Business Ethics Glossary Terms and Definitions

Comprehensive vocabulary flashcards covering essential terms, concepts, and definitions in business ethics, moral disengagement, cognitive biases, and corporate governance.

Bribery

The offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or other person in charge of a public or legal duty.

Categorical imperative (CI)

A moral law that is unconditional or absolute for all agents, the validity or claim of which does not depend on any ulterior motive or end.

Competence-based trust

Trust that is based on the belief that another party has the ability and skills to perform a specific task or fulfill a role effectively.

Deontologists

Individuals who adhere to deontological ethics, focusing on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, as opposed to the rightness or wrongness of the consequences of those actions.

Consequentialism/Teleologic ethics

A class of normative ethical theories holding that the consequences of one's conduct are the ultimate basis for any judgment about the rightness or wrongness of that conduct.

Egoists

Individuals who subscribe to ethical egoism, the normative ethical position that moral agents ought to act in their own self-interest.

Ethical dilemmas

Situations in which there is a choice to be made between two options, neither of which resolves the situation in an ethically acceptable fashion.

Golden Rule

The principle of treating others as one wants to be treated.

Hybrid work

A flexible working model where employees work partly in the physical workplace, and partly remotely.

Integrity-based trust

Trust based on the belief that another party adheres to a set of principles that the trustor finds acceptable.

Meaningful work

Work that is perceived as significant and holding positive meaning for individuals.

Moral humility

The recognition of one's own moral fallibility and the limits of one's moral knowledge.

Primary stakeholders

Entities that are engaged in economic transactions with the business (e.g., stockholders, customers, suppliers, creditors, and employees).

Problems

A matter or situation regarded as unwelcome or harmful and needing to be dealt with and overcome.

Relativism

The doctrine that knowledge, truth, and morality exist in relation to culture, society, or historical context, and are not absolute.

Secondary stakeholders

Entities that are not engaged in direct economic transactions with the business but are affected by or can affect its actions (e.g., the general public, communities, activist groups).

Stakeholder approach

A framework of organizational management and business ethics that accounts for multiple constituencies impacted by business entities.

Stakeholders

Any individual or group who can affect or is affected by the actions, decisions, policies, practices, or goals of the organization.

Universalism

The ethical system stating that all people should uphold certain values that society needs to function.

Utilitarianism

An ethical theory that determines right from wrong by focusing on outcomes, holding that the most ethical choice is the one that will produce the greatest good for the greatest number.

Virtue ethics

An approach to ethics that emphasizes an individual's character as the key element of ethical thinking, rather than rules about the acts themselves or their consequences.

Virtues

Behavior showing high moral standards; traits or qualities that are deemed to morally good.

Work that is a calling

Work that a person feels deeply drawn to do, often seen as contributing to the greater good.

Boards of directors

A recognized group of people who jointly oversee the activities of an organization.

Advantageous comparison

A mechanism of moral disengagement where reprehensible conduct is masked by comparing it to more egregious behavior.

Attribution of blame

A mechanism where individuals view themselves as faultless victims driven to injurious conduct by forcible provocation.

Concentration effect

An element of moral intensity concerning the inverse function of the number of people affected by an act of given magnitude.

Dehumanization

The psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatment.

Diffusion of responsibility

A sociopsychological phenomenon whereby a person is less likely to take responsibility for action or inaction when other bystanders or witnesses are present.

Displacement of responsibility

A mechanism where people view their actions as springing from the social pressures or dictates of others rather than as something for which they are personally responsible.

Disregard or distortion of consequences

A mechanism where individuals minimize, ignore, or distort the harm caused by their behavior.

Ethical awareness

The ability to perceive whether a situation or decision has an ethical dimension.

Ethical blind spots

The gap between who you want to be and who you actually are in making ethical decisions.

Ethical intuition

A quick, automatic evaluation of a situation as good or bad, right or wrong, without conscious reasoning.

Euphemistic labeling

The use of sanitized language to make harmful actions seem benign or acceptable.

Ill-conceived goals

Setting goals and incentives to promote a desired behavior but they encourage a negative one.

Indirect blindness

Holding others less accountable for unethical behavior when it is carried out through third parties.

Magnitude of consequences

The sum of the harms (or benefits) done to victims (or beneficiaries) of the moral act in question.

Business ethics

The study of appropriate business policies and practices regarding potentially controversial subjects.

Business ethics norms

Accepted standards of behavior and practices within the business community.

Business values

The core principles or standards that guide the way a business operates.

Corporate governance

The system of rules, practices, and processes by which a firm is directed and controlled.

Corporate social responsibility

A self-regulating business model that helps a company be socially accountable to itself, its stakeholders, and the public.

Economic responsibility

The foundational responsibility of a business to be profitable.

Ethical responsibility

The responsibility of a business to do what is right, just, and fair, avoiding harm.

Impact philanthropy

Philanthropic giving that seeks to generate a measurable, beneficial social or environmental impact alongside a financial return.

Legal responsibility

The responsibility of a business to obey the law and play by the rules of the game.

Philanthropic responsibility

The responsibility of a business to be a good corporate citizen and contribute resources to the community.

Shareholder model of governance

A view of corporate governance that prioritizes the maximization of shareholder wealth.

Social responsibility (SR)

An ethical framework suggesting that an entity has an obligation to act for the benefit of society at large.

Societal morals

The widely shared beliefs within a society about what is right and wrong.

Stakeholder activism

The actions taken by stakeholders to influence the policies and practices of a corporation.

Stakeholder model of governance

A view of corporate governance that considers the interests of all stakeholders, not just shareholders.

Strategic corporate social responsibility CSR

The incorporation of a holistic CSR perspective within a firm's strategic planning and core operations.

Sustainability

Meeting the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Moral development

The process through which individuals develop proper attitudes and behaviors toward other people in society.

Moral disengagement

The process of convincing the self that ethical standards do not apply to oneself in a particular context.

Moral intensity (MI)

The degree to which an issue demands the application of ethical principles.

Moral justification

Reinterpreting otherwise immoral behavior in terms of a higher purpose.

Motivated blindness

The tendency to overlook the unethical behavior of others when it is not in our interest to notice.

Overvaluing outcomes

Giving a pass to unethical behavior if the outcome is good.

Proximity

The feeling of nearness (social, cultural, psychological, or physical) that the moral agent has for victims (or beneficiaries) of the evil (or good) act in question.

Slippery slope

The inability to notice when behavior deteriorates gradually.

Social consensus

The degree of social agreement that a proposed act is evil (or good).

Probability of effect

A joint function of the probability that the act in question will actually take place and the act in question will actually cause the harm (or benefit) predicted.

Temporal immediacy

The length of time between the present and the onset of consequences of the moral act in question.

Biases

Disproportionate weight in favor of or against an idea or thing, usually in a way that is closed-minded, prejudicial, or unfair.

Confirmation bias

The tendency to search for, interpret, favor, and recall information in a way that confirms or supports one's prior beliefs or values.

Escalation of commitment

A human behavior pattern in which an individual or group facing increasingly negative outcomes from a decision, action, or investment nevertheless continues the behavior instead of altering course.

Fundamental attribution errors

The tendency for people to under-emphasize situational explanations for an individual's observed behavior while over-emphasizing dispositional and personality-based explanations.

Halo and horns effect

A cognitive bias that causes you to allow one trait, either good (halo) or bad (horns), to overshadow other traits, behaviors, actions, or beliefs.

Heuristics

Mental shortcuts that can facilitate problem-solving and probability judgments.

Honesty

The quality of being honest; fairness and straightforwardness of conduct.

Integrity

The quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.

Moral character

An evaluation of an individual's stable moral qualities.

Moral courage

The courage to take action for moral reasons despite the risk of adverse consequences.

Moral inertia

The tendency of individuals or organizations to maintain the status quo in moral matters, resisting change or failing to take action when ethical issues arise.

Personal values

Broad desirable goals that motivate people's actions and serve as guiding principles in their lives.

Self-serving bias

The common habit of a person taking credit for positive events or outcomes, but blaming outside factors for negative events.

Stereotypes

An over-generalized belief about a particular category of people.