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A Behave ethically
IntroductionClick to read 
To be able to think ethical and sustainable means to assess the consequences and impact of ideas, opportunities and actions.
Ethical and sustainable thinking is a matter of the attitudes, behaviors, values and mindset that an entrepreneur should have to take ethical decisions as well as act and think sustainably.
Typically, an ethically and sustainably thinking entrepreneur does not just have profit but also the people and planet in mind.
Definition of ethicsClick to read
Ethics are the basic, moral ground rules by which we live our lives and make decisions.
Ethic al behaviours show:
Honesty Integrity Courage Commitment Responsibility
Ethical Decision MakingClick to read
Ethical decision-making is to assess the consequences and impact of ideas and actions that bring values as well as the effect of entrepreneurial action on the target community, the market, society and the environment.
Ethical decisions: why they matter?Click to read
•The digitalisation and the growth of companies becomes faster and faster
This trend comes with ethical challenges for society as the companies bring their innovation/ products/ ideas to different parties without considering the full implications of their business
•Entrepreneurs are mostly unaware of the ethical consequences of their decisions
•In most cases the entrepreneur use an unstructured approach to solve ethical dilemmas, with instincts or “common sense” as main drivers for decision making
The entrepreneurs focused on company survival, with little consideration of other parties
Ethical decision lead to engagement of all stakeholders in a business and
their need to be heard and taken into account by companies
Norms and valuesClick to read
Norms and values should guide the ethical decision making. The decision maker should always consider his/her impact on all parties involved and influenced by the decision.
An Utilitarian ApproachClick to read
The ethical choice is the one that produces the greatest good for the greatest number.
A Common-Good ApproachClick to read
•This ethical approach is based on a society consisting of individuals whose own well-being is inseparably linked to the well-being of the community
•The members of the community are bound by the pursuit of common values and goals
A Moral-Rights ApproachClick to read
Ethical decisions are those that best maintain the fundamental rights of the people affected by them.
A Justice/Fairness ApproachClick to read
Ethical decisions must be based on standards of equity, fairness and impartiality. Three types of justice:
1.Distributive: treatment for proper reasons
2.Procedural: rules clearly stated and applied
3.Compensatory: compensated fairly
A Virtue ApproachClick to read
•The virtue approach assumes that there are certain ideals/virtues (e.g. honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence) toward which we should strive, which provide for the full development of our humanity
•The virtuous person is the ethical person
The Dilemma scenariosClick to read
Students can learn to think and act ethically and sustainably through dilemma scenarios by discussing about which decision they would choose.
Dilemma scenarios help learners take into account all different parties affected by a decision: they work well in this context as they link real-life experiences of learners and ignite discussion.
Watch this video
Exercise: Dilemma ScenariosClick to read
Please read the following three ethical dilemma scenarios and go on to next slide:
Following
Most ethical Dilemmas involve a conflict between the needs of a part and the whole, between the company interests and the society as a whole.
TASK 1: Discuss one of the ethical dilemmas last page. How would you decide? Ask yourselves the five questions when trying to resolve a moral issue:
1.What benefits and what harms will each course of action produce, and which alternative will lead to the best overall consequences?
2.What moral rights do the affected parties have, and which course of action best respects those rights?
3.Which course of action treats everyone the same, except where there is a morally justifiable reason not to, and does not show favoritism or discrimination?
4.Which course of action advances the common good?
Which course of action develops moral virtues?
TASK 2: Check your decision with the following interview scheme:
Ethical and sustainable thinking
Think sustainablyClick to read
Sustainability is the avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.
Think sustainably means reflecting on how sustainable long-term social, cultural and economic goals are and what approach should be taken to achieve the greatest possible sustainability.
Think sustainably: why it matters?Click to read
•Climate change, the destruction of biodiversity, the hole in the ozone layer, overfishing of the oceans are just some of the consequences of human activity that must be countered by sustainable thinking and development. Therefore, sustainable development is probably the most important issue for civil society in the 21st century.
•Acting in accordance with the principle of sustainability aims to use resources in such a way that the environment can regenerate itself as naturally as possible and the world society is shaped in a way that is worth living.
Sustainability as a guidelineClick to read
Similar as an ethical decision making, sustainability-oriented entrepreneurs assess the consequences of ideas that bring value and the effect of entrepreneurial action on the target community, the market, society and especially the environment.
Primary Goals of SustainabilityClick to read
1.Tackling the effects of climate change, pollution and other environmental factors
2.Sustainable economic growth while promoting jobs and stronger economies
3.Sustainability to include health of the land, air and sea the end of poverty and hunger
4.Better standards of education and healthcare - particularly as it pertains to water quality and better sanitation
5.To achieve gender equality
Three Core Areas of SustainabilityClick to read
The three core areas describe the fields our society has to face now, in order to promote a sustainable development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs:
Economic DevelopmentClick to read
•The issue is the most problematic: most people disagree on political ideology what is and is not economically sound, and how it will affect businesses, jobs and employability
•It is about providing incentives for businesses to adhere to sustainability guidelines beyond their normal legislative requirements
•It is about encouraging and foster incentives for the average person to do their bit where and when they can
•The supply and demand market is consumerist in nature and modern life requires a lot of resources every single day: for the sake of the environment, getting what we consume under control is the paramount issue
Social DevelopmentClick to read
•Most importantly is awareness of and legislation protection of the health of people from pollution and other harmful activities of business
•In the developed world there are strong checks and programmes of legislation in place to ensure that people's health and well-being is strongly protected
•Pressing topic right now is sustainable housing and how we can better build the homes with sustainable material
•Education: encouraging people to participate in environmental sustainability, teaching them about the effects of environmental protection as well as warning of the dangers if we cannot achieve our goal
Environmental Protection Click to read
•This area defines how we should study and protect ecosystems, air quality, integrity and sustainability of our resources and focusing on the elements that place stress on the environment
•It concerns how technology will drive our greener future
•Developing technology and biotechnology is key to this sustainability, and protecting the environment of the future from potential damage that technological advances could potentially bring
•Current awareness/measures:
•Businesses are regulated to prevent pollution and to keep their own carbon emissions low
•Incentives to installing renewable power sources in our homes and businesses
•General awareness of what we need to do to protect the environment (e.g. recycling, reducing
•Our power consumption by switching electronic devices off rather than using standby, by walking short journeys instead of taking the bus etc.)
Word to the EU Science Hub Click to read
With this Video produced by the EU Science Hub - Joint Research Centre you will get an summary of the topics you learnt within the Module “Ethical and sustainable thinking” (click on the image).
Assess Impact
Entrepreneurship and EthicsClick to read
Ethics and sustainable thinking in entrepreneurship are complex and challenging ideas. Recent developments such as deregulation, the market economy drive for profits, lack of trust and new technology aiding and abetting this situation, are calling for the development of frameworks.
Entrepreneurs face uniquely complex moral problems related to basic fairness, personnel and customer relationships, distribution dilemmas, and other challenges.
The descriptors of Ethical thinkingClick to read
• Assess the consequences of ideas that bring value, and the effect of entrepreneurial action on the target community, the market, society and the environment
• Reflect on how sustainable long-term social, cultural and economic goals are, and the course of action chosen
• Act responsibly
Three different levels of impactClick to read
•Foundation: learners can recognise the impact of their choices and behaviors, both within the community and the environment
•Intermediate: learners are driven by ethics and sustainability when making decisions
•Advanced: learners act to make sure that their ethical and sustainability goals are met
Entrepreneurship and EthicsClick to read
An entrepreneurship training program for businesses to maintain ethical standards it should include criteria to enable managers to make decisions in light of the impact on the entire organisation.
This program must be designed to create an awareness of opportunities in the field of entrepreneurship with an ethical component.
The impact assessmentClick to read
Impact assessment is the process of identifying the future consequences of a current or proposed action.
It helps to estimate the different effects (positive and negative) of any policy being implemented. It consequently takes into account the different needs, characteristics, priorities, behaviors of the users at whom the policies are ultimately aimed at (European Commission, 2003).
What this means for leadersClick to read
Leaders must:
•Monitor long- and short-term global risks and assess impact on organizational strategies
•Measure how fast to change by monitoring both internal and external factors.
‒What are current and future competitors doing?
‒How much team development needs to occur?
‒How much communication should be taking place?
If leaders move too slowly, they lead their teams into failure, into non-competitiveness.
Knowing how to drive and manage change is key to remaining competitive and relevant in a shifting environment.
Assess your core activitiesClick to read
A good starting point for your review is to evaluate what you actually do – your core activities, the products that you make, or services that you provide.
Ask yourself what makes them successful, how they could be improved and whether you could launch new or complementary products or services.
Key questions about your offerClick to read
Impact of entrepreneurial trainingClick to read
Be Accountable
Background notionClick to read
“Being Accountable” is about recognising the effect of one’s own choices and behavior within the community and the environment and being driven by ethics and sustainability, when making decisions.
With that said, self-accountability relies on five major pillars
Social Responsibility Click to read
Entrepreneurs are people who have to show a lot of responsibility.
Unlike non-entrepreneurs, they are responsible not only to their own person and family, but also to all those involved, directly or indirectly, in the business that an entrepreneur develops.
Fast and efficient decision-makingClick to read
Perhaps the most important thing an entrepreneur does every day is to make the right decisions quickly.
There are people waiting for these decisions, both from sales and from purchases, from finance, from production.
Sometimes, delaying a decision can mean losing an opportunity or even real financial losses.
Gut-feeling (with limitations)Click to read
An entrepreneur can do something other than what a rational analysis would have dictated.
We should only rely on gut-feeling when we have no conclusive data about a particular situation, so any decision we make would be a “coin tossing” decision – in these situations, it is recommended for entrepreneurs to make better use of their gut-feeling, which, to a greater or lesser extent, is present in any valuable entrepreneur.
Positive ThinkingClick to read
Pessimists, negativists, nihilists or any such human species that have negative thinking really have nothing to look for in entrepreneurial activity.
If a man with a negative or pessimistic personality is interested in becoming an entrepreneur, it is good to “leave at the door” these characteristics and embrace from the beginning one of the most important entrepreneurial qualities, that of positive thinking.
Personal Ethics (i.e values)Click to read
A valuable entrepreneur never violates ethical principles in business or personal life. Or, as one business ethics theorist would say:
Winners never cheat.
In essence, even if you convince others, you cannot fool yourself, and you will know that you are not a success, but just a “failure disguised as success”.
Starting your own businessClick to read
Pros and Cons of going solo:
To recap: Checklist for self-checkClick to read
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