Balberan, Jan Maxin R.             ITETHIC                                 March 29, 2008

THE ESSENCE OF BUSINESS ETHICS

Adrian Buckley

Chapter 3: Moral Responsibility in General

“A person is only responsible for the things that he or she actually plans and does,

not for what comes afterwards.”

            A person is only responsible for his or her intentions and what he or she does not do, but not for the related events and the subsequent harm and damage. What come afterwards is never simply caused by one actor, but is regarded as the outcome of a complex interrelation between several agents, means and circumstances.

            Human have many abilities in common with the great primates. Decent human behavior and sophisticated survival skills are not natural; they are formed in a process of iterative shaping by the interaction between the trainable individual and his or her cultural environment.

            Sensible persons have the ability to make autonomous choices while considering the given circumstances. Sensible persons are above all responsible for what they plan to do and for their actions, but they may also be held accountable for resulting injuries.

Chapter 4: Moral Responsibility in the Business Sphere

“Moral talk is said to be distracting moralistic forms and is held to be

simplistic, inflexible, soft and inexact.”

Business entrepreneurs still believe moral talk to be a matter of voicing some abstract absolute duty, of proposing some holy obligation, whenever an issue is raised. Due to this unsophisticated image, the very idea of moral talk is avoided. It is felt that showing real care about public demands only leads to futile debate with people who are never satisfied. They fear that they will simply waste time and energy in useless debate with environment fundamentalists.

Corporations should not remain mute about their moral performances and commitments. A balanced presentation of one’s corporate response in face of specific moral concerns can create a basis of understanding with one’s own employees as well as with the concerned public. Communicate the priorities you have in your commitment to quality management by a sophisticated use of moral talk.

Chapter 5: What is in for all parties concerned?

“For a wise solution reconcile interests, not positions.”

The difference between positions and interests is crucial. Interest defines the problem. The basic problem in a negotiation lies not in conflicting positions, but in the conflict between each side’s needs, desires, concerns, and fears. Reconciling interests rather than compromising between positions also works because behind opposed positions lie shared and compatible interests, as well as conflicting ones.

Moral standards in business ethics can be seen as the outcome of transactions between different parties with often unequal resources. Some transactional standards insist on the ethical quality of produced results and identify goals; others stress the importance of the means and procedures by formulating duties and rights.

In all transactions both aspects play a role. Parties have expectations about their mutual relation which are often expressed by the methods they apply. Regarding their mutual duties and rights they apply moral guidelines like confidence, honesty and compliance to deals. Also, parties have goals at stake, and they seek to realize them by obtaining certain concrete consequences.