Business Ethics PDF

BUSINESS ETHICS The world's eight major religions - Judaism - Christianity - Hinduism - Buddhism - Islam - Confucianism - Taoism - Shintoism To Act Ethically is a two-way process **First** - An individual has to find out what should be done given in a particular sit...

BUSINESS ETHICS The world's eight major religions - Judaism - Christianity - Hinduism - Buddhism - Islam - Confucianism - Taoism - Shintoism To Act Ethically is a two-way process **First** - An individual has to find out what should be done given in a particular situation. **Second** - Is the act of doing it. The act of doing requires moral character. ***Judaism*** There are 12-17 million Jews in the United states and in Israel. Jews divided into Three groups; \- Middle Eastern or Oriental Jews \- The Sephardic Jews from Spain and Portugal \- The Ashkenzi Jews from Europe. Traces its roots from the covenant made between God and Abraham. The covenant also includes the Ten Commandments which embody the core values of Christianity. The eleven core values. 1\. ***Honesty***.The Jews are taught to be always truthful. 2\. ***Integrity*** It is the consistency in the words and actions. 3\. ***Brit*** It means always keeping one's word. 4\. ***Loyalty* to** It is developing a trusting relationship with God, Parents, friends and tradition 5\. ***Tzedakah*** It means refraining from being judgemental and doing acts of charity to the poor 6\. ***Chesed*** It means being kind and merciful to others. 7\. ***Respect for human dignity*** It is respect for human life since all of us are created in image and likeness of God. 8\. ***Respect for Law*** It is the practice of good citizenship by abiding by the laws of the community. 9\. ***Accountability*** It means each individual is held accountable for his/her actions and is therefore answerable to God and to others. 10\. ***Taking Responsibility*** Ethical people take responsibility for their decisions and set example for others. 11\. ***Tikkun Olam*** We contribute something to make the world a better place by fighting oppression, corruption, and exploitation. Judaism contributions to human behavior at work. \- To have a high regard for work. \- They also believes that a person should be concerned with the welfare of others. Jews rules to follow in business organization. 1\. Employers and employees follow different sets of rules because they have different positions. 2\. Employers should be aware of the extent of their employees capacity and are not allowed to insult or embarrass them. 3\. They are not permitted to withhold salaries because of debt. 4\. Jewish employees should be allowed to go home before the sun sets during Sabbath and Holidays.. 5\. Employers are required to pay employees fairly and on time, and workers should be given privileges such as work breaks and the freedom to organize themselves. **Christianity** Two Billion followers with many branches and churches. Three Main Branches of Christianity - Catholic - Orthodox - Protestant ***Christian Bible*** - Is the main guide to determine what is ethical and moral. The source of knowledge on what is right and wrong. Traces its roots to Judaism which based its ethical and moral principles from the old testament, specifically the covenant between God and Abraham. The old testament laid the foundation of the New Testament which brought the ministry of Jesus and the Apostles to the world. Ethics in Christianity is Three-fold 1\. Values propagated in Christian belief are based on the Christian Scriptures. 2\. Behavior is related to the behavior of Christian prophets. 3\. Ethics is based on the standards of behavior taught by Jesus. **"To do good or evil is a choice"** God has given us free will and if one chooses to obey God's Commandments, he will be morally upright and will eventually have a meaningful life. God wants each one of us to love one another as we love ourselves. The basic Christian tenets come from the Ten Commandments. ***Jesus Christ*** \- is the supreme norm of Christian Ethics. \- the central figure in all Christian teaching. Jesus spoke through the parables wo warn businessmen against greed and excessive love for material things such as money. Christianity emphasizes justice in the form of honoring contracts or agreements and working for a common good. **Hinduism** \- Billion of followers \- Primarily centered in South Asia and nearly 85% of Hindus live in India. \- The Hindus worship Brahman which is considered the source of ultimate oneness in the form of Gods and Goddesses. Hindus believed in: \- ***Law of Karma*** Suffering, diseases, poverty, and other hardships are brought about by evil actions in their past time. \- ***There is a continuous cycle of reincarnation*** Their end goal is freedom from the law of karma. Hindus are: \- Have a positive outlook towards different aspect of human life such as work. \- Value commitment to work and they are held accountable for results. \- Dedicated workers. Protect the interest of the organization where they work. The wisemen of India should possess the highest standards of conduct for they are considered to be the most knowledgeable and intelligent among the people. These include integrity, character, truthfulness, ethics, and morality. **Buddhism** \- the " middle way of wisdom and compassion" \- 350 million buddhist with one-third of population residing in china and 90% of Thailand's population are Buddhists. **Buddhism** - Based on the teaching of Buddha. 3 Jewels of Buddhism. 1\. ***Buddha*** (The Teacher) 2\. ***Dharma*** (The Teaching) 3\. ***Sangha*** (The Community) Buddhists believed in: To be free from the cycle of life and death. \- Believe in the cycle of rebirths, and part of rebirth is suffering. \- Believe that the end goal is to let go of all these selfish yearnings and hostility by purifying the heart. Four Noble Triths: 1\. There is suffering in the world. To live is to suffer. 2\. The cause of suffering is self-centered desire & attachments. 3\. The solution is to eliminate desire and attachments. 4\. To renew Nirvana, one must follow the rightfold path. ***Buddhists do not acknowledge companies*** Which do not give importance to the environment and animals. They believe that the world has become very materialistic and therefore, People should be taught not to be attached to worldly possessions. People can engage in business activities and may become wealthy but money, status, and power should not conquer them. **Islam** \- It was started with Muhammed (God's last Phophet). \- Majority of Arab countries adopted Islam. \- Islam has about a billion followers. \- Laid the foundation for some moral standards that determine what is morally good and what is morally bad.. ***Quran*** \- The Holy book of Muslims \- Provides the basic principles on how to deal with life including business. ***Allah*** \- The almighty God who is the creator of universe. \- The source of good and evil and whatever happens to humans is His will. \- Is considered powerful and strict and whoever believes in Allah is hid servant. Islamic ethics is governed by freedom, responsibility, and honesty. ***The 5 Pillars of Islam*** *1. Belief* *2. Worship* *3. Fasting* *4. Almsgiving* *5. Pilgrimage* **Confucianism** \- Is a major traditional religion of China. Its teaching emphasize stability. The common good, and welfare through interdependence \- Profit should be acquired with righteousness and a business organization should attend to the needs of its stakeholders. The most core value in Chinese business practice is interpersonal relationships built on trust and reciprocity. **Taoism** Based on the Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. It promotes harmony with nature and balance and interdependence among opposing elements. ***Tao*** \- means the path or the way. \- is considered as the caused of everything which means that if one follows Tai, there is harmony; if not, there is chaos. Tao has Three Basic Tenets ***Tao*** -- refers to the universal laws if nature. ***Wu Wei*** -- means letting go. ***Yin Yang*** -- means dualism or interconnecting opposites. **Shintoism** \- Is the ethnic religion of Japan. \- It centers on the relationship between man and the forces of nature embodied by spirits called ***kami.*** Shinto \- comes from the word Shen or divine being and Tao which means way of the spirits. \- has no god and no commandments. \- Worship sacred spirits called kami which are found in nature such as wind, rain, mountains, trees, and other geographic forms. Shinto's ethical principles, however were inspired by Confucianism. Its ethics is based on the idea that all human beings are basically good and the world is good as well. Shintoism leads the Japanese to respect nature since people and Kami co-exist unlike the Western counterparts wherein people control nature for profit. Shintoism also encourage group effort which recognizes individuals in a group, such as treating employees like family.