BUS220 chapter 4

Ethics

One's personal beliefs about whether a behavior, action, or decision, is right or wrong

Organizational justice (4 forms)

The perceptions of people in an organization regarding fairness

Ethical behavior

Behavior that conforms to generally accepted social norms.

Utility (ethical norm)

Does it optimize the best for all constituencies?

Types of government regulation

-environmental protection legislation -consumer protection legislation -employee protection legislation -securities legislation -tax codes

Techniques of managing ethical behavior

1. Creating ethics codes 2. Applying moral judgement 3. Maintaining organizational justice

Areas of ethical concern (3)

1. Relationships of the firm to the employee (ex: hiring/firing, wages) 2. Relationships of the employee to the firm (honesty, confidentiality, conflicts of interest) 3. Relationships of the firm to other economic agents (advertising, financial disclosure, negotiations)

Applying moral judgement

1. gather relevant factual information 2. determine the most appropriate moral values 3. Make an ethical judgement based on the rightness or wrongness of the proposed activity or policy

Rights (ethical norm)

Does it respect the rights and duties of the individuals involved?

Ethical decision making (utility, rights, justice, caring)

If the policy does not meet 1,2, or 3 of the criteria then it asks if there are overriding facts, incapacitating factors, etc (if no, then it is not ethical, if yes, then it is ethical)

Ethical decision making (utility, rights, justice, caring)

If the policy does not meet any of these criteria is it NOT ethical

Ethical decision making (utility, rights, justice, caring)

If the policy meets all of the criteria then it is ethical.

Justice (ethical norm)

Is it consistent with what is fair?

Social responsibility

The set of obligations an organization has to protect and enhance the societal context in which it functions.

Procedural justice

individual perceptions of the fairness used to determine various outcomes.

Caring (ethical norm)

is it consistent with my responsibility to care?

Distributive Justice

refers to people's perceptions of the fairness with which rewards and other valued outcomes are distributed within the organization.

Informational Justice

refers to the perceived fairness of information used to arrive at decisions.

How the government regulates social responsibility

regulation (the governments attempts to influence business by establishing laws and rules that control what the businesses can and cannot do)

Interpersonal justice

relates to the degree of fairness people see in how they are treated by others in their organizations

Managerical Ethics

the standards of behavior that guide individual managers in their work.