English lesson: Business ethics!

by Stuart Miles

The topic for today is ‘’ethics in business’’.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Lekcje angielskiego przygotowuje firma Skrivanek_logo

 
 
Task 1.
Read the text below to get the general idea:
 
Business ethics and social responsibility are most often found on the list of topics covered by the majority of business-related academic and language books. It seems that what is right or wrong still remains not as straightforward as expected. Seemingly obvious issues, such as child exploitation, insider trading or bribery, for instance, continuously raise a lot of questions. Does it imply that in a contemporary world of business and politics people are still unable to differentiate between what is moral or ethical and what is not?
Business or corporate ethics is simply defined as a set of moral and ethical principles, guided by law, which should be followed not only by individual employees but also by the entire organization. Such norms of behaviour or codes of conduct should be first defined accurately, then written down precisely and finally signed by every single person in a company. These standards should be strictly obeyed by everybody and thus punished severely if otherwise.
The knowledge about what is appropriate or acceptable and what is not will make the company transparent and bring significant benefits to the organization as such. Prospective business partners and customers might be more attracted to a business which has a clearly defined code of ethical conduct, which may influence profits or even boost sales. By comparison, unethical or immoral practices might put off future job applicants and may even damage a firm’s reputation, making it less appealing to upcoming investors or stakeholders. Therefore, ethics in business or business ethics seems to be the most important aim to achieve, especially for companies which want to be perceived as credible and honest, and which want to gain an utmost public acceptance.
 
Task 2.
Study the underlined expressions carefully and use them to complete the sentences below:
 
1. Clearly defined ………………………………..…. or moral values of a particular company are frequently hard to define for a lot of customers.
2. The way the system works in our organization will soon become ……………………………………. to every single employee.
3. Martha Stuart was accused of …………………..…….., the crime of using secret information of a company to buy its shares and gain profits.
4. Don’t let the restaurant décor to ……..….. you ………. – the food is really good and worth tasting.
5. Tourists and visitors travelling to Morocco should ………………..……… local laws regarding proper outfits and an appropriate behaviour in places of worship.
6. ……………………………………. is not only about not taking money out of the cash register in your organization, but also about not lying to customers about your company’s products.
7. Building trust among future customers and aiming at a widely understood concept of ……………………..……… should constitute one of the most crucial goals of every respectful company.
8. It is believed that the launch of the new line of beauty products will ………………… the ……………. of our company pretty soon.
9. The chief director has treated the issue with the ……………….…….. seriousness, insight and patience.
10. Righteous people still hope that it is possible to run a thriving business to the highest ……………………… standards.
 
Task 3.
 
Watch the video ‘’DynCorp Int.‘’ and fill in the missing information in the sentences below:

 
1. One of the most important things at DynCorp Int. is the ( -c) ……………………………………. of its people to operating with ( -h) ……………………………….. and ( -i) ……………………….. and ( -s) …………………………….. ethics.
2. Being ethical does not only include ( -c) ……………………………… with laws and regulations but also treating each other with ( -c) ……………………………….. and ( -r) ………………………………..
3. It is also crucial for everybody in the company to ( -s) ………………………. certain ( -v) …………………. and to have a ( -c) ………………………. of ethics in business conduct.
4. According to the speaker, the code is a ( -t) ………………………. which connects the ( -p) ……………………………. of ( -h) …………………………. and ( -i) ……………………………… in concrete business practice.
5. The code defines what is ( -e) ……………………………………. and what is ( -a) ……………………………….. and what will help you to make the right decision.
6. In short, ethics is a higher standard; it means doing the right thing when ( -n) ……………………………… is looking.
7. Ethical behaviour is in ( -v) …………………………… by which people live their lives.
8. Ethics is knowing the ( -d) ……………………………… between what you have the ( -r) ……………………….. to do and what is the right thing to do.
9. The code is usually in a ( -w) …………………………… form. Its copies should be ( -d) ……………………………………. throughout the company and read by every single employee.
10. By ( -s) …………………………. the code, employees ( -a) ………………………………….. that they understand it and they will ( -f) …………………………….. its guidelines.

 
Business ethics! KEY TO EXERCISES
 

Task 2.
1. Clearly defined ……ETHICAL PRINCIPLES…. or moral values of a particular company are frequently hard to define for a lot of customers.
2. The way the system works in our organization will soon become ………TRANSPARENT…. to every single employee.
3. Martha Stuart was accused of ……INSIDER TRADING…….., the crime of using secret information of a company to buy its shares and gain profits.
4. Don’t let the restaurant décor to ……PUT….. you ……OFF…. – the food is really good and worth tasting.
5. Tourists and visitors travelling to Morocco should ……STRICTLY OBEY……… local laws regarding proper outfits and an appropriate behaviour in places of worship.
6. …BUSINESS ETHICS…. is not only about not taking money out of the cash register in your organization, but also about not lying to customers about your company’s products.
7. Building trust among future customers and aiming at a widely understood concept of ……SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY……… should constitute one of the most crucial goals of every respectful company.
8. It is believed that the launch of the new line of beauty products will ……BOOST…… the ……SALES……. of our company pretty soon.
9. The chief director has treated the issue with the ……UTMOST…….. seriousness, insight and patience.
10. Righteous people still hope that it is possible to run a thriving business to the highest …MORAL.. standards.

 
Task 3.
1. One of the most important things at DynCorp Int. is the ( -c) …COMMITMENT……. of its people to operating with (h) ……HONESTY……….. and (-i) ……INTEGRITY….. and (-s) ………SOUND…….. ethics.
2. Being ethical does not only include ( -c) ……COMPLINING…… with laws and regulations but also treating each other with ( -c) ………CIVILITY………….. and ( -r) ……RESPECT…..
3. It is also crucial for everybody in the company to ( -s) …SHARE…. certain ( -v) ……VALUES…. and to have a ( -c) ……CODE…. of ethics in business conduct.
4. According to the speaker, the code is a ( -t) ……TOOL…. which connects the ( -p) ……PRICIPLES……. of ( -h) ……HONESTY…. and ( -i) ……INTEGRITY……… in concrete business practice.
5. The code defines what is ( -e) …EXPECTED…. and what is ( -a) ……ACCEPTED….. and what will help you to make the right decision.
6. In short, ethics is a higher standard; it means doing the right thing when ( -n) ……NOONE…… is looking.
7. Ethical behaviour is in ( -v) ……VALUES…… by which people live their lives.
8. Ethics is knowing the ( -d) ………DIFFERENCE……… between what you have the ( -r) ……RIGHT…….. to do and what is the right thing to do.
9. The code is usually in a ( -w) ……WRITTEN…… form. Its copies should be ( -d) …DISTRIBUTED……. throughout the company and read by every single employee.
10. By ( -s) ……SIGNING…. the code, employees ( -a) …ACKNOWLEDGE….. that they understand it and they will ( -f) ……FOLLOW….. its guidelines.

 
 
Image courtesy of Stuart Miles/FreeDigitalPhotos.net
 
 

Z przyjemnością poznamy Twoją opinię

Skomentuj

Wystarczy 5 sekund aby być zawsze na bieżąco.

Zapisz się do naszego newslettera tutaj:

Informacje o najciekawszych artykułach i nowościach w świecie HR.

Dziękujemy za zapisanie do naszego newslettera. Od teraz będziesz na bieżąco ze światem HR.

Share This
HRstandard.pl
Login/Register access is temporary disabled
Compare items
  • Total (0)
Compare
0