Business ethics is a concept taking its base primarily in general human ethics and applying those rules and guidelines in a business environment. Ethics is a set of moral principles and laws that govern a just and civilized society (Bradburn, 2001). Business ethic refers to how people’s morals and fairness are used in agreements and decisions between companies and organizations worldwide.
The main idea of business ethics is that it closely correlates with the laws of a society and the kindness of people who make it up and in order for the companies and organizations to flourish, ethics should be a guideline never dismissed from business. Ethics but more importantly the laws that are based on ethical behaviors are needed to regulate the actions of a business to prevent illegal issues and chaos of anarchy.
If a company is not limited in the way it earns its profits, the selfishness of the financial greed will cause to focus on making the most money the fastest without considering a sensitive balance between nature and ways that humans exploit it for personal gain. It is a known fact that very often people excuse their harmful actions hoping that their detrimental carelessness will not have any effect on the future of the planet and generations of people to follow.
Considering the production or manufacturing of products, companies almost always keep secrets or “know-how”. This goes in line with defects that must be disclosed but this is not the usual case. Companies base their profits on the amounts of customers and sales, so it would be unwise for them to attribute any negativity to own products or services.
The key goal of business ethics is to regulate the actions of corporations in relation to the surrounding natural environment, people and society’s laws and rules. Another reason why ethics is the right direction for any business is that honesty will be rewarded and the benefits gained from kindness will be much greater than those of lies and deceit.
But very often, rules and laws are helpless in controlling the ever reaching negative actions of a business. The laws are meant to better the society and conduction of businesses, representing the interest of the population in order to keep it from harm both physical and mental. But commonly, there are loopholes that could be found and thus, the law is avoided allowing for the continuance of the deception, pollution and damage to the environment.
The goal of law makers and society is to develop laws as comprehensive as possible, touching upon every outcome by constant revision and investigation of the factors involved in such a delicate matter. The lying and deception have become commonplace, as businesses are trying to make even greater profit. The laws exist but often, prove to be helpless in an intricate business world.
There are a number of possibilities that would conceal the businesses’ infringements without leaving any proof (Jennings, 2010). Business ethics are as important as any other kind of ethics. It creates a line between honesty, humanity, kindness and evil based on lies and personal gain.
Businesses spread their influence to the farthest corners of the planet and that is why the governing bodies of the corporations and society should make sure that there are always laws and regulations that preserve and protect nature and people.
References
Bradburn, R. (2001). Understanding Business Ethics, London: Thomson Learning.
Jennings, M. (2010). Environment Business: Its Legal, Ethical, and Global Environment, Connecticut: South-Western Cengage Learning.