Ethical and Moral Issues in Business

Ethical and Moral Issues in Business

Ethics is a term that can be used loosely. There are many variations of ethics and can be interpreted in many ways. Its interpretation depends not just on the business or type of business but the person as well. What one may deem immoral, another may feel the action is moral or justified. Some may be indifferent to it either way. Businesses today are using a code of ethics, whether it's by law and mandatory or rules incorporated by the business in an attempt to keep the business honest and professional. We all know that there are ethical and moral issues in business; but there is also personal and professional ethics as well that coincide with ethics and morals.

First, let's take a look at ethical and moral issues. What are the differences between the two? "Business ethics is the applied ethics discipline that addresses the moral features of commercial activity" ("Business Ethics," 2008). In other words, ethics is the ability to pass logical reasoning and have concern and empathy for ones well being. It is also the effect of what is being considered, either ethical or unethical. Morality tends to imply one conforming to what society deems expected behavior. Morals are usually based on tradition or may even be arbitrary, which is determined by individual preference or convince rather than nature or necessity. A good example of this is a defense attorney. A defense attorney may be representing a suspected murderer, whether through a law firm or through their personal firm. Ethics mandated by the law require the attorney to defend the accused to every extent of the law. The attorney's personal moral code may find murder rehensible and immoral. In this case, legal ethics must override an attorney's personal and moral ethics in order to give the accused a fair trial and uphold the justice system. (Kayne, 2011).

Next we have personal ethics and business or professional ethics. These go hand-in-hand with ethics and morals and are very similar. Professional ethics, just like business ethics are a code of ethics that are usually legally binding. They are written, signed and rarely changed. It is a set of rules that defines proper business conduct. This often includes confidentiality and due diligence. Personal ethics are based on our loyalties and beliefs. The results are in behaviors in one's life, relationships, family and friends. A good example is a doctor who refuses to give out the morning after pill. A doctor's moral and personal beliefs may guide their decision because they believe it will terminate life. Professionally however, it is not illegal to prescribe to a patient who wants the pill. Because of their personal beliefs they are in turn denying a patient of medical services, which now becomes unethical.

We see many examples of ethical and moral issues in every day to day life. A hot topic right now,

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