Business Ethics Essay

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Recommended: Concepts and principles of business ethics

The concept of business ethics refers to a set of guiding principles that encourage individuals in an organization to make decisions based on the company’s stated beliefs and attitudes toward business practices within its industry (Lisa McQuerrey., 2016). Ethical and Unethical business decisions have long been a predicament encountered by organisations, these practices are concerned with how the companies interact with the global business world, and to their one-on-one dealings with individuals (Garry Crystal, 2016.) The concept of ethics and social responsibility emerged into the business world in the early 1970s after the end of World War I, saw these organisations become more profit driven resulting in negative impacts on society at large. …show more content…

According to Byrne (2002), a strong organisational culture that reflects moral values will have a potent, positive impact on its position within the industry. Business ethics derived from corporate culture has come to be considered a management discipline as managers are the ones who regularly faced with ethical decisions within the company, which may affect the business’s social responsibility. Hewlett Packard (HP), a multinational information technology company, as a leader in its market demonstrated its strong commitment to ethical integrity and business culture under the management of Carly Fiorina who stated “Some of the most important choices I ever made were firing people who weren 't conducting themselves with integrity.” This establishes that a business with the right management structure with a strong commitment to the business culture can in fact remain competitive without tarnishing the reputation. This can be contrasted with the actions of the tobacco company R.J Reynolds, who neglected to follow its business culture when they were caught in a cover up scandal. It was revealed the company had hidden knowledge about the addictiveness of the nicotine within their cigarettes in order to maintain their profits and improve the bottom line (Stephen E. Brimmer, 2007). Although some companies are able to maintain a competitive spot in the market, corporate culture is sometimes overlooked as unethical decision making can be seen as a solution to short run business problems in order to maximize

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