Business Ethics and
Social Responsibility
Unit 1
Chapter 4
Introduction to Ethics
• http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=wj1mHAZU
P2U
Background Knowledge
• So…what do you know
about…
ETHICS?
SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY?
Learning Targets
• Explain differences
between ethics and the
law
• Make personal
connections about
ethics, choices and your
decision making process
Academic Vocabulary
•
•
•
•
Ethics
Law
Business Ethics
Code of ethics
What is Ethics?
• Formal definition: set of moral principles by
which people conduct themselves personally,
socially, and professionally.
• Informal definition: Doing the right thing even
when no one is looking
• Business ethics: Set of laws about how a business
should conduct itself – legally and humanely
Ethics is not…law
• The law is established by governing bodies
such as local, state, and federal legislators and
hold all citizens accountable to the statutes or
rules.
• Violators of law pay consequences i.e. speed
in school zone, get hefty ticket.
• Line between ethics and law is often murky
Ethical Codes
• Code of ethics – a set of strict guidelines for
maintaining ethics in the workforce
• Professional groups, such as doctors, lawyers,
journalists and teachers, have their own codes
as well.
• Professionals can lose license and livelihood
for violating ethical code i.e. cheating on
standardized test
Ethics or Law?
•
•
•
•
Slavery
Abortion
“Pulling the plug”
Doing personal business
on company time
• Taking credit for someone
else’s work
• Telling your friend’s mom
your friend is with you
spending the night and is
out with her boyfriend
• Ethics are rules of
conduct
• Laws are rules established
by legislators and
enforced by regulators or
law enforcement
The Law
Most of the time laws are written, approved, and then
enforced by the level of government where they were
written.
For example, a State law is enforced by the state. A
Federal law is enforced by the Feds. In other words;
State Laws and Government Laws go through a process
to get approved, written into law, and then are
enforced.
Ethics
•
Ethics are like rules of conduct. For example, doctors have unwritten ethical rules
or practices that they adhere to just because it's the right thing to do.
•
They have the responsibility to take care of you to the best of their ability. It's
ethically correct for a doctor to do his best to help you with your medical malady,
but it's not a law that he has to.
•
If a Doctor is unable to help you with your problem he has an ethical responsibility
to refer you to a specialist, but there is not a law saying that he has to do that.
•
Most occupations have ethics that come along with the job. Not all are written
down, most are unspoken rules of conduct that people adhere to.
•
For example an electrician has an ethical responsibility to repair your house wiring
correctly so that it works correctly and is not a safety hazard for you.
A key difference is in terms of the sanctions
(consequences) which apply if these are violated.
If you break an ethical code you may face disapproval
from your peers, disciplinary proceedings from a
professional body etc.
If you break the law and you could face a police
investigation, a court appearance, various penalties
like a fine or imprisonment etc. It might mean the
difference between losing your job or your liberty.
Georgia’s hands were sweating. She was fifteen minutes into her math final when she began to panic. This exam
was worth most of her grade in the class. She understood math—even liked it—and usually did really well. Her
constant problem was that she wasn’t a strong test-taker. Her grades never reflected her understanding of the
material she studied.
Now, here she was, once again stuck on one problem worth twenty-five points on the test, and she was drawing a
blank. She put her head down on the desk and concentrated as hard as she could. She remembered doing a similar
problem in class and explaining it to her friend Jessie, but now she was so stressed out by the test, she couldn’t
even remember how to begin the problem.
She lifted her head and stared at her test. She listened to the clock tick on the wall and imagined her parents’
expression when she receives her report card. Jessie was sitting right in front of her. He is always a good test taker
and had already solved the problem. The teacher had his backed turned and was on the other side of the room.
Georgia could look over Jessie’s shoulder, get the answer, and no one would know.
Georgia needed to think quickly. She thought about how unfair it was that she regularly does badly on tests even
though she works so hard in class and understands the material, too. She thought about how often she helped
Jessie in class throughout the semester. What should she do?
She prided herself on doing what was right. But how right is it that she has to work in a system that doesn’t reward
such hard work?
Finally, she took a deep breath. She looked to see if the teacher was still on the other side of the room, and glanced
over Jessie’s shoulder just long enough to get the final answer to the question. Then, she figured out the rest of the
problem on her own. In the moment, she felt great about her decision. She felt she had sort of created an ethical
compromise.
But on the way home on the bus, Georgia’s good feelings started to fade. “What exactly is an ethical compromise
anyway?” she thought to herself. Should she tell her teacher what she did or move forward and forget about the
whole thing?
Check for understanding
Ethics
Ethics is the set of principles
in which you conduct yourself
in society.
How often do you help the
environment? What do you
do?
Apply it! Criteria for Success
• Lesson-to-life connection
-Identify a time when you
made an ethical decision.
-Write a paragraph
describing the situation and
analyzing the ethics
involved.
-Explain the outcome of the
decision.
-Reflect and describe a key
learning from that
experience.
Learning Targets
• Explain business ethics.
• Give reasons why
ethical behavior is good
for business.
Academic Vocabulary
• Sweatshops-factories
that have unsafe
working conditions and
treat workers badly and
pay poorly.
• Hypocrisy-pretense of
having a virtuous
character, moral or
religious beliefs or
principles that one does
not really possess
• Conflict of interestwhen a business is
tempted to put profits
before social welfare
Regulators
• Governmental agencies
that regulate businesses
– Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA)
– Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
(OSHA)
– Food and Drug
Administration (FDA)
Sweatshops
• The US Government
sets up agencies such as
Occupational Safety and
Health Administration
(OSHA) to enforce work
related health and
safety rules.
• Sweatshops violate such
rules.
Nike Sweatshop
Nike Sweatshop
• http://www.youtube.co
m/watch?v=M5uYCWVf
uPQ
• What are your
observations and
opinions after viewing
this video?
Unethical Companies
• Use sweatshops to
make money which is
considered unethical
• Often violate laws of
countries in which
sweatshops operate
• Are subject to fines,
lawsuits, and new
regulations
• Sweatshops are defined
as factories that have
unsafe working
conditions, treat
workers badly, and pay
poorly.
Legal Responsibility
• http://espn.go.com/esp
n/otl/story/_/id/743542
4/dallas-cowboys-dipsports-apparelbusiness-comesallegations-sweatshoplabor
Good Ethics is Good Business
Ethical behavior matters. Ethics involve many
relationships among buyers/sellers;
employers/employees; business/government;
business/society. Ethical behaviors impact
-company reputation with customers,
community, stakeholders, press, etc.
-relationship with employees
-retention of staff
-marketing and ability to make profit
Important Ethical Questions
• When considering a questionable course of
action, ask yourself:
– Is it against the law?
– Does it violate company or professional policy
– What if everyone did this? How would I feel if
someone did this to me?
– Am I sacrificing long-term benefits for short-term
gains (remember opportunity cost)?
Main Idea
• All relationships, whether personal or
professional, work best when there is mutual
trust.
Apply it- Criteria for Success
• After viewing the video,
read the article “The
Unseen Faces of Sports
Apparel” and evaluate
examples of corporate
ethical decisions.
• Write a reflection about
“The Unseen Faces of
Sports Apparel”
–
–
–
–
Define words in a ☐
List five ethical violations
Describe Kol Malay’s life
Compare and contrast
your life with Kol’s
– Propose solutions to the
ethical violations
Learning Targets
• Define social
responsibility.
• Describe the social
responsibilities of
businesses.
• Identify examples of
Patagonia being socially
responsible.
• Compare and contrast
ethical decisions of two
apparel companies.
Academic Vocabulary
• Social responsibilityduty to do what is best
for the good of society
• Social responsibility
takes into consideration
all that the business
does or does not do to
solve problems of
society.
• Business ethics focus on
decisions considered
good/bad;
correct/incorrect
Patagonia
• http://video.patagonia.com/video/WhatsDone-in-Our-Name-Social-R
• Turn and talk with your partner about ways
Patagonia is choosing to be socially
responsible.
Making Decisions on Ethical Issues
• Use this process to help you make more
INFORMED ethical decisions.
– Identify the ethical dilemma.
– Discover alternative actions.
– Decide who might be affected.
– List the probable effects of the alternatives.
– Select the best alternative.
Apply It- Criteria for Success
Using the guidelines to
making decisions on
ethical issues, compare
and contrast the two
apparel companies,
Denver Cowboys and
Patagonia. Use worksheet
to complete this
assignment.
Check for Understanding
• How do companies
benefit by enforcing
their own code of
ethics?
• Why does it pay to treat
customers ethically?
• What are some
important ethical
questions to ask?
Learning Targets
• Describe responsibilities
to customers
• Define responsibilities
to employees
• Explain responsibilities
to society
• Debate the Equal Pay
Act Success
Responsibilities of Employers
• Creating jobs
• Providing safe working
conditions, equal
treatment, fair pay
• Giving back to the
community via
volunteer programs
• Monetary or in-kind
donations
• Society as a whole
• Equal Pay Act- passed
in 1964, this law
requires that men and
women be paid the
same wages for doing
equal work
• However, a pay gap
between the sexes still
exists today. How is
that ethical?
Main Ideas
• Customers are a
business’s first
responsibility.
• Businesses should offer
a good, safe product or
service at a reasonable
price.
• Behaving ethically is
good for business.
Tylenol Poisoning 1982
• http://abcnews.go.com
/Archives/video/oct1982-tylenol-poisoning9727309
What happens when businesses make
unethical decisions?
• Some companies conspire to control market
• This gives consumers less choice and gives
companies unfair advantage in marketplace
• With less competition, productivity decreases
• Unethical business practices may be subject to
fines and legal action
• Consider how oil and gas are affected today
because of politics and perhaps ethics….
Governmental Oversight
• Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) – federal
agency that enforces rules that protect the
environment and control pollution
• Food and Drug Administration (FDA) –
government agency established to protect
consumers from dangerous or falsely advertised
products
• Most companies obey these rules.
• What are consequences for violating FDA or EPA
mandates?
Check for understanding
• Define social responsibility.
• What is a conflict of interest?
• What do companies adopt in the workplace to
treat their employees fairly?
Apply it – Criteria for Success
•
•
•
•
Select a partner
Click on one of two websites on following slide
Select an article of ethical interest to you
Read and highlight the article noting key
ethical terms and dilemmas
• Prepare a brief (5-6 slides) PPT summarizing
the article. Apply the “making decisions on
ethical issues” and share your thoughts with
the class.
Reflecting on Ethics
• http://www.businessweek.com/managing/co
mpany/business_ethics/
• http://business-ethics.com/
How has your background knowledge
improved?
• So…what do you know
about…
ETHICS?
SOCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY?
For each topic
Write TWO Ah Ha’s
Write TWO questions