ES438 Quality systems notes – Lecture 13 (Business Ethics)
Management Ethics
The Meaning of Ethics
Is the Meaning of Ethics Different in Business?
Internal Ethics, Respect, Responsibility and Communication
The meaning of Ethics
“The science of morals in human conduct”
How should we live?
What are our aims?
– Happiness?
– Knowledge?
– Virtue?
– Creation of beautiful objects?
What are our obligations?
– To ourselves?
– To everyone/everything else?
The standards by which human actions can be considered right or
wrong.
Ethics is the study of morality rather than morality itself.
– Could be thought of as moral philosophy
, It is linked but distinct from many other fields of study - it is not factual
in the sense of sciences.
It concerns the application of normative theories to practical moral
problems.
Is Ethics in Business Different?
Is ethics a discipline that is overlaid on other disciplines such as medicine,
law & politics?
If so, which takes preference when there is a conflict?
Ethics is a framework within which we operate in society.
You are the ref(ical)
- You are buying fruit and veg at a market stall. You notice that, while the
stallholder is distracted bagging your organic artisan-nurtured kohlrabi, a
homeless man you have seen in the area before steals two oranges and
walks away undetected. What do you do?
- As a manufacturing organization you discover that two of your suppliers are
using child labour; what do you do?
Management Ethics
The Meaning of Ethics
Is the Meaning of Ethics Different in Business?
Internal Ethics, Respect, Responsibility and Communication
The meaning of Ethics
“The science of morals in human conduct”
How should we live?
What are our aims?
– Happiness?
– Knowledge?
– Virtue?
– Creation of beautiful objects?
What are our obligations?
– To ourselves?
– To everyone/everything else?
The standards by which human actions can be considered right or
wrong.
Ethics is the study of morality rather than morality itself.
– Could be thought of as moral philosophy
, It is linked but distinct from many other fields of study - it is not factual
in the sense of sciences.
It concerns the application of normative theories to practical moral
problems.
Is Ethics in Business Different?
Is ethics a discipline that is overlaid on other disciplines such as medicine,
law & politics?
If so, which takes preference when there is a conflict?
Ethics is a framework within which we operate in society.
You are the ref(ical)
- You are buying fruit and veg at a market stall. You notice that, while the
stallholder is distracted bagging your organic artisan-nurtured kohlrabi, a
homeless man you have seen in the area before steals two oranges and
walks away undetected. What do you do?
- As a manufacturing organization you discover that two of your suppliers are
using child labour; what do you do?
