Theoretical
Contents / Learning Contents |
Theoretical
Contents
in the module “Business Ethics” should be introduced and discussed in
relation to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) in general, using, as
methodological approach the “CSR Knowledge Map”.
This module
is based on the following theoretical reflections:
Business ethics is
moral in action. It shows up in very concrete situations where company
owners, managers or staff have to make tricky business choices. These
might be related to issues where business decisions can collide with
ethical behaviour or with peoples’ personal values and beliefs.
Examples
of this are:
 accounting
and financial standards
obeying
the law
establishing
and following company rules and procedures
mergers
and acquisitions
whistle
blowing
bribery
intellectual
property rights
unfair
competition
downsizing
/ outplacement
delocalization
environmental
hazards
employee
rights
health
and safety at work
etc.
The list of
examples is almost infinite, because everything in life (and business) can
be done in an ethical or unethical way.
Business
ethics
is the branch of ethics that examines ethical rules and principles within a
commercial context, handling with the various problems that can
arise in a business setting and special duties or obligations that apply
to persons who are engaged in commerce. Those who are interested in
business ethics ask, "Is the conduct ethically right or wrong?"
In relation to CSR, this question should take into consideration (resp.
dialogue) stakeholders affected by the decisions and actions of a company.
Business
ethics is a form of applied ethics and a normative discipline, whereby
particular ethical standards are assumed and then applied. Judgements
about what is right or wrong are made specifically, which is to say, it
makes claims about what ought to be done or what ought not to be done.
Business ethics is usually less concerned with the foundations of ethics (metaethics),
or with justifying the most basic ethical principles, and is more
concerned with practical problems and applications, and any specific
duties that might apply to business relationships (stakeholders in terms
of CSR).
There are two main ethics, ethics
of deontology (i.e. Imanuel Kant) and utilitarism
(i.e. John Stuart Mill).
Ethics
of deontology
is based on normative principles meaning that moral values belongs to the
very nature of the (moral) act. Ethics of deontology would never justify
i.e. a lie – not even a white lie – regardless the moral motivation
that could stand behind it (i.e. a white lie in order to protect an
innocent person from a totalitarian regime). In short, there are no
intrinsic moral values – values are good in itself.
Utilitarism
is a way of ethical reflection that mainly takes into account the
consequences of an action. The main question is about the output for the
person, SME or organisation acting as well as the output for others who
are affected by this action. If the “good” consequences overweigh the
“bad” consequences, an action is ethical in an utilitarism way. In
short, something is moral and good if it has some purpose.
Learning
Contents
in this module take into account ethical
reflections about the consequences of decisions and actions for
the acting person, SME or organisation. These reflections should include
the impact of actions in the fields of the company’s economical success,
ecological and social dimensions (CSR – “Tripple Bottom Line”).
| Values
and norms |
|
Values are things,
believings or objectives that are regarded as meaningful,
worthwhile or desirable by a group (i.e. a SME itself, some group
of its stakeholders) or the entire society. Values are i.e. peace,
freedom, progress, human rights, properties, solidarity, education,
fairness etc.).
Norms
are expectations based on values. Norms are useful as orientation
for the individual life and life in society. Examples for norms
can be “You should not kill” – the value it is based on is
the human right on living – or “Our company does not work on
Sundays” – the value it is based on is recovery and health at
work for example.
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| Values
and mission statements |
|
Collective
actors like institutions, organisations, associations mostly have
formulated written statements about their values and norms that
should be the motivation for their actions. The ongoing debate on
CSR encourages many companies to formulate their mission
statements in this way. Furthermore values can be expressed as
statements or slogans for products and services and therefore
should be reviewed in the field of marketing
ethics.
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| Codes
of conduct |
|
According
to the Green Paper “Promoting
a European Framework for Corporate Social Responsibility” (EC,
2001), a
Code of Conduct can be defined as a statement of the values and
business practices of a company and sometimes its suppliers. It’s
a statement of minimum standards together with a pledge by the
company to observe them and to require its contractors,
subcontractors, suppliers and licensees to observe them.
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 |
| Codes
of ethics |
|
According
to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, a Code of Ethics is a standard that
companies can use to promote: (1) honest and ethical conduct,
including the ethical handling of actual or apparent conflicts of
interest between personal and professional relationships; (2)
full, fair, accurate, timely, and understandable disclosure in the
periodic reports required to be filed by the issuer; and (3)
compliance with applicable governmental rules and regulations.
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| Power
and responsibility |
|
Power
and responsibility are the two sides of the same coin. If someone
has no power, then he won’t have the possibility to overtake
responsibility. If someone’s practices are based on power
without responsibility, he abuses his power. Inner companies and
organisations power also belongs to entrepreneurs, owners and
managers. In this context a person who has power about employees
should reflect his own
leadership ethics.
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| Corporate
governance |
|
As
codes of corporate governance are mainly motivated to reinforce
the confidence of investors, its principles of improving and reporting
transparency can be adopted for SMEs as well. Codes of
corporate governance meanwhile are established nearly every EU
country as voluntary self-regulatory initiatives based codes
of conduct including reporting transparency and quality
of cooperation between supervisory board, management board and
stakeholders. Corporate governance tries to take into account
long-term value creation. Besides to transparency, accountability
is another most important aspect in this discussion.
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 |
| Conflicts
of values |
|
As
the concept of CSR tries to integrate the different interests (based
on different values) of the main stakeholder groups of a company,
conflicts of values belong to the “daily business”. If there
is more a conflict of values then a conflict of interests, we
could also talk about an ethical
dilemma.
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|
Methods
and Practical Training Activities |
| Definition
of the kind of pedagogical methods to be used |
The
trainer will use the following main pedagogical methods:
Theoretical
exposition
Development
and discussion of exercises (individually and in working groups)
Development
and discussion of ethical dilemmas (working groups)
Moderation
of cross-sectoral learning (bringing together managers from business,
government and the not-for-profit sector)
| Definition
of the practical training activities to be developed |
For
the Standard
Programme (4h) it is recommended to develop the following
practical training activities:
Presentation,
development and discussion of Exercise 2.1.
Presentation,
development and discussion of two of the Ethical Dilemmas" from n° 1
to nº 7 (The trainer should choose two of the ethical dilemmas that fits
best to the needs of the training participants)
Presentation,
development and discussion of Exercise 2.2.
For the Extended
Programme (4h-8h) it is recommended the Standard Programme +
one or more of the following activities:
Presentation, development and discussion of
Ethical Dilemmas from nº 1 to nº 7 (The trainer should choose the
ethical dilemmas that fits best to the needs of the training participants
and that weren't used in the standard programme)
Development and discussion of a Code of Ethics
to each participant organisation (The trainer should use the pedagogical
suggestions referred on the Case Study n° 1)
|
Didactical/Pedagogical Resources/Material |
Flipcharts
Beamer
(video projector)
Computer
Exercises
2.1.and 2.2.
Ethical
Dilemmas n° 1 to nº 7
Case
Study nº 1 (extended programme)
Participant’s
Feedback Questionnaire
Further
Study Material to be given to the participants
Corporate Social Responsibility: State of the Art, 2004
(developed within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci Pilot Project “CSR/SME
- Promoting Social Responsibility in Small and Medium Size Enterprises”
and available in the six countries involved: AT, EE, HU, IT, NL, PT)
CSR
Glossary, 2005 (developed within the framework of the Leonardo da Vinci
Pilot Project “CSR/SME - Promoting Social Responsibility in Small and
Medium Size Enterprises”). Subjects: Business Ethics
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