ETHICS TRAINING

Dianne Klayman
 CONTENTS
 What is Ethics?
 How is ethics related to economics.
 The role of markets and market system.
 Meaning of business ethics. (ch 03 Rezaee)
 Governance, ethics and wellbeing
 Ethics from Islamic perspective
 Views of al-Ghazzali on Ethics
 CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
 Present the definition of ethics in general and business
ethics in particular.
 Recognize the need for a code of ethics that is upheld
especially by setting the right “tone at the top.”
 Understand the board’s role in setting the company’s
ethical codes.
 Recognize the benefits of and need for an ethical
workplace.
 Identify incentive programs and their roles in promoting
an ethical workplace.
 Factors influencing the ethical behavior
Ethical problems may vary from one person to another according to the
factors influencing the Ethical Behavior:

Legal Interpretations: In secular societies, legal interpretations are

based upon contemporary values and standards according to time,
country or situation.

Organizational Factors: The organization too can affect or influence

participant’s behavior based on the degree of commitment of the
organization's leader conduct

Individual Factors: Individuals come to work with different values

based on the personal values and morals, family influences, peer
influence and life experiences.
What are the six principles of business ethics and conduct?

 Comply with a written code of business conduct.

 Provide sufficient training to all personnel within their organization regarding personal
responsibility under the code.
 Encourage internal reporting of violations of the code with the promise of no retaliation for such
reporting.
 Self-govern their activities by implementing controls to monitor compliance with all applicable laws
and regulations.
 Share their best practices in implementing the DII principles through participation in an annual Best
Practices Forum.
 Be accountable to the public, particularly through the completion of an annual Public Accountability
Questionnaire.
What is ethics?

■ Ethics is the branch of philosophy that focuses on morality and the way in which moral
principles are applied to everyday life. Ethics has to do with fundamental questions
such as “What is fair?” “What is just?” “What is the right thing to do in this situation?”
Ethics involves an active process of applying values, which may range from religious
principles to customs and traditions.
 What is Ethics?

 Ethics may be defined as the set of moral principles that distinguish what is right from
what is wrong.

 Ethics has a twofold objective: it evaluates human practices by calling upon moral
standards.

 It may give prescriptive advice on how to act morally in a given situation.

What are the attributes of an ethical culture?

 Sense of employee responsibility.

 Freedom to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
 Managers modeling ethical behavior and expressing the importance
of integrity.
 An understanding by leadership of the pressure points that drive
unethical behavior.
 Processes to find and fix these areas of pressure.
 Areas of Business Ethics
■ Be sure to regularly remind employees of the areas in which your business takes
great care to perform ethically. These may include:

• Customer privacy

• Employee and customer data protection

• Money handling

• Customer relations

• Employee behavior
What is business ethics?

■ Business ethics focuses on what constitutes right or wrong behavior in the world of
business. Corporate business executives have a responsibility to their shareholders and
employees to make decisions that will help their business make a profit. But in doing
so, businesspeople also have a responsibility to the public and themselves to maintain
ethical principles.
Do Not Steal or Waste Resources
> Stealing is > Wasting resources costs the company
■ illegal money
■ unethical > Recycle items such as:
> Do not take items such as: ■ paper products
■ cash ■ grease
■ property ■ oil
■ office supplies
■ food
■ toiletries
Work Ethics
> Work Ethics for an Employer > Work Ethics for an Employee
■ To provide a safe work environment ■ To show up on time
for staff and employees ■ To tend to company business the
■ To treat employees with dignity and whole time while at work
respect ■ To treat the company’s resources,
■ To provide a fair wage for the equipment and products with care
services rendered ■ To give respect to the company by
■ To handle all business transactions working with honesty and integrity
with integrity and honesty
The Relationship Between Law and
Ethics
■ The law is an expression of the ethical beliefs of our society.
■ Law and ethics are not the same thing. The question, “Is an act
legal?” is different from the question, “Is an act ethical?” The
law cannot codify all ethical requirements. Therefore, an
action might be unethical, yet not necessarily illegal. For
example, it might be unethical to lie to your family, but it is not
necessary illegal.
What is ethics?

■ Ethics is the branch of philosophy that focuses on morality and the way in which moral
principles are applied to everyday life. Ethics has to do with fundamental questions
such as “What is fair?” “What is just?” “What is the right thing to do in this situation?”
Ethics involves an active process of applying values, which may range from religious
principles to customs and traditions.
What is business ethics?

■ Business ethics focuses on what constitutes right or wrong behavior in the world of
business. Corporate business executives have a responsibility to their shareholders and
employees to make decisions that will help their business make a profit. But in doing
so, businesspeople also have a responsibility to the public and themselves to maintain
ethical principles.
 Factors influencing the ethical behavior

Ethical problems may vary from one person to another according to the
factors influencing the Ethical Behavior:

Legal Interpretations: In secular societies, legal interpretations are

based upon contemporary values and standards according to time,
country or situation.

Organizational Factors: The organization too can affect or influence

participant’s behavior based on the degree of commitment of the
organization's leader conduct

Individual Factors: Individuals come to work with different values

based on the personal values and morals, family influences, peer
influence and life experiences.
 Examples of Ethical Issues
Ethical issues may vary from one organization to another according
to the factors influencing the Ethical Behavior:

 conflicts of interest,
 quality control issues,
 discrimination in hiring and promotion,
 misuse of proprietary information,
 abuse of company expense accounts,
 misuse of company assets,
 drug and alcohol abuse,
 environmental pollution, environmental destruction,
 etc.
What are the attributes of an ethical culture?

 Sense of employee responsibility.

 Freedom to raise concerns without fear of retaliation.
 Managers modeling ethical behavior and expressing the importance
of integrity.
 An understanding by leadership of the pressure points that drive
unethical behavior.
 Processes to find and fix these areas of pressure.
What are the six principles of business ethics and conduct?

 Comply with a written code of business conduct.

 Provide sufficient training to all personnel within their organization regarding personal
responsibility under the code.
 Encourage internal reporting of violations of the code with the promise of no retaliation for such
reporting.
 Self-govern their activities by implementing controls to monitor compliance with all applicable laws
and regulations.
 Share their best practices in implementing the DII principles through participation in an annual Best
Practices Forum.
 Be accountable to the public, particularly through the completion of an annual Public Accountability
Questionnaire.
 Value of Ethics in the Workplace

• Higher profitability: Your company’s bottom line is protected from fines that result from unethical
behavior. In addition, you may avoid plummeting stock prices that happen as a result of negative
publicity.

• Reduced risk: With ethical behavior, you can reduce actions that may put your business in
jeopardy, financially or otherwise.

• Increased engagement: Employees value working for companies that focus on ethical behavior.
This results in lower turnover and higher retention.
Questions to Keep in Mind
> Is it fair? > Am I confident in > Does it make
> Does it uphold the my decision? anyone
values of the > Will it be valid for uncomfortable?
organization? years? > Does it convey
> Can I tell my > Is it legal? respect for
others?
decisions to my > Will it hurt
employer, my family anyone? > Have I involved
and others? others by asking
> Does it positively their viewpoint?
> How would others represent the
regard the details if company?
public?
 Business Ethics

Corporate Culture Companies should promote a spirit of integrity that

goes beyond compliance.

Incentives Individuals within the company tend to act according

to incentives provided to them in terms of rewards
and the performance evaluation process.

Opportunities Effective corporate governance, internal controls, and

enterprise risk management can reduce the
opportunity for unethical conduct.

Choices Individuals, in general, are given the freedom to make

choices and usually choose those that will maximize
their well-being.
Human Relations Soft Skills/Transferable Skills

Dealing effectively with

conflict
Establishing Helping clarify
rapport misunderstandings
Creating an environment of
Being a social interaction
Treating people cooperative team
fairly member
Work Ethic Qualities

Responsibility Commitment and

Excellence

Flexibility Teamwork

Honestly Reliability
Code of Ethics

Code of Ethics
Employee
treatment

Wages,
benefits and
working
conditions

Workplace ethics serve as guiding

Behavior of principles that effective leaders use
employees to set the professional tone and
behavior.
 
Questions to Keep in Mind
> Is it fair? > Am I confident in > Does it make
> Does it uphold the my decision? anyone
values of the > Will it be valid for uncomfortable?
organization? years? > Does it convey
> Can I tell my > Is it legal? respect for
others?
decisions to my > Will it hurt
employer, my family anyone? > Have I involved
and others? others by asking
> Does it positively their viewpoint?
> How would others represent the
regard the details if company?
public?