This slideset offers a definition of business ethics and an approach to living, working and leading ethically.

1. The big questions in
business ethics
Glenn Martin
September 2016

2. Is ethics important in business?
Some answers you might have heard…. No. Business is business. It’s tough; it’s
competitive. The object is to succeed,
to win, and make money. You do what
you have to.
You should comply with the
law, but that’s the limit of
your obligations.
Yes, it is, but if your competitors are
breaking the rules, you have to be
prepared to break the rules too.

3. What do we mean by ethics?
We missed a step – what is ethics?
Some answers
Ethics refers to the rules that societies have
established about the behaviour of people
(and organisations) towards one another. It’s
about right and wrong, good and bad.
Ethics refers to the values, rules, standards or
principles that guide our decisions about
what we ought to do.

4. If “business is business”, what is business
ethics?
Business ethics simply means the practice of
ethics in the business arena.
If someone says “business is business”, they
mean that they do not intend to be ethical.
Accordingly, if someone says “business is
business”, it is best not to trust them.
And if someone says the most important thing
is “the bottom line”, it is best not to do
business with them, because they will look
after their own interests exclusively at all times,
even at the expense of yours.

5. A definition of ethics
Albert Schweitzer defined ethics this way:
Ethics is the name we give to our concern for good
behaviour. We feel an obligation to consider, not only our
own personal well-being, but also that of others, society as
a whole and the natural world.
(1952)
Albert Schweitzer

6. What values arise from ethics?
If the essence of ethics is concern for the well-being of others, what values would we expect
to see in a person (or business) that was behaving ethically?
Suggestions:
Sincerity and integrity
Fairness and respect towards others
Acceptance of rules
Care and compassion
Peacefulness and harmony
Loyalty and support for others
Courage
You can probably think of more….

7. Why do people behave unethically?
Behaving ethically may seem like a good idea, but many
people and businesses behave unethically. Why? Here
are some key reasons:
Survivalist orientation – greed, need to crush perceived
threats
Power orientation – enjoyment of dominating others
Conformity and membership – the need to belong and
be accepted overrides the willingness to stand up for
ethics
Conceit, vanity, self-importance – make a person
willing to sacrifice honesty, balance and concern for
others

8. Ethics and beliefs
If a person or business is interested in operating ethically, it
seems that beliefs must be examined.
What does a person who is greedy, and
determined to crush or cheat others,
believe?
Suggestion: the world is dangerous and
uncaring, and goods are scarce.
What does a person who gets pleasure out
of dominating others believe?
Suggestion: This is the main pleasure I can
obtain from the world.
The person who only ever conforms and
complies?
To do otherwise is fearful.
The conceited or self-important person? My self-worth is tied up in my conceits.
Accordingly, to be ethical requires us to challenge all of these beliefs.

9. The call of ethics
Remember Albert Schweitzer’s definition of ethics: “…. We feel an
obligation to consider, not only our own personal well-being, but also
that of others”.
One way of “living ethically” is to learn the rules and expectations of our
society or our organisation, and comply with them.
However, situations can occur that ask us for more, and then we have to
make a choice to stand up for ethics.
To live this way, we have to believe that it is always worthwhile to act
ethically, regardless of circumstances, and that our actions have meaning
and purpose.

10. Ethics and possibility
If acting ethically suddenly seems too hard, it is good to
remember this:
People who say that business is tough only serve to make the
world more like that. The question to ask is: how can we make the
world different?
Ethical people help to make an ethical world.
An ethical world is attractive. To live ethically is to have regard for
the well-being of everyone, and the natural world. Accordingly, in
this world, you enjoy the loving regard of others.
The biggest test for ethics is whether we think this vision is
possible, and worth pursuing.

11. Ethics and possibility: how?
To live, work and lead ethically, you have to behave
differently to what might be the norm.
You have to speak up when necessary and say clearly what
is good and what is not good.
You have to show in your behaviour what ethics means – in
kindness, in selflessness, in adherence to fairness and
justice, in building harmonious workplaces, in promoting
joy and creativity.
You have to work together with others to combat unethical
practices.
Finally, the best way to combat evil is
to make energetic progress in the good.
- I Ching, Hexagram 43

12. Glenn Martin’s websites:
www.ethicsandvalues.com.au
www.glennmartin.com.au
Email:
glenn@glennmartin.com.au