Business Ethics

Business Ethics

Business ethics are codes, principals and values, of moral that examine problems within a business. It is basically, knowing the difference between right and wrong. In order for a person or a business to run smoothly and last (in the business), ethical business practices must be adapted although there are those companies and people who are simply in it for a profit. Business ethics can stem from a person's own ethical morality as well. In order for a business to gain success and respect from their customers, merchants, even the community; it is important to show honesty, loyalty, and to always remember to handle situations that may arise in an ethical way. Some problems that are examined in business ethics are; corporate social responsibility, insider trading and discrimination to name a few.

From Wisegeek, "The most basic business ethics concepts can be summed up as the values of honesty, integrity and fairness" (Wisegeek, 2003-2011). Honesty is simply how it is stated, being honest in business dealings. Integrity, which includes the social aspect means being dependable, keeping your word and telling the truth. Being fair in business ethics is to understand both sides and to come to an agreement on mutual, ethical terms.

There are two dimensions to business ethics, normative and descriptive dimensions. Corporate practices would fall under normative, while trying to understand business methods would be descriptive. Governments use laws and regulations to point business behavior in what they perceive to be beneficial directions. Ethics implicitly regulates areas and details of behavior that lie beyond governmental control (Jones/Parker, 2005).

Along with the two dimensions of business ethics, there are three levels to business ethics. That is the macro level, corporate level and the individual level. At the macro level morality sets the stage for ethics, and therefore the code of conduct by which business activity is carried out and allowed to be carried out by national and international rules and standards (Applied-Corporate-Governance.com, 2009). The corporate level is affected by how people, employees, act while at work and out of work, which affects how the business or organization operates on a corporate level. The individual level is just how it sounds. It is based on the individual's behaviors and actions within the business. A person's moral, in the workplace, can easily be swayed by peer pressure or the work environment itself. It is important that you stay true to yourself and what you believe in and not succumb to something or someone you don't want to be. Based on these three levels, we would define business ethics not only as subscribing to the principles of responsible business, but actually having effective controls - including collecting primary research data - on how each stakeholder

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