ETHICAL PERSPECTIVES

Ethical perspectives



Ethical perspectives

Introduction

With no clear definition of what business ethics are, it becomes the responsibility of the beholder to discern or reach a plausible conclusion of what constitutes ethical behavior. When looking at business ethics from a global perspective the water only gets muddier. Studies and perspectives on the subject provide no clear definition and when western and eastern social values are added in the mix, the gap between doing what is ethical and doing what is right stretches the abyss even further. Doing what is right for the organization and breaking the law does not warrant unethical behavior but at the same time having a responsibility to society and to those that could inadvertently affected by not committing an unethical act. An example of this would be paying a bribe to foreign government for a contract that will prevent thousands of employees from becoming unemployed. The business broke the law and committed what would be in western culture, unethical behavior even though thousands were able to remain employed because of the action. Perhaps business ethics in America suffer from western morality which does not now or has ever been one shoe fit all.

Peter F. Drucker

In Drucker (1981), he takes us through a journey of evolution of Business Ethics and represents several controversial positions. While explaining the ethics in Western Culture he states that there was agreement on the following statement: “There are only one ethics, one set of rules of morality, one code, that of individual behavior in which the same rules apply to everyone alike” (Drucker, 1981, Page 19). He discusses the examples of "a poor mother", "nepotism in China" and "paid extortion" to articulated the impact of social, economical and cultural norms on implementing this on everyone. He considers practices of questionable morality under different circumstances as ethical.

Casuistry (Drucker, 1981, Page 22) was the first attempt to think about social responsibility and embed it in a set of distinctive ethics for people in power. According to Drucker, ethics for people in social responsibility is a cross-benefit calculation involving demand of individual conscience and position. For then, demand of ethics can be excepted if actions result in benefit for other people.

Drucker then moves on to introduce The Ethics of Prudence (Drucker, 1981, Page 27) as other major tradition in the West. He proposes that Ethics of Prudence appropriate to a society of organizations. Prudence, the consciousness not to do the wrong thing will enable the leader to exhibit a role model behavior. According to Drucker, Ethics of Prudence do not spell out the “right” behavior, but wrong behavior is clear enough to avoid any questionable behavior.

Drucker then explains another, situational non-Western ethic that is most durable and successful: The Confusion Ethics of Interdependence (Drucker, 1981, Page 30). In contrast to Casuists, Confucian hold individuals accountable to same rules and imperatives. There is no social responsibility overriding individual conscience, no cost-benefit calculation, no greater good or higher measure then the individual (Drucker, 1981, Page ...