Organizational Behavior
Chapter 2 The Role of Ethics in Decision Making
1. Contemporary Business Ethics
a. Ethics and Society- our diverse society formed from many ethnic backgrounds, races, and religions resulting in few shared ethical values to guide behavior
a.i. Public Education and Family Structure- decline in public education and family structure as sources for ethical teaching
a.ii. Economic Interdependence- increasing economic interdependence promotes concerns about business ethics
a.iii. News Media and the Internet- extensive coverage of business decisions and their impact on society makes us more aware than ever of failure of business ethics
b. Ethics and Government- changes in society have been accompanied by changes in the role of government. When business fail to make ethical decisions governments may step in resulting in business leaders becoming increasingly concerned with business ethics because they want to limit the amount of government regulation.
2. The Nature of Ethics
a. Ethics and Morality- sharing of moral values promotes social cooperation and is a significant means of social control
a.i. Morality- the collection of values that guides our behavior
a.ii. Ethics- a systematic statement of right and wrong together with a philosophical system that both justifies and necessitates rules of conduct
b. Ethics and Law- both consist of rules to guide conduct and foster social cooperation; both deal what is right and wrong
b.i. Society’s ethical values may become law through legislation or court decisions, and obedience to law is often viewed as being ethically correct
b.ii. The legal system is an institution of the state unlike ethics
b.iii. Motivation to observe ethics comes from within
b.iv. Motivation to observe the law comes from outside the individual in the form of state sanctions
3. Two Systems of Ethics
a. Formalism- an approach to ethics that affirms an absolute morality
a.i. A particular act is in itself right or wrong, always and in every
1. Contemporary Business Ethics
a. Ethics and Society- our diverse society formed from many ethnic backgrounds, races, and religions resulting in few shared ethical values to guide behavior
a.i. Public Education and Family Structure- decline in public education and family structure as sources for ethical teaching
a.ii. Economic Interdependence- increasing economic interdependence promotes concerns about business ethics
a.iii. News Media and the Internet- extensive coverage of business decisions and their impact on society makes us more aware than ever of failure of business ethics
b. Ethics and Government- changes in society have been accompanied by changes in the role of government. When business fail to make ethical decisions governments may step in resulting in business leaders becoming increasingly concerned with business ethics because they want to limit the amount of government regulation.
2. The Nature of Ethics
a. Ethics and Morality- sharing of moral values promotes social cooperation and is a significant means of social control
a.i. Morality- the collection of values that guides our behavior
a.ii. Ethics- a systematic statement of right and wrong together with a philosophical system that both justifies and necessitates rules of conduct
b. Ethics and Law- both consist of rules to guide conduct and foster social cooperation; both deal what is right and wrong
b.i. Society’s ethical values may become law through legislation or court decisions, and obedience to law is often viewed as being ethically correct
b.ii. The legal system is an institution of the state unlike ethics
b.iii. Motivation to observe ethics comes from within
b.iv. Motivation to observe the law comes from outside the individual in the form of state sanctions
3. Two Systems of Ethics
a. Formalism- an approach to ethics that affirms an absolute morality
a.i. A particular act is in itself right or wrong, always and in every