VALUES, VALUES, NORMS & BELIEFS

DEFINITIONS


Values
A principle, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable Deeply held beliefs about right, wrong, good, and bad


He has very conservatives values"

Norms
Norms can be defined as attitudes and behaviours common to members of a particular group, or what they believe is normal Norms can be seen as reflection of values


the current middle-class norm of two children per family. middlefamily.

Beliefs
Mental acceptance of and conviction in the truth, actuality, or validity of something


He refuses to compete on Sundays because of his religious beliefs

VALUES
  

Values are deeply held beliefs that guide our behaviour and decisions Values are deep-seated and remain constant over time. deepWe accumulate our values from childhood based on teachings and observations of our parents, teachers, religious leaders, and other influential and powerful people In later years, as a result of critical thinking and life experiences, we may discard some values and add others But many values that subconsciously operate as a basis for choices, decisions, and behaviors are the core values assimilated during our early years Jennifer felt stressed out and didn't know what to do when her boss implied she should lie to a client; honesty is one of Jennifer's most deeply held values.

Values are considered subjective,  Vary across people and cultures and  Are in many ways aligned with belief and belief systems.  Human values are a set of emotional rules people follow to help make the right decisions in life  Types of values include


Ethical/moral values, Doctrinal/ideological (religious, political) values, Social values, and aesthetic values.

WHY ARE VALUES IMPORTANT

 

Human values are a set of emotional rules people follow, to help make the right decisions in life A life based on a personal code of values brings meaning, purpose, and direction to living When we face a decision and choose A instead of B, it's often because A feels right to us. We might use words such as, "it's the right thing to do," or "that's the right way." We tend to think of our values as absolute and universal, what feels right to us must be right for everyone, but is it? Still, there are times when we bristle at someone's behavior, becoming outraged and angry, especially when a value we hold is challenged or violated any spontaneous and strong reaction to a situation can more than likely be traced to a values conflict

NORMS
Norms are expectations of proper behaviour  Are the ways an individual expects all people to act, when faced with a given situation  A norm is usually not published, may not be obeyed and cannot be enforced  It is not consistent nor universal  As per Sociologists, norms are collective expectations regarding a certain type of behaviour


NORMS
 

 

Our choice of words, our tone, and our body language are all norm-based Nearly everything in human society is governed by norms of some kind As groups, organisations have their own norms When you move from one job to another, whether between companies, or even within the same organisation, part of learning your new role is
not just understanding the tasks you must perform but also the unwritten rules the norms associated with that task

Norms give a sense of shared values, but values can also create their own norms.

 Norms

have an "oughtness". "oughtness".  They include moral prescriptions like

the Golden Rule,
 Do

unto others as you would have them do unto you

notions of etiquette like where to place a knife or fork next to one's plate, and sensible maxims such as "Look before you leap."

BELIEFS
Beliefs are standards of thought  The intention is to encourage ways of thinking and patterns of attitudes that will pave way towards the wanted behaviour


Especially done by the senior executives in an organisation

Beliefs are the ways an individual expects people to think about given concepts  Beliefs are different from norms since there is no action and is abstract  Beliefs tend to support individual norms


MORALS
 Adhering

to conventionally accepted standards of conduct  Principles of behaviour in accordance with standards of right and wrong  Changes in the moral standards results in change in legal requirements  Moral standards are absorbed as a child from family and various societal influences

ETHICS VS MORALS
 Ethics

A set of principles of right conduct "An ethic of service is at war with a craving for gain
 Morals

Of or concerned with the judgment of the goodness or badness of human action and character
A

person of loose morals; a decline in the public morals

Morals are ones personal guiding principles  Ethics are keys that these moral are applied to decisions  Moral implies conformity with the generally accepted standards of goodness, rightness in conduct or character  It is generally used to describe people  Morals are who we are and our unique personality  Moral decisions are made without much thought because they are based on principles and values we believe in most deeply  Ethics are an extension and expression of our morals


character of a man is expressed in terms of his conduct  Conduct of a person is a series of actions which when taken together is termed as
 The

Good or bad Right or wrong Moral or immoral

 Ethico-moral Ethico-

actions pertain to a set of actions engineered by the character and expressed through behaviour
Honesty Truthfulness Sincerity Generosity Transparency Cooperation Integrity

ETHICAL CODES
Ethical codes in business organisations was in existence since early 1940s  In the event of criminal proceedings, the existence of a company code or events is looked into  In order to improve standards of behaviour, many American organisations have introduced codes on their own  They may refer to general areas of business conduct or may apply to a specific area of a firms business


ETHICAL CODE - CONVEYING MORAL STANDARDS

 

Can the ethical code convey the moral standards of the organisation effectively? Who selects these codes?
Executive committee Board of directors chairman

Is it possible to state the norms and beliefs of an organisation relative to the various constitutional groups, without offending at least one of the following groups?
Employees Customers Suppliers Distributors Stock holders General public

An organisation cannot give more weight to one group for its success, without mentioning the other groups Hence codes are usually written in general terms,
Noting obligations to each of the groups, but Not stating the level of precedence in any given situation

The basic difficulty which arises with codes of ethics is that they do not establish priorities between
Norms Beliefs

Priorities are the true values of a firm and they are not included Codes only provide guidance a broad, written framework

 

To see what is right and not to do it, is want of courage Chinese philosopher, Confucius A person who values his privileges above his principles, soon loses both David Eisenhower Try not to become a man of success, rather try to become a man of value Albert Einstein You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him to discover it in himself - Galileo When I do good, I feel good; when I do bad, I feel bad, and that is my religion Abraham Lincoln Ethics and religion must not stay at home when you go out to work Not life, but good life, is to be chiefly valued Socrates Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing Oscar Wilde

ETHICAL THEORIES


Ethical theories are the foundations of ethical analysis because they are the viewpoints from which guidance can be obtained along the pathway to a decision Each theory emphasizes different points such as predicting the outcome and following one's duties to others in order to reach an ethically correct decision They emphasize different aspects of an ethical dilemma and lead to the most ethically correct resolution according to the guidelines within the ethical theory itself People usually base their individual choice of ethical theory upon their life experiences Ethical theories are broadly divided into two categories:
Teleological (ex. Utilitarian) Deontological (ex. Kantianism)

TELEOLOGICAL THEORY
 

Telos as per Greek is end or purpose A teleological school of thought is one that
holds all things to be designed for or directed toward a final result, That there is an inherent purpose or final cause for all that exists

Teleology would say that a person has eyes because he has the need of sight Determine the ethics of an act by looking to the consequences of the decision Rightness of actions is determined by the good consequences they produce The word teleology was first used by the German philosopher, Christian Wolff

Utilitarianism is the idea that the moral worth of an action is determined solely by its utility in providing happiness or pleasure.  It is thus a form of consequentialism, meaning that the moral worth of an action is determined by its outcome