What Is Business Ethics?

What is Business Ethics?

Simply put, ethics involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing -- but "the right thing" is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of business ethics literature. Most ethical dilemmas in the workplace are not simply a matter of "Should Bob steal from Jack?" or "Should Jack lie to his boss?"

(Many ethicists assert there's always a right thing to do based on moral principle, and others believe the right thing to do depends on the situation -- ultimately it's up to the individual.)

Values which guide how we ought to behave are considered moral values, e.g., values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how these values are applied are sometimes called moral or ethical principles.

So What is "Business Ethics"?

generally it's coming to know what it right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right -- this is in regard to effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders.

there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Attention to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they should act. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that when leaders and managers are struggling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass.

Two Broad Areas of Business Ethics

1. Managerial mischief. "managerial mischief" includes "illegal, unethical, or questionable practices of individual managers or organizations, as well as the causes of such behaviors and remedies to eradicate themMore often, though, business ethics is a matter of dealing with dilemmas that have no clear indication of what is right or wrong.

2. Moral mazes. The other broad area of business ethics is "moral mazes of management" and includes the numerous ethical problems that managers must deal with on a daily basis, such as potential conflicts of interest, wrongful use of resources, mismanagement of contracts and agreements, etc.

Definition of an Ethical Dilemma

Too often, business ethics is portrayed as a matter of resolving conflicts in which one option appears to be the clear choice. For example, case studies are often presented in which an employee is faced with whether or not to lie, steal, cheat, abuse another, break terms of a contract, etc. However, ethical dilemmas faced by managers are often more real-to-life and highly complex with no clear guidelines, whether in law or often in religion.

One knows when they have a significant ethical conflict when there is presence of

a) significant value conflicts among differing interests,

b) real alternatives that are equality justifiable, and

c) significant consequences on "stakeholders" in the situation.

An ethical dilemma exists when one is faced with having to make a choice among these alternatives.

Personal survival in a business enterprise today depends on whether you have contributed something tangible to the bottomline. Profit or perish--that is the motto. And yet, ethical values are receiving paramount importance in business discourse today more than ever before. Never mind the cash crunch.

The question inevitably arises: how can an honest man survive in an increasingly corrupt society? Does not the system itself force