Module 6: Ethics for Management and Business Success

There are two different perspectives concerning to the practice of ethics in business. The first perspective does not agree with the idea of bringing ethics in business. Among some of the arguments in supporting this perspective are that profits and the interest of their firms are more significant and therefore, ethical considerations should be ignored. The second perspective supports that ethics should be part of business. Ethics should govern business because ethics govern voluntary human activities and business is a voluntary human activity.

The lack of equality around us is the effect of greed. Some people would do anything including those unethical acts in order to get wealth and fame. Although there are many greedy people, most of them do not become wealthy because they do not have the opportunity to convey their greed in a way that offers higher incomes in return. Greed is prohibited by every religion and ethical system of thought. However, it is still exist because human beings just could not be satisfied with what they have. They tend to ask for more when they given something. For example, in business. Businessmen will only engage in projects that give a high return even when the projects might pollute the environment.

There are two different views concerning the responsibility of business towards the welfare of the society. First view is that businesses have no obligation to the welfare of the society. A business firm has obligations to all of its stakeholders. In perfectly competitive free markets, the pursuance of profit by business firms will by itself assure that the society is benefited. Second view supports that business should be held responsible to the welfare of the society. From the economic responsibility perspective, business firm is responsible to maximize the wealth of the shareholders. From the public responsibility perspective, business should act in a way that is consistent with society’s view of responsible behavior. Lastly from the social responsive perspective, business should take the initiative to contribute to society in a healthy way to improve the welfare of society.

Businessman who practices ethical acts usually produces and provides quality goods or services to his customers. Honest businessman will not do misleading act such as cheating their customers or not being honest on the price of the goods or services. Honest businessman usually cares for his business goodwill or reputation as well as goodwill of his competitors. Maxim “Honest businessman will be placed together with all the prophets” indicates that businessman who practices ethical acts will be respected by everyone. Therefore, every businessman should be honest and practice ethical codes when dealing with customers.

In this Module 6, I learned when dealing with the society. It is very important in order to gain other people’s trust and respects.

Module 5: Ethics and Law

Many might think that we behave ethically when we obey the law. However, conformation with the law alone is not enough for ethically responsible behaviors. Many will think that something is “wrong” only if the laws forbid it and vice versa. We must not accept this attitude because “legal” and “moral” are two different things. Law does punish many actions that are morally wrong like murder but law also allows many actions that are morally offensive such as taking advantage of people.

There were a few cases where the outcomes were legally rights but morally questioned. For example in the case involving Tammi C. Allen and Sidney Mcphee. There are huge problems with a system that requires a victim of sexual harassment to have the outcome of her reporting it depend on the findings of a committee that would be put together by the person who harassed her. To establish and enforce a policy with such potential for misuse and abuse is morally wrong. Although it is legally right but morally it is had us queried whether it is right morally to take such actions.

In Malaysia, crimes such as snatch thief do happen daily. Through the media, we see the culprits were beaten up badly by those who caught them. Although these perpetrators have caused great harm to the victims- that does not warrant the actions taken by those who caught them. Beating up an individual no matter him is a criminal or not is punishable by law. So, we should not take the law into our own hands.

Law is the collection of rules imposed by authority. It is imposed to maintain the moral values of the society. Without law, more criminals would happen in this world. Thus, the enforcement of law is important in encouraging and ensuring good behavior of the people.

In this module 5, I realized that we must do our parts as citizen in Malaysia. For example, we should report to the police when we witness a crime like snatch thief. This is important so that we could help the society to reduce the crimes in our country.

Module 4: Ethics and Cultures

Culture is a particular society at a particular time and place. There are three levels of cultures. The first level included evidence such as signs, stories, clothing and etc. The second level of culture is represented by the adopted values of a group. The third level of culture is the basic assumptions. However, cultural understandings are sometimes much different between societies, nations or countries. Some practices that are considered as ethical practices in one nation may be considered as the unethical practices in another nation. The ethicality of a decision lies not in the behavior displayed or the decision taken, but in the fact taught that preceded the behavior or decision.

Courtesy which means good manners is a must in oneself. If a man is gracious and courteous to strangers it shows he is a citizen of the world. In order to be respected, we must first show respects to others. Simple actions like the way we speak would indicate whether we possess good manners or discourteous. That is why it is so important for us to practice good manners since we were a child.

Malay proverb “Ikut resmi padi semakin berisi semakin tunduk” or “Follow the nature of the paddy, the more it possesses the more it will bow” means that the more possessions we have, the more humble we should be. We should not be arrogant when we have power or knowledge. Instead, we should share our knowledge with others so that we could make use of it. We should be humble even if we have the power or knowledge.

Backbiting means saying mean things behind someone’s back or acknowledge. It is a common thing in the society as people nowadays do not satisfy with what they have and therefore, will do such actions because of jealousy. For example, some people might backstab their colleagues in order to get promotions and benefits.

In this module 4, I learned that we must practice good manners in communicating with the society. We must respect them regardless of their background. We should be humble even when we have the knowledge and power in order to gain other people’s respects.

Module 3: Ethics and Human Relations

It could be argued that Human Relations Development professionals have an important role to play in the formation of a more ethical society. As would be fairly obvious, such a program would appear (at the very least) to take little account of the interests and concerns of those subjected to its measures. Individuals are being treated as means to securing an end – only the end in this case is that of promoting sound ethical behavior.

If an individual thinks something is right for him or her, that makes it right. The biggest problem with this thinking is that it violates obvious ideas of equality. It makes us neglects other peoples’ feelings and interests. If someone’s taste is different from ours, we simply have to accept it. Arguing won’t change it because it is not a rational and intellectual matter.

There are basics that we all need in order to be satisfied in life because we are human. Everyone has the right to life, liberty and security person. “Mind your own business” is common English saying which asks for a respect of privacy. It means “you should stop meddling in what does not concern you. It is not polite to interfere in other people business or to tell people what to do when you are not responsible for other people.” This saying may be true in certain situation. Everyone has their own privacy. They have the right to do their things as long as it does not break the laws. However, we should concern about what our family. In the aspect of caring for our family members, the statement “Mind your own business” is not appropriate anymore as we should care about our family.

It is our responsibility to create a caring atmosphere in order to live peacefully and harmony. We expect every members of our community will work towards ensuring that such an atmosphere exists. Thus, we have to prepare members of the community for the full responsibilities of citizenship through acceptable behavior. Inappropriate behavior will result in consequences. What we do today will affect tomorrow. Therefore, prevention of immoral behavior in the society is our responsibility because if everyone does their part, the society would have lesser ethical problems.

Our behavior plays an important role in the society. The statement “Follow what I say, not what I do” means what we say and what we do are different. I personally do not agree with that. What we say reflect what we think about certain things. For example, if we say that smoking is bad for health, then, we should not smoke because it is not good for our health. We should not say something but do others.

In this module 3, the learning point is we should do our parts by being ethical towards the society. We should uphold the responsibility to prepare the future generation to face the challenges.