Republic of the Philippines
Department of Education
REGION IV-A CALABARZON
SCHOOLS DIVISION OF SAN PABLO CITY
BUSINESS ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Quarter 3-Week 4
Name of Learner
Grade level and
Section
Date
CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHIES
Learning Competency
illustrate how these philosophies are reflected into business practices
ABM_ESR12-IIIe-h-2.1
Learning Context
Business owners can always have something to learn from our classical philosophers
in terms of running their organizations.
Rufus, on keeping track of one’s ethical progress
Musonius Rufus was known as the Socrates of Rome. He was another
Stoic, who taught that philosophy cannot just be theoretical. If you want
to be an ethical individual or an ethical company, you can't just study
ethics, you must practice it, every day, to get into good habits. The
ancient Greek word for ethics is the same word for habit. (The Guardian,
2020)
Application to business
You also need to keep track of your progress, to see how you are performing. You cannot
just rely on your intuitions, because they are often wrong. So, the ancient Greeks learned to
keep accounts of themselves. They would track their daily behavior in journals, keeping
account of how many times they lost their temper, for example, or got too drunk. Then they
could see if they were really improving their behavior, or just going around in circles. (The
Guardian, 2020)
Plutarch, on being a good role model
Plutarch, the ancient Greek historian and educator, understood that
humans are incredibly social creatures, who constantly observe the
people around them and imitate them. (The Guardian, 2020)
Application to business
However, we can steer people, by providing them with better patterns to
imitate. That's what Plutarch tried to do with his famous work, Parallel
Lives, which offered biographical sketches of some of the great Greek
and Roman heroes – Cicero, Caesar, Alexander the Great, Pericles – to give young people
something to emulate. (The Guardian, 2020)
In organizational terms, that means what you say to your employees is less important than
what you do. They will watch how you behave, how you treat others, how you cope with
pressure and whether you follow through on your promises. And they will imitate you. If you
talk about ethics and then cut corners at the first opportunity, they will follow your lead. Set
a good example and they will follow it. Plutarch would also warn that your best young
employees will use you as a bar to aim for and exceed. That's natural. Let them compete
with you and encourage them to go further. (The Guardian, 2020)
Aristotle, on letting people seek fulfillment
Aristotle was a great biologist as well as a great philosopher. He based
his ethics on a psychological theory of human nature, insisting that we
are naturally virtuous, rational, social and happiness-seeking.
Governments and organizations need to build the best systems to let
humans fulfill their natural drives. Aristotle's philosophy was an influence on Edward Deci
and Richard Ryan's Self-Determination Theory, which suggests that employees will work
harder for you, and perform better, if you give them tasks, they find meaningful and morally
worthwhile. (The Guardian, 2020)
Application to business
Humans want to believe in something and to serve it. Appeal to your employees' best nature
and they will answer that call. Our employees will also be more motivated if you give them
the opportunity to feed their natural curiosity through learning opportunities. That could be
vocational training, but it could also simply be learning about the world, ideas, culture. Does
your company have an evening or lunch-time lecture series, such as Google Talks? Could
it give credits for evening adult learning classes, as companies such as Cadbury and Ford
once did? (The Guardian, 2020)
Socrates, on daring to disagree
Socrates, one of the first philosophers, insisted on our right to think for
ourselves. Too often, he warned, humans sleepwalk through life,
simply going along with the crowd. (The Guardian, 2020)
Application to business
This is dangerous in questions of morality, and particularly in corporate
governance. When corruption is uncovered, too often people say,
"everyone else was doing it". But our characters are our responsibility. Socrates was
prepared to die rather than go against his conscience. Does your organization encourage
independent thinkers, and people who follow their conscience? Does it allow people to give
critical feedback to managers? Does it create opportunities for good people to blow the
whistle on bad behavior? (The Guardian, 2020)
Epicurus, on the art of happiness
Epicurus was a fourth century Greek philosopher who taught, rather
scandalously, that the aim of life was simply to be as happy as possible
here on Earth, before we die and dissolve back into the atomic
universe. He warned that humans are very bad at being happy, and
very good at inventing reasons to be miserable. Philosophy should
teach us how to be happy, he suggested. For example, it could teach
us how to bring our attention to the present moment, to savor it. It
could also teach us to limit our desires to what is easy to get, not
inflating our needs with endless artificially stimulated desires. (The Guardian, 2020)
Application to business
Today, some companies are embracing Epicurus' philosophy, and trying to teach their
employees the art of happiness. Tony Hsieh, the CEO of American shoe company Zappos,
is so committed to the company's courses in happiness that he sold the company to
Amazon on the agreement it would be able to continue with its unique happy culture. (The
Guardian, 2020)
The Guardian Author Says that companies should be careful about forcing all their
employees to follow one philosophy of the good life. As we have seen, there are many
different approaches to achieving happiness or welfare. Perhaps companies could create
an ethical culture that embraces all these different ways of living. (The Guardian, 2020)
Learning Tasks 1:
Venn diagram activity
Objective: Demonstrate the learning on philosophies reflected business
Materials: Pen and OSLO paper /Art Materials
Procedure:
1. Interview two (2) employees of different company from your area. Ask and take
note of their answers on the guided questions. (Document your interview)
Do the following after the interview
2. Draw two overlapping circles. Label each circle
3. In each circle, fill in the characteristics of each item.
4. Identify which characteristics appear in two circles. These characteristics go in the
intersection (where the two circles overlap).
5. What are the similarities and differences that the Venn diagram illustrates?
6. After comparing the ideas, come up with your own idea on which philosophy is the
soundest for the company and explain why?
Guided Questions
a. Characteristics of the company in terms of keeping track ethical progress of each
applicant of the company.
b. Characteristics of the company in terms of keeping track on ethical progress of each
individual member of the company.
c. Methods of the company on how to promote each employee to a role model for
everyone.
d. How does the company deal with employees who seem to be unsatisfied with the
salaries and wages offered by the company?
e. How does the company deal with the employees who always oppose to
suggestions and changes in the management or operations?
f. How does the company manage to have a happy culture for all employees?
Company A: Company B:
(State the name of the companies)
Learning Task 2: Critical Thinking Questions
1. In your own words, discuss as to how philosophies are reflected into business
practices. Give concrete examples. Develop it into a paragraph with at least 300
words.
2. Given the problem on proper waste disposal in our city, how does your learning of
this lesson can be of help to solve this environmental problem?
3. How does learning this lesson can shape your life and can create an impact to the
lives of your family? Be Specific. Ask an elder at home to comment on your answers
and it being useful in your daily life as a student.
4. How does learning the concept of marketing research or market research make you
a better member of your community?
5. ICT integration. Using a multimedia equipment like a computer or a mobile phone.
Create your own Audio Video Presentation (AVP) of this topic. Be sure to use
wholesome materials.
Learning Tasks 3: illustrate how these philosophies are reflected into business practices
DIRECTION: Below are statements that identify the philosophers and how their
philosophies are reflected into business practices. Identify the picture below with the
statements and write the corresponding letter of the correct answer .
C D E F
A
B
1. This philosopher has the same name with the “Head Gamemaker in Catching Fire,
Hunger Games” movie.
2. This philosopher has the same name with a Congressman from Cagayan De Oro City
who is a graduate of the De La Salle University (Ab Economics '75) and the University
of the Philippines College of Law.
3. This man was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Classical period in Ancient
Greece and taught by Plato
4. This man was a Greek philosopher from Athens who is credited as one of the founders
of Western philosophy, and as being the first moral philosopher of the Western ethical
tradition of thought
5. This man was from Athens, a Greek philosopher, author of an ethical philosophy of simple
pleasure, friendship, and retirement. He founded schools of philosophy that survived
directly from the 4th century BC until the 4th century AD.
6. Serve as good example.
7. Go with your conscience and not what everyone else is doing.
8. Keeping track of your progress to see how you are performing.
9. Be happy by paying attention to the present moment.
10. Give the employees learning opportunities
Scoring Rubric for Learning Task 1 and 2
4 Ideas were substantial, precise with distinct knowledge of the topic and evident
control of usage and sentence formation.
3 Ideas were sufficient, with adequate knowledge of the topic and sufficient control of
usage and sentence formation.
2 Ideas were insufficient with limited knowledge of the topic with limited usage and
sentence formation.
1 No evident knowledge of the topic and minimal control usage and sentence
formation.
Reflection
Write your personal insights about the lesson using the prompts below:
I understand that ________________________________________________.
I realize that _____________________________________________________.
References for learners
Alternative Delivery Mode, Business Ethics and Social Responsibility Grade 12 Manila, First
Edition, 2020
Racelis, Aliza 2017. Business Ethics and Social Responsibility 1 st Edition, Rex Bookstore
Salvador, Samuel M. et.al. 2017. Principles and Practices of Management and Organization
2nd Edition. Allen Adrian Books.
https://www.thelivemirror.com/greatest-philosophers-of-all-time/
https://slideplayer.com
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/business-Learn-fromancient-philosophers
Prepared by: _____ANILES A. DUMA______
Writer
Reviewed by:
_____________________________
Learning Resource Evaluator
(Master Teachers, Subject Specialist)
_____________________________
_____________________________
School Head Public School District
Supervisor
_____________________________
_____________________________
Education Program Supervisor (Subject) Education Program Supervisor
(LRMS)
Approved by:
_____________________________
CID - Chief Education Program Supervisor
