Business Ethics and Sustainability Sessions

Session 2
This session has helped me understand about business decision making
in an ethical manner. I have understood through the reading that what are the
relevant facts and whether I need to understand them or not. Then I need ask
myself whether I would be happy of the decision I made public. I need to than
analyze whether there is any universal rule which would be applicable in the
situation. Where there is any code of conduct or legal rules applicable in the
situation should always be analyzed and applied. I than needs to refer to
various theories such as the stakeholder theory to analyze whether the action
would provide an ethical result or not and if yes and who would be benefited.
In needs to analyze what if everyone indulged in the same actions as per the
Kant theory. Finally I need analyze the consistence of the action with existing
values and principles. For example if I need to select between my personal
interest and company interest I will apply all the above questions to solve the
ethical dilemma. Here if everyone chooses personal interest over the company
interest it would not be beneficial. Moreover it is prohibited by law.

Session 3
The session was related to ethical actions. I was also to know about ethical
breakdowns such as bribery and corruption, profit shifting (minimizing tax) and
money-laundering, non-disclosure of information or intentional misleading of
information, not acting with due diligence, excessive remuneration, creating
power imbalances and challenging the rules. I got to know the difference
between Greed and giving, governance and culture, good practices examples
and code of practices and Whistleblowers. In relation to key consequences of
corruption I got to know that not only it is unethical but also illegal. One of the
most significant examples I got to known in relation to corruption was that of
Haiti. The country is at the bottom of TI’s global corruption index and had a
string of natural disaster having high death tools. The proverb “the disaster
usually does not kill you – the building does” is totally applicable in the
situation. I also got to know that profit shifting from a higher tax jurisdiction to
a lower tax jurisdiction is also unethical on the part of the companies. Not
acting with due care and diligence is also punishable under the Corporation Act
2001(Cth) which civil pecuniary penalties and management bans.

Session 4
The fourth session was in relation to Giving Voice to Values. The session
discussed GVV concept, 7 pillars, strategies, course and application of GVV in
practice. Through this chapter I was able to understand the meaning of
managerial accounting, differences between financial accounting and managerial
accounting, current focus of managerial accounting and managerial accountants’
organisational role. In relation to the seven pillars the first pillar states that we
should know and appeal to a short list of widely shared values, the second pillar
asks to define professional and personal purpose broadly and explicitly before
conflicts arise, the third pillar asks us to believing that we have a choice in relation
to voicing own values, the fourth pillar provides that we should expect values
conflict, the fifth pillar is in relation to Self-knowledge and alignment, the pillar is
in relation to preparing a well response by anticipating the typical reasons &
rationalizations with respect to well response and the seventh and final pillar asks
us to practice. I got to know about the saying of Disney’s Davey Crockett as per
which once we are sure that we are we should go ahead. I also got to known
about Articulate, align & reframe in terms of GVV Strategies