Business ethics -
Business ethics refers to implementing appropriate business
policies and practices with regard to arguably controversial
subjects.
Business ethics ensure that a certain basic level of trust
exists between consumers and various forms of market participants
with businesses.
Business ethics goes beyond just a moral code of right and
wrong; it attempts to reconcile what companies must do legally
versus maintaining a competitive advantage over other
businesses.
Firms display business ethics in several ways.
IMPORTANCE -
Ethical behaviour and corporate social responsibility can bring
significant benefits to a business.
- Attract customers to the firm's products, thereby boosting
sales and profits
- Make employees want to stay with the business, reduce labour
turnover and therefore increase productivity
- Attract more employees wanting to work for the business, reduce
recruitment costs and enable the company to get the most talented
employees
- Attract investors and keep the company's share price high,
thereby protecting the business from takeover.
- Some businessmen do business malpractices by indulging in
unfair trade practices like black-marketing, artificial high
pricing, adulteration, cheating in weights and measures, selling of
counterfeit and harmful products, illegal hoarding, etc. These
business malpractices are harmful to consumers and the safety of
society. Business ethics help to stop these malpractices and
safeguard society. It creates a healthy business environment for
everyone.
- Business ethics are needed to improve the customers' confidence
about the quality, utility, reliability, quantity, price, etc. of
the products. The customers have more trust and confidence in the
businessmen who follow ethical business rules or principles. They
feel safe that such businessmen will not cheat them. Ethics binds
businessmen to maintain trust by offering quality products and
services to customers.
- Business ethics are required to protect the interest of
employees, shareholders, competitors, dealers, suppliers,
customers, government, etc. It protects them from exploiting each
other through unfair trade practices like cheatings or frauds.
Ethics compels each entity participating in the business activity
to properly execute its role by adhering the established code of
conduct. Since everyone is disciplined and function appropriately,
business grows well in the long run.
- Business ethics are important to develop good and friendly
relations between business and society. This will result in a
regular supply of good quality goods and services at low prices to
the society. It will also result in good profits for the businesses
thereby resulting in the growth of the economy. If the economy
keeps growing, it ultimately improves the standard of living of the
society.
- If the business follows all the business ethics, then the
employees, shareholders, consumers, dealers, and suppliers will all
be happy. So, they will give full cooperation to the business. This
will result in the smooth functioning of business activities. So,
the business will grow, expand and diversify easily and quickly. It
will have more sales and eventually more profits. If even one
entity participating in the business activities is unhappy and not
fully satisfied then also the business will not function smoothly.
The satisfaction of all involved parties is necessary for the
smooth functioning of a business. Business ethics maintain this
safe level of satisfaction and protects the business from being
dysfunctional.
International business ethics -
International business ethics are moral principles that should
be applied by businesses all around the world. These are values
that can be universalized.
"International business ethics" refers to such a code that can
be applied around the world.
Technologies like the Internet have made international business
all the more viable, and many companies can only find the desirable
growth and profit they seek by expanding into new markets. This
means that just as business ethics domestically have grown in
importance along with the power and significance of major
businesses, so must international business ethics take center stage
as a major concern of the modern era.
Psychological roots of business ethics.
There is some interesting psychology behind business ethics .
The occasional person without a moral compass may wreak havoc on a
company’s ethos of ethics. However, even people with strong morals
can get caught making terrible ethical decisions.
Within a corporation, there are 3 main psychological dynamics
that lead regular people to cross ethical lines. They are
3 psychological dynamics in a workplace that can lead to
crossing ethical lines are
1.Omnipotence,
2.Cultural numbness, and
3.Justified neglect.