Business Ethics
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Business Ethics
Business ethics are both written and unwritten codes of conducts and values that give a way through which decisions and course of actions should take in a business. The culture of the business sets some guiding rules for determining the decisions that should be made and those that should not be made within a business (Fraedrich and Ferrell 213). The main body of the business ethics is the power to differentiate between good and bad business behaviors, and the ability to do what is required. In addition to business behaviors, business ethics also involve the actions and behaviors of the employees within the business as well as the entire organization. There are several benefits of any business that if following its ethics especially in the current times. This essay paper will be focusing the various benefits that can make an ethical business to succeed, how the business can adhere to ethics, and the impacts of failing to follow ethics.
Mostly, the three major guidelines of the business to ensure it does not violate business ethics are, the business should try as much as possible not to break the criminal law in work related duties. Secondly, the business should avoid getting involved in activities that may lead to civil law suits against the business, and thirdly, it is the responsibility of any business to avoid some activities or behaviors, that may end up spoiling the image of the business. If the business is ready to avoid the three issues, it would be set in a position to avoid loss of business money, and spoiling the business reputation (Jones 62). To ensure the practical application of the above theories the business would only assign corporate attorneys and other public relations specialists to make daily follow ups of employees activities.
Incase an employee may be found straying from the right and instructed paths of the business, these specialists are supposed to guide the employees into the right ways. To some extent, the idea of using the attorney and the public relations specialists may be costly for the business. Most of the businesses have decided to be seeking information from the philosophers, who can guide the business employees on proper employee conduct. Once employees get used to practicing good conducts, and the impact of doing wrong in the business it becomes easy for them to follow the guidelines (Fraedrich and Ferrell 302). The philosophers would assist a great deal by advising the employees of the importance of being moral, by explaining to them the basic understanding of morality.
However, it is not that easy for the philosophers to teach the employees on how to be ethical, because the most important ethics are learnt at an early age of child growth. The parents and ones early social environment are the major source of information of how one should be ethical. The efforts of the employees are also crucial because philosophers alone may not achieve to change the moral predispositions of an adult employee (Henn 57). In one way or another, philosophers would try as much as possible to teach morality to the employees, but their approvals are not always regarded as financially efficient.
Most businesses have been saved from legal and public relations costs although the process of applying morality in business is also costly. A business that has decided to adhere to the moral ethics as required should on the other hand pay attention to the safety of products and services offered, care about the environmental effects, stick to truthful advertising, and the most important above all ensure good working conditions for the employees. There is always tension that exist between the ethical interests between a businessperson and a philosopher because a businessperson is money minded and a philosopher is ideal minded.
For a relatively long period, there have been some controversies concerning the business ethics and the profits. It requires intelligence of a business minded person to make his or her decisions wisely concerning the business ethics. Some business analysts have been arguing that there is an existence of a symbiotic relationship between ethics and business. Some people believe that moral ethics emerge naturally from the businesses that are profit oriented. There are two versions of this theory a strong and a weak one (Jones 117). The weak version of this theory is based on the ground of good ethics leading to good business, which is another version of saying that moral business practices are profitable. For instance, if a business is producing safe products, it is in a position to reduce product liability lawsuits that may be very costly for the business. Moreover, if a business have a culture of respecting employee privacy, there is a likelihood of improving the employees morale, and hence their work efficiency.