1. Arguments against business ethics…
Presented by: Nishna Sathyan, K.M

2. Milton Friedman argument

3. Milton Friedman argument
• The ethical duty of business people is to maximize profit
• So they should study business & maybe law not ethics

4. Argument from incentives

5. Argument from incentives
• Business people do what’s good for them
• Encourage ethical behavior by adjusting incentives
• Ethics instruction is irrelevant

6. Gut feeling argument

7. Gut feeling argument
• Ethics is something you feel, not something you think
about
• Values are based on personal preference, taste, etc

8. Moral development argument

9. Moral development argument
• Moral character is formed in childhood
• By college age, it is too late to change
• So ethics instruction serves no purpose

10. The motivational argument

11. The motivational argument
• Business students don’t want to study ethics
• They would rather spend the time taking finance courses
or interviewing with more companies

12. Ethical companies cannot be competitive…

13. Conclusion…
Can business survive without ethics???

14. References…
• Rituparna Raj.1995, “A Study in Business Ethics”,
Himalaya Publishing House.