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ETHICS AND ITS
CONCEPTUALIZATION IN LIFE Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, you should be able to:
Define and differentiate between ethics and morality Describe how ethics is developed in an individual List and explain the various factors that influence ethical values of an individual Compare and contrast ethics and legality Compare and contrast Western and Eastern perspectives on ethics critically Relate the role of religion as a key contributing factor in shaping ethical values in individuals Identify universally accepted moral values Recognize ethics and its importance in the global business world
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Ethics is important in life, what more in business. We can compare and contrast the concept of ethics from Western and Eastern perspectives, and discuss the role of religion in shaping one’s values. We often reflect and ask ourselves some basic questions: – How should I lead my life? – What type of person should I strive to be? – What values are critical for me to lead a rewarding life? – What standards or principles should I follow to conduct my life?
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Ethics can be described as a set of ‘principles that contains
behavioural codes to determine what is right or wrong’ (Khalidah et al., 2012). ‘The term ethics is derived from the Greek word, ethos, which means character, spirit and attitudes of a group of people or culture’ (Rahman, 2003). Ethics outlines the moral duty and obligations that any human being should practise. ‘The values an individual uses to interpret whether any particular action or behaviour is considered acceptable and appropriate’ (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2009).
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Velasquez (2012) and Nickels (2008) regard ethics as a
‘discipline that examines one’s moral behaviour or the moral standards of a society’. According to Abdullah and Zainol Abidin (2011), ethics ‘concerns itself with what is good or right in human interaction’. It revolves around three central concepts: ‘self’, ‘good’ and ‘other’. Ethics is also defined as ‘a critical analysis of human acts to determine their rightness or wrongness in terms of two major criteriatruth and justice’ (Mauro et al., 1999).
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
However, different approaches are adopted from social science fields such as anthropology, sociology and psychology (Velasquez, 2012). Although ethics is a normative endeavour as approached by ethicists, the social sciences engage in a descriptive approach in the study of ethics. A normative study is investigative and attempts to find conclusions on what acts are rightful or wrongful. It thus aims at discovering ‘what ought to be’.
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
A descriptive study, on the other hand, attempts to explain
the actual life situations in the world without arriving at any conclusion whether certain acts are wrongful or rightful. This is the approach more often taken by anthropologists and sociologists. They may study the moral standards of a society and culture but will not delve on assessing whether these moral standards are rightful or wrongful. Ethics scholars will study the moral standards from different perspectives, for example from individual, organizational or societal levels, and justify whether certain acts are right or wrong.
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Morality refers to norms, values and beliefs embedded in
social processes, which define right and wrong for an individual or a community. Ethics in contrast is the study of moral standards whose explicit purpose is to determine, as far as possible, whether a given moral standard or judgement based on that standard is more or less correct (Velasquez, 2012). This thus demands for analytical thought and application of reason to determine specific rules, principles or ethical theories that determine right or wrong for a given situation.
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
‘It comes from our inner feelings which subsequently
translate into our moral behaviour’ (Khalidah et al., 2012). Ethics thus begins with each one of us. According to Shaw (2011), rationally, we learn and adapt to the ethics and moral principles through our: Upbringing Socialization (i.e. the behaviour around those around us) Experiences and our critical reflections on those experiences (self-reflection) The explicit and implicit standards of our culture
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Although we value individual privacy, freedom of speech and
material wealth, we also value happiness by sharing and complementing others. We value compassion, respect, fairness and gratitude. If these values, among others, become the standards for a society’s quality of life and well-being, we will arrive at a consensus that ethics is integral in life. Ethics deal with individual character and moral values that govern and limit one’s conduct. Only ethical societies will sustain economic growth, prosperity and well-being. Without doubt, only ethical societies will sustain civilization and the dignity of humans as guardians of the universe.
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Ethics covers a broader scope. It relates to questions of right
and wrongdoing, rights and justice. Ethics reflects people’s relations with one another. Legality carries a narrower scope. It refers to laws that we have written to protect ourselves from fraud, theft and violence. An ethical person is someone who obeys the law, however, obeying the law need not necessarily justify that a person is ethical. Many immoral and unethical acts fall well within our laws (Nickels et al., 2008). They need not necessarily drive one’s self-conscience to internalize good values, reflective of an ethical person.
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Religion is one of the critical factors influencing an
individual’s ethical values. ‘Most religions embody the idea of a Transcendent Reality which has some bearing on the purpose and meaning of life, how one lives on earth, and what lies beyond this finite mortal existence’ (Chandra Muzaffar, 2009). Most religions have an ethical component. The Golden Rule of Life, ‘do to others what you want others to do to you’, is found in all religions. ‘Unfortunately, the international community has yet to recognize and appreciate the significance of this rule.’ (Chandra Muzaffar, 2005:2).
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
In fact, ‘For many people, ethics is not only tied up with
religion, but is completely settled by it. Such people do not think too much about ethics, because there is an authoritative code of instructions, a handbook of how to live.’ (Blackburn, 2001:9).
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
Christian ethics are based on the teachings in the Bible.
Christianity offers a view of human beings as unique products of a divine intervention that have been endowed with consciousness and the ability to love (Shaw, 2011). Christian ethics in general stresses the need for love, grace, mercy and forgiveness because of sin. In sum, the key principles of Christianity (i.e. the Kingdom of Heaven where Christ is King according to Scripture) are based on the following: – Humility or faith and trust in God. – Communication with God through prayer and self-denial.
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
The West has somewhat compromised religion as a factor
influencing ethics in support of secularism and universalism. The East still sees religion as an important contributing factor to shape one’s ethical values. The West has placed emphasis on secularism and universalism as ideologies to shape not only individual ethical values but to construct the state. These form the foundation of human rights, freedom of thought and rational thinking of the West.
BUSINESS ETHICS (SECOND EDITION) All Rights Reserved
In resolving ethical issues, the East has been seen to fall
back more on religious and cultural principles, much as the East respects the ‘liberal/universalistic’ views of the West. Man-made ethical theories and principles which are practically based on rational thinking and objectivity seem to be applied more by the West compared to the East.
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John Ortberg, The 'Shyness' of God - Self-Centeredness Is Cured by Looking Deeply Within The Life of The Trinity. Christianity Today 45.2 (F 5 2001) 66-67