THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICS AND QUALITY: …

1 1. INTRODUCTIONT oday's civilization is at a more advancedstate than the societies that inhabited theearth in the past. However, progress does notnecessarily mean that everything isproceeding towards the better. Only whenthe right tasks are performed in right ways,can the point attained be consideredprogress. Nonetheless, mistakes may havebeen made in certain subjects rather than therights. Or, when the right things are notperformed via the right methods, the resultsachieved may not be the desired results. Inthis context, whether the contemporarycivilization that we have attained today hasbrought prosperity and happiness to allmankind should be questioned.

2 As a matterTHE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ETHICS AND quality : CONFLICTS AND COMMON GROUNDS M. Halisa*, O. Akovaband H. TagrafcaUniversity of Sakarya Faculty of Economics and Administration, Sakarya, TurkeybIstanbul University Vocational School of Social Sciences, Istanbul, TurkeycUniversity of Selcuk, Vocational School of Social Sciences, Konya, Turkey(Received 12 September 2007; accepted 01 November 2007)AbstractEthics and quality are intimately related to each other, as quality arises from three main factors,moral attitudes as a result of consciousness or awareness-raising, culture as a result of educationand the use of know-how and the application of standards as results of learning and training.

3 Ethicsamount to fundamental moral attitudes, binding values and irrevocable standards. In this study, ethicand quality concepts which belonged to our intellectual agenda will be scrutinize. Then, theassociations and contradictory of these concepts will investigate. For this reasons, the quality andethics concepts as phenomena will look over according to enclosed cognitive associations : ETHICS , quality , Conflicts*Corresponding author: Journalof ManagementSerbian Journal of Management 2 (2) (2007) 127 - 145 fact, when optimistically stated, doing theright thing in a wrong way or choosing thewrong thing may be considered errorscommitted during the decision-makingprocess.

4 However, when mistakes that weremade deliberately, not accidentally, owing toindividual or political reasons are taken intoconsideration, concepts of ETHICS andmorality will come to the foreground. In apragmatic way, when the results obtainedcontribute positively to social benefitwithout doing damage to individual rights orwhen they contribute to individual goalswithout damage to the society or otherindividuals, ethical problems may not the other hand, another point that shouldnot be ignored is compatibility with socialethics and norms. Producing that which does not do damageto the individual or the society in accordancewith socially-accepted principles falls withinthe scope of ETHICS while producing thatwhich is right, error-free and beneficial is anissue of quality .

5 In this context, when socialprogress and civilization are conceivedtogether with dimensions of quality andethics, they should be regarded positively. Atthis stage, maybe it would be appropriate tore-view quality from the perspective ofethics and ETHICS from the perspective ofquality. When things are viewed from theperspectives of ETHICS and quality only,cognitive inconsistencies may arise inpeople's minds when they are obliged tomake a choice within the context of theimages of "good" and "bad". Discussion of the phenomena of qualityand ETHICS on a common ground may createan image of a re-exploration of socialresponsibility.

6 However, it is an obligationfacing us as humans in our struggle forcivilization not to find that which exists assufficient and endeavor to improve it , we have to use the resources wepossess efficiently by organizing our effortsin order to increase the benefits we willobtain through sources of wealth thatcivilization offers to us. In implementingthis, we should uphold the rights of peoplewith whom we share the world and pay heedto the quality of life of future generationsfrom whom we have borrowed the world. Efforts of human beings, whose existencebegan with a search for the good and thebeautiful, form the essential dynamism of thecivilization attained today.

7 Man endeavors tocreate his own good with his faculty ofselection. Today's civilization embodies thisfluctuating experience that is directedforever towards the more beautiful and thebetter in concepts, phenomena and culturalelements. The faculty that enables man todistinguish the good from the bad will keepoffering him the key to the unknown giventhat everything is in its usual course. We have to achieve a balance BETWEEN thestruggle to reach the good and the right onthe one hand and the efforts we make toattain the good and the correct on the methods we may employ to reach thegood and the right may be , these methods must be good andcorrect and must create the same perceptualimpressions for mankind.

8 The controversiesthat have continued throughout historyrevolve around the dichotomy of ends versusmeans. Among these controversies,"reaching the good result taking the rightpath" yields us the RELATIONSHIP betweenethics and quality . When the phenomena of ETHICS andquality are discussed in different contexts,undoubtedly, paradoxical extensions willemerge. However, the attempt to raisequality from under the hegemony ofcapitalistic activities and free market128M. Halis / SJM 2 (2) (2007) 127 - 145thinking to its true meaning in minds formsthe objective of the present study.

9 In thisframework, the concepts of ETHICS andquality will be discussed and direct andindirect references made to ETHICS inapplications of total quality management willbe investigated. 2. ETHICS AS A CONCEPTThe total of principles, values, rules andcustoms that govern the relationships ofpeople living in a certain society with oneanother and institutions is called ETHICS [1]. ETHICS in its broadest sense seeks to answerthe question of what is "right" for man andsociety. Business ETHICS , on the other hand,concerns the applications of ethical normsand rules in business life [2].

10 The term ethicshas two meanings in our language. While thefirst states the rules and principles thatpeople have to obey within a society, thesecond highlights philosophy of to one definition, ETHICS is a totalof traditional behavioral rules, laws andprinciples adopted by certain people in acertain period and governing individuals'relationships with one another [3]. Known as"Business ETHICS " in English use, this terminitially rose to the agenda in the USAespecially in the 1960's and 1970's under thetitle of "social responsibilities of businesses"and in the 1980's it came to be known as"business ETHICS " in both the USA and manyother countries.