Journal of Governance and Regulation / Volume 4, Issue 1, 2015, Continued - 1

BACKGROUND TO THE FOUNDATIONS OF BUSINESS

ETHICS AS A UNIVERSITY COURSE:
A SOUTH AFRICAN PERSPECTIVE
Nandi Lubbe*, Dave Lubbe*

Abstract

In this article on the background of business ethics and business ethics education, the following
important questions, discussions and issues will be addressed:
Firstly, a brief overview on the development of philosophy will be provided since business ethics can be
viewed as a subdivision of philosophy. An exposition of how business ethics links with philosophy will
(among others) be provided. Due to the fact that this article largely concentrates on the accountancy
and auditing professions, referral will also briefly be made to how the so-called “professional ethics” of
the concerned professions fit into the comprehensive discipline of philosophy.
The second aspect to be addressed will be regarding one of the main challenges in presenting business
ethics courses, namely to keep the subject pragmatic and practically applicable – which may be
difficult, possibly due to the discipline’s development from philosophy. If the pragmatic and practical
focus is not maintained, business ethics may result in a mere philosophical and theoretical course that
has little to do with ethical challenges encountered in the real accountancy profession and business
world. Reasons are mentioned that may result in business ethics courses being irrelevant and
impractical and therefore possible solutions to this problem are also suggested. Other challenges that
may prevent lecturers from presenting business ethics courses in an optimal manner are also briefly
discussed in this section.

Key Words: Business Ethics, Higher Education, Professional Ethics

* University of the Free State (UFS), Bloemfontein, South Africa

1. Introduction And Background From the preceding (without further debating the
cynical, fatalistic statement by Camus), it is clear that
Humanity holds the highest order of all living the question as to what the meaning of life is, stands
creatures on earth. The reason for this can be ascribed central to man’s existence (especially in the Christian
to humanity standing at the top of intelligence and tradition).
development of all species. The so called “sacred” One of the most important aspects in the search
writings of several of the largest religious schools of of the meaning of life is probably man’s search for
thought also acknowledge the preceding. In Christian what constitutes right (good) and wrong (bad).
writing, man (where there is referred to the masculine Subsequently, the question can be asked as to where
[e.g. man or he/his], the feminine [e.g. woman or the search for what constitutes right or wrong
she/her] is also implied, were applicable) is for originated. To answer this question with certainty is
instance described as the “crown” of creation. surely impossible. One of the main goals of the great
According to Christianity, man consists of different religions of the world (e.g. Hinduism, Buddhism,
“dimensions” (body, soul and spirit) that also exalt Islam, Judaism and Christianity) is to teach followers
humanity above the animal and plant kingdoms. of the religion what is right (“acceptable”) and wrong
In connection with the above, it can be (“unacceptable”) through the concerned religion’s
mentioned that man is a “thinking and searching” dogma, doctrines and “sacred” writings.
being. Concisely, it can be said that man is in search Apart from religious followers, philosophers
of the meaning of his life. In the following statement, probably played the greatest role in deliberating about
the renowned French philosopher, Albert Camus e.g. what “right and wrong”, “good and bad”, “virtue
(1955, p. 3), even went so far as to suggest that the and vice”, “meaning” and “truth” involves. Especially
search for meaning in life, is the only truly important the ancient Greek philosophers such as Socrates,
concern in man’s life: “[t]here is but one truly serious Plato and Aristotle made vast contributions in this
philosophical problem and that is suicide. Judging respect. “Ethical conduct” is one of the most
whether life is or is not worth living amounts to important pillars of any orderly, civilized and
answering the fundamental question of philosophy.” sustainable society. If “wrong”, “bad” and “vice”

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within a society were to prevail and escalate, maturing as an academic field… [business ethics] is
consequences such as chaos, deterioration, suffering becoming more self-conscious about its development,
and revolution would most likely culminate. The identity and purpose… The process of maturation…
renowned philosopher, Thomas Hobbes, referred to will imply improving the quality and effectiveness of
life in such a degenerate society as “solitary, poor, research, teaching and interaction and, finally, it will
nasty, brutish, and short” in his 1651 publication, mean the institutionalization of the scope and
Leviathan. activities in the field in ways that will promote the
Business ethics is one of the many disciplines visibility and credibility thereof.” One of the maturity
that flowed from the millennial old discipline of signs of an academic discipline is the existence of a
philosophy (Rossouw, 2004, p. ix). Similar to set of discipline-specific, peer-reviewed journals that
philosophy, business ethics is also concerned with the informs the academic community and practitioners
question of right and wrong, with the distinction that about the existence of the particular scholarly domain
it focuses specifically on business and economic and that offers a space where scholars can read new
aspects. works, exchange ideas, share theories and accumulate
Lovell (2005, pp. iii, 2) states that although references (Serenko & Bontis, 2009, p. 391;
ethics in business has been a concern for as long as Wikipedia, 2012a). In 2009, sixteen academic
trade and commerce have taken place, the journals dedicated to various aspects of business
development of business ethics as “a field of enquiry” ethics existed, the most cited being Journal of
did not effectively commence until approximately Business Ethics and Business Ethics Quarterly
1920. In this initial stage of the development of (Serenko & Bontis, 2009, p. 395; Wikipedia, 2012a).
business ethics, the concerns were mainly focused The main focus of this article falls on business
around issues of corporate governance 23 (Lovell, ethics in South Africa, a region in which this field has
2005, p. 3). The reason for this can possibly be traced only relatively recently been introduced25. With the
back to the factory replacing the home as the establishment of business ethics as an academic field
principal place of work, organisations’ sizes in the 1970s, a hot topic for debate in North America
expanding to the extent that required managers (who and Europe was whether it was ethical to invest in
were not members of the founding families or South Africa, where apartheid reigned at the time
principal shareholders) to be appointed and the (Jeurissen, 2007, p. 9). Similar occurrences later took
eventual establishment of limited liability companies place in other African countries such as Zimbabwe
during the mid-nineteenth century (Lovell, 2005, p. and Libya, where international sanctions against
1). Limited liability companies resulted in the split regimes were instated as punitive measures against
between management and ownership/shareholders e.g. human rights violations and despotic
(with management acting as stewards of governments (McVeigh, 2012; Cooper & Landler,
shareholders’ money and other interests) and a 2011). The South African economy flourished in
possible conflict of interest, e.g. a member of certain spheres due to sanction pressure on the former
management seeking to maximize self-interest (such apartheid regime. The most well-known example is
as to spend excessive funds on personal benefits) at probably the establishment of Sasol and the fact that
the expense of shareholders’ interest. South Africa became the world leader in the field of
Business ethics as an academic field24 was only oil production from coal (Dubey, 2007, p. 1). Sasol
established in the 1970s in North America (Lovell, could, however, not provide in all of South Africa’s
2005, pp. 6, 7). From North America, it spread to former fuel requirements and “resourceful unethical
Western Europe and eventually the rest of the globe, practices” were invented by the apartheid government
including Africa (Serenko & Bontis, 2009, p. 391; to circumvent international sanctions and oil
Jeurissen, 2007, p. 9; Rossouw, 2004, p. xi), which embargos.
makes it a relatively young academic field. According South Africa’s achievements in the fields of
to Rossouw (2004, p. ix, xiii) “[i]n the process of accountancy and auditing are remarkable, especially
considering the fact that the country was excluded
23
from global accounting integration and was
The relationship between corporate governance and academically isolated during the 1980s due to
business ethics (for definitions of business ethics refer to international sanctions aimed against the country’s
sections 2.1 and 2.2.4) is clearly discernible in the apartheid policy (Verhoef, 2012, p. 25). Although the
description of corporate governance by Ramachandran standard of South Africa’s accounting and
(2007): “Corporate Governance represents the moral framework, professions does not seem to have suffered due to the
the ethical framework and the value framework under which an
enterprise takes decisions… [It] is concerned with the ownership,
25
control and accountability of companies, and how the corporate The first, and as far as could be established, still only peer-
pursuit of economic objectives relates to a number of wider ethical reviewed journal on the African continent dedicated to the
and societal considerations.” specialised field of business ethics, was only established in
24
The distinguishing features or characteristics of an 2004 (AJoBE, 2009). The African Journal of Business Ethics
“academic field” can be found in Rossouw, 2004, pp. xii – (AJoBE) is the official journal of the Business Ethics Network of
xiii. Africa (BEN-Africa) (AJoBE, 2009; BEN-Africa, 2012).

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consequences of apartheid, South Africa’s corporate governance and business ethics, these
development in the field of business ethics possibly professionals should be educated in the principles and
did suffer and lag behind due to apartheid, since practical application of these fields. These facts were
apartheid was essentially also an unethical economic also the main reasons for pleas for change needed in
and social practice. However, South Africa did later accounting education, specifically in the form of
achieve much success on the front of corporate broadening the accounting curriculum by including
governance (refer to footnote 1 for an explanation of courses such as business ethics27 and the ethics
the relationship between corporate governance and education requirements of International Federation of
business ethics), which can mainly be ascribed to the Accountants (IFAC)28 and the South African Institute
work done by the King Committees on Corporate of Chartered Accountants (SAICA)29.
Governance in South Africa.
During approximately the same period that 2. Philosophy, Ethics, Applied Ethics,
apartheid came to an end, the Institute of Directors in Business Ethics And Professional Ethics –
Southern Africa (IoDSA) established the King An Overview
Committee on Corporate Governance with former
Supreme Court judge, Mervyn King, as chair 2.1 Introduction
(IoDSA, 2011; Stewart, 2010; King, 2012). King
viewed this as an opportunity to educate and provide As mentioned in the title, this section of the article
guidance to the newly democratic citizens of South concerns philosophy, ethics, applied ethics, business
African on the best practice for operating in a free ethics and professional ethics. For the purposes of this
economy (Stewart, 2010; Wikipedia, 2012b). Since article and by way of introduction to this section, the
its establishment, the King Committees has authored relationship between these five disciplines can be
the King I (1994), King II (2002) and King III (2009) presented as follows schematically:
Reports on Corporate Governance (Stewart, 2010;
IoDSA, 2002; IoDSA, 2009; IoDSA, 2011).
According to the IoDSA (2011) “[t]he first King
Report was recognised internationally, when
published, as the most comprehensive publication on
the subject [of]… corporate governance”. King III
has been described by Sir Adrian Cadbury, as “the
future of corporate governance” (Malan, 2010;
Stewart, 2010).
After 1994, the South African government
attempted to incorporate many of the principles of
good corporate governance into legislation (e.g. the
Companies Act, No. 71 of 2008, the Public Finance
Management Act, No. 1 of 1999 [PFMA] and the
Municipal Finance Management Act, No. 56 of 2003
[MFMA]) as minimum legal requirement of
compliance26 (Lubbe, 2012; PwC, 2010, p. 2; RSA,
1999; RSA, 2003; RSA, 2009). Compliance to the
principles of King III is also a listing requirement for
companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange
(JSE, 2012; IoDSA, 2009, p. 4).
From the above, it is clear that corporate
governance and business ethics have a significant
influence on auditors and accountants. The work
performed by auditors and accountants are, amongst
others, concerned with companies’ compliance to
listing requirements of the JSE and the Companies
Act, No. 71 of 2008 and government’s compliance to
the PFMA and MFMA (regarding the South African
context). Since it is thus necessary for accountants
and auditors to possess thorough knowledge of
27
For a detailed discussion on this topic refer to Lubbe
26
Refer to Lubbe (2013, pp. 27 – 31) for details on the (2013, pp. 76 – 83).
28
seemingly downwards spiral in South Africa from the initial For further details on this topic refer to Lubbe (2013, pp.
political will and strong ethical leadership that appeared 87 – 101).
29
after 1994 which made it possible to fight corruption and For further details on this topic refer to Lubbe (2013, pp.
fraud through firm corporate governance (Lubbe, 2012). 101 – 106).

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Figure 1. Diagram of disciplines relevant to the study

The above schematic representation is merely a Since the twentieth century, many areas of
theoretical outlay for the purposes of this article. The human activity have been subject to ethics, or more
lines of partition between these five disciplines and specifically, applied ethics (Haldane, 2003, p. 490).
what they constitute are not always clearly set and According to Lane (2012) “applied ethics is the
overlapping between disciplines do occur. The branch of ethics that asks relatively concrete
schematic representation and its components can be questions about the morality of specific controversial
explained briefly as follows: actions and policies.” Sub-branches of applied ethics
Philosophy can be described as the “mother include, for instance, business ethics, environmental
discipline” from which the other four disciplines ethics, “bioethics”, “genethics”, and gender ethics
developed. Moreover, in academic literature, (Haldane, 2003, p. 490). For purposes of this article,
philosophy (which is essentially the search for the only sub-branch of applied ethics to be focused on
“wisdom” and “truth”), is generally regarded as the is business ethics. General questions on applied
foundation of all disciplines. This is for instance ethics can, for instance, include whether abortions,
illustrated by the “inner workings” of other capital punishment or the generation of nuclear power
disciplines being called the “philosophy of” the are ethically justifiable (Van Wyk, 1985, p. 1).
specific discipline e.g. the “philosophy of science” As business and economics have increasingly
and the “philosophy of history” (Pigliucci, 2009). As become key driving forces in contemporary societies,
further illustration can be mentioned the title of the urgency to ensure that they develop in the “right
D.F.M. Strauss’s magnum opus on philosophy direction” has also increased (Enderle, 2003, p. 531).
significantly titled, Philosophy: Discipline of the Business ethics (being the main focus of this article)
Disciplines, which was awarded with the Herman is thus a sub branch of applied ethics, concerned with
Dooyeweerd Prize by the Vrije Universiteit business and economically related ethical issues. A
Amsterdam (SA Akademie, 2011; Strauss, 2009). general business ethics questions can, for instance,
The word “ethics” is etymologically derived deal with whether Broad-Based Black Economic
from the Greek word “ethos”, which means Empowerment (B-BBEE) and the manner in which it
“character” or “manners” (Skorupski, 2003, p. 203; is applied in practice in South Africa, is ethically
BBC, 2012). Simplistically stated, ethics is a system justifiable.
of moral principles that is concerned with what is Professional ethics (e.g. medical ethics or
“good” for the society as well as individuals, journalism ethics) plays a governing role, which is
affecting how people make decisions and lead their influenced by the nature of the profession, its place in
lives (BBC, 2012). General ethical questions are for society and the resulting application of general ethical
instance, “how does one lead a ‘good’ life” and “what principles to the profession (Skorupski, 2003, p. 203).
is virtue”. If professional ethics are not viewed as an earnest

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matter by members of a profession, there is a high discern patterns and principles that could uniformly,
risk that members of the profession may act consistently, and comprehensively explain natural
unethically and unprofessionally, which may lead to phenomena in terms of natural causes (New World
reputational damage to and loss of public trust in the Encyclopedia, 2008; Berg, 2012). Palmer (2006, pp.
specific profession as was, for instance, the case with 6, 7) states that “these early Greek philosophers…
the accounting and auditing profession - specifically tended to demote cosmogony (theories about the
the “Big Five” audit firm, Arthur Andersen, due to origins of the world) and promote cosmology
the Enron scandal30. A general professional ethics (theories about the nature of the world). This new
question with the regard to the auditing professional direction represents the beginnings of a way of
can, for instance, be whether an auditor should be thinking that the Greeks would soon call
allowed to lead an audit of a company if the auditor’s ‘philosophy’.”
parents are the majority shareholders in the company. Socrates (469-399 BCE), an imperative figure in
Subsequently, the five “disciplines” of (and philosophy, made a principal contribution in shifting
including) philosophy set out in schematic the central focus of philosophy from cosmology to
representation 1 and briefly discussed above will be ethics and morality (New World Encyclopedia, 2008;
considered in more detail. Berg, 2012). He considered the study of “natural
philosophy” and the materialistic worldview as futile
2.2 Philosophy compared to seeking a real and true understanding of
the highest values in life, which one needs in order to
2.2.1 Introduction live a “good”, “worthy” life according to the highest
ethical standards (New World Encyclopedia, 2008;
The etymological origin of the term “philosophy” is Berg, 2012; Kimura, 2006, p. 1). Socrates did not
derived from the Greek word “philosophia” - the agree with the Sophists, specifically Protagoras (as
roots “phileo” and “sophia” respectively meaning quoted in Theaetetus by Plato) that “man is the
“to love,” and “wisdom” (McKeon, 1964, p. 239; measure of all things”, nor did he agree with the
Kimura, 2006, p. 1). In ancient Greece, a person who “natural philosophers” and the value they attributed to
devoted himself to “logos”31 was considered a “lover materialism, which eventually led to the modern
of wisdom”, hence the term “philosopher” (Palmer, materialistic ideology according to which “man and
2006, p. 2). money are the measure of all things” (Van der Ploeg,
Before the ancient Greek philosophers began 1959, p. 4; quoted by Malan, 1984, p. 6), (Palmer,
attempting to explain natural phenomena based on 2004, p. 1; Palmer, 2006, p. 54). Instead, Socrates
reason and evidence, the traditional, mythological attached value to “virtue” and pursued virtue through
approach, that attempted to explain natural events in self-examination and self-reflection of which the
terms of supernatural origins, reigned (Berg, 2012; aphorisms “the unexamined life is not worth living”
IEP, 2012; Palmer, 2006, p. 2). In the case of the and “know thyself” (commonly attributed to Socrates)
ancient Greeks, this involved tracing natural events are indicative. One of the central themes/theories of
(such as lightning) to the capriciousness of the gods Socratic ethics is that “virtue is knowledge”.
of Mount Olympus (e.g. lightning supposedly being a Socrates was born during a period when a
weapon of Zeus) (New World Encyclopedia, 2008; cultural shift towards placing high value on political
Berg, 2012). Through the fertile imaginations of poets power (as opposed to the study of cosmology) was
such as Homer and Hesiod, mystic epical narratives taking place in Athens (Van Bart, 2002; Palmer,
that explained, among others, the origin of the world 2006, p. 48). The pursuit of political power and the
and the genealogy of the gods, were created (New study of rhetoric (which was an imperative “skill” for
World Encyclopedia, 2008; Palmer, 2006, p. 5). The politicians of that era who relied mainly on their oral
ancient Greek philosophers, however, attempted to persuasiveness to gain public support) were
widespread (Palmer, 2006, pp. 5, 6). The demand for
instruction in rhetoric and the means to achieve
30
For more regarding the Enron scandal refer to Lubbe political success gave rise to a group of philosophers
(2013, p. 8) and for elaboration on loss of trust in the known as Sophists, who travelled from city to city
accountancy and auditing professions refer to Lubbe (2013, and charged admission to their lectures (Van Bart,
pp. 8, 37 - 38, 72 – 75 and 91 – 101). 2002; Smith, 2009, p. 31; Palmer, 2006). The word
31
According to Palmer (2006, p. 2) “[t]he Greek word ‘logos’ “Sophist” is derived from the Greek word “sophia”,
is the source of the English word ‘logic’ as well as all the ‘-logies’ which, as mentioned, means “wisdom”. However, the
in terms like ‘biology,’ ‘sociology,’ and ‘psychology,’ where ‘logos’ word “Sophist” adds a negative connotation to
means the theory, study, or rationalization of something. ‘Logos’ wisdom and has come to mean “wise guy”, as in
also means ‘word’ in Greek, so it involves the act of speaking, or someone who thinks he is smarter than others or
setting forth an idea in a clear manner. ‘Logos,’ therefore, someone who is clever but ethically questionable
designates a certain kind of thinking about the world, a kind of (Palmer, 2006, p. 48; Smith, 2009, p. 30; Evans,
logical analysis that places things in the context of reason and 2010, p. 232). The Sophists’ lectures were not on the
explains them with the pure force of thought. Such an intellectual nature of reality or truth but instead they instructed
exercise was supposed to lead to wisdom…”

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their students in what would most likely lead to Palmer (2006, p. 58) in death becoming “the
political success (which of course is not necessarily universal symbol of martyrdom for the Truth”.
“truth”) e.g. the nature of power, eloquence and The foundation of the university system in the
persuasion (Palmer, 2006, pp. 48, 49; Van Bart, 2002; western world is widely attributed to Plato, who
Smith, 2009, p. 31; Evans, 2010, p. 232). According founded a school of learning in 387 BC in Athens
to Van Bart (2002) this led the deterioration of the which he called the “Academy” (European Graduate
objective standard of the truth that ended in socio- School, 2012; Palmer, 2006). This further facilitated
political and moral decay. the search for “meaning” and “truth” through wisdom
Socrates pursued that which is universally as this quote by Ochs (1982, p. 467) (as quoted by
“good” and “true” and without subjective agendas Botha, 1987, p. 65): “Education is the transmission of
such as gaining political power (Van Bart, 2002). In a wisdom and of the means of achieving wisdom…
non-violent manner, he revolted against the value [and] subjecting received wisdom to critical
system of his contemporaries and the teachings of the discussion and pragmatic testing.” According to a
Sophists. According to Palmer (2006, p. 56), Socrates biography of Plato by the European Graduate School
queried every person he met on the streets and market (2012) “Plato hoped the Academy would provide a
places of Athens on whether that person knew place where thinkers could work toward better
anything, while Socrates himself ironically professed government in the Grecian cities”.
to know nothing. This dialectic investigation led to Except for his contribution to the university
so-called “Socratic dialogues” (that was later system and education, Plato also made a considerable
published by Socrates’s student Plato) in which contribution to political philosophy, as the preceding
Socrates’s discussion partner came to new intellectual quote alludes to. In Plato’s seminal work, the
and moral insights through Socrates’s guidance (Van Republic, the importance of only highly and properly
Bart, 2002; Palmer, 2006, p. 56; Evans, 2010, p. 234). educated ‘guardians’, being endowed with state
Socrates’s questioning of the then existing authority, is emphasized (Brown, 2003, p. 607;
structures, by which he offended many of the Johnson, 2009, p. 8). According to Kemerling (2011)
powerful figures of Athens, resonated especially with “Plato held that guardians should own no private
the youth, since Socrates was an inspiration and property, should live and eat together at government
source of knowledge for them (Palmer, 2006, p. 57; expense, and should earn no salary greater than
Van Bart, 2002). Herein resided the core of the necessary to supply their most basic needs. Under
accusations (teaching false doctrines, impiety and this regime, no one will have any venal motive for
corrupting the youth) of which Socrates was unjustly seeking a position of leadership, and those who are
found guilty and sentenced to death (Van Bart, 2002; chosen to be guardians will govern solely from a
Palmer, 2006, p. 58; Evans, 2010, pp. 229, 239; concern to seek the welfare of the state in what is best
Smith, 2009, p. 11). for all of its citizens.” Plato was hundreds of years
The teachings of Socrates are still known today ahead of his time if one takes into consideration that
due to Socrates’s most renowned student, Plato (427- his “guardians” reminds one of the roles that
347 BCE), who recorded the Socratic dialogues independent, non-executive directors should play in a
(Evans, 2010, p. 229; Smith, 2009, p. 11). The company according to the King Report on Corporate
important role that Plato has played in the history of Governance (King III).
philosophy is depicted in the well-known quote by
the mathematician Alfred North Whitehead (1979, p. 2.2.2 Subdivisions of Philosophy
39) stating that all of Western philosophy “consists of
a series of footnotes to Plato” (Pigliucci, 1999). As can be deduced from the pre-Socratic
Plato’s Crito, takes the form of a dialogue between philosophers’ emphasis on nature and physics, it is
Socrates and his friend, Crito, in Socrates’s prison difficult to make a distinction between “science” and
cell during the last days before his execution (Evans, “philosophy” during the pre-Socratic period of
2010, p. 229). Socrates refuses Crito’s offer to Western philosophy (Pigliucci, 2009; Palmer, 2006,
finance his escape from prison and explains why he p. 8). Science in fact originated as a branch of
has to accept Athens’ death sentence (Pigliucci, 2011; philosophy, namely “natural philosophy” (Berg,
Wikipedia, 2012c). According to Pigliucci (2011) 2012; New World Encyclopedia, 2008; IEP, 2012;
Socrates stated that “he owes his life and all he has Pigliucci, 2009). However, in the modern world,
been able to do to the fact that Athens is governed by science and philosophy are two distinct fields of
the Laws, and that it would therefore be unfair for study (Pigliucci, 2009).
him to disobey the Laws when it is no longer Broadly speaking, science deals with the study
convenient to follow them, even though the citizens of and understanding of natural phenomena (Palmer,
Athens are thereby about to commit an injustice. 2006, p. 8; Pigliucci, 2009). Science is further
Essentially, Socrates is saying that he is party to a concerned with empirically (either observationally or
social contract, and that he is bound by it even when experimentally) testable hypotheses that should
things don’t go well for him.” Socrates kept to his account for those phenomena (e.g. explaining how
principles and drank the hemlock, and as stated by natural laws are causally related to natural

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phenomena) (Palmer, 2006, p. 8; Pigliucci, 2009). and ethical theory – ‘morality’ being the social
Philosophy, on the other hand, deals with problems practices that define right and wrong and ‘ethical
that require a speculative approach through theory’ being the field that aims to discover how
conceptual analysis (the logical scrutiny of general people determine what’s right and wrong. But most
ideas) rather than an experimental approach through people consider the two terms to mean the same
observation or data gathering (Palmer, 2006, p. 8; thing.” In the handbooks of Rossouw, et al. (2010, p.
Pigliucci, 2009). Professor Massimo Pigliucci (2009) 17) and Rossouw & Van Vuuren (2010, p. 4), being
of the City University of New York, states that it the two handbooks that are mostly prescribed for
should be noted that although philosophy and science business ethics students in South Africa, the same
are seen as two distinct activities that work by conclusion as Bowie & Schneider is reached and the
different methods, “they inform each other in an two terms are also used as synonyms. Thus, in this
inter-dependent fashion (science depends on article, the terms “ethics” and “morality” and their
philosophical assumptions that are outside the scope derivative forms may be used interchangeably.
of empirical validation, but philosophical Literally thousands of definitions for “ethics”
investigations should be informed by the best science exist, but for purposes of this study, the following
available in a range of situations, from metaphysics three definitions will be considered:
to ethics and philosophy of mind).” a.) According to Velasquez (2006, p. 8) “ethics is
The main fields within the comprehensive field the study of morality”. This definition relates
of philosophy include, but are not limited to, the well with the preceding discussion about the
following: interchangeability of the terms “ethics” and
- Ontology - the theory of being; “morality”.
- Epistemology – the theory of knowledge and the b.) Bowie & Scheider (2011, p. 10) defines ethics as
limits to our understanding; “the code of moral standards by which people
- Axiology – the theory of value, which includes judge the actions and behaviours of themselves
- Ethics, or moral philosophy – the theory of and others.”
“right” behaviour; c.) The definition of ethics that is probably most
- Logic – the theory of rational thought and well known in South African tertiary business
correct inference (Palmer, 2006, p. 8; Pigliucci, ethics education, is the definition according to
2009). Rossouw & Van Vuuren (2010, pp. 4, 5): “Ethics
This article however only focuses on ethics, as concerns itself with what is good or right in
will now be further discussed. human interaction. It revolves around three
central concepts: ‘self’, ‘good’ and ‘other’.
2.2.3 Ethics And Applied Ethics Ethical behaviour results when one does not
merely consider what is good for oneself, but
The terms “ethics” and “morality” are often used also considers what is good for others. It is
interchangeably. In South Africa, reports on the important that each of these three central
“moral-ethical” crisis in the country and the country concepts be included in a definition of ethics.”
losing its “moral compass” appear on a regular basis These three “central concepts” to ethics can be
(SAPA, 2012; Raga & Taylor, 2005, p. 11; Shumba, schematically represented as follows (Rossouw &
2011, p. 88). Bowie & Schneider (2011, p. 2) state Van Vuuren, 2010, p. 5):
that “[a]cademics often distinguish between morality

Figure 2. The three central concepts to ethics

Good

Self Other
Source: Rossouw & Van Vuuren, 2010, p. 5; Rossouw, et al., 2010, p. 18

In the above definition c.) and the schematic between, for instance, two or more individuals,
representation 2, the reciprocation between “self” and institutions, business enterprises or countries.
“other” is simplistic. It represents interaction However, for the purposes of business ethics the main

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concern is whether this “interaction” is “good”/“bad” Ethics is not a simple matter of something being
or “right”/”wrong”. either “right or wrong” or “good or bad”, nor simply a
In 1970, the American economist and Nobel set of “universal rules” that can be applied to all
Prize laureate, Milton Friedman, published his relevant situations. Numerous practical ethical
seminal paper The Social Responsibility of Business is dilemmas are too complicated for such simplistic
to Increase its Profits in the New York Times quick-fixes. As an example can be stated the case of
Magazine. Herein Friedman relied upon (and might lying: telling a lie is commonly agreed to be “wrong”,
even have abused) ethical reasoning (specifically the but if a person lies in order to save another person’s
concept of “corporate social responsibility”) to life, the act of lying may be seen as acceptable (even
defend his position in favour of a capitalist-based though it is generally still agreed that telling the truth
market economy (Lovell, 2005, p. 5). In the paper he is regarded as “good”). This illustrates that a.) a
came to a similar conclusion as the Harvard history general ethical principle, such as “one should not lie”,
professor, Henry Adams, who stated that “[m]orality cannot consistently and mindlessly be applied in all
is a private and costly luxury,” (Maxwell, 2003, p. 7). cases where relevant ethical reasoning is needed and
Similar to Friedman, ethical reasoning and b.) an action that is generally regarded as “wrong”,
cultural relativism has been abused by the previous such as lying, may be seen as “good”, dependent
South African government, certain Islamic upon the specific circumstances under which the
governments and the Communist government of the action were performed.
Soviet Union to justify respectively apartheid, the When the border between “right” and “wrong”
disparagement of women’s rights, and basic human are unclear, as in the above example on lying, it
rights violations (Zechenter, 1997, pp. 319, 322). results in ethical “grey” areas. These ethical “grey”
Even the atrocities of the holocaust perpetrated during areas are especially common in applied ethics due to
the Second World War were “justified” with ethical the use of casuistry. Casuistry (also known as case-
and cultural relativistic reasoning (Zechenter, 1997, p. based reasoning) is the application of general ethical
319). Also, Socrates was unjustly found guilty and principles to particular cases and is often used as a
sentenced to death due to the shamelessly tortured critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning
ethical reasoning, unsupportable claims and (Dictionary.com, 2012; Princeton University, 2012).
insinuating his guilt by association (Van Bart, 2002; Ethical “grey” areas and casuistry can be further
Palmer, 2006, p. 58; Evans, 2010, pp. 229, 239; elucidated with the following schematic
Smith, 2009, p. 11; Brickhouse & Smith, 1989, p. 66; representation:
Siegel, 2001).

Figure 3. “Poles” of ethics

In the above schematic representation, the two Some of the reasons that unethical practices are
circles can be seen as the two extreme “poles” of perpetrated under the cover of “ethics”, are because
good/right and bad/wrong. Certain actions are seen as of the abuse of this “grey” area, casuistic reasoning
good/right regardless of people’s differing traditions, and cultural relativism. According to John Maxwell
religions and cultures. Examples of such universally (2003, p. 8) “[m]any people choose to deal with…
approved, good/right deeds would be to offer a poor situations by deciding what’s right in the moment,
person, which may starve of hunger, a meal, or to according to their circumstances. That’s an idea that
help an elderly, blind person to safely cross a busy gained legitimacy in the early 1960s when dr
street. This can be contrasted to the bad/wrong acts of Joseph Fletcher, dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral in
brutal murder or rape which is universally Cincinnati, Ohio, published a book called ‘Situation
disapproved of and unacceptable. The closer one Ethics: The New Morality’. In it he said that right is
moves to the middle, away from the two ethical determined by the situation, and love can justify
“poles” just mentioned, the more “grey” and less anything – lying, cheating, stealing… even murder.
explicitly good/right or bad/wrong a deed may Since the 1960s, situational ethics has become the
become. As an example, the ethically ambiguous norm for social behaviour. After spreading rapidly
practice of polygamy in both the forms of one through the worlds of education, religion and
husband having many wives (polygyny) and one wife government, it has penetrated a new area – the
having many husbands (polyandry) can be mentioned. business world. The result is ethical chaos. Everyone
has his own standards, which change from situation

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 Journal of Governance and Regulation / Volume 4, Issue 1, 2015, Continued - 1

to situation… Where once our decisions were based 2.3 Keeping Business Ethics Courses
on ethics, now ethics are based on our decisions.” Relevant, And Other Challenges to
This further illustrates the complicated matter of Business Ethics Educators
ethics: although the application of ethics should not
be strictly rule-based, every person cannot create A business ethics course should be presented in a
his/her own relativistic ethical standards either. pragmatic and practically applicable manner so that it
does not result in a mere philosophical and theoretical
2.2.4 Business Ethics course that has little to do with ethical challenges
encountered in the real accountancy profession and
According to Bowie & Schneider (2011, p. 10) business world. According to an article by Bennis and
business ethics is “the application of a moral code of O’Toole (2005, p. 96) in the Harvard Business
conduct to the strategic and operational management Review (quoted by Diamond & Robison, 2008, pp. 2,
of a business.” Rossouw (2004, p. xii) describes 9), business schools and the education provided by
business ethics as “any discourse about the ethical them are increasingly criticised for their lack of
dimensions of business”. It is often stated that curricular relevance to the present-day economic and
“business ethics” is a contradiction in terms because social market and their failure to translate business
an inherent conflict exists between ethical conduct knowledge into applicable, useful skills. The same
and the self-interested pursuit of profit (Velasquez, shortcomings may come to (or all ready do) exist in
2006, p. 5). However, according to Maxwell (2003, p. certain business ethics courses presented to
xi) “[t]here is no such thing as business ethics – accountancy and business majors at South African
there’s only ethics. People try to use one set of ethics universities.
for their professional life, another for their spiritual There are numerous reasons that may result in
life, and still another at home with their family. That business ethics courses being irrelevant and
gets them into trouble. Ethics is ethics. If you desire impractical. One of the reasons includes that business
to be ethical, you live it by one standard across the ethics lecturers (especially at accountancy
board.” departments in South Africa) are seldom experts in
There exists a big difference between business the specialised field of business ethics. Mostly, either
ethics practice and business ethics theory (Bowie & a chartered accountant (CA) or a philosopher presents
Schneider, 2011, p. 1). Just as it is not the case in the course (Lubbe, 2013, p. 142).
ethics, in business ethics it is also not that case that Generally, CAs have been soundly grounded in
“the only thing that is needed to come to a moral the narrow, highly-specialised received sufficient
decision when faced with a moral choice is to apply a exposure to formal training in philosophy, ethics,
legitimate moral rule to that specific situation and business ethics, accounting history and the social and
then deduce the appropriate moral response from that ethical implications of accounting and business to
moral rule,” as stated by Rossouw (2004, p. 44). make them truly knowledgeable about business ethics
Philosophers who are involved in teaching business and confident in presenting the course at tertiary level
ethics are often criticized for allegedly favouring a (Massey & Von Hise, 2009, p. 492; Merino, 2006, pp.
rule-following approach to business ethics (Rossouw, 377, 378). Philosophers, on the other hand, normally
2004, p. 44). have undergone specialised training in philosophy
and ethics, but mostly have limited knowledge of
2.2.5 Professional Ethics business, management and the accounting and
auditing professions. Bennis and O’Toole (2005, p.
Professional ethics focuses mainly on understanding 104) (quoted by Diamond & Robison, 2008, p. 9)
the historical development of professions and the argue that to be really effective, “business schools
difference between professional and non-professional need a diverse faculty populated with professors who,
occupations, the nature, typical structure and value of collectively, hold a variety of skills and interests that
professional and disciplinary codes of conduct for the cover territory as broad and as deep as business
profession and compliance with technical standards itself.”
(Taylor, 2011, pp. 37 – 40; IFAC, 2010, p. 55, Many accounting faculties seem to fail to
SAICA, 2010, pp. 139-143). Professional ethics recognise the value of business ethics education,
within the accounting and auditing professions also dismissing it as a nonessential32 component of a
deals with well known concepts within business
ethics such as professional behaviour, independence,
scepticism, accountability, confidentiality and public 32
expectations (IFAC, 2010, p. 55). Since the focus of In South Africa, business ethics is not regarded as one of
this article falls on business ethics, professional ethics the four, sole “traditional” third year and Certificate in the
will not be addressed in further detail. Theory of Accounting (CTA) subjects (namely financial
accounting, cost and management accounting, taxation and
auditing) although within tertiary accountancy programs,
business ethics is often regarded, presented and assessed as a
subcategory of auditing. (Passing CTA is one of the

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 Journal of Governance and Regulation / Volume 4, Issue 1, 2015, Continued - 1

program in accountancy (Russel & Smith, 2003, p. accountancy (Smith, 2003, p. 49). This kind of debate
49; Chu & Man, 2012, p. 125). Merely requiring should also encourage students to read media articles
students to take business ethics because it prescribed on a regular basis, so as to stay current with and
as part of the syllabus by SAICA33, will not serve the informed about real-world ethical issues that are of
course’s purpose and in fact may cause much harm, concern to the business world and accountancy
especially if the course is taught in a perfunctory profession. This may help ensure that business ethics
manner by educators whose main interests lie does not remain a mere theoretical subject that lacks
elsewhere (meaning with one of the four “traditional” relevance to what is actually taking place in the
subjects in an accountancy program, as named in world, but that instead focuses on pragmatism and
footnote 10) (Bowen, 1960). In all likelihood, such practical applicability.
educators would also prefer the “traditional” technical Subsequently, a few challenges that may prevent
method of lecturing on “how to” (which they would lecturers from presenting business ethics courses in
perhaps feel more comfortable with) 34 instead of, for an optimal manner will be discussed briefly (although
instance hosting a debate with the students on “why” such challenges probably justify a dissertation in
(which may be a more suitable method to present itself). According to Nelson (1995, p. 71) (converted
business ethics) (Chu & Man, 2012, p. 125; Nelson, to Chu & Man, 2012, p. 125), because critical
1995, pp. 70, 71). According to Nelson (1995, p. 70. thinking takes students out of their comfort zones,
71) “[i]t is neither overly time-consuming nor most educators who have experimented with
difficult to present a technical lecture filled with innovative teaching methods designed to improve
official rules to be memorized, assign students to read students’ skills, find that teaching evaluations suffer.
a detail-laden text and to do some highly structured As a result of student evaluations possibly inhibiting
exercises for homework, then test students' abilities to innovative teaching methods, educators have an
parrot back what they memorized with exam incentive to "play it safe” (Nelson, 1995, p. 71; Chu
questions that always have a single, correct answer.” & Man, 2012, p. 125).
The above scenario can be contrasted with Strait and Bull (1992, p. 69) (cited by Chu &
educators engaging students in social critique that Man, 2012, pp. 124, 125) explain that the reward
raises provocative questions about the role of structure in the current accounting educators market
accounting in present-day society and that challenges places a premium on research over teaching and that
students to be both experts and critics35 (Merino, as a result, faculty members at many institutions
2006, p. 375). Educators who present business ethics would be committing academic suicide to devote
lectures like this – away from the notions that there is substantial time and effort to a major curriculum
“always only one correct answer” to every question, project. Without further discussing the topic in any
may help improve accountants’ skills to reason about detail, it should, however, be noted that it appears that
and deal with complex and original questions and the preceding situation is peculiar to the university
situations in which ambiguity and uncertainty are system in the USA and that it is not traditionally
involved - such as ethical dilemmas (Nelson, 1995, p. applicable to accounting departments at South
65). A business ethics classroom offers indefinite African universities. An extremely close relationship
opportunities to cultivate students’ ethical reasoning exists between the professional body, SAICA, and
and behaviour by encouraging debate about business accountancy departments at SAICA-accredited South
ethics issues and the social implications of African universities. Over the years, this may have
led to South African accountancy academics being
too involved in highly specialised technical training
admission requirements to write SAICA’s qualifying and education of prospective CAs, while the volume
professional examinations). and quality of research output suffered the
33
Refer to Lubbe (2013, pp. 101 – 106) for more detail on consequences of neglect.
SAICA’s requirements for business ethics courses in Other important challenges that may act as
SAICA-accredited university programs. disincentives for lecturers to present business ethics
34
According to Nelson (1995, p. 71) (cited by Chu & Man, courses optimally are, according to Meyer (2010, p.
2012, p. 125) accounting educators probably favour 5), “the large classes in university business faculties
teaching in a technical manner, because “they have not been with the highest student to staff ratios ... difficult[ies]
adequately prepared to teach in a non-technical manner. In fact, for universities to fill vacancies in accounting and
the vast majority of accounting PhDs have received little or no finance… heavy teaching and preparation loads,
formal training in how to teach in any manner... It seems ironic increased level of administration [and] limited time
that kindergarten teachers have more formal training in learning and support for research”. To this Diamond &
processes and pedagogy than do accounting professors. Perhaps the Robinson (2008, p. 10) add university salaries, which
difficulty in convincing accounting faculty that they need to teach cannot compete with salaries offered by noteworthy
writing, speaking, critical thinking and learning-to-learn in their firms, and a shortage of faculty graduating from PhD
classes stems from a feeling that they are not qualified to teach such programs as challenges.
skills.”
35
Refer to Lubbe (2013, pp. 84 - 86) for more detail on
this topic.

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3. Conclusion university.] Potchefstroom: Potchefstroom University

for Christian Higher Education, pp. 65-84.
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