Ch 2 becg approches to ethics, Prof. shirufi

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1 Concepts and Theories of Business Ethics Prof. Shirufi Purohit 0 SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance 1 Introduction Business cannot aim only at making money for a few individuals, it must lead to social well-being, national economic growth, and fair distribution of benefits to all stakeholders. SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance 2 Definition of Ethics Ethics as a moral and normative science refers to principles that define human behaviour as right, good and proper. “Morality”, according to philosophers, refers to human conduct and values 3 SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance In supporting and revealing goodness or badness of actions, respectively, one has to examine the case deeper to understand few more dimensions of ethics, namely utility, rights, duties, justice, fairness and care. SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance 4 This foundation will affect Employees Customer Dealers Suppliers Government Local body or even with the people affected by the business. SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate Governance 5

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GTU, S.K. Mandal by prof. Shirufi , Parul Insitute

Transcript of Ch 2 becg approches to ethics, Prof. shirufi

Page 1: Ch 2 becg  approches to ethics, Prof. shirufi

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Concepts and

Theories of Business

Ethics

Prof. Shirufi Purohit

0 SHIRUFI PUROHIT

Ethics in Business and Corporate

Governance

SHIRUFI PUROHIT Ethics in Business and Corporate

Governance

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Introduction

Business cannot aim only at making money for a

few individuals, it must lead to social well-being,

national economic growth, and fair distribution of

benefits to all stakeholders.

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Definition of Ethics

Ethics as a moral and normative science refers

to principles that define human behaviour as

right, good and proper.

“Morality”, according to philosophers, refers to

human conduct and values

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In supporting and revealing goodness or

badness of actions, respectively, one has to

examine the case deeper to understand few

more dimensions of ethics, namely utility, rights,

duties, justice, fairness and care.

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This foundation will affect

Employees

Customer

Dealers

Suppliers

Government

Local body or even with the people affected by

the business.

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Governance

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Supporting Example- Fair

If a company does not pay fair wages to

employees, the employees feel that they are

being discriminate or exploited.

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Supporting Example- duty.

If the senior executives get disproportionately

higher and unjustifiable remuneration than the

others in the company, then general employees

feel differentiated and differentiated and

deprived.

If a company fails to adequately compensate an

accident victim the employees feel it not doing

its duty.

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Supporting Example-right to

defend

If an employees service is terminated without

allowing him to defend his action, he feels that

his right to defend has been denied.

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Supporting Example-care

If a sincere worker, who has served the

company for many years is not offered help

during his long illness, he may feel uncared for

that.

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INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL

PRINCIPLES

Utility

Rights

Duties

Justice

Fairness

Care

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These aspects form the foundation of ethical

principles, which are universally applicable.

These dealings can be with the employees,

customers, dealers, suppliers, the government, a

local body or even with the people affected by

the business.

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The Utilitarian Theory

The Theory of Rights and Duties

Theory of Justice

The Ethics of Care

Moral Theories

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The utilitarian theory is broadly based on the view that

any action or policy should be evaluated on the basis of

benefits and costs it will impose on the society.

The basic approach of this theory is that plans, programmes and actions of any organisation should be

chosen to produce the greatest net benefits for the

largest number of people associated with the business –

which includes the society.

To determine net benefits, all the costs and benefits (or damages) – be it financial or otherwise – should be

taken into account.

The Utilitarian Theory

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Example

Setting up a green field industry at he cost of the

environment may be justified by choosing and

considering the return on investment, along with

the employment generation and wealth creation,

t if one considers the dreadful effect of global

warming due to such damage to and depletion

of the environment then the net benefit may not

justify the action

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Effect of Industralization

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Destruction of forest

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Destruction of forest

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Destruction of forest

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Destruction of forest

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Global Warming

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Earthquake

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Earthquake

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Floods due to heavy rain

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Icing of Niagara fall

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Melting of polar ice

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Heavy rain fall Kedar Nath

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Kedar and Haridwar

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Cyclone in east India

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Unseasonal rain in Gujarat

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Grain Rots due to flood

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The theory of rights and duties holds that all people

have some basic rights, concerned with the power of an

individual to choose, pursue and protect his or her

interests, and all such rights are associated with correlated duties.

When these rights arise from legal provision or social

convention, they become moral rights.

If a company prohibits or denies such rights to its

employees, it may be said to be unfair to its employees and its action would not be adjudged moral.

The Theory of Rights and

Duties

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example

If an employee has the moral right to be

rewarded ( financially or otherwise)for an

invention of his, one that has led to patents and

benefits for the companies business. But if the

company denies him any benefit on the grounds

that the inventor was only performing his duty,

then it would be unjust and unfair.

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Opposite example

In media industry whenever you join you are

being informed that whatever your will produce

or write. Company would own it and not the

individual. And company would be benefited and

not the individual and nor individual can claim it.

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The theory of justice revolves around the

fundamental principles to guarantee a just and

morally acceptable decision.

It implies that the actions are guided by fairness,

equity and impartiality.

The Theory of Justice

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The ethics of care refers to necessity of

showing extra care and consideration to protect

someone else from the adverse effect of one’s

choice that can make someone vulnerable in a

particular situation.

Ethics of care necessitates examining contextual

details of the situation in order to safeguard and

promote specific interests of those involved

because they are interdependent for

accomplishing their specific interests – as long

as the interests are moral and legal.

The Ethics of Care

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Utilitarianism- Ethics of Welfare

The proponents were:

Jeremy Benthan (1748-1832)

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873)

In this form of consequentialism, the desired end is not long-term

self-interest of the individual but, it is greatest happiness to the

greatest number. Any action that brings greatest happiness to the

greatest number of people is a desirable action and should be

performed.

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Utility or benefit of an action to the society.

Basically, the utilitarian approach advocates that

if an action produces greater benefits to the

maximum number of people , the action or

decision should be considered morally right/

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Example study page 66

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In view of utility theory of action that help in judging

its morality and rightness from the ethical

standpoint.

1. to find the alternatives available to the given

situation.

2. to estimate direct and indirect benefits and

costs to deal or action for each alternative and

examine how benefits affects each person at

short term as well as long term tenure.

3. To choose a particular alternative which

produces the greatest benefits and utility to the

maximum number of people (affected by the

action), and is also morally and ethically

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1. to find the alternatives

available to the given situation.

1. enforcing the law

Shifting industry to a non agricultural / barren

area of that district or state.

Compensate the persons concerned with

immediate and long term benefits that outweigh

the cost of losing their land, as well as to

consider the side-effects that may precipitate

due to consequent industrialization.

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2. to estimate direct and indirect

benefits

1. livelihood cost to all affected person and

family members

2. escalation of living cost for the future

3. cost of acquisition.

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Supporting example

1. Fund allocation in a government budget

Here infrastructure, highways, ports are allocated

higher funds compared to other areas based on

utilitarian principles.

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Supporting example

Formulating company policies for reward and

punishment, incentives, common services(

facilities), social and environment policy etc are

done for benefit for all.

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Supporting example

Production incentives bonus to workers for

improving productivity in a machine shop. If the

cut off level to qualify for bonus is too high that is

if most workers are unable to reach through

sinere efforts also then its negative utility.

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For example

A person may be unwilling to donate to a street

beggar but same person may donate money in a

NGO thinking it would benefit a larger part of

society.

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Utilitarianism (Conti..)

Utilitarian principle: an action is

ethically right only if the sum total

of utilities produced by that act is

greater than the sum total of

utilities produced by any other act

the agent could have been

performed in its place.

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Utilitarianism (Conti..)

A decision is ethical if it provides a greater utility

than any other alternative decision

Utilitarian decision-making relies on tools such

as cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment

to determine the greatest utility.

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Utilitarianism (Conti..)

While assessing the usefulness of utilitarianism in the

organizational context , it should be understood that;

1. It promotes welfare of all

2. It provides a means of resolving self interest with the action of

common good.

3. It provides a flexible, result oriented approach to ethical decision

making

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The Utilitarian approach is difficult to apply

when dealing with values that are difficult to

measure (or estimate) in order to determine the

maximum benefits to all affected persons.

This approach seems inadequate while

handling situations that involve rights and

justice.

Limitations of Utilitarianism

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Rule-utilitarian prescribes that an

action should be judged in both

contexts – ‘maximizing utility’

and ‘correct moral rules’ – and

not in isolation of each other.

Rule-Utilitarian Approach

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Supporting example

Employment of a child labour as domestic help

may bring more utility and benefit to both the

household and the parent of the child, but it

cannot be morally justified in modern civilized

society.

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Correct moral rules cannot support any activity

that create or aggravate the sufferings of large

number of people, which cannot be

compensated by financial benefits alone.

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Example

Public movement against the construction of a

dam on the Narmada river and in doing so

displacing a large number of villages and

villagers, can be justified from the rule

utilitarianism angle.

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Narmada dam

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Narmada dam

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Narmada dam

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The sprit of either utilitarian or rule utilitarian

theory is to prevent injustice and violation of

rights taking place in the guise of ‘ maximum

benefits to all’

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Supporting example

Industries in mining, electroplating, lather processing are

hazardous to health, they provide a special concession-

milk allowance or hazard allowance to each employee

engaged in such jobs.

But is it moral and ethical to expose the workers to the

toxic fumes and chemicals that may cause permanent

damage to their health?

Yet the rule of moral correctness dies not support the

action as being right.

Hence, rule modifies the correctness of decisions over

utilitarianism.

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Common good approach in

ethics

The society is divided into underprivileged,

minority, backward class and weaker section,

making difficult to identify direction in which the

principle of common good should work to create

a better society.

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Common good approach in

ethics

Refers to basic rights of individuals in the

society, and fulfillment of some basic

requirements of individuals in the society,

namely food, water, shelter, environment, health,

and dignity that enables the society to better the

quality of life and living.

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Supporting example

Protection of environment

Free primary education

Primary healthcare

Schemes and actions for poverty elimination

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Example

If a company wants to spend some money for

development of locality. Local people gives

many option like primary education, drinking

water, building roads and infrastructure. Than

company has to take decision which benefits to

maximum number of people and which is for

common good.

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Supporting example

Monitoring the mobile technology

services and emails in the terrorist

infested areas of the country. It

curtails the freedom of privacy.

But considering the grave of

terrorism, the common good

approach will justify.

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Rights are of two types, legal and moral.

Legal Rights are conveyed to a person by the

statue of law or the constitution of the nation.

Legal rights are limited by the jurisdiction within

which a person or a business operates.

Moral Rights devolve from social norms and

moral standards, and are independent of any

legal system.

Moral rights are also called human rights.

Rights

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Moral rights are closely interlinked with duties.

Moral rights are equally and equitably applied

between the concerned parties.

Moral rights may be used to justify one’s action

or for invoking the protection or help of others.

Distinct features of Moral Rights

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Legal vs Moral

Legal right

Indian can cast his or her

vote only in the place he

or she lives or works that

is voting is jurisdiction

specific.

Moral Right

A air passenger who was

stuck at the emigration

clearance department of

a foreign country has

right to be treated

humanly with dignity and

to be provided with food

and shelter till the

investigation was complete.

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Duty is either contractual obligation or mutually

understood obligation.

However, obligations for duty cannot force an

employee to do any immoral or unethical job.

Duties

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Supporting example

A person seeking medical treatment, has the

moral right to go o a doctor and it is moral duty

of the attending doctor to consider the patients

problem and offer treatment.

Here it is the mutually understood obligation of

rights and duties that brings them together.

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Both parties in a contract must have clear

understanding and full knowledge of the

nature of the agreement they are entering into;

Neither party to the contract shall intentionally

misrepresent the facts of the contractual

situation to the other party;

Neither party to the contract must be forced to

enter the contract under duress or coercion or

deceit; and

The contract must not bind the parties to any

immoral or illegal act. Eg karan

ETHICAL RULES FOR CONTRACTS

AND CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS

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Kantianism- Ethics of Duty

Proponent: Immanuel Kant (1724-1804)

This theory introduces an important humanistic dimension to

business decisions, which is to behave in the same way that one

would wish to be treated under the same circumstances

Two formulations of Kant are as follows:

1. Respect-for-persons principle states persons should never be used as a

means to an end. Kant gives more importance to individuals.

2. To always treat other people with dignity and respect.

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Kant’s principle

1. An action is morally right for a person in a certain situation if his or

her reason to carry out that action is one which he or she would be

willing to accept as good enough for other persons to adopt

similarly under similar situation. “Do unto others as you would have

them do unto you”

Example:- Before firing a subordinate on the spot for some mistake,

the manager should ask himself if he himself would have liked to

be fired similarly by his own boss under a similar situation.

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Kant’s principle

2. An action is morally right for a person if, in performing the action, a

person does not merely use others as a means to advance

individual interest.

Example:- a pharmaceutical company must not use a patient product

to try to produce new medicine that is being developed already.

A hospital should not make a patient sign a no objection and no

indemnity bond before being treated for an ailment.

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1. If something is moral to me, it must be morally

right for others too.

2. Everyone is of equal value and has equal

freedom.

Kant’s principle plays a dominant role in

safeguarding ethics in the contractual

dealings of business operations, and has

particularly benefitted workers or employees

in industries and business houses.

Summaries Kant’s principle

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Kant’s principle

Kant viewed the moral rights & duties as imperative in a

society where everyone should be treated as equal to

everyone else.

i.e. everyone in the society has a moral right to equal

treatment, & everyone has the correlative duty to treat others

in the same way.

His approach to moral rights & duties- known as Kant’s

Principle encompasses following points:

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Other Non- consequentialist

theory

Justice Principles Distributive Justice

Retributive Justice

Compensatory Justice

Rights Theories

Virtue Ethics

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Justice Principles

Associated with issues of rights, fairness & care.

A just act respects your rights. A just act treats you fairly.

Principles of justice may be divided into three types-

1. distributive justice

2. retributive justice

3. compensatory justice.

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(a) Distributive Justice

Society has many benefits and burdens that

must be distributed among its members.

Benefits include income, wealth, jobs, education

and leisure. Burdens include work, taxes and

social and civic obligations.

The allocation of benefits and burdens raises

questions of distributive justice.

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Distributive justice says that equals should be treated

equally and unequal should be treated unequally, and

there should be consistency in the treatment.

Distributive justice is commonly called for in business - in areas like employee gradation and promotion, wage

policy, eligibility for different types of perks, dealers’

commission, dividend distribution, etc. – with a view to

ensuring equality, uniformity and consistency in

operations.

Distributive Justice

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(a) Distributive Justice (Conti..)

The purpose of distributive justice is to ensure consistency in the

way one should treat similar situations

Egalitarianism, advocates adherence to the doctrine of equal

political, economic & legal rights for all human beings

Not offering opportunity for equal living and growth in a society is

unfair and injustice.

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Supporting example

In case of compensation offered to the nearest

relatives of all the victims of an accident inside a

factory, justice demands that compensation is

fair and equitable,. There can be difference in

managerial category and factory laborers, but

this should be in norms and should not changed

from victim to victim in the same class or

category of employment.

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Supporting example

If the qualification and capability of a woman for

a job are the same as a mans then there can be

no discrimination between the two.

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Retributive justice demands that a ‘just action’

should be taken either as penalty or reward in a

manner that deserves the cause for which the

penalty or reward is being meted out.

It generally deals, in practice, with the conditions

under which it is just to punish a person for a

wrongdoing.

Retributive Justice

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(b) Retributive Justice

The questions are when is it just to punish someone and

what should be the nature punishment.

According to Aristotle, a person is morally responsible

for his actions unless he has been forced to take that

decision.

Just punishment must also fit the crime. The severity of

punishment should be in proportion to the magnitude of

the crime.

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For Example

Failing to attend to duty without prior notice may

be wrong, but it would not be just if the

management suspends an employee for such

isolated offence.

But if the employee becomes a habitual

latecomer or absentee, he or she may attract

heavier punishment like suspension of duty, etc,

and that would be considered just under the

circumstances.

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Compensatory justice is that which deals with

the justice of restoration for being wrongfully

harmed by somebody else.

It demands that a person who has done wrong

should restore or equally compensate for what

has been lost or harmed.

Compensatory Justice

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c) Compensatory Justice:

Compensatory justice is concerned with compensating the party

injured by the wrongful act.

This includes necessary medical treatment and services and

goods that are needed to rectify the injury.

The compensation should be equal to the loss suffered by the

injured party.

However, problems occur when it is not possible to provide

complete compensation, for example, a life lost cannot be

restored.

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Other types of Justice

1. Justice of equality states that every person working in group

should be given equal shares of the group’s benefits & burdens.

2. Justice based on contribution states that benefits and

burdens should be distributed in proportion to what each individual

contributes to the cause or action.

3. Justice based on needs and abilities states that the

burden of work should be distributed as per people’s ability, and benefits

should be distributed as per people’s needs.

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Justice of Fairness

The purpose of this approach is to safeguard the interest of

minimum standard of living in a society & to fulfill basic needs &

thereby ensure that all sections of the society or group have

been treated fairly

Justice of fairness is based on three basic principles

(a) principle of equal liberty

(b) principle of inequality, and

(c) principle of fair and equal opportunity

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Justice of Fairness (Conti…)

1. Principle of equal liberty, states that every person’s basic liberties must

be protected from the invasion by others & must be equal to those of others.

Eg all shareholder present at the general meeting is entitled to vote.

2. Principle of inequality, states that though there could be inequality in a

society, steps must be taken to improve the position of the needy & helpless

in society in order to maintain justice, fairness & welfare

3. Principle of Fair & equal opportunity, states that everybody in the society

should be given fair opportunity to pursue their choices, & to learn a trade or

develop skills to improve their contributions to the society. ( read case pg

92)

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Each of us lives and exists in an environment of care

and concern in the society, and we should preserve

and nurture these environments and relationships;

Each of us should exercise care for those with whom

we are socially and otherwise related by attending to

their needs, wellbeing and desires as seen from their

own personal perspective, and by responding

positively to the same so as to preserve the values of

those relationships;( refer case pg 94)

The Ethics of Care

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The Ethics of Care (Conti..)

Ethics of care stems from the sense of moral responsibility that we feel

about our family, relations, friends, colleagues & society. It is essential to

live well & prosper in the society & at our workplace.

Ethics of caring are primarily concerned with the “concept of caring for

someone” i.e. not being concerned for the self, but for the others in the

society or community.

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Steps in Moral Judgment

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Virtue Ethics Virtue is a quality embedded in the personality of an individual &

is expressed in his or her habitual behavior.

Ethics of virtue complement and add to utilitarianism, rights,

justice and care by looking not at the actions people are

required to perform, but at the character they are required to

have.

It is not the performance that counts here, but the quality &

character required for the performance

A moral virtue is an acquired quality that is praised and valued as

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Virtue Ethics (Conti…)

The theory of utility, rights, justice & care approaches ethics

through an evaluation of actions; whereas virtue of ethics

facilitates ethical behavior & action through the characteristics

behavior of the decision makers.

Some typical virtuous traits in the business arena would be

integrity, honesty, truthfulness, courage, loyalty, courteousness,

and conscientiousness.

Virtuous traits are acquired and developed throughout our life

experiences..

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Ethics and religion

The world’s great religions––Christianity, Hinduism, Islam & many

other religions have all left their permanent marks on morality and

the conduct of people in every aspect of Human Endeavour,

including business. Every religion has provided its followers its own

set of moral instructions, beliefs, values and virtues, traditions

and commitments.

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Teachings of the Church

The Church always supports and promotes the welfare of the

poor. People often think how we can relate business and ethical

teachings of Church. But now the trend has changed and

organizations and institutions relate business with religion and

ethics. This transition is due to the increased importance of ethics in

business. The Church's concerns and ethical teachings are found in

several papal encyclicals, i.e, letters the pope writes to his

followers.

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Rerum Novarum

Since the late 19th century, there has developed a strong tradition of

reflective thought on economic issues within the Catholic Church.

This concern on economic issues effectively started in May 1891,

with the publication of Rerum Novarum, an encyclical by Pope

Leo XIII. The central theme of the letter was the relationship

among the State, employers and the workers.

It was revolutionary work & strongly laid the foundation for human

dignity.

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Key feature of the encyclical

Directs the State and organizations to perform their duties to the

working class

Because when man is deprived of dignity and equality he will

indulge in unethical practices. Mutual support in the society and

organization will help individuals to perform their best for

productivity and profit.

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Indian Ethical Traditions

The Hindu scriptures such as the Gita and the Upanishads speak

of the performance of right duty, at the right time in the right

manner.

The rich Indian tradition has always emphasised the dignity of

human life and the right to live in a respectful manner.

The rich values that once prevailed in India are now disappearing

from the mainstream.

Indian traditions are copied & followed by Western countries in their

social welfare & organizational conduct.

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Gandhian Principles of Trusteeship

Implies that an industrialist or businessman should consider

himself to be a trustee of the wealth he possesses.

The wealth belongs to the society & should be used for the

greatest good of all.

Gandhiji also advocated Sarvodaya, meaning welfare for all. He

was of the firm view that there should be a family atmosphere &

harmony in work place

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Practicing Gandhian Principles

In the recent past, social involvement by business has, for the most

part, taken the shape of public charity. This has included the

building of temples, hospitals and educational institutions.

A few examples include the Birla Temple in Calcutta, the Shree

Vivekananda Research and Training Institute set up by Excel

Industries in Mandvi, the L&T Welfare Centre in Bombay, the Tata

Institute of Fundamental Research, and the Voltas Lifeline

Express, which is very much in the spirit of trusteeship.

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Birla Temple in Kolkatta

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L&T Institute of Technology

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Tata Institute of Fundamental

Research

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Voltas Lifeline Express

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Voltas Lifeline Express

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Voltas Lifeline Express

The Lifeline Express or Jeevan Rekha

Express is a mobile hospital train

It was developed in collaboration with the Indian

Railways and Health Ministry and has been

funded by Impact UK, international charitable

sources, Indian corporate houses and

individuals. so far the service has benefitted

400,000 Indians in the remotest rural parts of the

country

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Voltas Lifeline Express

The Lifeline express was started to provide on-

the-spot diagnostic, medical and advanced

surgical treatment for preventive and curative

interventions for disabled adults and children for

outreach into inaccessible rural areas where

medical services are not available; offered using

the Indian Railway Network which is the largest

in the world comprising about 63,500 kilometres

of tracks.

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Righteousness as the way in Gita

The Bhagawad Gita cites numerous instances of how moral values

and ethics can be incorporated in one's work life.

Many of its verses are directly significant for the modern manager

who may be confused about his direction and struggling to find an

answer to ethical dilemmas.

The Lord repeats that work or karma is the driving force of life,

and that this work has to be ethical.

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Message of the Gita: Chapter II, Verse 47

“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are

not entitled to the fruits of action. Never be attached to not

doing your duty”.

This stanza implies that the performer of an action has only to

perform the prescribed duty and not think about the result of the

action, because the result is beyond his control.

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Gita’s message in an organization

When applied to an organization where one is only worried

of the result, he is likely to fall into improper activities.

On the other hand, if he is ready to do his duty to the utmost of

his ability and set aside the result, he will be an ethical person

in the organization

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Business and Islam

For Islam, all principles covering business originate from the Holy

Quran, as they are explained and amplified in the Hadith (collection

of the Prophet’s sayings)

The Prophet Mohammed ordained that businesses should

promote ethical and moral behaviour and should follow honesty,

truthfulness and fulfilment of trusts and commitments, while

eliminating fraud, cheating, cut-throat competition, lending

money at interest to people in need and false advertising.

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Shariah and Interest on Capital

Shariah bans the taking of interest, because according to this law,

investors can make profit only from transactions based on the

exchange of assets, not money alone, and therefore, interest is

banned.

Thus lending money at interest is against Shariah law.

Interest is forbidden, but sharing profit & loss is acceptable

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