Ethics are moral guidelines which govern good behavior, so behaving ethically is doing what is morally right. Behaving ethically in business is widely regarded as good business practice. As Henry Ford once said “A business that makes nothing but money is poor kind of business”, An important distinction to remember is that behaving ethically is not quite the same thing as behaving lawfully. Ethics in business are most talked about in recent times. Business ethics are nothing but the do’s and don’ts followed by the practitioners in the business. It could be referred as a set of principles a business man ought to follow. “There should be business ethics” means that the business should be conducted according to certain self-recognized moral standards. Few unethical elements in the present day business can be described in simple words as cheating, stealing, lying, bribing, corrupting etc. Moreover, Business ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. The ethics of a particular business can be diverse. They apply not only to how the business interacts with the world at large, but also to their one-on-one dealings with a single customer.
Moreover, Good business ethics should be a part of every business; Individuals have their own perspective and the concept has come to mean various things to various people. It is generally being recognized as what is right or wrong in the workplace and doing what’s right, this is in regard to effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders. Attention to business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change — times much like those faced now by businesses, both non-profit and for-profit. In times of fundamental change, values that were previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values are no longer followed. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. No doubt that Attention to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they should act. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that when leaders and managers are struggling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass.
Certainly, Many people react that business ethics, with its continuing attention to “doing the right thing,” only asserts the obvious (“be good,” “don’t lie,” etc.), and so such people don’t take business ethics seriously. For many of us, these principles of the obvious can go right out the door during times of stress. Consequently, business ethics can be strong preventative medicine.
In point of view, since I am an undergraduate student pursuing his bachelor of Business, I really like the ethics in business if it is followed ethically, I realized that some businesses have an amazing ethics to follow and that could be an example for the rest of the society since the businesses are the center of gathering of the communities.
In conclusion, running a business ethically is good for business. However, “business ethics” if properly interpreted means the standards of conduct of individual business people, not necessarily the standards of business as a whole. In other words, Business leaders are expected to run their business as profitably as they can. A successful and profitable business in itself can be a tremendous contributor toward the common good of society. But if business leaders or department managers spend their time worrying about “doing good” for society, they will divert attention from their real objective which is profitability and running an efficient and effective organization. However, applying ethics is business is important. Since, the complex decisions made by corporate border on ethical issues, it essential for a manager to define and outline the ethics for self and team to be practiced in the organization.