normative ethics

Examples of normative ethics in the following topics:

• A Brief Definition of Business Ethics

  • Business ethics is the written and unwritten principles and values that govern decisions and actions within companies.
  • Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the meaning of all aspects of human behavior.
  • Theoretical ethics, sometimes called normative ethics, is about delineating right from wrong.
  • It helps us develop the rules and principles (norms) by which we judge and guide meaningful decision-making.
  • Business ethics, also called corporate ethics, is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines the ethical and moral principles and problems that arise in a business environment.

• What is ethics?

  • Ethics is the branch of philosophy concerned with the meaning of all aspects of human behavior.
  • Theoretical Ethics, sometimes called Normative Ethics, is about discovering and delineating right from wrong; it is the consideration of how we develop the rules and principles (norms) by which to judge and guide meaningful decisionmaking.
  • Business ethics is not chiefly theoretical in character.
  • It is best understood as a branch of ethics called applied ethics: the discipline of applying value to human behavior, relationships and constructs, and the resulting meaning.
  • Here are four ethical approaches that have stood the test of time.

• Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainable development defined

  • Economic obligations are, therefore, seen to be moderated by ethical responsibilities or social expectations and norms.
  • Discretionary responsibilities go beyond ethical responsibilities and include philanthropic measures.
  • UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights.
  • The completion of these norms was possible through discussions with unions, business, and NGOs.
  • The norms include clarification of corporate social responsibilities of companies in countries where they operate, and also refer to human rights in the workplace.

• The Social Environment

  • Heightened awareness of CSR and sustainable development has been endorsed by an increased responsiveness to ethical, social, environmental and other global issues.
  • CSR policy functions as a built-in, self-regulating mechanism whereby a business monitors and ensures its active compliance with the spirit of the law, ethical standards, and international norms.
  • This heightened awareness of CSR and sustainable development has been endorsed by an increased responsiveness to ethical, social, environmental, and other global issues.
  • CSR can play a role in building customer loyalty based on distinctive ethical values.

• A Brief Definition of Corporate Social Responsibility

  • In it they explain that corporate social responsibility is a way of conducting business through balancing the long-term objectives, decision making, and behavior of a company with the values, norms, and expectations of society.
  • The Conference Board of Canada, a not-for-profit organization that specializes in economic trends, suggests that social responsibility is a way of conducting business through balancing the long-term objectives, decision-making, and behavior of a company with the values, norms, and expectations of society.
  • Social responsibility can be a normative principle and a soft law principle engaged in promoting universal ethical standards in relationship to private and public corporations.

• Forces in Consumerism

  • An example of ethical consumerism is consciously purchasing coffee from a cafe that buys fair trade coffee beans.
  • Example of ethical consumerism would be consciously purchasing coffee from a cafe that buys fair trade coffee beans.
  • While previously the norm had been the scarcity of resources, the Industrial Revolution created a new economic situation.
  • The rise in popularity of ethical consumerism over the last two decades can be linked to the rise of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) movement.
  • However, the practice of ethical consumerism is in its nascent stages and far from universal.

• Doing business across cultures

  • The middle layers include norms, values, and attitudes but are not directly visible.
  • Norms are the mutual sense a group has of what is right and wrong that can develop on a formal level such as written law, or on an informal level such as social control.
  • Although ethical values may be similar across cultures in many cases, the application of those values to certain situations may vary.
  • Ethics can be described as the science of human duty.
  • It is upon the ethical standards of a person that judges whether or not an action is right or wrong.

• Stakeholders: Consumers, Employees, and Shareholders

  • This normative model implies that the CSR collaborations are positively accepted when they are in the interests of stakeholders and may have no effect or be detrimental to the organization if they are not directly related to stakeholder interests.
  • Whether it is a team, small group, or a large international entity, the ability for any organization to reason, act rationally, and respond ethically is paramount.
  • Further, it is leadership that has to be able to influence the stakeholders by presenting the strong minority voice in order to move the organization's members toward ethical behavior.
  • Therefore, stakeholder management, as well as any other leadership of organizations, has to take upon themselves the arduous task of ensuring an "ethics system" for their own management styles, personalities, systems, performances, plans, policies, strategies, productivity, openness, and even risk(s) within their cultures or industries.

• Corporate Policies

  • Companies often have corporate ethics statements or codes that identify ethical expectations and offer guidance.
  • Due to the increase in comprehensive compliance and ethics programs, many companies have formulated internal policies pertaining to the ethical conduct of employees.
  • It is hoped that having such a policy will lead to greater ethical awareness, consistency in application, and the avoidance of ethical disasters.
  • For instance, the US Department of Commerce ethics program treats business ethics as a set of instructions and procedures to be followed by 'ethics officers'.
  • Some others claim being ethical just for the sake of it.

• Complications of Globalization

  • These can be best described as political, cultural, economic, and ethical in nature.
  • Aside from these big topics in globalization, there are other ethical concerns worth mentioning.
  • The very real divide between developed and developing nations underscores a core weakness in globalization, as benefits are not shared equally and wages do not reflect norms across regions.