A case

A staff accountant named Steven, was working for several years from his college life in an organization, so he felt he had learned everything, how to survive, and that’s why he was insincere to perform his tasks. After few days a new manager, named Kristin, transferred from a similar position for her proven talent, in the accounts payable section. Kristin was experienced and determined to do best. On the first day she introduce with all subordinates and asked for suggestions that how to perform better by doing team work. Suddenly Steven answered, ‘is there any opportunity to gain promotion by performing better’. Kristin answered she will do everything to get great feedback. On the next day, Kristin meets with Steven and said that she will not tolerate who are not good team players. So she asked to inform her that who are not working sincerely and hurting the company, if Steven not identify the person, it will be seemed to her that Steven is the problem maker.

What is Corporation?

 The word “corporation” derives from corpus, the Latin word for ‘body’ or a ‘body of people’.

 The oldest commercial corporation of the world is the Stora Kopparberg mining community in Falun, Sweden, obtained a charter from King Magnus Eriksson in 1347.

 A corporation is a business owned by many people but treated by law as one person.

 To form a corporation, you need to get a corporate charter from the state your headquarters is in.

 To raise money, you can sell stock, or shares of ownership in your corporation.

 For each share of common stock, the stockholder gets a share of the profits and a vote on how the business is run.

 You also must have a board of directors who control the corporation.

 A corporation is a legal form of business organization considered to be an entity separate and apart from its owners. In effect it is an artificial person created by law. Its birth certificate is the corporate charter.

 Corporate charter is a document issued by a government that contains all information stated in the original application for a charter plus the powers, rights, and privileges of the corporation as prescribed by law.

A corporation:

 Can sue or be sued
 Make contracts
 Own property
 Be a partner in a partnership
 Doesn’t cease to exist when its owners die

Types of Ethical study

Descriptive ethics: simply involves describing how people behave and/or what sorts of moral standards they claim to follow. Descriptive ethics incorporates research from the fields of anthropology, psychology, sociology and history as part of the process of understanding what people do or have believed about moral norms.

What do people think is right?

Normative ethics: is the study of ethical theories that prescribe how people ought to act, the study of moral problems which seeks to discover how one ought to act, not how one does in fact act or how one thinks one should act.

It involves creating or evaluating moral standards. Thus, it is an attempt to figure out what people should do or whether their current moral behavior is reasonable. Also involves examining the moral standards people currently use in order to determine if they are justifiable, as well as attempting to construct new moral standards which might be better.

How should people act?

What is Right and what is Wrong?

What is Good and what is Evil?

Metaethics: is the study of what ethical terms and theories actually refer to. It deals with the meaning of moral terms and the logic of moral reasoning.

ü  The analysis of moral reasoning involves clarifying and evaluating presuppositions and investigating the validity of moral arguments.

What does 'right' mean?

"What is goodness?" and "How can we tell what is good from what is bad?"

Special ethics: applies general ethics to solve particular problems. 

What is Business Ethics?

 Business Ethics consists of those principles and practices that are concerned with morals and good conduct as they are applicable to business situations.

Why do we need ethics in business?

 Businesses are confronted by many interests both inside and outside the organization.
Responsibilities of business:
Inner circle: efficient performance of economic function.
Intermediate circle: environmental protection, resource conservation, employee and customer relations.
Outer circle: reducing inflation and unemployment, dealing with hunger and poverty, supporting education, arts.

 Businesses are expected to contribute towards social improvement.
Morality and Obligations of business: business activity is human activity, therefore, can be evaluated from the moral point of view, just as any other human activity is evaluated.

 To be honest, fair and just in dealing with others, in carrying out agreements and contracts, pay off debts, maintaining a safe and healthy working environment, loyalty to employee (paying fair wages), employers, customers, admit manufacturing errors, should not advertise an unsafe product and make claims which are not true.

General ethical dilemma

 Would you steal a drug (medication) to save your spouse?
Or refrain from theft even though that would lead to his/her death?

 The car accident dilemma…

 The child labor dilemma…

What is Ethics?

 Ethics comes from the Greek word ethos, meaning character or custom.

 Ethics is the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.


 Moral: Concerned with principles of right and wrong or conforming to standards of behavior and character based on those principles. (e.g. a moral life)

 Values: Abstract ideas about what a group believes to be good, right and desirable; form bedrock of a culture.

 Freedom, democracy, justice, love, religion.

 Norms: The social rules and guidelines that prescribe appropriate behavior in a particular situation.

 Dress code, correct utensils, neighborly behavior, time.

 Theft, adultery, incest.