1 An Overview of Ethics
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ISPRSY
Topic Learning Outcomes
At the end of this topic students should be able to do
the following:
1. Define what is Ethics
2. Classify the trends that drives unethical behavior
3. Examine why Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is
fostering good business ethics.
4. Evaluate different ethical considerations in decision
making.
5. Assess the trends that increase the risk of using IT in
an unethical manner.
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“This above all: to thine own self be true, and it must
follow, as the night the day, thou canst not then be
false to any man.”
- Polonius
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Moral Principles Morality
• Personal principles upon • Widely shared social
an individual base conventions defined by a
his/her decision group about generally
• Establishes boundaries accepted norms
of generally accepted • Form basis for an
behavior (right/wrong) established consensus
• Statements of what one • May change overtime to
believes to be the rules meet the evolving needs
of right conduct. of a society
• Different rules often • Helps members of the
have contradictions group understand roles
and responsibility to
achieve mutual benefits
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Basic Life Principles
1.
Life is not fair – get used to it.
The more time you spend complaining about the
things you can’t control, the less time you’ll
devote to the things you can.
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Basic Life Principles
2.
The world doesn’t care about your self-esteem
Respect is earned, not given. You need to achieve
something on your own in order for others to stand up and
applaud your contribution.
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Basic Life Principles
3.
You won’t earn P50,000 right out of college.
You’ll need to work your way up, and – in many ways – the
lessons and failures you experience along the way will serve
as your real education.
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Basic Life Principles
4.
If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you
get a boss.
In many cases, it’s your tuition that’s paying the teacher.
In the business world, it’s the teacher who’s paying you.
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Basic Life Principles
5.
Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity.
When your grandparents were young, flipping burgers was
an opportunity to learn.
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Basic Life Principles
6.
If you mess up, it’s not your parents’ fault … It’s
yours.
Don’t waste time blaming others. They’ll resent you,
and it doesn’t earn you any real respect.
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Basic Life Principles
7.
Take responsibility for your own contribution,
rather than waiting for others to place
opportunities in front of you.
Don’t waste years of your life waiting for someone to
show up on your doorsteps and hand you the
roadmap to success. Go out and grab it.
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Basic Life Principles
8.
Your school may have done away with
winners and losers, but life has not.
Hard work is often its own reward. And consistent
hard work leads to greater rewards.
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Basic Life Principles
9.
Life is not divided into semesters and you won’t
have the summers off.
Make time for yourself, but devote yourself to being
focused and equal to the task on a daily basis.
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Basic Life Principles
10.
Television is not real life.
You need to step outside your comfort zone to really
experience life.
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Basic Life Principles
11.
Attitude is everything.
Your attitude is more important than your outlook,
because it influences how you show up in life.
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Basic Life Principles
12.
Be of service to others.
We all have a purpose, some discover it early in life while
sadly, others die with a song in their heart. You can be of
service to others in the smallest way through
your thoughts, words, and actions.
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Basic Life Principles
13.
Character is more important than reputation.
Your reputation can be destroyed in moments, while
character takes a lifetime to build.
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Basic Life Principles
14.
Let go of worry, fear, and anxiety.
Have you noticed that what you worry about rarely
happens? We’re notorious for fabricating stories to
protect us in case such events transpire.
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Basic Life Principles
15.
Make peace with your past.
To avoid excess baggage in the future, we need to heal the
past. You’ve heard it said that the past is a figment
of your imagination and no longer exists.
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Basic Life Principles
16.
Be here and now.
Stop worrying about the future until it arrives. We worry
about circumstances and miss out on the aliveness of the
present moment. The future never arrives as we
expect, so it’s pointless to worry about
something that exists as thoughts.
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Basic Life Principles
17.
Practice Gratitude.
Gratitude means to appreciate what you have in your life
instead of what is lacking. We can focus on the
negative or positive, and either way we’re right.
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Basic Life Principles
18.
Forgive yourself and others.
Forgiveness is a doorway to heal the past. Many people
forgive others, yet they’re unable to forgive themselves.
You have to start with yourself first.
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Basic Life Principles
19.
Practice acceptance and detachment.
Acceptance means not resisting what’s taking place in your
life. Detachment means to distance ourselves from
a desired outcome and allow circumstances
to play out until the complete picture has emerged.
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Basic Life Principles
20.
Discover and live out your purpose.
People who live their purpose lead healthier and robust
lives. They’re happy pursuing that which makes
their spirit come alive. There’s a purpose within
you waiting to reveal itself.
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• Acceptance: having an objective attitude toward other’s ideas and practices that
differ from your own
• Compassion: understanding the suffering of others or self and wanting to do something
about it
• Cooperation: helping your family and friends, returning favors
• Courage: willingness to do difficult things
• Equality: believing everyone deserves equal rights and to be treated with respect
• Fairness: acting in a just way, sharing appropriately
• Generosity: willingness to give resources, help or time to others
• Gratitude: showing appreciation to others
• Honesty: being truthful and sincere
• Integrity: sticking to your moral and ethical principles and values
• Kindness: being considerate and treating others well
• Perseverance: persisting in a course of action, belief or purpose
• Politeness: using good manners, acting in socially acceptable ways
• Respect: showing consideration for the worth of someone or something
• Responsibility: being reliable in your obligations
• Self-control: staying in control of your words and behavior
• Trustworthy: reliably doing what is right even when it is difficult, being true to your word
Morality may vary by:
Cultural Ethnic
Age
Group Background
Life
Religion Education
Experience
Gender
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Morality
There is widespread agreement on the immorality of
murder, theft, and arson, but other behaviors that are
accepted in one culture might be unacceptable in
another.
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Morality
Even within the same society, people can have strong
disagreements over important moral issues. In the
United States, for example, issues such as abortion,
stem cell research, the death penalty, same sex
marriage, marijuana use, and gun control are
continuously debated, and people on both sides of these
debates feel that their arguments are on solid moral
ground.
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Morality
The reality is that the world has many systems of beliefs
about what is right and wrong, each with many
proponents.
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Morality
Life is complex and on occasion, you will encounter a
situation in which the ethics of the group to which you
belong are in conflict with your morals.
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Relationship Between Ethics and Morals
Traditions Ethics Life Experience
Education Morals – Culture
Individual
Beliefs
Beliefs Virtues
Core
Age Personal Vices
Beliefs
Gender Religion
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The Importance of Integrity
1. Integrity is a cornerstone of ethical behavior
2. People with integrity:
• Act in accordance with a personal code of
principles
• Extend to all the same respect and consideration
• Apply the same moral standards in all situations
3. Lack of integrity emerges if you apply moral
standards differently according to situation or
people involved
4. Many ethical dilemmas are not as simple as right
versus wrong
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The Difference Between Morals, Ethics, and Laws
1. Morals: one’s personal beliefs about right and
wrong
2. Ethics: standards or codes of behavior expected of
an individual by a group
3. Law: system of rules that tells us what we can and
cannot do. They are NOT static.
• Laws are enforced by a set of institutions
• Legal acts conform to the law
• Moral acts conform to what an individual
believes is the right belief of right and wrong
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