Personal and Organizational Ethic

1 Ethical Principles and Business Decisions

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Learning Objectives

After reading this chapter, you should be able to:

• Describe moral objectivism, moral relativism, and divine command theory.

• Explain the theories of moral psychology, including psychological egoism, psychological altruism, and the relation between gender and morality.

• Explain how virtue theory, duty theory, and utilitarianism provide standards of morality.

• Describe the relation between morality and government in social contract theory, human rights theory, and the four principles of governmental coercion.

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Introduction

Chapter Outline Introduction

1.1 Where Moral Values Come From

Moral Objectivism and Moral Relativism

Religion and Morality

1.2 Ethics and Psychology

Egoism and Altruism

Gender and Morality

1.3 Moral Standards

Virtues

Duties

Utilitarianism

1.4 Morality and Government

The Social Contract

Human Rights

Principles of Governmental Coercion

Conclusion

Introduction National surveys are routinely conducted to reveal public attitudes about various profes- sions; some jobs have higher moral reputations than others. One poll asked people to rate the honesty and ethical standards of people in different fields. The results of the survey are shown in Figure 1.1.

It is important to understand that these survey results only report people’s perceptions of pro- fessional ethical behavior and are not evaluations of actual professional behavior. But busi- ness is an area where perception is often everything, and businesspeople in advertising and public relations certainly know this. Figure 1.1 shows a clear pattern: The highest-ranking professions involve helping people, and nurses, who are at the very top, are clear examples. Among the lowest-ranking occupations are those associated with the business world: bank- ers, business executives, advertisers, and, near the very bottom, car salespeople.

What is it that makes us have such low opinions of the moral integrity of the business world? Part of it may be that, in contrast with nurses, businesses have the reputation of caring only for themselves and not for others. Part of it may also be that the competitive nature of busi- ness pushes even the most decent of people to put profits above responsibility to the public. Businesses, of course, respond to these negative perceptions in creative ways. For example,

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