In: Operations Management
Answer in 250-300 words. What is the difference between ethics and business ethics?
Ethics can be thought of as a concept of how a person’s innate sense that makes a person carry their ideals, follow a code and identify every part of life with respect, be it people, situations and actions that they have to deal with in everyday life. Every person adheres to some form of ethics in his personal life while dealing with daily activities. For example, not indulging in activities of bribery or not treating people differently by discriminating on the basis of race, religion or sexual orientation can be considered as the value of ethics which can essentially be differentiated from the concept of morality. Morality and ethics are the two sides to the same coin with the main difference being that ethics are values that a person carries within while morality is the sense that people have within them which influence the actions that they perform.
Business ethics can be considered as the ethical framework which adhere to rules of moral principles while dealing or indulging in business dealings or business interaction in the professional life instead of the personal life. Business ethics can be divided in two elements, namely normative and descriptive. Normative elements refers to behavioral understanding like cultural or social like personal beliefs or social interactions upbringing of employees. Whereas descriptive elements refers to incorporating best practices for policies and procedures of organization while maintaining ethical barriers. For example, creating the products which are safe, environmental protection, truthful about financial status or fair treatment of employees.