution that might materially change the product
or impact on the buyer’s purchase decision;
• identification of extra cost-added features.
In the area of promotions:
• avoidance of false and misleading advertising;
• rejection of high-pressure manipulations, or misleading sales tactics;
• avoidance of sales promotions that use deception or manipulations.
In the area of distribution:
• not manipulating the availability of a product for the purpose of exploitation;
• not using coercion in the marketing channel;
• not exerting undue influence over the reseller’s choice to handle a product.
In the area of pricing:
• not engaging in price fixing;
• not practicing predatory pricing;
• disclosing the full price associated with any purchase.
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In the area of marketing research:
• prohibiting selling or fundraising under the guise of conducting research;
• maintaining research integrity by avoiding misrepresentation and omission of pertinent
research data;
• treating outside client and suppliers fairly.
Organizational Relationships
Marketers should be aware of how their behavior may influence or impact the behavior of
others in organizational relationships. They should not demand, encourage or apply coercion to
obtain unethical behavior in their relationships with others, such as employees, suppliers, or
customers.
1. Apply confidentiality and anonymity in professional relationships with regard to privileged
information;
2. Meet their obligations and responsibilities in contracts and mutual agreements in a timely
manner;
3. Avoid taking the work of others, in whole, or in part, and representing this work as their own
or directly benefiting from it without compensation or consent of the originator or owners; and
4 Avoid manipulation to take advantage of situations to maximize personal welfare in a way that
unfairly deprives or damages the organization of others.
Any AMA member found to be in violation of any provision of this Code of Ethics may have his
or her Association membership suspended or revoked.
Preamble
The Internet, including online computer communications, has become increasingly important to
marketers’ activities, as they provide exchanges and access to markets worldwide. The ability to
interact with stakeholders has created new marketing opportunities and risks that are not
currently specifically addressed in the American Marketing Association Code of Ethics. The
American Marketing Association Code of Ethics for Internet marketing provides additional
guidance and direction for ethical responsibility in this dynamic area of marketing. The American
Marketing Association is committed to ethical professional conduct and has adopted these
principles for using the Internet, including on-line marketing activities utilizing network
computers.
General Responsibilities
Internet marketers must assess the risks and take responsibility for the consequences of their
activities. Internet marketers’ professional conduct must be guided by:
- Support of professional ethics to avoid harm by protecting the rights of privacy, ownership and
access.
- Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations with no use of Internet marketing that would
be illegal, if conducted by mail, telephone, fax or other media.
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- Awareness of changes in regulations related to Internet marketing.
- Effective communication to organizational members on risks and policies related to Internet
marketing, when appropriate.
- Organizational commitment to ethical Internet practices communicated to employees,
customers and relevant stakeholders.
Privacy
Information collected from customers should be confidential and used only for expressed
purposes. All data, especially confidential customer data, should be safeguarded against
unauthorized access. The expressed wishes of others should be respected with regard to the
receipt of unsolicited e-mail messages.
Ownership
Information obtained from the Internet sources should be properly authorized and
documented. Information ownership should be safeguarded and respected. Marketers should
respect the integrity and ownership of computer and network systems.
Access
Marketers should treat access to accounts, passwords, and other information as confidential,
and only examine or disclose content when authorized by a responsible party. The integrity of
others’ information systems should be respected with regard to placement of information,
advertising or messages.
CONCLUSIONS
Much progress has been made in advancing theory and research in marketing
ethics. In addition, the practice of marketing has been elevated to higher levels of ethics
from professional codes of conduct provided by the American Marketing Association,
Direct Selling Association, Direct Marketing Association, Marketing Research
Association, American Federation of Advertising and the National Advertising Division of
the Council of Better Business Bureaus. In addition, most corporations have developed
comprehensive codes of conduct that address specific ethical risk areas in marketing
practice. Recent regulatory changes that require boards of directors to be responsible
for oversight on all ethics issues within an organization elevate the importance of
marketing ethics. It is clear that marketing ethics is part of organizational responsibility
and individuals cannot make independent decisions about appropriate conduct. There is
recognition through academic research and regulatory initiatives that corporate culture
plays a key role in improving marketing ethics.
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Ethics in Advertising:
People in advertising spend a lot of their time dealing with ethical choices, and those
choices are almost never black and white. They're subtle, shades-of-gray choices, juicy
enough for a Philosophy major.
Now let's look at a more subtle shade of truth in this infamous Volvo commercial. In a
real-life monster truck show, the Volvo was the only car left uncrushed - a great idea for
a commercial! But to make the ad, the film company needed to shoot several takes. So
they reinforced the beams inside the car to stand repeated squashing. When this came
out in the press, Volvo was pilloried and their ad agency got fired, ultimately going out
of business. Did it serve them right? Or was it a bum rap? No question the demo was
rigged. But what it showed was the truth: if a monster truck runs over you once, you're
safer in the Volvo.
An ethical brainteaser we deal with every day is: "What can you legitimately simulate to
illustrate the truth?" Before you answer "nothing!”, ask yourself if a Higher Purpose
would be served if Pampers and Kotex commercials showed the real thing instead of
that fake blue water.
Ads for reputable companies almost never lie. They have to be able to prove what they
say to their own corporate counsel, the ad agency's lawyers, the network's approval
committees and to any number of regulating bodies like the FDA and the FTC. With at
least five different government agencies looking over our shoulder, the cost of being
caught cheating is simply too high. In addition, the individuals inside a company want to
be able to look at themselves in the mirror. Some like to think of business people as
belonging to some other species, but remember that most of them are you a few years
from now.
So we tell the truth -- but not always the Whole Truth. Like lawyers, our job is to put our
clients in the best light. When you go on a job interview or a first date, you don't assume
a false identity - but you probably don't make a full disclosure either. Chances are you
keep your lactose intolerance and foot odor issues in the background, and save your
Federation Starfleet uniform for later in the relationship - if there IS a later.
For a company trying to sell something, an ad is like getting a job interview with millions
of people all at once. The ad wants to make a good first impression and really, really
doesn't want to make people mad. But different people react differently.
During the 2000 Super Bowl, millions of people saw the following commercial for
Christopher Reeve walking again.
Some of us saw an uplifting message of hope. Some saw a cynical company
manipulating people's hope to make a buck. Still others - many of them with disabilities
- saw an ad that gave false hope. What did you see?
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It's an axiom in advertising that when you do something bold, it's likely to polarize your
audience. And big events like the Super Bowl or the Olympics make advertisers bolder.
You can tell the ad agency really enjoyed creating the horror movie spoof with an
Olympic runner. This Nike commercial ran during the 2000 Olympics. But this
commercial received over 2,000 complaints. Nike heard them and killed the spot and
unlike Freddie Kruger, this ad stayed dead!
A lot of people question the ethics of selling consumers things they don't need - which
presupposes that we shouldn't have the things we don't need but want anyway. We
don't need 90% of the stuff in our apartments. We don't need artwork, among other
things. Neanderthals didn't need cave paintings, but they sure brighten up a grotto. Why
did so many of us bring bottled water - that we paid for - into this meeting room today,
when carrying a canteen of tap water is so much more… rational?
Advertising, like human beings, lives where Reason meets Desire. Years ago, The CocaCola Company invented a better product. No consumer product had ever been so
thoroughly tested with so many consumers. This new Coke was provably much better.
But consumers not only didn't buy it, they demonstrated against it. Because a lot of
what they loved about "real" Coke wasn't inside the bottle. It was the idea of Coke and
their experiences with it and how those experiences were connected to so much of
what we imagine life in America should be like. Advertising isn't just about the things we
buy. It's about how we feel about things, including ourselves. That's what makes it
interesting.
Cause-related marketing
:
Speaking of feelings, 80% of Americans say they feel better about companies that are
aligned with social issues. Two thirds of us say we'd be inclined to switch to a brand that
we identify with a good cause. It's why American Express put on the Tribeca Film
Festival in lower Manhattan to help bring people back to the area after September 11th.
Wal-Mart focuses on community efforts of their associates and stores. General Mills'
"Spoonfuls of Hope" campaign features Lance Armstrong promoting cancer research.
Johnson & Johnson - always at the top of polls as a socially responsible company -- has
been running a campaign to help promote nursing as a career:
Does the extra business and good will these companies stand to gain compromise the
good that the causes do? What are the ethics of enlightened self-interest? Not long ago
a major advertiser donated a quarter-million dollars in food aid to Bosnians in the wake
of the war there. By all accounts, the aid did a lot of good. Later, the company spent
over a million dollars to advertise their good deed to American audiences. What
decision would you have made?
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Tobacco Advertising
:
Ronald Reagan once appeared in ads touting the health benefits of a cigarette brand.
Times have changed. Now the space in which tobacco can be promoted in any form is
growing more restricted every day. And tobacco isn't the only legal - and potentially
lethal - product that poses ethical, not to mention public policy questions for us.
Ad agencies and individual advertising people make their own decisions about
categories like tobacco and guns. Many say, "No, thanks" to working on certain
businesses. But would you turn down the Kraft Macaroni and Cheese assignment
because another division of the same corporation makes Marlboros? That's a tougher
question.
Alcohol:
There are hundreds of beer commercials on the air, but not one of them shows
somebody actually drinking the beer. Does that make them more ethical? And although
there's the same amount of the same chemical in a can of Bud and a shot of Jack
Daniels, you don't see hard liquor advertised on television. In the case of alcohol,
advertisers themselves have made these "ethical" choices. But do they make rational
sense? The Mothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) probably don't make the same
distinction between beer and bourbon that advertisers do.
Incidentally, advertising people working for free because they believe in the cause
create MADD's ads. Ad folk like to work pro bono for nonprofits and good causes. Public
service campaigns, including anti-smoking messages, got over $1.5 billion dollars in free
media last year. Altogether, they'd be the fifth largest advertiser.
The ethical issue isn't the alcohol in the product, it's the brand name on the bottle
(Smirnoff Ice). When I say the word "Smirnoff", what do you think of? - you're not alone.
A rival company says this commercial is misleading you because there's no vodka in
Smirnoff Ice. It's a malt beverage. Does the name "Smirnoff" mean "vodka" or is it just a
name? Many of you are in the target audience. Are you being fooled here? And if you
thought Smirnoff Ice contained vodka, did you also think it contained ice? You don't
have to take time from your studies to decide this case. As we speak, it's being
examined by the ATF (Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms).
Children
Society imposes context on advertising ethics all the time - especially in advertising that
involves children. Here's a commercial for children's shampoo. On behalf of Society, can
you see what's wrong with this message?
The problem isn't something in the spot - it's what's missing. There is no adult
supervision shown around the swimming pool. The Children's Advertising Review Unit
(CARU) of the Better Business Bureau (BBB), which also monitors kid's programming,
requires that adults be shown supervising children when products or activities could be
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risky. So L'Oreal changed the commercial to model good parental behavior. Score one
for Society. Another commercial for Aim toothpaste showed a child who went to the
bathroom in a museum to brush her teeth. Good hygiene or not, it had to be taken off
the air when teachers complained that they'd never, ever, let a child leave the group
unattended.
Advertisers spend most of their waking hours trying to anticipate what their audiences
will want and how they'll react. We try our best, but sometimes we miss.
Pharmaceutical advertising
:
Information is ethically neutral. In an academic setting like this, we welcome more
information because the marketplace of ideas enables individuals to form their own
judgments - which brings us to advertising about prescription drugs. Not long ago, only a
doctor could tell you about a new medicine. You probably never heard of it before you
walked in; you didn't know if it was the only one in the world or one of dozens that did
pretty much the same thing. Now advertisers spend millions of dollars telling you about
their medicines. Advertising puts more information in people's hands. Studies show that
drug ads raise awareness of some conditions so more people seek treatment. And they
know more about their options before seeing the doctor. That's good, right?
But of course the drug companies don't advertise their cheapest products. They
promote the big moneymakers. There's more information out there, but it comes with a
heavy dose of Point-of-View. Sometimes there are two points of view in the same
commercial. The FDA requires that, if you promote the benefits of your medicine, you
must also reveal any significant risks or side effects. So we have them to thank for the
now legendary disclaimer for a weight-loss drug. The medicine worked miracles, but the
company was also obliged to mention its unpleasant side effects, with the result that
the drug turned into a national joke! Does more information elevate the national
dialogue?
Product placement
:
What are the ethics of advertising that doesn't look like advertising? In a movie chase
scene, the hero and the bad guy are going to need some kind of car to drive. In the
theatre we have no way of knowing whether the director chose those cars because they
fulfilled his artistic vision - or because the car manufacturer made a deal with the
producer. The car people get exciting exposure for their brand and she saves a nice
piece of change on her production budget. Audiences like realism in movies. Made-up
brands break the spell because they're obvious fakes. But the difference between
something that's just a prop and something that's a product promotion is getting
murkier all the time, on TV shows as well as movies.
This kind of "product placement" happens in real life, too. If you go out to a club tonight,
you might see some particularly good-looking young people using a new kind of cell
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phone. It lets them shoot pictures of people to their friends across the room: "Here's a
cute guy - want to come and meet him?" Fun stuff like that. If you're curious, maybe
they've taken your picture and they'll be happy to show you the phone and let you try it.
The phone is very cool. And the people are what advertisers call "aspirational" because
they're way cooler than you are. They're people you want to be. They're also actors and
this is a gig for them. Their job is creating the impression that using this phone is The
Next Trend. If you ask them directly if they are actors, they won't lie. But if you don't
ask, they won't tell. This is the reverse of the Volvo story. Volvo's demonstration was
rigged, no question, but what viewers saw on TV was the truth. With this cell phone, the
demonstration is the absolute truth, but the scene in the club is pure theater.
(Note: This new "guerrilla" marketing campaign for Sony Ericsson has received a great
deal of negative publicity already for being deceptive in its approach.)
Subliminal advertising
:
There's one more thing I know you want me to talk about. If you believe subliminal
advertising exists, you don't any more because I embedded a convincing subliminal
denial in this talk. In case you missed it, subliminal advertising is one of those "urban
legends." Try this experiment. Take a photograph of a glass of ice water or the beverage
of your choice and make a fake ad out of it. Then invite people in your Psych
department to find the subliminal messages in your ad. They won't disappoint you.
If a bunch of students can create subliminal messages, imagine what the pros on
Madison Avenue can do.
CONCLUSION
This wouldn't be a talk about ethics in advertising without a word from our sponsor and
here it comes.
80% of American companies have a written Code of Ethics. And probably 100% of you
do too, if you gave it some thought and wrote it down. Ethics happen, or don't, in our
relationships with others. Advertisers are in the business of communicating with
thousands, even millions, of "others" all the time. That gives us thousands or millions of
chances to practice what we believe every day. And try to get it right.
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Ethical perspective in Employment including in the International Labour
Organization Standard:
The discussions on ethical issues that may arise in the employment relationship,
including the ethics of discrimination, and employees’ rights and duties are commonly
seen in the business ethics texts While some argue that there are certain inalienable
rights of workplace such as a right to work, a right to privacy, a right to be paid in
accordance with comparable worth, a right not to be the victim of discrimination, others
claim that these rights are negotiable. Ethical discourse in HRM often reduced the
ethical behavior of firms as if they were charity from the firms rather than rights of
employees. Except in the occupations, where market conditions overwhelmingly favour
employees, employees are treated disposable and expendable and thus they are
defenselessly cornered to extreme vulnerability. The expendability of employees,
however, is justified in the texts of ‘business morality’ on the ground the ethical position
against such expendability should be sacrificed for ‘greater merit in a free market
system. Further, it is argued since because ‘both employees and employers do in fact
possess economic power’ in the free market, it would be unethical if governments or
labour unions ‘impose employment terms on the labor relationship’ There are
discussions of ethics in employment management individual practices, issues like
policies and practices of human resource management, the roles of human resource
(HR) practitioners, the decline of trade unionism, and issues of globalizing the labour
etc., in the recent HRM literature, though they do not occupy the central stage in the HR
academics. It is observed that with the decline of labour unions world over, employees
are potentially more vulnerable to opportunistic and unethical behavior. It is criticized
that HRM has become a strategic arm of shareholder profiteering through making
workers into ‘willing slaves’. A well cited article points out that there are ‘soft’ and a
‘hard’ versions of HRMs, where in the soft-approach regard employees as a source of
creative energy and participants in workplace decision making and hard version is more
explicitly focused on organizational rationality, control, and profitability. In response, it
is argued that the stereotypes of hard and soft HRM are both inimical to ethics because
they instrumentally attend to the profit motive without giving enough consideration to
other morally relevant concerns such as social justice and human wellbeing. However,
there are studies indicating, long term sustainable success of organizations can be
ensured only with humanely treated satisfied workforce.
Market, obviously, is not inherently ethical institution that could be led by the mythical
‘invisible hand’ alone; neither, it can be alluded that market is inherently unethical. Also,
ethics is not something that could be achieved through establishment of procedures,
drawing codes of ethics, or enactment of law or any other heteronomous means,
though their necessity could remain unquestioned.However, though market need not
be the cause of moral or ethical hazards it may serve an occasion for such hazards. The
moral hazards of HRM would be on increase so much as human relations and the
resources embedded within humans are treated merely as commodities.
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Discrimination issues include discrimination on the bases of age (ageism),
gender, race, religion, disabilities, weight and attractiveness. See also:
affirmative action, sexual harassment.
Issues arising from the traditional view of relationships between employers and
employees, also known as At-will employment.
Issues surrounding the representation of employees and the democratization of
the workplace: union busting, strike breaking.
Issues affecting the privacy of the employee: workplace surveillance, drug
testing. See also: privacy.
Issues affecting the privacy of the employer: whistle-blowing.
Issues relating to the fairness of the employment contract and the balance of
power between employer and employee: slavery, indentured servitude,
employment law.
Occupational safety and health.
All of above are related to the hiring and firing of employees. An employee or future
employee can not be hired or fired based on race, age, gender, religion, or any other
discriminatory act.
International Labour Organization (ILO)
International labour standards are conventions, treaties and recommendations
designed to eliminate unjust and inhumane labour practices. The primary international
agency charged with developing such standards is the International Labour Organization
(ILO). Established in 1919, the ILO advocates international standards as essential for the
eradication of labour conditions involving "injustice, hardship and privation". According
to the ILO, international labour standards contribute to the possibility of lasting peace,
help to mitigate potentially adverse effects of international market competition and
help the progress of international development.
The most basic labor rights have been codified by the ILO in the 1998 Declaration of
Fundamental Rights at Work after some developed countries tried to include them at
the WTO’s Singapore Meeting in 1996. The declaration outlines five “core labor
standards” (CLS) that all labor markets should strive to meet: freedom of association,
the right to collective bargaining, abolition of forced or compulsory labor, elimination of
child labor, and freedom from discrimination.
Labor standards and their implementation did not merely arise to promote economic
growth. They also emerged as a new and important area of concern for socially
responsible investors, especially in the “problematic” footwear, apparel, and toy
industries. For most investors involved with this issue, the fundamental matter of
concern is the protection of human rights in the workplace. This is why there is a strong
movement to consider the core labor rights defined in the 1998 ILO Declaration as
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“universal human rights.” The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at
Work declares inter alia that all member states, whether they have ratified the relevant
conventions or not, have an obligation due to their membership in the ILO, to respect,
to promote, and to realize in good faith and accordance with the Constitution, the
fundamental rights which are the subject of those conventions.
Ethics and IT: E-commerce, Privacy Codes:
Information ethics is the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the
development and application of information technologies. It provides a critical
framework for considering moral issues concerning informational privacy, moral agency
(e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new environmental issues (especially how
agents should one behave in the infosphere), problems arising from the life-cycle
(creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especially
ownership and copyright, digital divide). Information Ethics is related to the fields of
computer ethics and the philosophy of information.
Dilemmas regarding the life of information are becoming increasingly important in a
society that is defined as "the information society". Information transmission and
literacy are essential concerns in establishing an ethical foundation that promotes fair,
equitable, and responsible practices. Information ethics broadly examines issues related
to ownership, access, privacy, security, and community.
Information technology affects fundamental rights involving copyright protection,
intellectual freedom, accountability, and security.
Professional codes offer a basis for making ethical decisions and applying ethical
solutions to situations involving information provision and use which reflect an
organization’s commitment to responsible information service. Evolving information
formats and needs require continual reconsideration of ethical principles and how these
codes are applied. Considerations regarding information ethics influence “personal
decisions, professional practice, and public policy”. Therefore, ethical analysis must
provide a framework to take into consideration “many, diverse domains” (ibid.)
regarding how information is distributed.
Ethics for e-Commerce
There’s nothing like buying something from the local merchants in town. You know them,
you trust them, and they know you and you swap cards during the holidays. These are
relationships built on trust.
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Not so in the on-line world of commerce. You’re a home page. Your buyers are numbers
and e-mail addresses. You don’t know them; they don’t know you. However, you can
and should still conduct business like a local merchant.
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Customers will come back, generating repeat sales.
Satisfied buyers will tell their friends. (How do you think Amazon became so big?)
You’ll demonstrate your commitment to being a good, on-line citizen.
You’ll be able to look at yourself in the mirror each morning.
So, let’s look at the areas where e-tailers have ethical responsibilities to their customers,
to their businesses and to the growing society of on-line businesses and the buying
public.
Post Your Business Policies
Do you accept returns? Under what conditions? Do you give cash returns or store
credit? Are shipments insured? Where are you physically located? Do you offer
customer support and service? 24/7?
Your business policies should be carefully laid out for all to see. There should be a large
link off your home page to a page or two of your company’s policies. If you guarantee
customer satisfaction, tell each customer. If there are conditions on returns, lay them
out clearly. Skip the 6-point text on the back page (the fine print). Be straight with your
customers right from the start.
Honor Your Policies
The most overused words on the Internet are “ABSOLUTELY FREE”. Now, unless you’re a
complete rube, you know nothing is ever absolutely free. There’s always a hook, a catch.
So, unless it really is absolutely free, don’t hype what isn’t right. If you offer a full,
money-back guarantee, then give the customer her money back! There are e-tailers who
say one thing in their site text, but practice a different set of rules when it comes to
delivering on promises made.
You (and the rest of the world) are better off if you do what you say you’re going to do.
It’s the right thing to do. It’s the ethical thing to do.
Come On With the ‘Come-Ons’ Already
Laptops: Only $9.99!!! While they last!!!
You see this kind of ‘come-on’ all the time. So, you click to see what a $9.99 laptop gets
you and discover the site sells abacuses. Or, they only had one 10-year old laptop for
$9.99, which didn’t last long (while they last). It’s the old bait-and-switch, with a cheap
laptop the bait. Once on the site, you’re rerouted to a page of much higher priced
laptops. You’ve been suckered — again. No one likes to be suckered. It’s a waste of time
and an insult to the individual’s intelligence.
Protect Your Buyer’s Privacy
You can buy a million e-mail addresses (verified, so they say) for as little as a penny an
address. And, where did the purveyors of these mailing lists acquire their information?
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From people (on-line entrepreneurs) who sold them their own company mailing lists.
Legal? Yes. Fair? Well, that’s an ethical question. Do you think it’s fair to sell your
customer list to a marketing data company for sale to anyone willing to pay $100?
Your strict privacy policy is a selling point. It’s also the ethical thing to do, so proclaim
your position right there in your terms of service.
“We will not give or sell your name or other personal information to another party.”
Then, do what you promise.
What About Security?
Another area in which ‘do the right thing’ comes into play.
You gather a lot of personal information on your customers or clients — names,
addresses, credit card numbers — the whole shebang. And, as the keeper of this
invaluable information, you have a moral responsibility to protect it from hackers and
the kids who use your business computer to do their homework.
Is you site secure? Is your computer protected with multi-layers of protection against
hackers? A fire wall? Anti-malware software? Encryption for on-line orders? If not,
you’re putting your customers at risk. And believe this: they’ll be none too happy when
they discover that some cracker has their personal information thanks to your lax
security.
Ethics is about responsibility — accepting responsibility and doing the right thing. If
you’re going to be a reputable, on-line dealer — one with ethical business practices —
you have a responsibility to protect the personal information in your system.
Here’s the bottom line on your bottom line: we have to get rid of the “snake oil” aspect
of on-line commerce. We have to start operating like the old store on Main Street. Build
trust through clearly-stated business policies, straight-up information (no bait-andswitch), treat customers fairly (there’s always one) and protect the personal information
entrusted to you.
When we all earn the confidence of more and more on-line buyers, we make the whole
e-commerce ’society’ a stronger, more vibrant place in which to conduct business — for
everyone.
Environmental Ethics: Indian and Western perspectives
Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship
of human beings to, and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its
nonhuman contents. This entry covers:
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(1) the challenge of environmental ethics to the anthropocentrism (i.e., humancenteredness) embedded in traditional western ethical thinking;
(2) the early development of the discipline in the 1960s and 1970s;
(3) the connection of deep ecology, feminist environmental ethics, and social ecology to
politics;
(4) the attempt to apply traditional ethical theories, including consequentialism,
deontology, and virtue ethics, to support contemporary environmental concerns; and
(5) the focus of environmental literature on wilderness, and possible future
developments of the discipline
Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers
extending the traditional boundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including
the non-human world. It exerts influence on a large range of disciplines including law,
sociology, theology, economics, ecology and geography.
There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the
environment. For example:
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Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?
Should we continue to propagate?
Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles?
What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future generations?
Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the
convenience of humanity?
Environmental Challenges: Global Perspective
Several factors and events that reflect future environmental challenges:
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Some oil companies and the World Wildlife Fund agree to prohibit World
Heritage site exploration
The abundance and appeal of heavy oil resources in Canada and Venezuela and a
new focus on producing those resources have collided with greenhouse gas
commitments and waste disposal issues
Aggressive “environmental liability management” has become the norm for
major companies in dealing with legacy issues and in avoiding future liabilities
The need to accurately measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions data for
purposes of future internal and external trading is driving a U.S./industry push
for “standardization” of management techniques
Even as the consequences of global warming are becoming clearer - climate
change impacts already recognized in the Arctic, with measurable disruptions to
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
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TY-BMS (Sem – 5)
Aboriginal lifestyles, wildlife, existing communities, and industrial development
—the exact causes are still debated, and in turn uneven global approaches have
created unique business challenges
There is a dire need to mitigate the worldwide loss of fisheries and underwater
habitats due to overexploitation and collateral damage
Activities in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea demonstrate the technical
and cost benefits of oil company collaboration in addressing environmental
research, and developing an environmental management strategy
Environmental Issues in India:
Across India, concern is mounting over an ever growing list of environmental problems.
More people means increased pressure on natural resources (from water to forests),
while an economy in high-gear is leaving a trail of pollution that’s affecting not only
India, but the rest of the world too
Deforestation
India is witnessing a rising demand for forest-based products. This is causing
deforestation and encroachment into forest protected areas, which leads to a severe
loss of natural resources.
It is estimated that total industrial roundwood consumption in India could exceed 70
million m3 per year by the end of the decade (350,000 large shipping containers), while
domestic supply would fall short of this figure by an estimated 14 million m 3.1
As the nation will have to depend heavily on imports to meet this growing demand,
there is fear that this could result in loss of high conservation value forests and
biodiversity elsewhere.
A thirst for palm oil
India is a big edible oil consumer. In fact, it is one of the three largest importers of palm
oil in the world, along with EU and China. Of these imports, 95% come from Indonesia
and Malaysia, causing negative social and environmental consequences in these
exporting countries.
Conversion of natural forests for cultivating oil palm is a major threat to biodiversity and
livelihoods in the tropics. Most of the lowland rainforest on the Indonesian island of
Sumatra has already been lost, largely because of the clearance for oil palm and pulp
wood plantations
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
TY-BMS (Sem – 5)
With the global demand for palm oil expected to increase from 28 million tonnes at
present to about 50 million tonnes in 20302, there are very serious concerns that this
will happen at the expense of biologically and economically important forests.
Pollution
Increasing competition for water among various sectors, including agriculture, industry,
domestic, drinking, energy generation and others, is causing this precious natural
resource to dry up. Increasing pollution is also leading to the destruction of the habitat
of wildlife that lives in waterways.
The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the work of scientists
such as Rachel Carson and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when
environmentalists started urging philosophers to consider the philosophical aspects of
environmental problems.
The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the
late 1970s and early 1980s – the US-based journal Environmental Ethics in 1979 and the
Canadian based journal The Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy in 1983. The first British
based journal of this kind, Environmental Values, was launched in 1992.
Ecologic extension
Alan Marshall's category of ecologic extension places emphasis not on human rights but
on the recognition of the fundamental interdependence of all biological (and some
abiological) entities and their essential diversity. Where as Libertarian Extension can be
thought of as flowing from a political reflection of the natural world, Ecologic Extension
is best thought of as a scientific reflection of the natural world. Ecological Extension is
roughly the same classification of Smith’s eco-holism, and it argues for the intrinsic
value inherent in collective ecological entities like ecosystems or the global environment
as a whole entity. Holmes Rolston, among others, has taken this approach.
This category includes James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis; the theory that the planet
earth alters its geo-physiological structure over time in order to ensure the continuation
of an equilibrium of evolving organic and inorganic matter. The planet is characterized
as a unified, holistic entity with ethical worth of which the human race is of no particular
significance in the long run
Conservation ethics
Marshall's category of 'conservation ethics' is an extension of use-value into the nonhuman biological world. It focuses only on the worth of the environment in terms of its
utility or usefulness to humans. It contrasts the intrinsic value ideas of 'deep ecology',
Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
28
Business Ethics & Corporate Social Responsibility
TY-BMS (Sem – 5)
hence is often referred to as 'shallow ecology', and generally argues for the preservation
of the environment on the basis that it has extrinsic value – instrumental to the welfare
of human beings. Conservation is therefore a means to an end and purely concerned
with mankind and intergenerational considerations. It could be argued that it is this
ethic that formed the underlying arguments proposed by Governments at the Kyoto
summit in 1997 and three agreements reached in Rio in 1992
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Prof. Abdul Kadir Khan
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