Different Theories of ethics

Utilitarianism. The philosophy used in making ethical decisions that aims to achieve the greatest good or benefits for the greatest number. A person using this philosophy would try to figure out the impact of all the alternative actions on every one concerned and then choose the alternative that creates the most satisfaction for the most people.
Individual rights. The philosophy used in making ethical decisions that aim to protect human right and dignity.
Justice. The philosophy used in making ethical decisions that aims to ensure the equal distribution of burdens and benefits.
Location of business means the place where business firm is established and controlled.
The business where it is registered may be its location. The registered office is the location of the business. Locational theory has been based on the assumptions that profit maximizing firms will seek the optimum location. This is the site at which production and transport costs will be minimized.

What a manger can do to improve business ethics?

Flowing guideline are made to improve business ethics:
Ethical behavior must begin with top management. Top management establishes the organization’s culture and defines what will and will not be acceptable behavior. Top management must create an organizational climate that rewards ethical conduct.
Management can use ethical advocates in high level decision making. These ethics specialists will sit as a full-fledged member of the board of directors and acts as the board’s social conscience.
Obey the law, both the letter and spirit of the law.
Tell the truth. Telling the truth is important in building trust with relevant stakeholders.
Show respect for people. The notion of treating people with respect has deep roots in the study of ethics.
Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you.
Practice participation, not paternalism. Learning about the needs of stakeholders, rather than deciding what is best for them. Eliciting ideas and views before finalizing any plans. Discuss the problem with the affected parties before making decision. 
Establish ethics training programs for the employees to enable them to cope with ethical dilemmas.
Establish an ethics committee that reports directly to the board of directors. The committee may consist of internal and external members.
The functions of such committee may include- holding regular meetings to discuss ethical issues, dealing with gray areas, communicating the code to all members of the organization, checking for all possible violation of the code, enforcing the code,  conduct frequent and unpredictable audit,
Rewarding compliance and punishing violations and make them public so that it may deter others, reviewing and updating the code, and
Reporting activities of the committee to the board o directors. 
Formalize the ethical standards of the firms.
Prepare guidelines that detail how employees are to treat suppliers, customers, competitors, and other constituents.
Establish a formal code of ethics- written statements of the values and ethical standards that guide the firm’s action.
A code is a statement of policies, principles or rules that guides behavior. Some codes specify penalties for offenders.

Career planning

Career planning is the process of one’s life work and involves evaluating abilities and interests, considering alternative career opportunities, establishing career goals, and planning practical development.

Career planning is the deliberate process through which a person becomes aware of personal career related attributes and the lifelong sense of stages that contribute to his or her career fulfillment.

Organization has a vested interest in the careers of their members and career planning and development programs help them to enhance employees’ job performance and thus the overall effectiveness of the organization.
The term career has a number of meanings. It can be viewed from different perspectives. In popular usage it can mean advancement or upward movement o linear progression. For example, he is moving up in his career. It means a profession (for example, he has chosen a career in medicine). It is a lifelong sequence of jobs. It is sequence of positions that a person has held over his or her life. It means stable employment within a profession.

Super and Hall (1988) define career as a sequence of positions occupied by a person during the course of a lifetime. A career is all the jobs that are held during one’s working life. This is the objective career. 

From another perspective, a career consists of the changes in values, attitudes and motivation that occur, as a person grows older ( Davis, 1996). This is the subjective career.

Both of these perspectives, objective and subjective, focus on the individual. Both assume that people have some degree of control over their destinies and that they can manipulate opportunities in order to maximize the success and satisfaction derived from their careers.

Career is often confused with job. Experts make difference between a career and a job. According to them, a career is a perceived sequence of attitudes and behaviors associated with work-related experiences and activities over the span of the person’s life.

Whereas a job is what a person does at work to bring home a paycheck, a career is being engaged in a satisfying and productive activity. Thus a career involves a long-term view of a series of jobs and work experiences.

For some people their jobs are part of a careful plan. For others, their career is simply a matter of luck. Merely planning a career does not guarantee career success. Superior performance, experience, education, and some occupational luck play an important role. When people rely largely on luck, however, they seldom are prepared for career opportunities that arise. Successful people identify their career goals, plan, and then take action. To put it another way, successful careers are managed through proper and careful career planning.

 People who fail to plan their careers may do so because they think that their company or their boss will assume that responsibility. Or perhaps they are unaware of the basic career planning concepts. Without an understanding of career goals and career paths, planning is unlikely. A career path is the sequential pattern of jobs that forms one’s career. Career goals are the future positions one strives to reach as part of a career.

organizational career planning

Effective career planning and development programs must consider the different perceptions and desires of employees. Employees want the following factors in organizational career planning:

Career equity: Employees want to perceive equity in the organization’s performance and promotion system with respect to career advancement opportunities.

Supervisory concern: Employee want their supervisors to play an active role in career development and to provide timely performance feedback.
wareness of opportunities: Employees want knowledge of the career advancement opportunities that exist in their organizations.

Employee interest: Employees needs different amount of information and have different degrees of interest in career advancement depending on a variety of factors (age, sex, occupation, education). 

Career satisfaction: Employees, depending on their age and occupation, have different levels of career satisfaction.
Many employees know very little about career planning. Often they are unaware of the need for and advantages of career planning. And once made aware, they often lack the necessary information to plan their careers successfully. Personnel departments are suited to solve both of these shortcomings, and they can increase employee awareness through a variety of educational techniques. Workshops and seminars on career planning increase employee interest by pointing out the key concepts associated with career planning. Workshops help the employees set career goals, identify career paths, and uncover specific career development activities. These educational activities may be supplemented by printed information. The goals of career information seminar is to help employees better understand hoe their jobs and careers can contribute to their goals and to identify the roles of employees, their supervisors, and the personnel department in career planning and personal development.

Benefits of career planning

Personnel department should take an active interest in employee career planning. They often handle career planning because their human resources plans indicate the organization’s future employment needs and related career opportunities. D. B. Miller (1997) says that organizations have different perspective on careers. They want to assure that managerial succession is orderly and efficient so that when managers need to be replaced because of promotion, retirement, accident or illness, termination or resignation, high-qualified people can replace them quickly and easily. In addition, personnel experts are more likely to be aware of training and other developmental opportunities. Of course individual managers should encourage career planning. The involvement of personnel managers in career planning has grown during recent years because of its benefits. Here is a partial list of those benefits:

 Develops promotable employees. Career planning helps to develop internal supplies of promotable talent.
 Lowers turnover. The increased attention and concern for individual careers generate more organizational loyalty, and therefore, lower employee turnover.
Improves the organization’s ability to attract  and retain high talent personnel.
Taps employee potential. Career planning encourages employees to tap more of their potential abilities because they have specific career goals.
Furthers growth. Career plans and goals motivate employees to grow and develop.
Reduces hoarding. Without career planning, it is easier for managers to hoard key subordinates. Career planning causes employees, managers and the personnel department to become aware of employee qualifications.
Satisfies employee needs. With less hoarding and improved growth opportunities for employees, an individual’s esteem needs, such as recognition and accomplishment, is more readily satisfied.
Assists affirmative action plans. Career planning can help members of protected groups prepare for more important jobs. This preparation can contribute to meeting affirmative action timetables.
It ensures needed talents will be available.
Improves the organization’s ability to attract and retain high talent employees.
Promotes organizational goodwill.

Projecting a positive, tactful tone.

Being adept at communicating negative information will give you the confidence you need to handle sensitive in a positive, constructive manner. You will find that stating unpleasant ideas tactfully and positively preserves the receiver’s self worth and builds future friendship. The following suggestions can reduce the sting of an unpleasant thought:

-    State ideas using positive language. Do not forget to submit your time and expense report by noon on Friday (negative Tone). Remember to submit your time and expense report by noon on Friday (Positive Tone). We cannot ship your order until you send us full specifications (Negative Tone). You will receive your order as soon as you send us full specifications (Positive Tone).

-    Avoid using second person when stating negative ideas. You completed the project in time (Pleasant idea). The person will appreciate the emphasis placed on his or her excellent performance. This page contains many mistakes (Unpleasant ideas). “You made many mistakes on this page” would direct attention to the person who made the mistakes and would not be diplomatic.

-    Use passive voice to convey negative ideas.  He did not proofread this bid proposal carefully (Active Voice). This bid proposal was not proofread carefully. The job was completed ahead of time (Passive Voice).  He completed the job ahead of schedule (Active voice preferred for positive ideas).

-    Use the subjunctive mood.  I cannot approve your transfer to overseas operation (Negative Tone). If positions were available in our overseas operation, I would approve your transfer ( Subjunctive mood conveys positive tone).

-    Include a pleasant statement in the same sentence. Your personnel ratings for communication ability and interpersonal skills were satisfactory (Negative Tone). Your personnel ratings for communication ability and interpersonal skills were satisfactory, but your rating for technical competence was excellent.

Avoiding statements that destroy good will

Tone is the way a statement sounds. The tone of a message conveys the writer’s or speaker’s attitude toward the message and the receiver.

i) Avoid using condescending words. Condescending words seem to connote that the communicator is temporarily coming down from a level of superiority to join the receiver on a level of inferiority. To build strong good will, avoid condescending words. Avoid this:

As director of marketing, I will decide whether your product proposal has any merit.

As a retired editor of best sellers, I could assist you in editing your PTA newsletter.

ii) Use euphemisms cautiously. A euphemism is a term that makes an unpleasant idea seem better than it really is.

Negative tone                Euphemistic tone

Died                    Passed away

Aged                    Senior citizen
Line worker                Production associate

Compliant department            Customer service

Inspection department            Maintenance department

iii) Avoid a flattering tone. Flattery (words of undeserved praise) may be accepted gracefully, but the net result is almost always negative. Give sincere complements judiciously; avoid flattery.

iv) Avoid demeaning expressions.

Demeaning expression

Be sure the turtles understand the importance of meeting next week’s deadline

Respectful expression

Be sure the management trainees understand the importance of meeting next week’s deadline.

v) Use connotative tone cautiously. Human relations can suffer when connotative words are inadvertently used instead of denotative words. The denotative meaning of a word is the literal meaning plus an extra message that reveals the speaker’s qualitative judgement. Here is an example:

Connotative meaning with negative meaning

Another gripe session has been scheduled for tomorrow.

Denotative meaning (preferred)

Another employee forum has been scheduled for tomorrow.

Avoid statement of surprise, doubt and judgement

Phrases that reveal a writer’s surprise about a receiver’s behaviour can cause problems in human relations. “ I am surprised” or “ I cannot understand”. Such expressions are particularly offensive to receivers because they seem to place them in a position of recognized inferiority. Avoid expressions of surprise, doubt and judgement when they would be interpreted as insults.

Ethics in an organizational context

It is vital to note that ethical or unethical actions by particular managers do not occur in a vacuum. They most often occur in an organizational context that is conducive to them.

Some people may commit crime to further their own careers or financial gains. Ethical standard of a person determines this behavior.

Organizational practice may strongly influence the ethical standards of employees. Some organizations openly permit unethical business practices as long as they are in the best interests of the firm.

Environmental competitiveness tends to encourage unethical behavior. They engage in unethical behavior through price-fixing. Competitive jealously is normal in business. Everybody wants to make more than others do.

Pressure from superiors can lead to blind conformity. Most workers feel some pressure to act unethically or illegally on the job.

There are some ambiguous situations in which there are no clear- cut ethical guidelines. Managers feel uncomfortable in these ambiguous situations.

Organizational culture also contributes to the context for ethical behavior. If a manager aware of an unethical behavior and allow it to continue, he has contributed to the organizational culture that says such activity is permitted.

Profit as a goal

Profit is the reward for taking risks involved in investing money and time. It is the reward for innovation.
Adam Smith in his book “The Wealth of Nation” (1776) argued, “People do their best when they reap the rewards of hard work and intelligence and suffer the penalties for laziness”.
He favored the use of profits as a means of encouraging individual incentive and initiative.

There are three elements of business
Business reveals  that it has several  important elements, namely:
Recurring exchanges. Recurring sale constitute business. If goods is purchased or produced fro sale, it is a business activity.
•    Creation of values or utility.  Form place, time and ownership utilities.
•    Satisfaction of wants. People have many physiological and mental needs.
•    If you buy a flat for your own living is not a business activity.

Is profit the main goal of business?

Profit making is the primary motive of the business. Profit plays a key role in the private enterprise system in terms of:
-    Motivating the owners.
-    Profit is the remuneration of the businessman.
-    Profit is the livelihood of the businessman.
-    Encouraging innovation.
-    Encouraging efficiency.
-    Increasing profit increases the goodwill of the business.
-    Signaling areas for expansion. Profit is necessary for the expansion and development of the business.

-    Providing the finance for expansion.
-    Providing a measuring rod of performance. It is measure of the success of the business.
Business is an activity that is directed to create values for removing wants of man in society through recurring exchange.
Profits come from the efficient production of goods and services demanded by people.

Ethics and Shaping Ethical Behavior of a Person

The world ethics is becoming popular all over the world. Because most of the people are becoming UN ethics. We should behave ethically.
Ethics is personal beliefs about whether a behavior, action or decision is right or wrong.
Ethics may be defined as “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad with moral duty and obligation”.
It is the study of moral obligation involving the distinction between right and wrong.
People have ethics, organizations do not.
Ethical behaviors may differ from person to person.

Ethical behavior refers behavior that conforms to generally accept social norms. 


According to Expert there are many factors the shape is called ethics.
Experts (Rose, 1990; Carroll, 1987) identified many factors that constitute and shape individual ethics.  According to them, a combination of such actors as
family influences,
peer influences,
life experiences,
personal values and morals,
religious instructions, and
Situational factors determine individual ethics.
Both positive and negative kinds of events shape an individual’s ethics
A person’s values and morals also contribute to his ethical standards.
Values are abstract ideals that shape an individual’s thinking and behavior (Rokeach, 1968).
Behavioral scientists have identified two basic types of values: instrumental values and terminal value.
An instrumental value is an enduring belief that a certain way of behaving is appropriate in all situations. For example, “ honesty is the best policy” represent an instrumental value. A person who truly values honesty will probably behave in an honest manner.
A terminal value is an enduring belief that a certain end-state of existence is worth striving for and attaining.   Whereas one person may strive for eternal salvation, another may strive for social recognition and admiration. Instrumental values help achieve terminal values.

Theories of ethics

Utilitarianism. The philosophy used in making ethical decisions that aims to achieve the greatest good or benefits for the greatest number. A person using this philosophy would try to figure out the impact of all the alternative actions on every one concerned and then choose the alternative that creates the most satisfaction for the most people.

Individual rights. The philosophy used in making ethical decisions that aim to protect human right and dignity.

Justice. The philosophy used in making ethical decisions that aims to ensure the equal distribution of burdens and benefits.

Guideline to improve business ethics

Ethical behavior must begin with top management. Top management establishes the organization’s culture and defines what will and will not be acceptable behavior. Top management must create an organizational climate that rewards ethical conduct.
Management can use ethical advocates in high level decision making. These ethics specialists will sit as a full-fledged member of the board of directors and acts as the board’s social conscience.
Obey the law, both the letter and spirit of the law.
Tell the truth. Telling the truth is important in building trust with relevant stakeholders.
Show respect for people. The notion of treating people with respect has deep roots in the study of ethics.
Do unto others, as you would have others do unto you.
Practice participation, not paternalism. Learning about the needs of stakeholders, rather than deciding what is best for them. Eliciting ideas and views before finalizing any plans. Discuss the problem with the affected parties before making decision. 
Establish ethics training programs for the employees to enable them to cope with ethical dilemmas.
Establish an ethics committee that reports directly to the board of directors. The committee may consist of internal and external members.
The functions of such committee may include- holding regular meetings to discuss ethical issues, dealing with gray areas,
communicating the code to all members of the organization, checking for all possible violation of the code, enforcing the code,  conduct frequent and unpredictable audit,
Rewarding compliance and punishing violations and make them public so that it may deter others,
reviewing and updating the code, and Reporting activities of the committee to the board o directors.  Formalize the ethical standards of the firms.
Prepare guidelines that detail how employees are to treat suppliers, customers, competitors, and other constituents.
Establish a formal code of ethics- written statements of the values ands ethical standards that guide the firm’s action.
A code is a statement of policies, principles or rules that guides behavior. Some codes specify penalties for offenders.

Different managerial ethics

Immoral
Amoral
Moral

Managerial ethics are standards of conducts or moral judgments used by managers in carrying out their business.
Carroll notes that three major levels of moral or ethical judgment characterize managers:
Immoral management. An approach that not only lacks ethical principles but is actively opposed to ethical behavior. Example- exclusive concern for company gains at any price.
Amoral management. An approach that is neither immoral nor moral but, rather, ignores is obvious to ethical considerations. Two types of immoral management- intentional and unintentional. Managers are insensitive to the moral implications of their decisions and actions.
Moral l management. An approach that strives to follow ethical principles and precepts. Making profit while engaging in legal and ethical behaviors.

Managerial ethics

Managerial ethics are the standards of behaviors that guide individual managers in their work.

 Managerial ethics are standards of conduct or moral judgment used by managers in carrying out their business.

Such standards arise from the general norms and values of society: from an experience within family, religious, educational and other types of institutions; and from interpersonal interactions with others.

Therefore, managerial ethics may differ among individuals. There are three basic areas of concern for managerial ethics. These are the relationships of the firm to the employees (hiring and firing, wages and working conditions and employee privacy), the employee to the firm  (conflict of interests, secrecy, and honesty in keeping expense account) and the firm to the other economic agents (Customers, competitors, stockholders, suppliers, dealers, and trade unions).

There are three basic areas of concern for managerial ethics.

These are the relationships of the firm to the employees (hiring and firing, wages and working conditions and employee privacy), the employee to the firm  (conflict of interests, secrecy, and honesty in keeping expense account) and the firm to the other economic agents (Customers, competitors, stockholders, suppliers, dealers, and trade unions).