5. BUSINESS ETHIC
• MORAL REASONING IS A STUDY IN PSYCHOLOGY THAT OVERLAPS
WITH MORAL PHILOSOPHY. IT IS ALSO CALLED MORAL
DEVELOPMENT.
• TO A MORAL CERTAINTY : USED IN A DIFFERENT SENSE: REASONING
UNDER CONDITIONS OF UNCERTAINTY, SUCH AS THOSE COMMONLY
OBTAINED IN A COURT OF LAW.
MORAL REASONING CAN BE DEFINED AS BEING THE PROCESS IN
WHICH AN INDIVIDUAL TRIES TO DETERMINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN
WHAT IS RIGHT AND WHAT IS WRONG IN A PERSONAL SITUATION BY USING
LOGIC. THIS IS AN IMPORTANT AND OFTEN DAILY PROCESS THAT PEOPLE
USE IN AN ATTEMPT TO DO THE RIGHT THING
6. BUSINESS ETHIC
can be seen as personal choice, some choices can be seen as
an economic choice, or an ethical choice described by some
ethical code or regulated by ethical relationship with others.
Every day for instance, people are faced with the dilemma of
whether or not to lie in a given situation. People make this
decision by reasoning the morality of the action and weighing
that against its consequences
7. BUSINESS ETHICS
• FOUR COMPONENTS OF MORAL BEHAVIOUR :
• MORAL SENSITIVITY, WHICH IS "THE ABILITY TO SEE AN
ETHICAL DILEMMA, INCLUDING HOW OUR ACTIONS WILL
AFFECT OTHERS.
• MORAL JUDGMENT, WHICH IS "THE ABILITY TO REASON
CORRECTLY ABOUT WHAT 'OUGHT' TO BE DONE IN A
SPECIFIC SITUATION.
• MORAL MOTIVATION, WHICH IS "A PERSONAL COMMITMENT
TO MORAL ACTION, ACCEPTING RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE
OUTCOME.
• MORAL BEHAVIOR IS MORAL CHARACTER, WHICH IS A
"COURAGEOUS PERSISTENCE IN SPITE OF FATIGUE OR
TEMPTATIONS TO TAKE THE EASY WAY OUT."
8. BUSINESS ETHICS
Lawrence Kohlberg says :
Widely accepted theory that provides the basis for empirical evidence on
the influence of human decision making on ethical behaviour. Moral
development consists of the growth of less egocentric and more impartial
modes of reasoning on more complicated matters.
People pass through three main stages of moral development as they
grow from early childhood to adulthood. These are preconventional
morality, conventional morality, and postconventional morality.
9. BUSINESS ETHICS
• PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL IS OBEDIENCE AND
PUNISHMENT. IN THIS STAGE PEOPLE, USUALLY YOUNG
CHILDREN, AVOID CERTAIN BEHAVIORS ONLY BECAUSE OF
THE FEAR OF PUNISHMENT, NOT BECAUSE THEY SEE
THEM AS WRONG.
10. BUSINESS ETHICS
• SECOND STAGE IN THE PRECONVENTIONAL LEVEL IS
CALLED INDIVIDUALISM AND EXCHANGE, IN THIS STAGE
PEOPLE MAKE MORAL DECISIONS BASED ON WHAT BEST
SERVES THEIR NEEDS.
11. BUSINESS ETHICS
• THE THIRD STAGE IS PART OF THE CONVENTIONAL
MORALITY LEVEL AND IS CALLED INTERPERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS. IN THIS STAGE ONE TRIES TO CONFORM
TO WHAT IS CONSIDERED MORAL BY THE SOCIETY THAT
THEY LIVE IN, ATTEMPTING TO BE SEEN BY PEERS AS A
GOOD PERSON.
12. BUSINESS ETHICS
• FOURTH STAGE IS ALSO IN THE CONVENTIONAL MORALITY
LEVEL AND IS CALLED MAINTAINING SOCIAL ORDER. THIS
STAGE FOCUSES ON A VIEW OF SOCIETY AS A WHOLE AND
FOLLOWING THE LAWS AND RULES OF THAT SOCIETY.
13. BUSINESS ETHICS
• THE FIFTH STAGE IS A PART OF THE POSTCONVENTIONAL
LEVEL AND IS CALLED SOCIAL CONTRACT AND INDIVIDUAL
RIGHTS. IN THIS STAGE PEOPLE BEGIN TO CONSIDER
DIFFERING IDEAS ABOUT MORALITY IN OTHER PEOPLE
AND FEEL THAT RULES AND LAWS SHOULD BE AGREED ON
BY THE MEMBERS OF A SOCIETY.
14. BUSINESS ETHICS
• FINAL STAGE OF MORAL DEVELOPMENT, THE SECOND IN
THE POSTCONVENTIONAL LEVEL, IS CALLED UNIVERSAL
PRINCIPLES. AT THIS STAGE PEOPLE BEGIN TO DEVELOP
THEIR IDEAS OF UNIVERSAL MORAL PRINCIPLES AND WILL
CONSIDER THEM THE RIGHT THING TO DO REGARDLESS
OF WHAT THE LAWS OF A SOCIETY ARE.
15. BUSINESS ETHICS
Jean Piaget.
Developed two phases of moral development, one common
among children and the other common among adults. The
first is known as the heteronomous phase. This phase,
more common among children, is characterized by the idea
that rules come from authority figures in one's life such as
parents, teachers, and god. It also involves the idea that
rules are permanent no matter what. Thirdly, this phase of
moral development includes the belief that "naughty"
behavior must always be punished and that the punishment
will be proportional.
16. BUSINESS ETHICS
• MORAL DEVELOPMENT IS REFERRED TO AS THE
AUTONOMOUS PHASE. THIS PHASE IS MORE COMMON AFTER
ONE HAS MATURED AND IS NO LONGER A CHILD. IN THIS
PHASE PEOPLE BEGIN TO VIEW THE INTENTIONS BEHIND
ACTIONS AS MORE IMPORTANT THAN THEIR CONSEQUENCES
17. BUSINESS ETHICS
Moral development is referred to as the autonomous phase. This phase
is more common after one has matured and is no longer a child. In this
phase people begin to view the intentions behind actions as more
important than their consequences. This phase also includes the idea
that people have different morals and that morality is not necessarily
universal. People in the autonomous phase also believe rules may be
broken under certain circumstances
18. BUSINESS ETHICS
Jonathan Height defines moral as:
• The sudden appearance in consciousness
of a moral judgment,including an affective
valence (good–bad, like–dislike), without
any awareness of having gone through
steps of searching, weighing evidence,or
inferring a moral conclusion.
• Many people do not utilize conscious
reasoning to make our judgments.
• Difference between the strategies used by
men and women to solve moral dilemmas,
use of gender socialization theory in the
context of business ethics, development of
scenarios illustrating various ethical
dilemmas in business.
• In deontology, the morality of an action
depends on its consistency with a moral
norm.
• Utilitarianism holds that an action is moral
if it maximizes utility, or the greatest good
for the most people. From a utilitarian
19. BUSINESS ETHICS
• THE FINDINGS SUGGEST THAT WOMEN HAVE A STRONGER
EMOTIONAL AVERSION TO CAUSING HARM THAN MEN.
HOWEVER, MEN AND WOMEN ENGAGE IN SIMILAR LEVELS
OF RATIONAL THINKING ABOUT THE OUTCOMES OF
HARMFUL ACTION. THE FINDINGS ARE IN LINE WITH
PREVIOUS RESEARCH SHOWING THAT WOMEN ARE MORE
EMPATHETIC TO THE FEELINGS OF OTHER PEOPLE THAN
MEN, WHEREAS GENDER DIFFERENCES IN COGNITIVE
ABILITIES TEND TO BE SMALL OR NON-EXISTENT.
21. 1ST SCENARIO
As the manager of a toy store at holiday time, would you break
a promise to a previous customer and sell a toy in scarce
supply to a woman who claimed her child was very ill? Such
was the dilemma respondents faced in the first scenario, the
results of which are displayed in Figure 1.
22. The scenario was intended to be a test of Gilligan's belief that men
exemplify a moral orientation of "rights and rules,"
whereas women exemplify one of "compassion
and caring." A logical hypothesis would be that women would be more
likely to break their prior promise out of overriding
sympathy for the ill child, whereas men would be likely to hold
to their original commitment out of fairness. Results
supported this hypothesis, with twice as many women as men deciding that
they would sell to the woman--a statistically significant difference. Moreover, it
is apparent that women found the ethical dilemma more troubling than men,
because nearly three times as many women were unsure.
23.
24. • THE READER PANEL CONCLUDED THAT THESE
GENDER DIFFERENCES FIGURED IN THE
NARRATIVE RESPONSES:
• * MEN TENDED TO "SOLVE" THE DILEMMA IN
BRIEF, DECLARATIVE ANSWERS, WHILE
WOMEN WROTE AT MUCH GREATER LENGTH.
• * WOMEN WORKED HARDER THAN MEN TO
DEVISE IMAGINATIVE WAYS TO TRY TO
RESOLVE THE PROBLEM TO THE
SATISFACTION OF ALL PARTIES.
• * MANY MORE MEN THAN WOMEN
QUESTIONED THE HONESTY OF THE MOTHER
25. 2ND SCENARIO
A straightforward issue of personal honesty. As a salesperson attending a
trade show, you have the opportunity to pick up an important document
inadvertently left behind by a competitor. As shown in Figure 2, there were no
significant differences in responses of males and females, with more than
half of each sex indicating they would take the document.
26.
27. These gender differences were observed in the narrative
explanations:
* Females went to greater lengths to justify or rationalize
a "yes" decision.
* Females were more inclined to blame the individual
who misplaced the document.
* Females often made a point of exactly how they would
examine the document, implying that this made a moral
difference, whereas none of the males did.
* Many more males than females who said "no" gave as
their reason the fear that they might be observed.
30. SCENARIO 3: “TELL ABOUT
PRODUCT”• THIS SCENARIO INVOLVED POWERFUL RELATIONAL ISSUES INCLUDING TRUST AND
CREDIBILITY, AS WELL AS THE HEALTH AND FUTURE CAREER OF THE PATIENT.
• AS INDICATED IN FIGURE 3, WOMEN WERE SIGNIFICANTLY MORE LIKELY TO
DISCLOSE THE INFORMATION.
• NARRATIVE RESPONSES REVEALED CLEAR GENDER DIFFERENCES IN THE
REASONING OF THE DECISIONS:
- RELATIVELY FEW MALES DISCUSSED THE DILEMMA IN
ETHICAL TERMS, WHILE MOST FEMALES DID.
- MALES WERE MORE LIKELY TO OFFER THE SELF-SERVING
JUSTIFICATION THAT DISCLOSING THE INFORMATION WOULD ENHANCE
THEIR CREDIBILITY AND INCREASE FUTURE SALES POTENTIAL.
- MALES MORE COMMONLY STRESSED THE BELIEF THAT THEIR PRIMARY
OBLIGATION IS TO SELL THE PRODUCT OF THE COMPANY THEY WORK FOR.
- FEMALES WERE MORE LIKELY TO CONCEIVE OF INDIRECT WAYS, SUCH AS
“HINTS,” TO
31.
32. SCENARIO 4: “CONSULT
PSYCHOLOGIST?”
• THIS SCENARIO INVOLVED STRONG RELATIONAL CONTENT, FOCUSING ON SUCH
POSSIBLE ISSUES AS BREACHING A CONFIDENCE AND TAMPERING WITH A
PERSON’S MENTAL HEALTH. AS INDICATED IN FIGURE 4 SHOWS THAT MANY MORE
MALES THAN FEMALES SAID THEY WOULD DO SO.
• NARRATIVE RESPONSES WERE DEEMED BY THE READERS TO SHOW THESE MAJOR
GENDER DIFFERENCES;
─ MANY MORE FEMALES THAN MALES DISCUSSED THE SITUATION IN TERMS OF
POSSIBLE ETHICAL ISSUES.
─ MALES WERE MUCH MORE INCLINED TO OFFER SOME RATIONALIZATION AS TO
HOW THE PROSPECT WOULD ACTUALLY BENEFIT.
─ MOST OF THE MEN’S RESPONSES WERE EXPRESSED IN MATTER-OF-FACT
TERMS, WHILE MANY FEMALES EMPLOYED PASSIONATE AND EMOTIONALLY
CHARGED LANGUAGE, OFTEN REGISTERING A TONE OF OUTRAGE AT THE VERY
SUGGESTION.
36. This scenario fell into the category of a classic situation
in selling. The purchasing agent of an important account
wants an expensive gift; to provide it would violate
company policy, while not providing it could lose the
account
37. Figure 5 shows that males were more than four
times as sure they would provide the gift than were
females
38. The reader panel found these gender differences in the
narrative responses:
* Males who would provide the gift generally gave
pragmatic explanations that it was necessary to keep the
account.
39. * Males who would refuse the gift generally gave equally
pragmatic explanations, such as the danger of being
caught stealing.
40. * Females were much more inclined to stress the
moral issues involved.
41. * Many more females than males perceived the
situation as one of exploitation.
44. You are hiring for an open sales position, and the best
qualified candidate is a man who has suffered a terrible
disfigurement as the result of a heroic action. But you fear
that customers may be repelled by his appearance. Would
you hire him anyway?
45. Figure 6 shows that more women than men
would do so, but that the difference was not
statistically significant
46. Narrative responses showed notable differences
between men and women in the reasoning underlying
their decisions:
* Males tended to dismiss somewhat perfunctorily the
applicant's misfortune, arguing that sales performance
was the only real issue.
47. * Females often made inferences about the candidate's
good character that they deemed relevant to their decision.
48. * Many female "negatives" went to great lengths to describe
how they would find the person another position that did not
involve sales contact.
49. * Many female "positives" suggested steps they would
take to ease the burden on the candidate, such as calling
customers in advance.
50. * Many females discussed feelings--the candidate's or
others'--arguing that these should be the determinant of
such a decision.
51. * Many males took pains to explain why feelings
should not affect decisions.
54. CONCLUSION
• STRONGLY SUPPORTS THE CONTENTION OF GENDER
SOCIALIZATION THEORY THAT MEN AND WOMEN BRING
DIFFERENCE ETHICAL STANDARDS AND VALUES TO THE
WORK ENVIRONMENT.
• GENDER SOCIALIZATION DIFFERENCES ARE OVERRIDDEN
BY THE COSTS AND REWARDS OF THE WORK
ENVIRONMENT.
• MEN AND WOMEN DIFFER CONSIDERABLY IN THEIR
MORAL REASONING PROCESSES IN EXPLAINING AND
JUSTIFYING THEIR DECISIONS.
55. ETHICAL CLIMATE
• MORE SENSITIVE AND CARING TREATMENT OF
CUSTOMERS;
• MORE CREATIVE APPROACHES TO PROBLEM SOLVING;
• MORE EFFECTIVE RELATIONSHIP BUILDING;
• CREATING GREATER TRUST IN INTERPERSONAL AFFAIRS;
AND
• MORE SUPPORTIVE AND UNDERSTANDING SUPERVISORY
STYLES.
56. RECOMMENDATION
1
WHEN COMPANIES DRAFT
CODES OF ETHICS, WOMEN'S
VIEWS SHOULD BE INCLUDED.
THIS STUDY HAS
REINFORCED EARLIER
STUDIES SHOWING THAT
WOMEN OFTEN PERCEIVE
ETHICAL ISSUES IN POLICIES
OR PRACTICES WHERE MEN
DO NOT
2
WHEN FIRMS HAVE RECURRING
ETHICAL PROBLEM SITUATIONS,
GROUP DISCUSSIONS SHOULD
BE ORGANIZED TO INCLUDE MEN
AND WOMEN FOR THE PURPOSE
OF WORKING TOGETHER ON
MORE CREATIVE SOLUTIONS AS
TO HOW THE PROBLEMS CAN
BEST BE SOLVED.
3
TRAINING PROGRAMS AND CAREER-
LONG PROFESSIONAL
DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS SHOULD
INCLUDE ROLE-PLAYING OF
HYPOTHETICAL ETHICAL
SITUATIONS BY BOTH SEXES SO
THAT EACH CAN LEARN FROM THE
OTHER, THROUGH
DEMONSTRATION AND DISCUSSION,
THE VALUES OF DIFFERENT MODES
OF MORAL REASONING
57.
58. WAHAI ORANG-ORANG YANG BERIMAN! JANGANLAH KAMU
MENGKHIANATI (AMANAH) ALLAH DAN RASULNYA, DAN
(JANGANLAH) KAMU MENGKHIANATI AMANAH-AMANAH KAMU,
SEDANG KAMU MENGETAHUI (SALAHNYA).
O YOU WHO HAVE BELIEVED, DO NOT BETRAY ALLAH AND THE MESSENGER
OR BETRAY YOUR TRUSTS WHILE YOU KNOW [THE CONSEQUENCE].
Quran 8:27
