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Section – 2

A) Indian Perspective of Ethics

1. Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha2. Concept of Dharma

B) Ethics: A Global Perspective:

1. Ethics in Global Marketing & Advertising2. Ethical perspective in Employment including the international labour Organization Std.3. Ethics and IT: E-commerce, Privacy Codes.4. Environmental Ethics: Indian and Western perspectives5. Ethics and Cross- culture influences6. Ethical issues and functional aspects of business

A) Indian Perspective of Ethics

1. Purusharthas: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha

2. Concept of Dharma

Purusha means either God or a human being.Artha means an object or objective. "Purusharthas" means objectives of a human being. Purusha does notmean male in the physical sense, but any soul in its differentiated aspect.

So the purusharthas are applicable to both men and women equally.The purusharthas serve as pointers in the life of a human being. They are based on the vision of God whichis evident in the creation He manifested and which can be followed by man to be part of that vision and inharmony with His aims. His worlds are established on the principles of dharma. They are filled with the

abundance of material and spiritual beings and energies, who seek fulfillment by achieving their desiresand liberation. Since man is God in his microcosmic aspect, he too should emulate God and manifest thesame reality in his own little world. He should pursue the same aims, experience life in its fullness and bean instrument of God by serving the purpose for which he has been created. The four chief aims or purusharthas are:

1. Dharma (righteousness),

2. Artha (wealth),

3. Kama (desire) and

4. Moksha (salvation or liberation)

The rationale behind these purusharthas becomes clear when we consider the basic tenets of Hinduism.

Man is an aspect of God. He is God's objective reality in creation. He exists in relationship with God like areflection in the mirror that is somewhat different yet inseparable and somewhat similar. Veiled in him isthe true self by the influence and involvement of Prakriti or primordial nature.

The purpose of his life upon earth is to follow the law (dharma) of God and achieve salvation (moksha) or freedom from his false self (ahamkara) by leading a balanced life in which both material comforts andhuman passions have their own place and legitimacy.

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Man cannot simply take birth on earth and start working for his salvation right away by means of justdharma alone. If that is so man would never realize why he would have to seek liberation in the first place.As he passes through the rigors of life and experiences the problem of human suffering, he learns toappreciate the value of liberation. He becomes sincere in his quest for salvation. So we have the four goals,instead of just one, whose pursuit provides us with an opportunity to learn important lessons and moveforward on the spiritual path. What the purusharthas characterize is not a life of self-negation, but of balance, complexity, richness, opportunities and moderation in a cosmic drama of immense proportions inwhich man ultimately envisions and experiences his true grandeur and fulfills the very purpose of hiscreation.

Every individual in Hindu society is expected to achieve these four objectives with detachment, withoutany expectation and as a sacrificial offering to God in the ritual of human life. They have to be pursuedselflessly for a higher and greater cause. Depending upon the attitude and the manner in which we pursuethem, they either set us free or entangle us deeper with the allurements of human life.

Dharma

The first of the goals is dharma, a word which is difficult to translate in English. Since the same word isused in many eastern religions, it means many things to many people and eludes a true definition. It has

been variously translated as duty, faith, religion, righteousness, sacred law, justice, ethics, and morality andso on. According to one school of Hinduism, dharma is an obligatory duty as prescribed by the Vedas to beperformed by an individual in accordance with the rules prescribed for the caste to which he or she belongs.God is an upholder of dharma because he performs His duties even though they are not obligatory and Heis without desire or preference.

There is no word in Latin or English that can truly explain the complex meaning of dharma. Its first letter "dha" is also the first letter of dharitri, the earth, which is suggestive of its connection with the earth or earthly life. In a wider sense, dharma is the secret glue, the binding force, which upholds and regulates thisentire creation just as the gravitational force controls and holds the entire material universe as one piece. Itis the divine constitution that defines our roles and responsibilities, our social and moral order, our purposeand goals and the rewards and punishments that are appropriate for our actions. It is the law of God that issacred, inviolable and pervasive. It is responsible for order, regularity, harmony, control, predictability and

accountability. According to Manusmriti, dharma is four footed in the Krita age and loses one leg in eachsuccessive age. Thus in the fourth and last age of Kali, it becomes crippled and rests upon just one leg.

Dharma exists in all planes, in all aspects and at all levels of creation. In the context of human life, dharmaconsists of all that an individual undertakes in harmony with divine injunctions and his own sense of morality and justice. However to comprehend the true nature of dharma is not an easy task. The world isenveloped in illusion as our human minds are. What we see in the world and learn from it may not be trueand reliable. What we consider as right and wrong or dharma and adharma may not stand the test of truth.Hence to practice dharma we are advised to rely upon the scriptures and follow the injunctions containedthere in.

The sources of dharma are the  Vedas, the Vedangas, the Sutra literature of which the most important arethe Dharmashastras, and scriptures such as the Bhagavadgita. In ancient India dharmashastras (law books)played an important role in guiding people on the path of dharma. It is however difficult to say how far theyare relevant in the present age. One should also remember that dharma should not be viewed as end in itself but the means to a still higher end, liberation.

Artha

Artha means wealth. Hinduism recognizes the importance of material wealth for the overall happiness andwell being of an individual. A house holder requires wealth, because he has to perform many duties to

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Moksha

The pursuit of dharma regulates the life of a human being and keeps him on the righteous path. The pursuitof artha and kama enrich his experience and impart to him valuable lesson. The pursuit of moksha or salvation liberates him and leads him to the world Brahman. The pursuit of dharma usually begins in theearly age when one is initiated into religious studies. The pursuit of artha and kama begins in most cases

after one becomes a householder. The pursuit of moksha however is the most important of all aims and canbegin at any time. The other aims are preparatory for this final aim. However, in most cases, though notcorrectly, moksha becomes an important pursuit in the old age during vanaprastha or the age of retirement.Moksha is both a purushartha and a paramartha (transcendental aim), which is important not only for menbut also for the divine beings.

Moksha actually means absence of moha or delusion. Delusion is caused by the inter play of the triplegunas, the activity of the senses, attachment with and desire for sense objects. A person achieves liberationwhen he increases the quality of sattva, suppressing rajas and tamas and overcomes his desire for senseobjects by detachment, self control, surrender to god and offering of one's actions to God. There are manypaths to salvation and all of them lead to God. The main paths are the path of knowledge, of action, of devotion and of renunciation. Each path has its own advantages and disadvantages. whatever may be thepath, the help and guidance of a guru is indispensable to one's spiritual journey. A guru is God in human

form whose his chief purpose is to remove the darkness hidden in the hearts and minds of his disciples andhelp them find their true selves.

The purpose of purusharthas is to ensure that people would not neglect their obligatory duties in their deluded state by becoming obsessed with particular desires that may lead to moral and social decadenceand destruction of family values. The four Purusharthas are responsible for balance in human life. Theymake life a rewarding and enriching experience. They cater to the spiritual and material aspirations of human beings and lead them in the right direction on the path of liberation. The exemplify the veryfunctioning of God who, without any particular aim or desire, detached, seeks to establish these four aimsin the entire manifest creation through his trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesha and Himself as thehighest and supreme aim of all. Thus by worshipping Brahma we can gain the knowledge of dharma andperform our obligatory duties with precision and perfection. By worshipping Vishnu we can gain materialand spiritual wealth and work for the welfare of our families and society. By worshipping Siva we can seek 

the fulfillment of our desires and overcome our delusion and finally by pursuing Brahman, or any of thesegods as Brahman, we can achieve liberation by becoming Brahman Himself.

The Concept of Dharma:

Dharma is the path of righteousness and living one's life according to the codes of conduct as

described by the Hindu scriptures.

Dharma is a term that is frequently used in Indian spiritual thought. Though it is a term with wide and far 

reaching ramifications, it essentially signifies a sense of duty, a sense of obligation or a sense of 

responsibility.

Good Dharma = Good Karma

“Dharma basically means ‘to nourish’, ‘to uphold’ and signifies whatever supports the universal order andalso the individual life in society. Dharma is the basic value in life as well as in transactions - social,religious, secular and vocational. Dharma is the first of the three normal human purposes, the other twobeing the acquisition of wealth (artha) and the enjoyment of pleasures (kama). Dharma is characterized by

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certain common human values like truth, generosity, compassion, sympathy, self-restraint, forgiveness,non-enmity, friendliness, absence of envy and rectitude in conduct.The scriptures say ‘attend to this, the essence of dharma, do not do to others what you would not do toyourself. Put yourself in the position of others and then act’. In other words, dharma is the inner light of clear conscience, mindful of the welfare of all and minimizing ego involvement and selfishness ininstitutional behaviour.

.

Dharma is closely linked with the idea of original human indebtedness or inescapable obligation. Everyhuman being is born with three debts. The first is towards his ancestors, the second is towards the sages andthe third is what he owes to the Gods.

By continuing the family line by having his own children, he discharges his debts towards his ancestors, bystudying, understanding the cultural context and milieu into which he is born, he discharges his debttowards the sages, as the sages have been responsible for the unbroken cultural heritage of the land. Byrespecting and worshipping the elemental and environmental forces like the air, the rivers, the mountains,plants, animals etc, he discharges his debts to the Gods. (The stress on environmental awareness is to benoted here). This concept of indebtedness is the very source of dharma, which shifts the focus from desiregratification to duty fulfillment, thus making human life meaningful and worthwhile .

The two great epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata both emphasize the role of Dharma inindividual life as well as in collective existence. If the Ramayana illustrates the need to subordinate wealthand enjoyment to dharma, thus making it the mirror of Indian culture, the Mahabharata expounds on thechallenges that dharma faces from greed and wealth in personal and public life and how real dharma issabotaged by surrogates and counterfeits.” This is Dharma, the bedrock of human existence.

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B) Ethics: A Global Perspective:

1. Ethics in Global Marketing & Advertising

2. Ethical perspective in Employment including in the international labour Organization Std.

3. Ethics and IT: E-commerce, Privacy Codes.

4. Environmental Ethics: Indian and Western perspectives

5. Ethics and Cross- culture influences

6. Ethical issues and functional aspects of business

 

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1) Ethics in Global Marketing & Advertising:

"A customer is the most importantvisitor of our premises.

He is not dependent on us -we are dependent on him.

 He is not an interruption on our work -

he is the purpose of it.

He is not an outsider on our business -he is a part of it.

We are not doing him a favour by serving him -

 He is doing us a favour by giving us

an opportunity to do so."

- Mahatma Gandhi

The Oxford University Press defines global marketing as “marketing on a worldwide scale reconciling or taking commercial advantage of global operational differences, similarities and opportunities in order tomeet global objectives.”

- Oxford University Press’ Glossary of Marketing Terms

Marketing ethics is the area of applied ethics which deals with the moral principles behind the operationand regulation of marketing. Some areas of marketing ethics (ethics of advertising and promotion) overlapwith media ethics.

Fundamental Issues in the Ethics of Marketing

Frameworks of analysis for ethical marketing -

Possible frameworks:

• Value  -oriented framework, analyzing ethical problems on the basis of the values which theyinfringe (e.g. honesty, autonomy, privacy, transparency). An example of such an approach is theAMA Statement of Ethics. 

• Stakeholder-oriented framework, analysing ethical problems on the basis of whomsoever theyaffect (e.g. consumers, competitors, society as a whole).

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• Process-oriented framework, analysing ethical problems in terms of the categories used bymarketing specialists (e.g. research, price, promotion, placement).

None of these frameworks allows, by itself, a convenient and complete categorization of the great variety

of issues in marketing ethics.

Nature and Scope of Marketing Ethics

Marketing ethics is viewed as important because of marketing’s interface with many diverse stakeholders.Marketing is a key functional area in the business organization that provides a visible interface with notonly customers, but other stakeholders such as the media, investors, regulatory agencies, channel members,trade associations, as well as others. It is important when addressing marketing ethics to recognize that itshould be examined from an individual, organizational, and societal perspective. Examining marketingethics from a narrow issue perspective does not provide foundational background that provides a completeunderstanding of the domain of marketing ethics. The purpose is to define, examine the nature and scope,identify issues, provide a decision-making framework, and trace the historical development of marketingethics from a practice and academic perspective.

DEFINITION OF MARKETING ETHICS

Ethics has been termed the study and philosophy of human conduct, with an emphasis on thedetermination of right and wrong. For marketers, ethics in the workplace refers to rules (standards,principles) governing the conduct of organizational members and the consequences of marketing decisions.Therefore, ethical marketing from a normative perspective approach is defined as “practices that emphasizetransparent, trustworthy, and responsible personal and organizational marketing policies and actions thatexhibit integrity as well as fairness to consumers and other stakeholders. Marketing ethics focuses onprinciples and standards that define acceptable marketing conduct, as determined by various stakeholdersand the organization responsible for marketing activities.

While many of the basic principles have been codified as laws and regulations to require marketers to

conform to society’s expectations of conduct, marketing ethics goes beyond legal and regulatory issues.

Ethical marketing practices and principles are core building blocks in establishing trust, which help buildlong-term marketing relationships. In addition, the boundary-spanning nature of marketing (i.e. sales,advertising, and distribution) presents many of the ethical issues faced in business today.

Both marketing practitioners and marketing professors approach ethics from differentperspectives. For example, one perspective is that ethics is about being a moral individual and that personalvalues and moral philosophies are the key to ethical decisions in marketing. Virtues such as honesty,fairness, responsibility, and citizenship are assumed to be values that can guide complex marketingdecisions in the context of an organization. On the other hand, approaching ethics from an organizationalperspective assumes that establishing organizational values, codes, and training is necessary to provideconsistent and shared approaches to making ethical decisions.

Key Issues in Marketing Ethics

By its very nature, marketing ethics is controversial, and there is no universally accepted approach for resolving questions. Ethical issues address a problem, situation, or opportunity that requires an individual,group, or organization to choose among several actions that must be evaluated as right or wrong. The

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A Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making In Marketing 

Ethical decision making in marketing parallels ethical decision making across all organizationaldomains. There is much overlap between marketing ethics and business ethics because the basic

frameworks that describe ethical decision making in an organization include decisions that encompassmarketing. In other words, within the context of an organization, there is an ethical component to businessdecisions, regardless of whether it is marketing or some other functional area component. Externalstakeholder interests, concerns or dilemmas help trigger ethical issue intensity. For example, PETA hasencouraged KFC and other fast-food restaurants to make the ethical treatment of animals a priority.Organizational culture (internal stakeholders) and individual moral philosophies and values influence therecognition of ethical issues and marketing ethics decisions. The decisions or outcomes are evaluated byboth internal and external stakeholders. While it is impossible to describe precisely how or why anindividual or a work group may make a specific decision, we can generalize about average or typicalbehavior patterns within organizations.

First, as previously discussed, marketing can identify the importance of stakeholders, stakeholder issues, and gather information to respond to significant individuals, groups, and communities. Next, in thedecision-making process, marketers should identify the importance or relevance of a perceived issue– i.e.,the intensity of the issue (Jones, 1991). The fast food industry is being pressured by government agencies,consumers, and special interest groups to offer healthier menu options, particularly for children. Theintensity of a particular issue is likely to vary over time and among individuals and is influenced by theorganizational culture, values and norms; the special characteristics of the situation; and the personalpressures weighing on the decision. McDonald’s restaurants were the targets of negative publicityassociated with the release of the movie Super Size Me. In response, the company introduced more saladsand healthful portions and alternatives. Individual factors are obviously important in the evaluation andresolution of ethical issues, and familiarity with principal, theoretical frameworks from the field of moralphilosophy is helpful in determining ethical decision making in marketing (Murphy, Laczniak, Bowie, andKlein, 2005). Personal moral development and philosophy, organizational culture, and coworkers,determine why different people perceive issues with varying intensity.

The ethical climate of an organization is a significant element of organizational culture. Whereas a

firm’s overall culture establishes ideals that guide a wide range of behaviors for members of theorganization, its ethical climate focuses specifically on issues of right and wrong. The ethical climate is theorganization’s character or conscience. Codes of conduct and ethics policies, top management’s actions onethical issues, the values and moral development and philosophies of coworkers, and the opportunity for misconduct all contribute to an organization’s ethical climate. In fact, the ethical climate actuallydetermines whether or not certain dilemmas are perceived as having an ethical intensity level that requires adecision.

Opportunity usually relates to employees’ immediate job context—where they work, with whomthey work, and the nature of the work. The specific work situation includes the motivational “carrots andsticks” that superiors can use to influence employee behavior. Pay raises, bonuses, and public recognitionare carrots, or positive reinforcement, whereas reprimands, pay penalties, demotions, and even firings act assticks, the negative reinforcement. For example, a salesperson who is publicly recognized and given a large

bonus for making a valuable sale that he or she obtained through unethical tactics will probably bemotivated to use unethical sales tactics in the future, even if such behavior goes against one’s personalvalue system. Research has shown that there is a general tendency to discipline top sales performers moreleniently than poor sales performers for engaging in identical forms of unethical selling behavior (Bellizziand Hasty, 2003). Neither a company policy stating that the behavior in question was unacceptable nor arepeated pattern of unethical behavior offsets the general tendency to favor the top sales performers. Asuperior sales record appears to induce more lenient forms of discipline despite managerial actions that arespecifically instituted to produce more equal forms of discipline. Based on their research, Bellizzi and

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Hasty concluded that an opportunity exists for top sales performers to be more unethical than poor salesperformers.

In 2004, the American Marketing Association approved a new code of ethics entitled; “EthicalNorms and Values for Marketers”. The AMA code provides values which are assumptions aboutappropriate behavior, as well as norms that provide suggested behaviors. The AMA recognizes thediversity of marketing, and encourages members to access codes of ethics that address specific functionalareas such as marketing research, direct selling, direct marketing, and advertising.

AMA Code of Ethics

Members of the American Marketing Association are committed to ethical professional conduct.

They have joined together in subscribing to this Code of Ethics embracing the following topics:

Responsibility of the Marketer

Marketers must accept responsibility for the consequences of their activities and make every effort toensure that their decisions, recommendations and actions function to identify, serve and satisfy all relevantpublics: customers, organizations and society.

Marketers’ Professional Conduct must be guided by:

1. The basic rule of professional ethics: not knowingly to do harm;2. The adherence to all applicable laws and regulations;3. The accurate representation of their education, training and experience; and4. The active support, practice and promotion of this Code of Ethics.

Honesty and Fairness

Marketers shall uphold and advance the integrity, honor and dignity of the marketing profession by:

1. Being honest in serving consumers, clients, employees, suppliers, distributors and the public;2. Not knowingly participating in conflict of interest without prior notice to all parties involved; and

3. Establishing equitable fee schedules including the payment or receipt of usual, customary and/or legalcompensation for marketing exchanges.

Rights and Duties of Parties in the Marketing Exchange Process

Participants in the marketing exchange process should be able to expect that 1. Products and services offered are safe and fit for their intended uses;2. Communications about offered products and services are not deceptive;3. All parties intend to discharge their obligations, financial and otherwise, in good faith; and4. Appropriate internal methods exist for equitable adjustment and/or redress of grievances

concerning purchases.

It is understood that the above would include, but is not limited to, the following responsibilities of themarketer:In the area of product development and management:

• disclosure of all substantial risks associated with product or service usage;• identification of any product component substitution that might materially change the product or impacton the buyer’s purchase decision;• identification of extra cost-added features.

In the area of promotions:

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• avoidance of false and misleading advertising;• rejection of high-pressure manipulations, or misleading sales tactics;• avoidance of sales promotions that use deception or manipulations.

In the area of distribution:

• not manipulating the availability of a product for the purpose of exploitation;• not using coercion in the marketing channel;• not exerting undue influence over the reseller’s choice to handle a product.

In the area of pricing:

• not engaging in price fixing;• not practicing predatory pricing;• disclosing the full price associated with any purchase.

In the area of marketing research:

• prohibiting selling or fundraising under the guise of conducting research;

• maintaining research integrity by avoiding misrepresentation and omission of pertinent research data;• treating outside client and suppliers fairly.

Organizational Relationships

Marketers should be aware of how their behavior may influence or impact the behavior of others inorganizational relationships. They should not demand, encourage or apply coercion to obtain unethicalbehavior in their relationships with others, such as employees, suppliers, or customers.

1. Apply confidentiality and anonymity in professional relationships with regard to privileged information;2. Meet their obligations and responsibilities in contracts and mutual agreements in a timely manner;3. Avoid taking the work of others, in whole, or in part, and representing this work as their own or directlybenefiting from it without compensation or consent of the originator or owners; and

4 Avoid manipulation to take advantage of situations to maximize personal welfare in a way that unfairlydeprives or damages the organization of others.

Any AMA member found to be in violation of any provision of this Code of Ethics may have his or her Association membership suspended or revoked.

Preamble

The Internet, including online computer communications, has become increasingly important to marketers’activities, as they provide exchanges and access to markets worldwide. The ability to interact withstakeholders has created new marketing opportunities and risks that are not currently specifically addressedin the American Marketing Association Code of Ethics. The American Marketing Association Code of Ethics for Internet marketing provides additional guidance and direction for ethical responsibility in this

dynamic area of marketing. The American Marketing Association is committed to ethical professionalconduct and has adopted these principles for using the Internet, including on-line marketing activitiesutilizing network computers.

General Responsibilities

Internet marketers must assess the risks and take responsibility for the consequences of their activities.Internet marketers’ professional conduct must be guided by: - Support of professional ethics to avoid harm by protecting the rights of privacy, ownership and access.

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- Adherence to all applicable laws and regulations with no use of Internet marketing that would be illegal, if conducted by mail, telephone, fax or other media.

- Awareness of changes in regulations related to Internet marketing.

- Effective communication to organizational members on risks and policies related to Internet marketing,when appropriate.

- Organizational commitment to ethical Internet practices communicated to employees, customers andrelevant stakeholders.

Privacy

Information collected from customers should be confidential and used only for expressed purposes. Alldata, especially confidential customer data, should be safeguarded against unauthorized access. Theexpressed wishes of others should be respected with regard to the receipt of unsolicited e-mail messages.

Ownership

Information obtained from the Internet sources should be properly authorized and documented. Informationownership should be safeguarded and respected. Marketers should respect the integrity and ownership of computer and network systems.

Access

Marketers should treat access to accounts, passwords, and other information as confidential, and onlyexamine or disclose content when authorized by a responsible party. The integrity of others’ informationsystems should be respected with regard to placement of information, advertising or messages.

CONCLUSIONS

Much progress has been made in advancing theory and research in marketing ethics. In addition,the practice of marketing has been elevated to higher levels of ethics from professional codes of conductprovided by the American Marketing Association, Direct Selling Association, Direct MarketingAssociation, Marketing Research Association, American Federation of Advertising and the NationalAdvertising Division of the Council of Better Business Bureaus. In addition, most corporations havedeveloped comprehensive codes of conduct that address specific ethical risk areas in marketing practice.Recent regulatory changes that require boards of directors to be responsible for oversight on all ethicsissues within an organization elevate the importance of marketing ethics. It is clear that marketing ethics ispart of organizational responsibility and individuals cannot make independent decisions about appropriateconduct. There is recognition through academic research and regulatory initiatives that corporate cultureplays a key role in improving marketing ethics.

Ethics in Advertising:

People in advertising spend a lot of their time dealing with ethical choices, and those choices are almostnever black and white. They're subtle, shades-of-gray choices, juicy enough for a Philosophy major.

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Now let's look at a more subtle shade of truth in this infamous Volvo commercial. In a real-life monster truck show, the Volvo was the only car left uncrushed - a great idea for a commercial! But to make the ad,the film company needed to shoot several takes. So they reinforced the beams inside the car to standrepeated squashing. When this came out in the press, Volvo was pilloried and their ad agency got fired,

ultimately going out of business. Did it serve them right? Or was it a bum rap? No question the demo wasrigged. But what it showed was the truth: if a monster truck runs over you once, you're safer in the Volvo.

An ethical brainteaser we deal with every day is: "What can you legitimately simulate to illustrate thetruth?" Before you answer "nothing!”, ask yourself if a Higher Purpose would be served if Pampers andKotex commercials showed the real thing instead of that fake blue water.

Ads for reputable companies almost never lie. They have to be able to prove what they say to their owncorporate counsel, the ad agency's lawyers, the network's approval committees and to any number of regulating bodies like the FDA and the FTC. With at least five different government agencies looking over our shoulder, the cost of being caught cheating is simply too high. In addition, the individuals inside acompany want to be able to look at themselves in the mirror. Some like to think of business people asbelonging to some other species, but remember that most of them are you a few years from now.

So we tell the truth -- but not always the Whole Truth. Like lawyers, our job is to put our clients in the bestlight. When you go on a job interview or a first date, you don't assume a false identity - but you probablydon't make a full disclosure either. Chances are you keep your lactose intolerance and foot odor issues inthe background, and save your Federation Starfleet uniform for later in the relationship - if there IS a later.

For a company trying to sell something, an ad is like getting a job interview with millions of people all atonce. The ad wants to make a good first impression and really, really doesn't want to make people mad. Butdifferent people react differently.

During the 2000 Super Bowl, millions of people saw the following commercial for Christopher Reevewalking again.

Some of us saw an uplifting message of hope. Some saw a cynical company manipulating people's hope tomake a buck. Still others - many of them with disabilities - saw an ad that gave false hope. What did yousee?

It's an axiom in advertising that when you do something bold, it's likely to polarize your audience. And bigevents like the Super Bowl or the Olympics make advertisers bolder.

You can tell the ad agency really enjoyed creating the horror movie spoof with an Olympic runner. ThisNike commercial ran during the 2000 Olympics. But this commercial received over 2,000 complaints. Nikeheard them and killed the spot and unlike Freddie Kruger, this ad stayed dead!

A lot of people question the ethics of selling consumers things they don't need - which presupposes that we

shouldn't have the things we don't need but want anyway. We don't need 90% of the stuff in our apartments. We don't need artwork, among other things. Neanderthals didn't need cave paintings, but theysure brighten up a grotto. Why did so many of us bring bottled water - that we paid for - into this meetingroom today, when carrying a canteen of tap water is so much more… rational?

Advertising, like human beings, lives where Reason meets Desire. Years ago, The Coca-Cola Companyinvented a better product. No consumer product had ever been so thoroughly tested with so manyconsumers. This new Coke was provably much better. But consumers not only didn't buy it, theydemonstrated against it. Because a lot of what they loved about "real" Coke wasn't inside the bottle. It wasthe idea of Coke and their experiences with it and how those experiences were connected to so much of 

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what we imagine life in America should be like. Advertising isn't just about the things we buy. It's abouthow we feel about things, including ourselves. That's what makes it interesting.

Cause-related marketing :

Speaking of feelings, 80% of Americans say they feel better about companies that are aligned with social

issues. Two thirds of us say we'd be inclined to switch to a brand that we identify with a good cause. It'swhy American Express put on the Tribeca Film Festival in lower Manhattan to help bring people back tothe area after September 11th. Wal-Mart focuses on community efforts of their associates and stores.General Mills' "Spoonfuls of Hope" campaign features Lance Armstrong promoting cancer research.Johnson & Johnson - always at the top of polls as a socially responsible company -- has been running acampaign to help promote nursing as a career:

Does the extra business and good will these companies stand to gain compromise the good that the causesdo? What are the ethics of enlightened self-interest? Not long ago a major advertiser donated a quarter-million dollars in food aid to Bosnians in the wake of the war there. By all accounts, the aid did a lot of good. Later, the company spent over a million dollars to advertise their good deed to American audiences.What decision would you have made?

Tobacco Advertising :Ronald Reagan once appeared in ads touting the health benefits of a cigarette brand. Times have changed.Now the space in which tobacco can be promoted in any form is growing more restricted every day. Andtobacco isn't the only legal - and potentially lethal - product that poses ethical, not to mention public policyquestions for us.

Ad agencies and individual advertising people make their own decisions about categories like tobacco andguns. Many say, "No, thanks" to working on certain businesses. But would you turn down the KraftMacaroni and Cheese assignment because another division of the same corporation makes Marlboros?That's a tougher question.

Alcohol:

There are hundreds of beer commercials on the air, but not one of them shows somebody actually drinking

the beer. Does that make them more ethical? And although there's the same amount of the same chemical ina can of Bud and a shot of Jack Daniels, you don't see hard liquor advertised on television. In the case of alcohol, advertisers themselves have made these "ethical" choices. But do they make rational sense? TheMothers against Drunk Driving (MADD) probably don't make the same distinction between beer andbourbon that advertisers do.

Incidentally, advertising people working for free because they believe in the cause create MADD's ads. Adfolk like to work pro bono for nonprofits and good causes. Public service campaigns, including anti-smoking messages, got over $1.5 billion dollars in free media last year. Altogether, they'd be the fifthlargest advertiser.

The ethical issue isn't the alcohol in the product, it's the brand name on the bottle (Smirnoff Ice). When Isay the word "Smirnoff", what do you think of? - you're not alone. A rival company says this commercial is

misleading you because there's no vodka in Smirnoff Ice. It's a malt beverage. Does the name "Smirnoff"mean "vodka" or is it just a name? Many of you are in the target audience. Are you being fooled here? Andif you thought Smirnoff Ice contained vodka, did you also think it contained ice? You don't have to taketime from your studies to decide this case. As we speak, it's being examined by the ATF (Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms).

Children

Society imposes context on advertising ethics all the time - especially in advertising that involves children.

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Here's a commercial for children's shampoo. On behalf of Society, can you see what's wrong with thismessage?

The problem isn't something in the spot - it's what's missing. There is no adult supervision shown aroundthe swimming pool. The Children's Advertising Review Unit (CARU) of the Better Business Bureau(BBB), which also monitors kid's programming, requires that adults be shown supervising children when

products or activities could be risky. So L'Oreal changed the commercial to model good parental behavior.Score one for Society. Another commercial for Aim toothpaste showed a child who went to the bathroomin a museum to brush her teeth. Good hygiene or not, it had to be taken off the air when teacherscomplained that they'd never, ever, let a child leave the group unattended.

Advertisers spend most of their waking hours trying to anticipate what their audiences will want and howthey'll react. We try our best, but sometimes we miss.

Pharmaceutical advertising :

Information is ethically neutral. In an academic setting like this, we welcome more information because themarketplace of ideas enables individuals to form their own judgments - which brings us to advertisingabout prescription drugs. Not long ago, only a doctor could tell you about a new medicine. You probablynever heard of it before you walked in; you didn't know if it was the only one in the world or one of dozens

that did pretty much the same thing. Now advertisers spend millions of dollars telling you about their medicines. Advertising puts more information in people's hands. Studies show that drug ads raiseawareness of some conditions so more people seek treatment. And they know more about their optionsbefore seeing the doctor. That's good, right?

But of course the drug companies don't advertise their cheapest products. They promote the bigmoneymakers. There's more information out there, but it comes with a heavy dose of Point-of-View.Sometimes there are two points of view in the same commercial. The FDA requires that, if you promote thebenefits of your medicine, you must also reveal any significant risks or side effects. So we have them tothank for the now legendary disclaimer for a weight-loss drug. The medicine worked miracles, but thecompany was also obliged to mention its unpleasant side effects, with the result that the drug turned into anational joke! Does more information elevate the national dialogue?

Product placement :

What are the ethics of advertising that doesn't look like advertising? In a movie chase scene, the hero andthe bad guy are going to need some kind of car to drive. In the theatre we have no way of knowing whether the director chose those cars because they fulfilled his artistic vision - or because the car manufacturer made a deal with the producer. The car people get exciting exposure for their brand and she saves a nicepiece of change on her production budget. Audiences like realism in movies. Made-up brands break thespell because they're obvious fakes. But the difference between something that's just a prop and somethingthat's a product promotion is getting murkier all the time, on TV shows as well as movies.

This kind of "product placement" happens in real life, too. If you go out to a club tonight, you might seesome particularly good-looking young people using a new kind of cell phone. It lets them shoot pictures of people to their friends across the room: "Here's a cute guy - want to come and meet him?" Fun stuff like

that. If you're curious, maybe they've taken your picture and they'll be happy to show you the phone and letyou try it. The phone is very cool. And the people are what advertisers call "aspirational" because they'reway cooler than you are. They're people you want to be. They're also actors and this is a gig for them. Their job is creating the impression that using this phone is The Next Trend. If you ask them directly if they areactors, they won't lie. But if you don't ask, they won't tell. This is the reverse of the Volvo story. Volvo'sdemonstration was rigged, no question, but what viewers saw on TV was the truth. With this cell phone, thedemonstration is the absolute truth, but the scene in the club is pure theater.

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(Note: This new "guerrilla" marketing campaign for Sony Ericsson has received a great deal of negativepublicity already for being deceptive in its approach.)

Subliminal advertising :

There's one more thing I know you want me to talk about. If you believe subliminal advertising exists, youdon't any more because I embedded a convincing subliminal denial in this talk. In case you missed it,

subliminal advertising is one of those "urban legends." Try this experiment. Take a photograph of a glass of ice water or the beverage of your choice and make a fake ad out of it. Then invite people in your Psychdepartment to find the subliminal messages in your ad. They won't disappoint you.

If a bunch of students can create subliminal messages, imagine what the pros on Madison Avenue can do.

CONCLUSION

This wouldn't be a talk about ethics in advertising without a word from our sponsor and here it comes.80% of American companies have a written Code of Ethics. And probably 100% of you do too, if you gaveit some thought and wrote it down. Ethics happen, or don't, in our relationships with others. Advertisers arein the business of communicating with thousands, even millions, of "others" all the time. That gives usthousands or millions of chances to practice what we believe every day. And try to get it right.

Ethical perspective in Employment including in the International Labour Organization Standard:

The discussions on ethical issues that may arise in the employment relationship, including the ethics of discrimination, and employees’ rights and duties are commonly seen in the business ethics texts Whilesome argue that there are certain inalienable rights of workplace such as a right to work, a right to privacy,a right to be paid in accordance with comparable worth, a right not to be the victim of discrimination,others claim that these rights are negotiable. Ethical discourse in HRM often reduced the ethical behavior of firms as if they were charity from the firms rather than rights of employees. Except in the occupations,where market conditions overwhelmingly favour employees, employees are treated disposable andexpendable and thus they are defenselessly cornered to extreme vulnerability. The expendability of employees, however, is justified in the texts of ‘business morality’ on the ground the ethical positionagainst such expendability should be sacrificed for ‘greater merit in a free market system. Further, it isargued since because ‘both employees and employers do in fact possess economic power’ in the freemarket, it would be unethical if governments or labour unions ‘impose employment terms on the labor relationship’ There are discussions of ethics in employment management individual practices, issues likepolicies and practices of human resource management, the roles of human resource (HR) practitioners, thedecline of trade unionism, and issues of globalizing the labour etc., in the recent HRM literature, thoughthey do not occupy the central stage in the HR academics. It is observed that with the decline of labour unions world over, employees are potentially more vulnerable to opportunistic and unethical behavior. It iscriticized that HRM has become a strategic arm of shareholder profiteering through making workers into‘willing slaves’. A well cited article points out that there are ‘soft’ and a ‘hard’ versions of HRMs, where inthe soft-approach regard employees as a source of creative energy and participants in workplace decisionmaking and hard version is more explicitly focused on organizational rationality, control, and profitability.

In response, it is argued that the stereotypes of hard and soft HRM are both inimical to ethics because theyinstrumentally attend to the profit motive without giving enough consideration to other morally relevantconcerns such as social justice and human wellbeing. However, there are studies indicating, long termsustainable success of organizations can be ensured only with humanely treated satisfied workforce.

Market, obviously, is not inherently ethical institution that could be led by the mythical ‘invisible hand’alone; neither, it can be alluded that market is inherently unethical. Also, ethics is not something that couldbe achieved through establishment of procedures, drawing codes of ethics, or enactment of law or any other heteronomous means, though their necessity could remain unquestioned.However, though market need not

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be the cause of moral or ethical hazards it may serve an occasion for such hazards. The moral hazards of HRM would be on increase so much as human relations and the resources embedded within humans aretreated merely as commodities.

• Discrimination  issues include discrimination on the bases of age ( ageism), gender, race, religion,disabilities, weight and attractiveness. See also: affirmative action, sexual harassment.

• Issues arising from the traditional view of relationships between employers and employees, alsoknown as At-will employment.

• Issues surrounding the representation of employees and the democratization of the workplace:union busting, strike breaking. 

• Issues affecting the privacy of the employee: workplace surveillance, drug testing. See also:privacy.

• Issues affecting the privacy of the employer : whistle-blowing. 

• Issues relating to the fairness of the employment contract and the balance of power betweenemployer and employee: slavery, indentured servitude, employment law.

• Occupational safety and health. 

All of above are related to the hiring and firing of employees. An employee or future employee can not behired or fired based on race, age, gender, religion, or any other discriminatory act.

International Labour Organization (ILO)

International labour standards are conventions,  treaties and recommendations designed to eliminateunjust and inhumane labour practices. The primary international agency charged with developing suchstandards is the International Labour Organization (ILO). Established in 1919, the ILO advocatesinternational standards as essential for the eradication of labour conditions involving "injustice, hardshipand privation". According to the ILO, international labour standards contribute to the possibility of lastingpeace, help to mitigate potentially adverse effects of international market competition and help the progressof international development.

The most basic labor rights have been codified by the ILO in the 1998 Declaration of Fundamental Rights

at Work after some developed countries tried to include them at the WTO’s Singapore Meeting in 1996.The declaration outlines five “core labor standards” (CLS) that all labor markets should strive to meet:freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining, abolition of forced or compulsory labor,elimination of child labor, and freedom from discrimination.

Labor standards and their implementation did not merely arise to promote economic growth. They alsoemerged as a new and important area of concern for socially responsible investors, especially in the“problematic” footwear, apparel, and toy industries. For most investors involved with this issue, thefundamental matter of concern is the protection of human rights in the workplace. This is why there is astrong movement to consider the core labor rights defined in the 1998 ILO Declaration as “universal humanrights.” The ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work declares inter alia that allmember states, whether they have ratified the relevant conventions or not, have an obligation due to their membership in the ILO, to respect, to promote, and to realize in good faith and accordance with the

Constitution, the fundamental rights which are the subject of those conventions.

Ethics and IT: E-commerce, Privacy Codes:

Information ethics is the field that investigates the ethical issues arising from the development andapplication of information technologies. It provides a critical framework for considering moral issuesconcerning informational privacy, moral agency (e.g. whether artificial agents may be moral), new

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environmental issues (especially how agents should one behave in the infosphere), problems arising fromthe life-cycle (creation, collection, recording, distribution, processing, etc.) of information (especiallyownership and copyright, digital divide). Information Ethics is related to the fields of  computer ethics andthe philosophy of information.

Dilemmas regarding the life of information are becoming increasingly important in a society that is defined

as "the information society". Information transmission and literacy are essential concerns in establishing anethical foundation that promotes fair, equitable, and responsible practices. Information ethics broadlyexamines issues related to ownership, access, privacy, security, and community.

Information technology affects fundamental rights involving copyright protection, intellectual freedom,accountability, and security.

Professional codes offer a basis for making ethical decisions and applying ethical solutions to situationsinvolving information provision and use which reflect an organization’s commitment to responsibleinformation service. Evolving information formats and needs require continual reconsideration of ethicalprinciples and how these codes are applied. Considerations regarding information ethics influence“personal decisions, professional practice, and public policy”. Therefore, ethical analysis must provide aframework to take into consideration “many, diverse domains” (ibid.) regarding how information is

distributed.

Ethics for e-Commerce

 

There’s nothing like buying something from the local merchants in town. You know them, you trust them, andthey know you and you swap cards during the holidays. These are relationships built on trust.

Not so in the on-line world of commerce. You’re a home page. Your buyers are numbers and e-mailaddresses. You don’t know them; they don’t know you. However, you can and should still conduct businesslike a local merchant.

Customers will come back, generating repeat sales.

Satisfied buyers will tell their friends. (How do you think Amazon became so big?)

You’ll demonstrate your commitment to being a good, on-line citizen. You’ll be able to look at yourself in the mirror each morning.

So, let’s look at the areas where e-tailers have ethical responsibilities to their customers, to their businessesand to the growing society of on-line businesses and the buying public.

Post Your Business Policies

Do you accept returns? Under what conditions? Do you give cash returns or store credit? Are shipmentsinsured? Where are you physically located? Do you offer customer support and service? 24/7?

Your business policies should be carefully laid out for all to see. There should be a large link off your homepage to a page or two of your company’s policies. If you guarantee customer satisfaction, tell eachcustomer. If there are conditions on returns, lay them out clearly. Skip the 6-point text on the back page(the fine print). Be straight with your customers right from the start.

Honor Your Policies

The most overused words on the Internet are “ABSOLUTELY FREE”. Now, unless you’re a completerube, you know nothing is ever absolutely free. There’s always a hook, a catch.

So, unless it really is absolutely free, don’t hype what isn’t right. If you offer a full, money-back guarantee,then give the customer her money back! There are e-tailers who say one thing in their site text, but practicea different set of rules when it comes to delivering on promises made.

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You (and the rest of the world) are better off if you do what you say you’re going to do. It’s the right thingto do. It’s the ethical thing to do.

Come On With the ‘Come-Ons’ Already

Laptops: Only $9.99!!! While they last!!!

You see this kind of ‘come-on’ all the time. So, you click to see what a $9.99 laptop gets you and discover the site sells abacuses. Or, they only had one 10-year old laptop for $9.99, which didn’t last long (whilethey last). It’s the old bait-and-switch, with a cheap laptop the bait. Once on the site, you’re rerouted to apage of much higher priced laptops. You’ve been suckered — again. No one likes to be suckered. It’s awaste of time and an insult to the individual’s intelligence.

Protect Your Buyer’s Privacy

You can buy a million e-mail addresses (verified, so they say) for as little as a penny an address. And,where did the purveyors of these mailing lists acquire their information? From people (on-lineentrepreneurs) who sold them their own company mailing lists. Legal? Yes. Fair? Well, that’s an ethical

question. Do you think it’s fair to sell your customer list to a marketing data company for sale to anyonewilling to pay $100?

Your strict privacy policy is a selling point. It’s also the ethical thing to do, so proclaim your position rightthere in your terms of service.

“We will not give or sell your name or other personal information to another party.”

Then, do what you promise.

What About Security?

 

Another area in which ‘do the right thing’ comes into play.

You gather a lot of personal information on your customers or clients — names, addresses, credit card

numbers — the whole shebang. And, as the keeper of this invaluable information, you have a moral

responsibility to protect it from hackers and the kids who use your business computer to do their homework.

Is you site secure? Is your computer protected with multi-layers of protection against hackers? A fire wall?Anti-malware software? Encryption for on-line orders? If not, you’re putting your customers at risk. Andbelieve this: they’ll be none too happy when they discover that some cracker has their personal informationthanks to your lax security.

Ethics is about responsibility — accepting responsibility and doing the right thing. If you’re going to be areputable, on-line dealer — one with ethical business practices — you have a responsibility to protect thepersonal information in your system.

Here’s the bottom line on your bottom line: we have to get rid of the “snake oil” aspect of on-linecommerce. We have to start operating like the old store on Main Street. Build trust through clearly-statedbusiness policies, straight-up information (no bait-and-switch), treat customers fairly (there’s always one)

and protect the personal information entrusted to you.When we all earn the confidence of more and more on-line buyers, we make the whole e-commerce’society’ a stronger, more vibrant place in which to conduct business — for everyone.

Environmental Ethics: Indian and Western perspectives

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Environmental ethics is the discipline in philosophy that studies the moral relationship of human beings to,and also the value and moral status of, the environment and its nonhuman contents. This entry covers:(1) the challenge of environmental ethics to the anthropocentrism (i.e., human-centeredness) embedded intraditional western ethical thinking;

(2) the early development of the discipline in the 1960s and 1970s;

(3) the connection of deep ecology, feminist environmental ethics, and social ecology to politics;

(4) the attempt to apply traditional ethical theories, including consequentialism, deontology, and virtueethics, to support contemporary environmental concerns; and

(5) the focus of environmental literature on wilderness, and possible future developments of the discipline

Environmental ethics is the part of environmental philosophy which considers extending the traditionalboundaries of ethics from solely including humans to including the non-human world. It exerts influence ona large range of disciplines including law, sociology, theology, economics, ecology and geography.

There are many ethical decisions that human beings make with respect to the environment. For example:

• Should we continue to clear cut forests for the sake of human consumption?

• Should we continue to propagate?

• Should we continue to make gasoline powered vehicles?

• What environmental obligations do we need to keep for future generations?

• Is it right for humans to knowingly cause the extinction of a species for the convenience of humanity?

Environmental Challenges: Global Perspective

Several factors and events that reflect future environmental challenges:

• Some oil companies and the World Wildlife Fund agree to prohibit World Heritage siteexploration

• The abundance and appeal of heavy oil resources in Canada and Venezuela and a new focus onproducing those resources have collided with greenhouse gas commitments and waste disposalissues

• Aggressive “environmental liability management” has become the norm for major companies indealing with legacy issues and in avoiding future liabilities

• The need to accurately measure and manage greenhouse gas emissions data for purposes of futureinternal and external trading is driving a U.S./industry push for “standardization” of managementtechniques

• Even as the consequences of global warming are becoming clearer - climate change impactsalready recognized in the Arctic, with measurable disruptions to Aboriginal lifestyles, wildlife,existing communities, and industrial development —the exact causes are still debated, and in turnuneven global approaches have created unique business challenges

• There is a dire need to mitigate the worldwide loss of fisheries and underwater habitats due tooverexploitation and collateral damage

• Activities in the Norwegian sector of the North Sea demonstrate the technical and cost benefits of oil company collaboration in addressing environmental research, and developing an environmentalmanagement strategy

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Environmental Issues in India:

Across India, concern is mounting over an ever growing list of environmental problems.More people means increased pressure on natural resources (from water to forests), while an economy inhigh-gear is leaving a trail of pollution that’s affecting not only India, but the rest of the world too

Deforestation

India is witnessing a rising demand for forest-based products. This is causing deforestation and

encroachment into forest protected areas, which leads to a severe loss of natural resources.

It is estimated that total industrial roundwood consumption in India could exceed 70 million m3 per year by

the end of the decade (350,000 large shipping containers), while domestic supply would fall short of this

figure by an estimated 14 million m3.1

As the nation will have to depend heavily on imports to meet this growing demand, there is fear that this

could result in loss of high conservation value forests and biodiversity elsewhere.

A thirst for palm oil

India is a big edible oil consumer. In fact, it is one of the three largest importers of palm oil in the world,along with EU and China. Of these imports, 95% come from Indonesia and Malaysia, causing negativesocial and environmental consequences in these exporting countries.

Conversion of natural forests for cultivating oil palm is a major threat to biodiversity and livelihoods in thetropics. Most of the lowland rainforest on the Indonesian island of Sumatra has already been lost, largelybecause of the clearance for oil palm and pulp wood plantations

With the global demand for palm oil expected to increase from 28 million tonnes at present to about 50million tonnes in 20302, there are very serious concerns that this will happen at the expense of biologically

and economically important forests.

Pollution

Increasing competition for water among various sectors, including agriculture, industry, domestic, drinking,energy generation and others, is causing this precious natural resource to dry up. Increasing pollution isalso leading to the destruction of the habitat of wildlife that lives in waterways.

The academic field of environmental ethics grew up in response to the work of scientists such as Rachel Carson and events such as the first Earth Day in 1970, when environmentalists started urging philosophers

to consider the philosophical aspects of environmental problems.

The first international academic journals in this field emerged from North America in the late 1970s andearly 1980s – the US-based journal  Environmental Ethics in 1979 and the Canadian based journal The 

Trumpeter: Journal of Ecosophy  in 1983. The first British based journal of this kind,  Environmental  

Values, was launched in 1992.

Ecologic extension

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Alan Marshall's category of ecologic extension places emphasis not on human rights but on the recognitionof the fundamental interdependence of all biological (and some abiological) entities and their essentialdiversity. Where as Libertarian Extension can be thought of as flowing from a political reflection of thenatural world, Ecologic Extension is best thought of as a scientific reflection of the natural world.Ecological Extension is roughly the same classification of Smith’s eco-holism, and it argues for theintrinsic value inherent in collective ecological entities like ecosystems or the global environment as awhole entity. Holmes Rolston, among others, has taken this approach.

This category includes James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis; the theory that the planet earth alters its geo-physiological structure over time in order to ensure the continuation of an equilibrium of evolving organicand inorganic matter. The planet is characterized as a unified, holistic entity with ethical worth of which thehuman race is of no particular significance in the long run

Conservation ethics

Marshall's category of 'conservation ethics' is an extension of use-value into the non-human biologicalworld. It focuses only on the worth of the environment in terms of its utility or usefulness to humans. Itcontrasts the intrinsic value ideas of 'deep ecology', hence is often referred to as 'shallow ecology', andgenerally argues for the preservation of the environment on the basis that it has extrinsic value – 

instrumental to the welfare of human beings. Conservation is therefore a means to an end and purelyconcerned with mankind and intergenerational considerations. It could be argued that it is this ethic thatformed the underlying arguments proposed by Governments at the Kyoto summit in 1997 and threeagreements reached in Rio in 1992

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