Essay On Business Ethics

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Ethics essentially refers to a set of rules or guidelines that defines what is right and wrong and therefore shape behavior of an individual or group. There is no specific definition of the term ethics; however it is usually mentioned in terms of good or bad. An ethical issue is present in a situation when a particular action or actions of any individual or organization may harm or benefit others. In organizations ethical behavior leads to good governance. However, what is considered ethical by one person may not be considered ethical by another.
Ethics & Morality
Morality is the set of norms and values embedded in the society and ethics is the study of morality and application of reason to imply certain rules that determine what is right and wrong.
So we can say that both the concepts are interrelated in the sense that ethics are only and only followed and put into practice if a society believes in the concept of morality.
Significance of Ethics in the 21st century
• Businesses are becoming more powerful now
• Businesses are catering to a large number of stakeholders which include employees, customers, suppliers, community, etc
• Businesses can have the opportunity to contribute to the society more than ever now
• Business malpractices can also impact the society and harm it enormously
• Ethical violations still occurs in business organizations across countries and societies
How (un)ethical are you?
Managers always consider their practices to be very ethical even though this is not true. This is evident through two decades of research that proves unethical and bias elements always linger into the decision making process of managers, despite of how ethical they consider themselves to be.
According to Yale psychologist David Arm...

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...lity report was issued by only 12 companies in the Fortune 500, however now it is a common practice for most companies. This is evident through the fact that the UN Global Compact is signed by more than 8000 business that indicates their good global citizenship in areas of human rights, environment protection and labor rights. And in future CSR is expected to be given more importance by leaders.

Therefore we can understand the link between ethical behavior and corporate social responsibility through a thorough analysis of the two concepts discussed above. A business having strong values like integrity and honesty will behave in a way that benefits not just them but the entire society and everyone who is related to the business. Successful businesses have “ethics” at the core of their heart and they consider themselves fully responsible towards their stakeholders.

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