1101IBA Lecture Notes - Lecture 10: Corporate Social Responsibility, Childhood Obesity, Interactional Justice
30 May 2018
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Week 10 Management Concepts Lecture Notes
Ethical Behavior and Social Responsibility
What is ethical behavior?
• Ethics set stadards as to hat is good or ad, or right or rog i a persos
conduct.
• Ethical behaviour is aepted as right or good or proper i the otet of a
governing moral code.
• If an act is legal, some will proceed with it confidently, while others might believe
that the ethical test goes beyond legality. This is a matter of personal values.
• Values are broad beliefs about what is or is not appropriate behaviour.
Alternative views of ethical behavior
• There are many different interpretations of what constitutes ethical behaviour:
• The utilitarian view considers ethical behaviour as that which delivers the greatest
good to the greatest number of people.
• The individualism view considers ethical behaviour as that which advances long-
term self-interests.
• The moral-rights view considers ethical behaviour as that which respects and
protects the fundamental rights of people.
The Justice view
• The justice view considers ethical behaviour as that which treats people impartially
and fairly according to guiding rules and standards.
• Procedural justice is concerned that policies and rules are fairly administered.
• Distributive justice is concerned that people are treated the same regardless of
individual characteristics.
• Interactional justice is the degree to which others are treated with dignity and
respect.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Cultural issues in ethical behaviour
• Cultural relativism
• There is no one right way to behave; ethical behaviour is determined by its cultural
context.
• Universalism
• Alternative positions, in which ethical standards apply across all cultures.
• Critis all this a for of ethial iperialis, a attept to ipose oes ethial
standards on other cultures.
Ethical dilemmas
• An ethical dilemma is a situation that offers potential benefit or gain but is also
unethical.
• Often ambiguous and unexpected, ethical dilemmas are part of the challenge of
modern society.
• This is often a situation in which action must be taken but for which there is no clear
osesus o hat is right ad rog. The idiidual ust ake the hoice.
• Giving a reference for a friend whose performance is poor
• Should a MNC aager gie or reeie gifts for the passage of a suessful
contract if it is acceptable in that culture?
• Blowing the whistle on poor or illegal behaviour
• Advertising and childhood obesity
Rationalisations for unethical behaviour
• Four common rationalisations that are used to justify misconduct:
1. Convince yourself that the behaviour is not really illegal.
2. Coie ourself that the ehaiour is reall i eeroes est iterests.
3. Coie ourself that ood ill eer fid out hat oue doe.
4. Coie ourself that the orgaisatio ill protet ou.
• When in doubt about taking an action, don’t do it.
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
If an act is legal, some will proceed with it confidently, while others might believe that the ethical test goes beyond legality. This is a matter of personal values: values are broad beliefs about what is or is not appropriate behaviour. Interactional justice is the degree to which others are treated with dignity and respect. Ethics training: ethics training seeks to help people understand the ethical aspects of decision making, and incorporate high ethical standards into their daily behaviour, many ethical dilemmas arise as a result of the time pressures of decisions. Ethics training is designed to help people deal with ethical issues under pressure. Checklist for making ethical decisions: step 1. Decide which option to follow: step 6. Double-check decision by asking follow-up questions: step 7. Code of ethics: codes of ethics, written guidelines that state values and ethical standards intended to guide the behaviour of employees.
