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Topic: Ethics and Social Responsibility ??Ethics are an individual belief system that consists of knowing what is right and wrong. – ethics are talked about frequently and addressed in the news when unethical decision are found. Sadly, people do not hear about ethics when others are engaging in ethical behavior on a daily basis. – Keep in mind that things that are not illegal may be unethical. – Ethics can vary person to person. – Ethics is in part analyzing decision, beliefs, and actions. Within the business context, businesses expected to have good ethical values and act socially responsible. – problem: the ethics of a business is a mixture of individual sets of ethics. This is why it is important to have good individuals as employees. – When you go to work somewhere that you feel like you share the values of those you work with. – Ethics is not just talking about the right thing. It is doing what is right in every decision that is made. ??Social responsibility can be an example of ethical behavior. A business can’t afford to go around doing good deeds if there is no potential pay off. If the business were to loose too much money, then it would cease to exist, hurt customers, and leave employees jobless. – Others argue that social responsibility is shown only when companies go beyond what is optional, and really intend to create a benefit for others besides the company. – Some companies may not benefit from some forms of social responsibility. These businesses should focus on what they do best as a business and give back what they can. Examples of socially responsible behavior range from projects that raise money for research on diseases, raising money for the needy, requiring workers to volunteer within the community, recalling products that may be dangerous, promoting recycling, and offering free services to the disadvantaged. ??The role of ethics an social responsibility in business – You may have stumbled upon this section by accident and don’t feel you have done anything in the workplace that is less than completely honest and ethical at all times. – You’ve always played by the rules of your industry.
However, many now-disgraced CEOs believed they also were playing by the “rules of the game. ” At the very least, they didn’t pay attention to the fact that the rules they chose to follow were skewed in their favor and against the interests of thousands of others. Questions: where do ethics come from? – People begin to develop their internal beliefs from the time they are small children. Factors such as the conditions that an individual grows up in affect the way what they see the world. – The beliefs of the peers around you may influence how you see things. It is human nature to want to belong and some are more apt to give into peer pressure. Questions: why do people engage in unethical behaviors? – Someone with lots of authority may feel like they can cover their tracks by lying to subordinates. – Some people are unethical because they can justify what they are doing. – Some individuals make a poor choice and instead of coming clean about it feel the need to make more choices to cover it up. – The biggest reason people are unethical is because they feel that they can gain from it, or that they need to hide something that can hurt them.