Presentation on Ethics
in Business and Society
81 What Is Ethics?
A few years ago, sociologist Raymond Baumhart asked business people, "What does ethics mean to you?" Among their replies were the following:
"Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong." "Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs."
"Being ethical is doing what the law requires."
"Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts." "I don't know what the word means
In order to understand what ethics is, and what it might look like, it's important to distinguish the difference between ethics and values .
Ethics is about the way we treat one another and is an action concept that dictates how we choose to live our lives. The ultimate true test of our character is when we are willing to do the right thing even when it is not in our best interest to do so.
VALUES:
Refers to our core beliefs or desires , the things we value the most. Our values shape our attitudes and determines how we will behave in certain situations.
Ethical Values Vs. Non-Ethical Values:
Ethical Values directly relate to our beliefs concerning our moral duty as opposed to what is correct, effective, or desirable. These are the values that drive our principles.
Non-Ethical Values are concerned with things that we like or find personally satisfying and/or important, with no regard to the moral content.
When evaluating one’s goals and objectives, a vital question must be asked: What is your highest aspiration? A. Wealth B. Fame C. Knowledge D. Popularity E. Integrity
If integrity is second to any of the alternatives, then it is subject to sacrifice in situations where a choice must be made. Such situations will inevitably occur in every person’s life.
Why talk about ethics?
Why talk about ethics? In the aftermath of major corporate failures and questionable accounting practices, American Accounting Association President G. Peter Wilson said that in the classroom, educators need to increasingly emphasize the value of integrity, what has long been a mainstay of accountants’ reputation
In a recent Wall Street Journal article, Psychology professor Steven Davis says that
cheating by high school students has increased from about 20 percent in the 1940’s to 75 percent today.
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If students lack ethics in high school and college, then there should be little surprise that they lack ethics in their careers. Greed and over-reaching ambition often end in disastrous personal consequences. Convicted inside trader, Dennis Levine, in a Fortune magazine article wrote: Many institutions of higher education have instituted policies regarding ethics education. For example, the Faculty Handbook of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M University includes the following statement:
“Therefore, faculty and staff have a responsibility for creating an academic environment that promotes honest academic inquiry and teaches students ethical behavior in the process.” Educational Institutions have established ethics codes for their students, e.g. the U.S. Air Force Academy:
"We Will Not Lie, Steal Or Cheat, Nor Tolerate Among Us Anyone Who Does" -- Which do you think is the harder part:
Line 1 or Line 2? Why? What do profs think?
In a survey of college faculty, 187 professors responded to several statements about teaching ethics:
1. The importance of ethics and personal integrity should be stressed in the courses I teach.4.75 2. The basis for ethics and personal integrity should be discussed (e.g. benefit to society as a whole, moral and religious foundations of society, etc.) 4.11
Note: Scores are based on a scale from 1: Strongly Agree to 5: Strongly Disagree American Institute of CPAs Code of Professional Conduct, Principles Article I:
In carrying out their responsibilities as professionals, members should exercise sensitive professional and moral judgments in all their activities.
Is there an ethics crisis in America?
One recent national election day poll indicated that 56 percent of voters thought that America’s problems are “primarily moral and social.” Only 36 percent thought that the nation’s problems were “primarily economic.”
Can ethics be taught? Teddy Roosevelt said, “To educate a person in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.”
In his best-seller, The Closing of the American Mind, Allan Bloom says that the eternal conflict between good and evil has been replaced with “I’m okay, you’re okay.” Students unthinkingly embrace a blind tolerance in which they consider it “moral” never to think they are right because that mean someone else is wrong.
[Allan Bloom, The Closing of the American Mind, New York, Simon and Schuster, Inc. 1987] Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports… Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in the exclusion of religious principle.
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“We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.
President John Adams, 1789
“God who gave us life gave us liberty. Can the liberties of a nation be secure when we have removed a conviction that these liberties are the gift of God?”
“Indeed I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just, that His justice cannot sleep forever.” Thomas Jefferson
Declaration of Independence
The second paragraph of America's founding document states:
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are
endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness."
Where Do We Start? Upon What Can We Agree?
Whether we derive a code of ethics from religious beliefs, a study of history and literature, or personal experience and observation: We can all agree upon some basic values.
In an issue of Management Accounting, James Brackner stated: The universities are responding with an increased emphasis on ethical training for decision making. For the most part, however, they ignore the teaching of values. For moral or ethical education to have meaning there must be agreement on the values that are considered “right.”
Be sure you are right, then go ahead. Davy Crockett
1786-1836
A nation or a culture cannot endure for long unless it is undergirded by common values such as valor, public spiritedness, respect for others and for the law; It cannot stand unless it is
populated by people who will act on the motives superior to their own immediate interest. Chuck Colson, Against the Night
Michael Josephson, in Chapter 1 of Ethical Issues in the Practice of Accounting, describes the “Ten Universal Values: “Honesty, integrity, promise keeping, fidelity, fairness, caring, respect for others, responsible citizenship, pursuit of excellence, and accountability.”
“Until about 50 years ago, it was commonly accepted that universities were to provide students not only with knowledge and skills, but also moral guidance based on the essentials of the our tradition.”
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If we want to produce people who share the values of a democratic culture, they must be taught those values and not be left to acquire them by chance.
Cal Thomas, The Death of Ethics in America Can you make a difference?
“To sin by silence when they should protest makes cowards of men.” Abraham Lincoln
Do you think this relates to line 2 of the U.S.A.F. Academy Code of Honor?
The reputation of a thousand years may be determined by the conduct of one hour. Japanese proverb