Professional Ethics GEN 301PHI 200 UNIT 1 THE

Professional Ethics (GEN 301/PHI 200) UNIT 1: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF PROFESSIONAL ETHICS Handout #1 CLO # 1 Compare morality with professional ethics. https: //lms. ectmoodle. ae

LEARNING OBJECTIVES 1. Define Professional Ethics and the terms related to it. 2. Understand the importance of Professional Ethics. 3. Understand the relationship between Religion and Morality. 4. Understand the importance of having Moral principles. 5. Emphasize on the importance of individual integrity and responsibility and organizational norms.

CONCEPT • • Ethics is a branch of philosophy which seeks to address questions about fundamental query that all of us inevitably think about, such as: what values are important? how moral values should be determined? how a moral outcome can be achieved in specific situations? what moral values people actually abide by?

CONCEPT Ethics deals with individual character and moral rules that govern and limit our conduct. It investigates questions of right and wrong, duty and obligation, and moral responsibility.

BUSINESS ETHICS Business ethics is the study of what constitutes right and wrong human conduct in a business context. Example: • Is it right for a store manager to break a promise to a customer and sell the product to someone else? • Is it wrong to give private information about your company to a competitor?

MORAL STANDARDS Moral Standards concern behavior that seriously affects human well-being. Moral standards take priority over other standards, including self-interest. The soundness of moral standards depends on the adequacy of the reasons that support them. We appeal to moral standards when we answer a moral question or make a moral judgment.

Morality and Etiquette refers to the norms of correct conduct in polite society, or, more generally, to any special code of social behaviour or courtesy. Etiquette deals with manners and not with ethics.

Morality and Law People sometimes confuse legality and morality. On one hand, breaking the law is not always immoral. On the other hand, the legality of an action does not guarantee that it is morally right. 1. An action can be illegal but morally right. 2. An action that is legal can be morally wrong

Morality and Professional Codes Professional codes are rules that are supposed to govern the conduct of members of a given profession. Not all rules of a professional code are purely moral in character.

RELIGION AND MORALITY Any religion provides its believers with a worldview, involves moral instructions, values, and commitments. The idea that morality must be based on religion can be interpreted in different ways. The desire to avoid hell and to go to heaven may prompt some of us to act morally. Religion influences the moral standards and values.

INDIVIDUAL INTEGRITY AND RESPONSIBILITY People have a moral code, have values and ideals above and beyond their moral principles that also influence the life they lead. People reflect critically on both moral principles and moral ideals and values as they seek to live morally good and worthwhile lives. Corporations are a particularly relevant example of an environment that can potentially damage individual integrity and responsibility

ORGANIZATIONAL NORMS One of the major characteristics of an organization is the shared acceptance of organizational rules by its members. It requires that individual members “commit” themselves, for example relinquish some of their personal freedom in order to further organizational goals. Diffusion of responsibility inside an organization can weaken people’s sense of moral responsibility.

ORGANIZATIONAL NORMS Pressure to meet corporate objectives, to be a team player and to conform to organizational norms can lead people to act unethically. Pressure to conform to organizational norms and a diminished sense of person for group behavior undermine individual integrity and moral autonomy.