Ethics and Business

Business Ethics – Assignment

Kaushik Chakraborty

PGDM B 2015-17

Roll no. 111

Index:

1. Personal Ethics: Ethics & Me……………………………….…… pg. 3

2. Analysis of Ethics in an Industry / Sector / Country……pg. 4

• Analysis of Ethics in Coal Mining Industry in India..pg. 4
• The Hue and Cries over Intolerance in India………….pg. 6

A. Personal Ethics

Ethics and Me

Though I would like to think myself as an ethical person but practically I am not a completely ethical person. However I am neither an unethical person. And sometimes this does lead to conflict of interest while determining the course of action in certain situations.

There was a time when I used to be a kind of truly ethical person. But during my journey of life I have experienced situations where I could have been able to reach not extra but necessary objectives if I have been little less ethical (to unethical people). So now I try to make a pragmatic approach while dealing with complex situations.

The reasons behind my inclination towards being ethical are my family and few of my friends. They are highly ethical people and better than me. However when it comes to community or region, the situation is like most of people are practicing Machiavellianism. Good or bad depends on the side of the wall you are standing for.

The cause behind me becoming a less ethical person is my experience with the corporate world. There is a popular belief that govt. offices are more corrupted than private sector companies. That is true only when they are catering services to their customers or consumers. But when it comes to purchasing goods or services from another company i.e. B2B transactions, sometimes the transparency level of private sector companies falls below the govt. agencies.

After considering all the factors I have decided to be little bit diplomatic and/or pragmatic while dealing with people. In this world the definition of ethical people has become “good with good people, bad with bad people”. However I will never allow personal profit to override my consciousness.

Raising the bar of ethics in future is a tough job. It cannot be raised thru training program or by law, but by proper education system. We can take help of spirituality also. If we teach people that there is nothing before or after and this is the only life and do whatever you want to do to enjoy the life, then people may tend to become unethical and do whatever they want to do to fulfil their desire. But we can teach them the ‘Theory of Karma’, then a positive change may happen.

B. Analysis of Ethics in an Industry / Sector / Country

Analysis of Ethics in Coal Mining Industry in India

Coal is one of the most valuable natural resources for a country and the proper usage should be strictly controlled by the govt. of the country. It is a critical resource for the sustainability of different industries like power and metal producers. India have a coal reserve of 293,497.15 million metric tons. So regulatory ethics is important for proper functioning of the system.

During the UPA govt. regime the ethical behaviour of the PSUs and coal ministry came under severe question and the matter went up to the Supreme Court which is known as Coal Scam. It is a major political scandal concerning the Indian government's allocation of the nation's coal deposits to public sector entities (PSEs) and private companies. The Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) office accused the Government of India of allocating coal blocks in an inefficient manner during the period 2004–2009. According to the CAG the government's decision to not auction 194 coal blocks between 2004 and 2011 meant that the country lost a huge amount in revenue. The figure was initially believed to be more than Rs 10 lakh crore, but the CAG chose to keep PSUs out of its final report, bringing the figure down to Rs 1.86 lakh crore. The CAG feels the loss could have been avoided, or at least have been lower, as the procedure for auction of the precious natural resource could easily have been put in place by 2006. The failure to do so meant that 25 firms, including Essar Power, Hindalco, Tata Steel, Tata Power and Jindal Steel and Power, received a windfall through coal blocks on nomination basis, instead of competitive bidding. More interesting fact is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who held the coal portfolio between 2006-2009.

However in the parliament Mr. Manmohan Singh has claimed that he was completely unaware of the matter. The UPA govt. also claimed that the total process was looked after by coal secretary Mr. P. C. Parakh. However logically speaking coal block allocation is a major issue and such major issues are not handled by secretaries. Even if we consider govt.’s claim to be true them also the action of Mr. Singh remains questionable. How could he left such a major issue to be handled by the secretary? Govt has also accaused CAG for overestimating the figure of loss and adding zeros to it unnecessarily.