In a normal social setting, ethics refers to the acceptable chord of conduct upon which the behavior of an individual can be evaluated as acceptable or not acceptable, or as either right or wrong. The means of setting up a universally acceptable chord of conduct has however had controversies, with different philosophers coming up with various theories in attempt to develop the standards.
This has led to diverse views on what is ethical and what is not ethical among different communities or social groups. Philosophy and religion are the major ways of attempting to establish the generally acceptable principles in these settings.
Business ethics, therefore, is a branch of ethics that attempts to harmonize the conflicting issues concerning the acceptable behaviors in a business environment. It is basically concerned with examining the various activities involved at different levels or channels of production and determines if they are morally or ethically upright or not. As De George (n.d) broadly puts it, “ethics in business is simply the application of everyday moral or ethical norms to business” (p1).
De George further points out that in considering business ethics in this sense, “the example from the Bible that comes to [our] mind most readily is the Ten Commandments, a guide that is still used by many today” (p1). The ethical values have been historically drawn from the religious and traditional practices, which encourage various virtues while strongly condemning vices like theft. Moreover, different religions have their position on the acceptable conduct in business.
In a business setting, ethics will be applied in determining the rights and privileges of the employees, their roles in ensuring business confidentiality, the roles of the top management in keeping business privacy, determination of labor prices and the prices of the commodities/ products that the organization deals in, as well as sales promotion through advertisement.
It will also enable the management to curb vices like harassment at work, biased recruitment, and selection of new employees, poor price evaluation, as well as establishing poor marketing strategies.
In addition, it helps the management in various conflict resolutions. Business ethics will also define the roles that politics and politicians can play in business development. The manner in which activities are formulated, scheduled, and executed must be in accordance with some kind of pre-established legislation (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2009).
In studying business ethics, one can approach the subject from different angles or perspectives. One can speak of business ethics in relation to the employees in a business enterprise, the top management of the enterprise or the enterprise itself. It can also be considered in relation to the society with the analysis of social, political, and economical impacts such behaviors have to the society.
Considering the diversity that is often witnessed in these settings, there arises conflict between various organs that are fundamental in the smooth running of the enterprises. The interest of each of the different parties may not be fully satisfied in that, attempting to satisfy one party may be equivalent to harming another party.
An act or a decision by the management might suite the interest of the employees while it carries with it losses to the business. Various forms of conflict emerge in a business environment and failure to properly resolve them can lead to the organization’s/firm’s downfall (De George, Para 2). The conflicts in a business environment could be external conflicts, management conflicts, or strategic conflicts.
In conclusion, it is first worth noting that in as much as any business enterprise is charged with various responsibilities, the major responsibility that it has is to maximize profits of the shareholders. This will boost their spirits and the business will have funds to push on. Secondly, a business that hopes to survive in the current and future local and global market needs not to rely only on some forms of government legislation. Instead, it needs to ensure high level of universal morality in its entire leadership.
References
De George, R. T. (N.d). A History of Business Ethics. Web.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J. and Ferrell, J. (2009). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making and Cases. OH: Cengage Learning.