Business Ethics & Perception

1. The perception of ethics in business:
analysis of research results
By:
KISHOR.S – 118070
KRITI GUPTA - 118071

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3. Roadmap
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Introduction
Methodology
Objective
Analysis
Conclusion
Concept

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Introduction
● Business ethics along with CSR are of key importance in the existence of
companies in numerous countries and regions
● If a company wishes to be perceived as a reliable partner in business, it
should implement elements of both concepts, and indeed these concepts
themselves
● Companies utilise different sets of instruments in order to be regarded as
ethical organisations (e.g. codes of ethics, ethical values and norms)
● In practice, such companies often operate in a completely different manner

5. Objective
The goal of our referred research paper is to identify the scale and scope of the use
of Business Ethics in Poland and in the Czech Republic, in three sectors of the
economy, more specifically the pharmaceutical, tobacco and alcohol industries
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Pharmaceutical Tobacco Alcohol
Czech Republic Poland
3 Sectors

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Concept
❖ Ethics is derived from the Greek word ‘ethos’ which means a person’s fundamental orientation
toward life
❖ In the 21st century, business has transformed from irresponsibility to more ethical
responsibility. A number of scandals pertaining to frauds, deceptions and bribery have altered
the prevailing perception of companies.
❖ Managers in organizations face ethical issues every day of their working lives.
❖ Most definitions of ethics focus on evaluating the moral acceptability of the actions of
management, organizational leaders and their employees
❖ Concept of business ethics: the systematic study of moral issues (beliefs, norms, values, etc.)
occurring in business and the related behaviors of people, organizations, and institutions

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Business ethics & Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
❖ CSR operates on the principle that firms are obliged to meet their responsibilities to
their stakeholders and also shareholders
❖ CSR through religion. CSR, as a concept, addresses the fact that profitability from
business for some may come at the expense of others.
❖ The European Commission stated that CSR refers to companies which take
responsibility for the impact on society .
❖ Potential impact on executive decision-making and strategy development
❖ The main factors which influence CSR activities in European countries are:
- Corporate features (size, sector)
- General (legal system, culture, nationality)
- Internal factors (civil systems)

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10. Methodology
This research aims to identify the scale and scope of the use of Business Ethics in the sectors analyzed,
and was conducted in several main areas:
􀁸 Ethical institutions
􀁸 About myself
􀁸 About the stakeholders of my company
The research subjects included a group of 200 companies operating in the alcohol industry (40
companies), the tobacco industry (30 companies) and the pharmaceutical industry (also 30 companies).
Pharmaceutical
30 companies
Tobacco
30 companies
Alcohol
40 companies
Czech Republic
Poland
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Questionnaire
★ Questionnaires were sent to the companies which, under the Pareto rule, represent a minimum 80%
(and in some sectors even 100%) of the production potential of the given sector.
★ Proposed answers were provided in each of the analyzed areas, i.e.
respondents were asked to comment on the proposed statement, answering “yes”, “no” or “I do not
know”; or to indicate the correct answer on a scale of 1 to 5 points (1 - "I do not agree at all" and 5 - "I
agree completely".
★ A total of 54 responses were finally received, including 47 completed
questionnaires (21 in Poland vs. 26 in Czech Rep.)
★ The responses received allowed us to evaluate the utilization of Business Ethics
amongst the companies analyzed and to draw interesting conclusions from the
aforementioned research

12. Analysis of the research results
I. Ethical institutions
1. Does the Company have a Code of Ethics?
Poland Czech Republic
It is observed that around 2/3 rd of the companies have a very well framed code of ethics.
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13. 2 . Is CSR one of your company’s core principles or business objectives?
In total over 70% of the companies have CSR as a core corporate principle but it also observed that only 54% of the
companies in Czech republic have CSR as a core corporate principle whereas 76% of the companies in Poland have
CSR as a core corporate principle.
This wide difference may be due to several factors like the existing government, existing laws etc.
3. Does your company regularly publish a CSR or sustainability report ? # Majority of companies
surveyed don’t publish such
report
#The smallest number of
respondents (18-24%) didn’t
have knowledge in this regard
Despite around 70% of the companies having CSR as a core corporate principle only one third of the companies
publish their annual CSR Report
It is always easier to implement simple solutions (such as a Code of Ethics in the company) than to publish
detailed reports describing corporate social responsibility.
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Majority of Companies have clear procedures when it comes to unethical behaviour. In both the countries the Number
of companies having clear procedures against unethical behaviours are almost same.
This character of responses may suggest, however, that the companies wanted to be presented in a better
light than might be reflected in reality.
4. Does your company have clear procedures when ethical behavior occurs?
Q related to internal procedures pertaining to unethical behavior

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5. Do your company's internal regulation guarantee the employees the right to submit an abuse report
In Most of the companies there is a favourable situation for the employees where they can submit an
abuse report of they face any trouble
The nature of the responses may also suggest a higher level of determination among Czech respondents than those
of other countries.
Poland Czech Republic

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Q related to anti-corruption policy within the companies
Despite many companies having clear procedures against unethical behaviour and well framed code of ethics only 59% of
the companies have proper anti corruption policy
Only 1/10th of the total companies name have been mentioned in the media for ethics related issues which shows that
companies are operating in a healthier way

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II. About myself
Only 26% of the survey respondents are certain that they haven't faced any ethical dilemmas in work the
rest 74 % have sometime or other faced a ethical dilemma in their work
More than half of the respondents are pretty sure that haven't displayed unethical behaviour even in a
minor issue.

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And except a very few employees everyone else are very clear about ethical and unethical
behaviour in their work.
Majority of employees are aware about the codes of conduct and company's state in case of unethical
activities

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III. About stakeholders of my company
Whenever it is necessary customers are able to express their ethical requirements to the company only in
14% of the companies customers never convey their ethical requirements to the company
Majority of the companies are very much companies are cautious in avoiding unethical
ways of marketing and advertising

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Majority of the companies also sponsor and support activities in localities nearby and
around the company.
In most of the companies supervisors keep on stressing that ethical behaviour is the most important thing.

21. Discussion and conclusions
➢ Our research has confirmed that companies from the sectors in question use business
ethics in their operations, although their scale is differentiated.
➢ Czech respondents are much more determined than others: the number of “I don’t
know” responses was the smallest.
➢ Business ethics is regarded as a significant factor which has an influence both on the
success and profits of modern companies, and its role is set to increase in the future.
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➢ Research was concentrated on sectors selective only.
➢ Research was restricted to only two countries
Limitations
Referred research paper:
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212567115016147

22. Thank you!
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