BESR-Q3-Lesson-7 Philosophies in Business PDF

Q3 - Lesson 7 BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CLASS Q3 - Lesson 7 BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CLASS With Teacher Ma. Jofel Madelyn P. Yarcia Q3 - Lesson 7 PHILOSOPHIES OF BUSINESS PRACTICES  LEARNING OBJECTIVES:...

Q3 - Lesson 7 BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CLASS Q3 - Lesson 7 BUSINESS ETHICS & SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY CLASS With Teacher Ma. Jofel Madelyn P. Yarcia Q3 - Lesson 7 PHILOSOPHIES OF BUSINESS PRACTICES  LEARNING OBJECTIVES: Identify philosophies in business, Discuss the implications of the philosophies in business to business principles and practices, Illustrate how these philosophies are reflected into business practices, Appreciate the application of classical philosophies as they relate in today’s business setting  CLASS REVIEW COD E OF E TH ICS O R ET H IC AL CODES CODE Collection of principles and pra ctice s th at a bu sin ess believes OF ETHICS in and aims to live by CODE OF ETHICS INCLUDED IN THE CODE OF Publicly available and addressed to ETHICS AND CODE OF anyone with an interest in the CONDUCT company's activities and the way it A. Compliance does business. B. Competition And Fair Dealing CODE OF CONDUCT C. Confidentiality Of Generally addressed to and intended Information for employees alone. D. Conflicts Of Interest E. Disclosure Q3 - Lesson 7 PHILOSOPHIES OF BUSINESS PRACTICES  LESSON FOR THE WEEK Classical philosophies are vital in business principles and practices and in today’s business settings. Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill Socrates Plato Immanuel Kant Confucius Aristotle Jeremy Bentham John Stuart Mill  WHAT IS BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY? WHAT IS BUSINESS PHILOSOPHY? A set of principles or core values that guide all areas of operation. A company philosophy functions as a mission statement or code of ethics that employees and leaders follow when doing business.  BUSINESS PHILOSOPHERS BUSINESS PHILOSOPHERS... Transform the world with their ideas, visions, and belief systems.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES AND THEIR IMPLICATION ON BUSINESS  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius B. The Gad-fly at the Marketplace by Socrates C. The Theory of Forms by Plato D. Aristotle: All or nothing E. Duty-Based Ethics by Immanuel Kant F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius “Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated” THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius Confucius (551 BC–479 BC) was a Chinese philosopher and politician of the Spring and Autumn period. The philosophy of Confucius, also known as Confucianism, emphasized personal and governmental morality, correctness of social relationships, justice, kindness, and sincerity.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius Confucius's principles have commonality with Chinese tradition and belief. He championed strong family loyalty, ancestor veneration, and respect of elders by their children and of husbands by their wives, recommending family as a basis for ideal government. He espoused the well-known principle "Do not do unto others what you do not want done to yourself", the Golden Rule. He is also a traditional deity in Daoism.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius Confucius is widely considered as one of the most important and influential individuals in human history. His teaching and philosophy greatly impacted people around the world and remain influential today. To Confucius, the ideal person is a scholar bureaucrat, not a successful entrepreneur. His (or her) priority should be on serving society at large, not on making personal gains and profit.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius (1) These and other Confucian values can play a positive role in entrepreneurial prosperity for China and the rest of the world if applied correctly. Confucian entrepreneurs can be defined as those who apply traditional Chinese cultural values in respect to maintaining the moral beliefs of Confucianism in all aspects of business practice. It initially meant intellectuals and has served as a set of political ideas practiced within a hierarchy of ethical obligations to family and community.”  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius (2) Confucian values were applicable to positive interpersonal relations in business practice and in the workplace, in regards to successful human resource management in particular. These values included: trustworthiness, Ren (compassion, humanness), Li (ritual, etiquette), harmony and tolerance of others. These values of interpersonal relations can generate a more successful human resource management.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius Business philosophy can be guided by Confucian values of long term orientation, resistance to corruption, and nurturing of guanxi (relationships), which can be utilized for improvement of networking and developing positive business connections.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES A. The Golden Rule by Confucius Confucian values can aid in the creation of entrepreneurs who are true leaders of society, and who hold a sense of righteousness and de (moral power). Confucius believed that leaders were expected to rule in a way that is just and moral. This view of practice could have the potential to create entrepreneurs who perform ethical business practice. Under Confucian values, if businesses are governed righteously, they will succeed.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES B. The Gad-fly at the Marketplace by Socrates “The unexamined life is not worth living”  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES B. The Gad-fly at the Marketplace by Socrates Socrates (469-399 B.C.E.) is one of the few individuals whom one could say has shaped the cultural and intellectual development of the world that, without him, history would be profoundly different. He is best known for the Socratic method of question and answer, his claim that he was ignorant, and his claim that unexamined life is not worth living, for human beings.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES B. The Gad-fly at the Marketplace by Socrates What can entrepreneurs learn from Socrates? The Socratic Method is a way of thinking that allows individuals to define their own purpose for learning and explore this purpose through open-minded questioning of what they hold to be true. Entrepreneurs can find value in Socratic Method because they, too, are bombarded by assumptions based on what others and they themselves believe to be the best plan of action for pursuing a business idea.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES B. The Gad-fly at the Marketplace by Socrates What can entrepreneurs learn from Socrates? Entrepreneurial Learning or the acquisition of knowledge necessary for creating a business venture is built around the constant questioning and testing of these assumptions theories about what we hold to be true for validity. These assumptions can range from beliefs about what the market wants, where opportunities lie, to the effectiveness of a new product feature.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES C. The Theory of Forms by Plato “Good people do not need laws to tell them to act responsibly, while bad people will find a way around the laws”  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES C. The Theory of Forms by Plato Plato (427-347 B.C.E.) is one of the world’s best known and most widely read and studied philosophers. He was the student of Socrates and the teacher of Aristotle, and he wrote in the middle of the fourth century B.C.E. in ancient Greece. Though influenced primarily by Socrates, to the extent that Socrates is usually the main character in many of Plato’s writings, he was also influenced by Heraclitus, Parmenides, and the Pythagoreans.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES C. The Theory of Forms by Plato The Theory of Forms represents Plato’s attempt to cultivate our capacity for abstract thought. Philosophy was relatively new in Plato’s day, and it completed with mythology, tragedy, and epic poetry as the primary means by which people could make sense of their place in the world. Like philosophy, art and mythology do so by appealing to our emotions and desires. Philosophy appeals to the intellect.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES C. The Theory of Forms by Plato The Theory of Forms differentiates the abstract world of thought from the world of the senses, where art and mythology operate. Plato also argued that abstract thought is superior to the world of the senses. By investigating the world of Forms, Plato hopes to attain a greater knowledge.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES C. The Theory of Forms by Plato Education for the Health of the State In both the Republic and the Laws, Plato identifies education as one of the most important aspects of a healthy state. He lays out detailed education programs that start with exercises pregnant women should perform to ensure the health of the fetus, and he goes on to explain not only what children should study but also what values they should be exposed to and what kinds of art and physical exercise they should engage in.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES C. The Theory of Forms by Plato Education for the Health of the State Plato apparently considered most of his fellow Athenians to be hopelessly corrupt, easily inflamed by hollow rhetoric and seduced by easy pleasures. One can achieve only so much by arguing with a corrupt soul that a virtuous life and to seek wisdom. Plato thinks that a child’s education is the last thing that should be left to chance or parental whim since the young mind is so easily molded.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing “Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence”  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing Aristotle (384-322 B.C.E.) is a towering figure in ancient Greek philosophy, making contributions to logic, metaphysics, mathematics, physics, biology, botany, ethics, politics, agriculture, medicine, dance, and theater. He was a student of Plato who in turn studied under Socrates. He was more empirically- minded than Plato or Socrates and is famous for rejecting Plato’s theory of forms.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing Virtue and Happiness The word happiness in the Ethics is a translation of the Greek term eudaimonia, which carries connotations of success and fulfilment. For Aristotle, this happiness is our highest goal. However, Aristotle does not say that we should aim at happiness, but rather that we do aim at happiness. His goal in the Ethics is not to tell us that we ought to live happy, successful lives, but to tell us what this life consists of.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing Moral Education A question of high importance in any investigation of ethics is how we can teach people to be good. He does not think virtue can be thought in a classroom or by means of argument. His ethics, then, is not designed to make people good, but rather to explain what is good, why it is good, and how we might set about building societies and institutions that might Implications to Business.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing Moral Education “The rational person doesn’t seek money for its own sake. The rational person uses money so that they can spend their time on good moral works and developing their mind.”  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing Moral Education Aristotle concludes that the role of the leader is to create the environment in which all members of an organization can realize their own potential. He says that the ethical role of the leader is not to enhance his or her own power but to create the conditions under which followers can achieve their potential.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES D. Aristotle: All or nothing a. Am I behaving in a virtuous way? b. How would I want to be treated if I were a member of this organization? c. What form of social contract would allow all our members to develop their full potential in order that they may each make their greatest contribution to the good of the whole? d. To what extent are there real opportunities for all employees to develop their talents and their potential? e. To what extent do all employees participate in decisions that affect their work? f. To what extent do all employees participate in the financial gain resulting from their own ideas and efforts?  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES E. Duty-Based Ethics by Immanuel Kant “Act only according to that maxim by which you can at the same time will that it should become a universal law.”  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES E. Duty-Based Ethics by Immanuel Kant Immanuel Kant is one of the most influential philosophers in the history of Western philosophy. His contributions to metaphysics, epistemology, ethics, and aesthetics have had a profound impact on almost every philosophical movement that followed him. He was a German philosopher who advances the theory of deontology or deontological ethics the theory of duty and obligation.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES E. Duty-Based Ethics by Immanuel Kant Deontology proposes that ethical behavior is simply doing God’s will. Since most of us believe that is good, then goodwill and loving other human beings as God loves us is the universal principle on which all moral behavior must be based. The Categorical Imperative – Along with the concept of goodwill goes a concept of duty to keep one’s promises which are known as Kant’s categorical imperative an absolute and universally binding moral law.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES E. Duty-Based Ethics by Immanuel Kant Kant believes in always telling the truth because if we cannot believe what others will tell us, then agreements and even conversations with people are not possible. Categorical imperative is the basis to determine whether one’s action is deemed to be ethically correct.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES E. Duty-Based Ethics by Immanuel Kant There are three maxims: The first maxim: an action can only be considered as ethically correct if it can be accepted or made into a universal law. The second maxim: that a person should be treated as an end and not the means to achieve an end. The third maxim: everyone should as a member of an ideal kingdom where he or she is both the ruler and subject at the same time.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill “The said truth is that it is the greatest happiness of the greatest number that is the measure and wrong” - Jeremy Bentham  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Jeremy Bentham (1748-1832) was an English philosopher and political radical. He is primarily known today for his moral philosophy, especially his principle of utilitarianism, which evaluates actions based upon their consequences. The relevant consequences, in particular, are the overall happiness created for everyone affected by the action.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill He famously held a hedonistic account of both motivation and value according to which what is fundamentally valuable and what ultimately motivates us is pleasure and pain. Happiness, according to Bentham, is thus a matter of experiencing pleasure and lack of pain.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill “A person may cause evil to others not only by his actions but by his inaction, and in either case; he is justly accountable to them for the injury.” – John Stuart Mill  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) profoundly influenced the shape of nineteenth-century British thought and political discourse. His substantial corpus of works includes texts in logic, epistemology, economics, social and political philosophy, ethics, metaphysics, religion and current affairs.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Utilitarianism - revolves around the concept of “the end justifies the means.” It is the brain child of philosophers John Stuart Mill and Jeremy Bentham. It believes that outcomes as a result of an action have a greater value compared to the latter. It also states that the most ethical thing to do is to take advantage of happiness for the good of the society.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill In utilitarianism, the business principle holds the morally right course of action in any situation is the one that produces the greatest balance of benefits over harms for everyone affected. So long as a course of action produces maximum benefits for everyone, utilitarianism does not care whether the benefits are produced by lies, manipulation, or coercion. Business responsibility usually defined as the net benefits that accrue to those parties affected by the choice. Thus, most utilitarians hold the position that business choices must be evaluated by calculating the net benefits of each available alternative action.  THE CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES F. Utilitarianism by Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill Types of Utilitarianism 1. Rule utilitarianism – is put in place to benefit the most people by using the fairest methods possible. 2. Act utilitarianism – makes the most ethical actions possible for the benefit of the people.  DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES Ethics is a philosophical term derived from the Greek word ethos meaning character or custom. Ethics are the principles that will tell us the right thing to do, or what things are worth doing. Ethics refers to a set of standards governing behaviour; it refers to broader- based, value-driven rules (Sims, 1992; Jansen and von Glinow,1985). DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES Ethics is considered a conduct, as distinguished from formal sciences such as Mathematics, physical sciences such as Chemistry and Physics, and empirical sciences such as Economics and Psychology. Ethics is a normative science, it involves a systematic search for moral principles and norms that are used to justify our moral judgments. The formation of a sound moral judgment presupposes a profound analysis and justification of an ethical principle or theory (Roa, 2011). DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES Ethics can be distinguished from morality in the sense that morality deals with principles of right or wrong conduct in general, while ethics is more concerned with standards of acceptable to a group, a profession, or members of an organization. Alternatively, organizational ethics can be understood as elaborations of pre-existing broader moral principles, which include standards of behaviour and are designed to respond to the particular dilemmas presented by that context (Sinclair, 1993). DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES In any case, there is clear evidence that the level of moral reasoning is related to the choice of action that advocated and is related to people’s value positions and stands on controversial public issues. In other words, moral judgement is not a value-neutral and purely cerebral style of intellectualizing, but is connected with values and decision-making (Rest, 1980). DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES Since ethics is universal and the same for all, companies should obey the same ethical rules whenever they operate. For instance, they should respect the rights of workers, should not engage in bribery, should protect the environment and not undermine the local culture, and so forth. DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES There are generally three levels of analysis appropriate to business ethics: (1) that of the system of free enterprise as such; (2) that of the corporation; and (3) that of the individual within the corporation. DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES In any case, the starting points is usually those basic ethical norms on which all or the overwhelming majority of people agree. For instance, there are basic norms necessary for the conduct of business such as keeping promises, honouring contracts, telling the truth, and respecting the lives and integrity of those with whom one engages in business. Even on issues of extortion and gross bribery there is general consensus that these are wrong, even though prevalent and tolerated in some countries (De George, 1994). DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES The history of ethics in business makes evident that the ethical doctrines have influenced the thinking on the morality of business. We can imagine the earliest bartering based on a principle of equal exchange. Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, wrote of justice being the exchange of equals for equals and in the Politics he discusses “the art of acquisition”, trade, and usury as part of the ethics of the household. DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES If we jump to the modern era, John Locke (1690) developed a defense of private property as a natural right based on the labor one applies to securing the good in question. Adam Smith, who wrote A Theory of Moral Sentiments before he wrote The Wealth of Nations, wrote about the ethics of Hume, John Stuart Mill, and many others wrote on the morality or ethics of the development free-enterprise economic system. DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES Karl Marx developed the most trenchant attack on what he termed capitalism was that most of the benefits were reaped by the few, when there was enough to better the lot of all. All of these writers have added to the history of ethics in business and their thoughts have filtered down in various ways to the general populace (De George, 1994). DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES To illustrate more specifically how the various ethical doctrines may affect business practices, let us take example of Aristotle. The Aristotelian approach will help us to talk and think about management practice. Put differently, as expressed in the familiar maxim, “A way of seeing is also a way of not seeing”, at the heart of this current study is a pedagogy to provide management students with a lens drawn from virtue theory, to use alongside their lenses of managerial functions, and roles, promises to help students integrate moral theory into general management thinking and practice. DIFFERENT PHILOSOPHIES IMPLICATIONS FOR BUSINESS PRINCIPLES AND PRACTICES Concretely, from Aristotle’s assertion that the purpose of life is to maximize happiness and that how we manage our communities should be of main concern. Whereas for Aristotle ethics culminated in politics, we are suggesting that today’s ethics culminates in management, as managers play a critical role in society (Dyck and Kleysen, 2001). COMPARING CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS SETTING  COMPARING CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS SETTING A concrete example can be given for how the various moral philosophers’ views get applied in day-to-day business situations. Let us take the case of “insider trading” Business A, major stockholder of a prosperous and fast raising company, has access to information than that of a smaller and less financially sound competitor, Company B, which was going to be absorbed by a third competitor, Company C. Businessman A’s source was the son of the major stockho  COMPARING CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS SETTING lder of Company B. This son was a self-confessed hater of his father. The son gave the information to Businessman A so that Businessman A could buy shares was sure to go up after its takeover by a bigger, more financially stable company was made public. The son offered to give this piece of information on the understanding that Businessman A would share with him the big profit he was bound to make. After the takeover, Company B would surely wind up (Gomez, 1992).  COMPARING CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS SETTING One’s ethical viewpoint will definitely “color” one’s opinion on whether the actions described above can be considered ethical or not. For instance, a Platonist would consider it a deviation, a withdrawal from the Good, and hence, would consider it unethical. If one takes the utilitarian view, one might possibly consider such actions acceptable, as they provide net benefits to both Businessman A and the source of the insider information.  COMPARING CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS SETTING A Kantian would say that both parties’ conduct cannot be set up as a universal law are thus immoral. An Aristotelian or virtue of ethicist would definitely consider both actions as unconscionable, as many important virtues-such as loyalty, fairness, temperance, justice –are clearly lacking or absent.  COMPARING CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES IN RELATION TO THE BUSINESS SETTING This and other examples can be offered. What is important is that in any situation, the decision maker take on a comprehensive ethical framework, one that minimizes the gaps or incompatibilities among the various ethical viewpoints, one that hopefully leads to the good of the human persons, to his perfect human flourishing or eudaimonia.  LESSON GENERALIZATION Understanding how classical philosophies are vital in business principles and practices and in today’s business settings. These notable philosophies are from Confucius, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Kant and the Utilitarians. We can use these philosophies and apply it in our daily lives, in the business that we are having and we will be having in the future following our personal and business ethics. ACTIVITY TIME Essay. Discuss the following: 1. Describe Utilitarianism. How does utilitarianism influence our day-to-day decision-making? 2. Do you agree with Socrates that an unexamined life is not worth living? Why or why not?