Journal Entry #1 What are ethics and why is it important for business managers to have good ethics?

Journal Entry #2 What are some laws that you know of that relate to business ethics? Have you ever had an employer violate them?

Business Management Chapter 4 Ethics in Business

Why are ethics important? Reflect companies beliefs about what actions are appropriate and fair Businesses develop ethics to help determine how to behave Managers deal with ethical situations very often

How do managers deal with ethical dilemmas? Code of Ethics: document that outlines the principals of conduct to be used in making decisions with in the organization –Note: We will explore this more later! Developed to help managers know how to respond ethically to different business situations E.g. The boss is dating his co-worker who is his subordinate and other workers think he is showing favoritism…what do you do?

Behaving Badly Stealing from your employer Lying about your hours worked Falsifying documents Sexual harassment “Cooking the books” For the above situations termination is likely. But… What about…using the internet at work, taking personal calls at work, dating the boss, starting rumors?

Not clear? Sometimes the course of action that you would take as a manager is not clear See how you would handle the following situations.

1. Your boss informs you confidentially that one of your friends is going to be fired. Your friend is about to buy a house. Should you warn your friend that he is about to be fired, even though you promised your boss that you would not? 2. Your colleague has been violating your company’s code of ethics by accepting expensive gifts from sales person who does business with your company. Should you notify your supervisor? 3. One of your employees has been having serious personal problems, and you have tried to be understanding. However, your entire staff is suffering because of poor performance by this key team member. What should you do? Ones Threes Twos

Business Ethics Tensions Profits vs. higher wages Production vs. pollution Supplier benefits vs. consumer prices/lower costs Survival of the business versus needs of stakeholders (e.g. customers vs. board of directors)

Reminder The unit test will involve a case study in which you are to use the 6 steps from the next slide to work through the ethical dilemma Study those steps!!!

Solving Ethical Dilemmas 1.Accurately identify the problem 2.List facts that have most bearing weight on decision 3.Consider who your decision could injure/harm 4.Explain what each affected person would want you to do about the issue 5.List 3 alternative actions 6.Determine your course of action

In the “Real World” Perception vs. Reality How do you combat REAL issues when they exist? Consider public image/PR versus “doing the right thing.” Video Clip: “The Real Story Behind the Real Thing”

Problem and Solution The Other Side: Coca- Cola is not seen as a “good corporate neighbor” by all. Consider situation in India… Problem: Coca-Cola bottling plant in India has some negative externalities See article: Coke ArticleCoke Article

Code of Ethics, continued Code of ethics is a document that outlines the principles of conduct to be used in making decisions within the organization Some of the areas they cover are: Honesty Adherence to the law Health and safety in the workplaceConflicts of interest Selling and marketing practicesSecurity Political ActivitiesProtection of the environment Product safety and qualityEmployment practices

Code of Ethics (cont) Does merely having a code of ethics prevent unethical behavior? –NO! To be effective, it must be enforced! It is very important that companies discipline employees who violate their codes of ethics Nike Example

ACTIVITYACTIVITY Open the Professional Code of Ethics Activity – The link is provided below. Using the Internet, research the code of ethics for a profession you are interested in Read the code and choose four important policies to share with the class Create a flyer in MS Word, PPT, or Publisher to display the information The flyer should include the name of the professional organization, four policies, at least one image, and a professional design Assignment Link Teacher Example