UGBS 101 Introduction to Business Administration Session 3

UGBS 101 Introduction to Business Administration Session 3 – Business environment: doing business right Lecturer: Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Contact Information: danquaye@ug. edu. gh College of Education School of Continuing and Distance Education 2014/2015 – 2016/2017

1. Ethics and social responsibility in Business • Ethics: Defined as the principles and standards of moral behavior that are accepted by society as right versus wrong. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 2

What is Ethical Behaviour? • Competing fairly and honestly. • Communicating Truthfully. • Not causing harm to others. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 3

What do you think about this? Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 4

What do you think about this? Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 5

Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 6

How to make Ethical decisions • Is the decision legal? (Does it break any law? ) • Is it balanced? (Is it fair to all concerned? ) • Can you live with it? (Does it make you feel good about yourself)) • Is it feasible? (Will it actually work in the real world? ) Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS

Ethical situations can be classified into two general types: An ethical dilemma: A situation in which a person must choose between two conflicting but arguably valid sides. Ethical lapse: When a person makes a decision that is clearly wrong Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 8

2. Perspectives on Social responsibility • Social responsibility: Is the idea that business has certain obligations to society beyond the pursuit of profits. • Conflicts over social responsibility are often fueled by different perspectives that can be grouped into three categories. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 9

• The traditional perspective: Business is making money. • The contemporary perspective: Ethics pays. • An emerging perspective: dynamically balancing ethics and profits. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 10

3. Emerging Issues from the Ethics/Social Responsibility Debate a. Responsibility toward investors Given the scandals of recent years, many investors are concerned about the ethics of the company in which they invest. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 11

b. Responsibility towards Consumers • The right to safe products. • The right to be informed. • The right to be heard. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 12

c. Responsibility toward employees - The Push for equality in employment. - Occupational health and safety. Dr. Daniel Quaye, UGBS Slide 13

Reading materials • Introduction of Business Administration Distance Education Manual- Dr Daniel Quaye. • Madura, Jeff (2007), Introduction to Business Administration, South-Western College Dr. Richard Boateng, UGBS Slide 14