Odd One Out

When everyone else is doing it, we do it, too. When everyone in the class cheats, we also cheat. When everyone in the government corrupts, we also corrupt. When everyone else is apathetic and ignoring, we also do not care. No one likes to stand up, and do the right thing because no one wants to be the odd one out. We don’t want to be branded as killjoys. Although, there are a few who choose to stand by what they know is right, despite the negative feedback of other people.

Similarly, this also happens in business. When everyone commits fraud, we also do the same crime. However, there are some business people who decide to do their jobs well and clean. Instead of illegally gaining, they earn legally and with integrity. Despite the circumstances of their decisions and actions, they continuously do what is right. Now, we ask them, why be good when everyone in business is not in business?

We must be good in business even when everyone else is not because “it has adverse effects on our economic well-being, on investor confidence, and on the perceived desirability of pursuing business as a respectable calling.” Doing good in business means practicing ethics in business. Business ethics is an integral part of the well-being of a country. The well-being of a nation includes the business well-being, the desirable conditions for business to operate with respect to stakeholders. Business ethics establishes and sustains the ethical connectedness between workplace well-being as a key component of business well-being. Extrapolating from these connections, it is reasonable to view that business ethics is connected with the well-being of a nation. Investors now only invest in ethical businesses. Before they invest in a business, they send t...

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...ed to help the fire victims. We were assigned in the Sorting Section where clothes, underwear, bags, blankets, towels, and footwear are sorted. Afterwards, lists are given to us, and we put together in a plastic all the necessities of the evacuees. It may be a tiring job, but all the time and effort we’ve given were worth it. We got the chance to meet and interact with other people. It was a great opportunity for us. I felt wonderful when I helped the fire victims. It gives me a light feeling that makes me smile once in a while.

As business people, we must learn when to join the group and when to take a stand for what is good and right. It doesn’t mean that when everyone in business is not practicing ethics, we also do the same. What we must do is practice legal and ethical behavior to earn the respect and confidence of our stakeholders and the society at large.