A Tool-Kit for Ethics Self Assessment (ESA)

The primary objective of this article is to present the concept of the original tool Tool-Kit for Ethics Self-Assessment (ESA), which was created to strengthen ethical values important in human conduct not only in the area of business but also in other fields of human activities. The text includes a reflection on the search for a universal set of ethical values, a presentation of the context important for undertaking the related initiatives following “An Appeal for a Global Ethics Framework & A Tool-Kit for Ethics Self-Assessment,” a general description of the process of creating and characterizing the ESA concept and information about the declaration of its universal availability. The tool is currently working in twelve languages (esa.sgh.waw.pl). The text also expresses the need to share knowledge of initiatives that, regardless of the format (whether small or large), can contribute to the desired changes in ethics: global, national, and on any other scale. The last part of the study presents observations resulting from the survey conducted in a group of people belonging to Generation Z, using the characteristics of seven clusters of ethical values used in A Tool-Kit for Ethics Self-Assessment (ESA). The survey allowed us to obtain information, thanks to which it could be determined how the views of Generation Z preparing to work in business differ in the area of ethics from the views of mature people. The diagnosis referred to the compliance of choices made by university students with the cluster ordering of ethical values (ideas) used in the Tool-Kit for Ethics Self-Assessment (ESA) tool and those made by a group of mature people, well acquainted with the philosophy of ethics and business practice, and at the same time sensitive to ethics in every aspect of life, not only in economy. This idea stemmed from the assumption that the identification of similarities as well as discrepancies in this respect may be cognitive in determining generational differences. Thanks to the survey, a generalized description of the respondents’ ethical awareness and sensitivity was made, as well as an original radar of student perception of the importance of ethical values in defining an ideal ethical attitude in business, presented here in the formula shown in the Tool-Kit for Ethics Self-Assessment.