Understanding Business Ethics

Firstly, I will attempt to summarise the Pre-Module Business Ethics Class.

Business Ethics are guiding principles to guide how we conduct our businesses.

Ethical responsibility is the capacity to perceive, understand, and uphold a variety of moral and ethical standards in accordance with the norms in a particular industry or culture.

DEFINITIONS

Adopting sensible company procedures and policies concerning contentious issues is referred to as practicing business ethics.

Corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, social duty, and fiduciary responsibilities are a few of the topics that come up in an ethical discussion. Trust me these issues if not properly handled can lead to issues sometimes beyond the boundaries of your imagination.

The law typically sets the standard for moral conduct in the workplace by offering a fundamental set of rules that companies can choose to abide by to win the public’s respect.

From all the cases discussed, not operating ethically can cost the Business much more and can lead to severe consequences like business closure. For businesses to survive, they must consider the following:

Responsibility to Customers and
Responsibility to its employees

Business ethics ensure a certain degree of trust between customers and businesses, ensuring the general public receives fair and equal treatment.

Principles of Business Ethics

Understanding the fundamental moral principles that guide desired ethical behavior is crucial. This is because, the lack of these moral values contributes to the failure of many otherwise bright, talented individuals and the organizations they represent.

There are 12 corporate ethics principles:

Leadership: About ensuring the adoption, integration, and execution to guide decisions and behaviors in all aspects of professional and personal life.
Accountability: Someone must take responsibility and also hold others responsible for their actions. Commitment to following ethical practices and ensuring others follow ethics guidelines.
Integrity: It is about honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability. Someone with integrity consistently does the right thing and strives to hold themselves to a higher standard.
Respect for others: To foster ethical behavior and environments in the workplace, mutual respect is required from everyone. Everyone deserves dignity, privacy, equality, opportunity, compassion, and empathy.
Honesty: Truth in all matters is key to fostering an ethical climate. Partial truths, omissions, and under or overstating issues will not help a business improve its performance.
Respect for the law: Ethical leadership should include enforcing all local, state, and federal laws. If there is a legal grey area, leaders should err on the side of legality.
Responsibility: Promote ownership within an organization, allow employees to be responsible for their work, and be accountable for yours.
Transparency: Stakeholders are people with an interest in a business, such as shareholders, employees, the community a firm operates in, and the family members of the employees. Without divulging trade secrets, companies should ensure information about their financials, price changes, hiring and firing practices, wages and salaries, and promotions are given properly.
Compassion: Employees, the community surrounding a business, business partners, and customers should all be treated with concern for their well-being.
Fairness: Everyone should have the same opportunities and be treated the same. If a practice or behavior would make you feel uncomfortable or place personal or corporate benefit in front of equality, common courtesy, and respect, it is likely not fair.
Loyalty: Leadership should demonstrate confidentially and commitment to their employees and the company. Inspiring loyalty in employees and management ensures that they are committed to best practices.
Environmental concern: In a world where resources are limited, ecosystems have been damaged by past practices, and the climate is changing, it is of utmost importance to be aware of and concerned about the environmental impacts a business has.