Business Ethics Week 4

BUSINESS ETHICS
Philosophies Influencing Our Business

Practices
Let’s Start
To reach the desired skill and knowledge of this course, you need to comply the following:
 identify the classical philosophers and their philosophies;

 make a graphic organizer about classical philosophies; and
 explain how each philosophy reflects into business practices.
VISION: Immaculate Heart of Mary Academy envisions of a life giving and innovating Educational ministry committed to
transforming community of learners into Christ-centered Augustinian Recollect Stewards.
Let’s Explore
All business has their own ways in managing and strategizing their own marketing to indulge people to have their
products. Still, whether it is a big business or a small one, ethics should be followed and it matters. While they need to
cope up and meet the expectations of the consumers or buyers for economic growth, they also have ethical
responsibilities. Over time and in different kinds of organization in different parts of the world, philosophical ethics
have occupied the thoughts and minds of significant thinkers such as business owners. Here are some of it:
Classical Philosophies:
 Socrates: dare to disagree = from this statement, this philosopher wanted us to think of
ourselves too. We are like a kid sleepwalking along the crowd without knowing if we are
following the right path for ourselves. This is dangerous in questions of morality, and particularly in
corporate governance. When corruption is uncovered, too often people say "everyone else was doing it".
But our characters are our responsibility. Socrates was prepared to die rather than go against his
conscience. Does your organization encourage independent thinkers, and people who follow their
conscience? Does it allow people to give critical feedback to managers? Does it create opportunities for
good people whistle the bad behavior?
 Aristotle: let people seek fulfillment = He insisted that we are natural sociable and happiness-seeking people.
With regards to governance, organizations and business, this implies that they need to create a system that
allows people to fulfill their natural drives. Aristotle's philosophy was an influence on Edward Deci and
Richard Ryan's Self-Determination Theory, which suggests that employees will work harder for you, and
perform better, if you give them tasks they find meaningful and morally worthwhile. In addition, employees
will work harder and be motivated to perform better if they are given a chance to do the natural curiosity to
natural feeding.
 Plutarch: be a good role model = this simply means that we humans constantly observe people around us and
tries to imitate them. Unfortunately, not all of us were lucky enough to be surrounded by good role models.
However, this doesn’t mean that it ends up there. Organizations are also one way of steering people up. In
organizational terms, that means what you say to your employees is less important than what you do. They
will watch how you behave, how you treat others, how you cope with pressure and whether you follow
through on your promises. And they will imitate you. If you talk about ethics and then cut corners at the first
opportunity, they will follow your lead.
 Epictetus: build a resilient mind-set = We can control our thoughts, beliefs and attitudes, but
everything else is to some extent out of our control – other people's perceptions and behavior, the
economy, the weather, the future and the past. If you focus on what is beyond your control, and
obsess over it, you will end up feeling helpless. Focus on what you can control, and you will feel a
measure of autonomy even in chaotic situations.
 Rufus: keep track of your ethical mindset= this means that If you want to be an ethical individual or an
ethical company, you can't just study ethics, you have to practice it, every day, to get into good habits.
The ancient Greek word for ethics is actually the same word for habit. Keep track of your progress to see
how you’re doing. Keeping track to ourselves means trying to make an evidence-based assessment in
order for us to be better.
 Epicurus: The art of happiness= He said that the aim of life simply is to be happy as possible here on
Earth. He warns that humans are very bad at being happy, and very good in creating something to make
themselves miserable. He added that philosophies should teach us to be happy. And this very essential to
all states of organization especially in business. Working in a bad and toxic place is not a good place to
stay. There are a lot of opportunities out there. But sometimes, employees choose to stay due to some
reasons, but the question is, are they satisfied on the things they are having?
Let’s Understand
“Business opportunities are like buses, there's always another one coming.” – Richard Branson

Business Ethics Week 4

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Business Ethics Week 4

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Business Ethics Week 4

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BUSINESS ETHICS

Philosophies Influencing Our Business

 identify the classical philosophers and their philosophies;

You might also like