2. Business Ethics: Talk with a partner.
• What would you do in each of these situations?
• Your friend asks you to add a few extra hours to a work time sheet for him,
but you know that he did not put in the time.
• A salesperson in an electronics store offers to sell you an ipod after hours at
a discounted price.
• You are aware that the teller gave you back too much money when
completing a banking transaction.
3. Ethics
• Ethics are rules that help us tell the difference between right and wrong and
encourage us to do the right thing. They can help people decide on the best
course of action in situations were they aren’t sure what to do.
4. What is Ethical Behaviour?
• Ethical behavior is behavior that conforms to ethics – individual beliefs and
social standards about what is right and good. Ethics are also important for
getting along with others, living with yourself and having a good character.
• Ethical behaviour is based on values such as trustworthiness, respect,
responsibility, caring, justice and good citizenship.
5. Morals and Values
• Values tell us what we think is important and this in turn helps us make
decisions about right and wrong.
• E.g.. A trustworthy person is unlikely to betray a friend.
• Morals are rules we use to decide what’s good or bad.
• E.g. stealing in bad because it harms the person you are stealing from.
6. Code of Ethics
• Many companies choose to operate according to a code of ethics - a
document that explains specifically how employees should respond in
different situations.
• This is just a document sometimes it is hard to draw a line between right and
wrong. Some would say that people should use their own judgement first.
7. How can a business resolve a ethical dilemma?
• A dilemma is a situation where there is a diffcult choice between two or
more options
• An ethical dilemma is a moral problem with potential right or wrong
answers.
8. Whistle-blowing
• Whistle-blowing is the decision of an employee to inform officials or the
public about a legal or ethical violation.
• The employee discovers unethical, immoral or illegal actions at the workplace
and has to make a decision about what to do!
9. Fraud
• Fraud is a crime of lying or pretending. Some businesses mislead consumers
and try to trick them into buying something in order to maximise their
profits.
10. The Competition Act 2002
• The Competition Act 2002 bans these types of fraud and deceptive business
practices:
• false and misleading advertising
• advertising a bargain price for merchandise that is unavailable for sale in a
reasonable quantity (“bait and switch” selling)
• placing two different prices on a product and selling it to the consumer at the
higher price (double ticketing)
16. Examples of fraud
• Bank fraud - a bank officer makes a fraudulent loan to a non existent
business and then pockets the money.
• Consumer fraud- a business tricks customers into buying good or services
they don’t really need through unethical advertising or false claims
• Contract fraud - a business or individual use temptations, such as bribes or
kickbacks, to create a contract.
• Insurance fraud - A business or individual falsely claims lost, damaged or
stolen property in order to receive insurance settlements.
17. Examples of unethical behaviours
• Fraud - a method use to deceive someone for personal gain
• Forgery - a form of fraud tha tcould involve passing bad cheques by forging someone else’s name
• Theft - stealing someone’s property
• Employer Theft - could involve taking advantage of employees by not paying for overtime
worked
• Embezzlement - a form of fraud where a person violates a trust by moving funds into their
account instead of the correct account
• Misuse of funds - moving money from one about to another without permission or direction
18. Ethics 道德标准 and
Corporate Social Responsibility企业社会责任
• Business exhibit corporate social responsibility (CSR) through their values,
their ethics and the contributions that they make to their community.
• A socially responsible business provides goods and services in line with
society’s values.
• Socially responsible businesses are concerned about how they protect
customers and treat employees and shareholders.
20. Duty to report 责任报告
• As companies get bigger, ethical dilemmas become more difficult because
many groups need to be satisfied.
• Corporations for example have a duty to report, which means they must
disclose all important information ro shareholders, business partners and
leaders and everyone else involved in the business.
21. Laws that Govern Corporate Ethics
• Canada has many different laws that govern ethical behaviour in business.
• These laws govern the way a business interacts with it’s employees, customers
and community.
30. Classroom Conduct: Code of Ethics
• Come up with a code of ethics for
your classroom:
• These are rules for ethical
behaviour in the classroom!
• Your teachers will judge the best
one!
31. Task for this unit
• Research one of these companies
that have good CSR principles.
• Starbucks
• Costco
• Xerox - Community Involvement
Program
• TOMS shoes (One for one campaign)
• Patagonia (Supply Chain: The Footprint
Chronicles)
• Levi Strauss - worker wellbeing
