Business ethics

[harjos]

When business people speak about “business ethics” they usually mean one of three things: (1) avoid breaking the criminal law in one’s work-related activity; (2) avoid action that may result in civil law suits against the company; and (3) avoid actions that are bad for the company image. Businesses are especially concerned with these three things since they involve loss of money and company reputation. What is your point of view on business ethics?

[Fergal]

To me business ethics is about doing what you know in your heart of heart to be the right thing to do in any given situation. It is also about being careful that what you do, doesn't in any way harm other people and that you treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself.

[alexdanfield]

For me, business ethics is very important to all of employees or in any different kinds of business. Business ethics is one of the most target of the eye of many people cause they can judge your business by seeing your ethics. They can also predict how you care on something. All of us needs to know and to learned the right business ethics.

[crespin79]

When business people speak about “business ethics” they usually mean one of three things: (1) avoid breaking the criminal law in one’s work-related activity; (2) avoid action that may result in civil law suits against the company; and (3) avoid actions that are bad for the company image. Businesses are especially concerned with these three things since they involve loss of money and company reputation. What is your point of view on business ethics?

Business decisions often concern complicated situations which are neither totally ethical nor totally unethical. Therefore, it is often difficult to do the right thing, contrary to what many case studies will have you believe! Moral values such as respect, honesty, fairness and responsibility are supposed to dictate our (ethical) behaviour, but are often ignored in times of stress and confusion, when one must stand by one’s principles.

Leaders have to deal with potential conflicts of interest, wrongful use of resources, mismanagement of contracts, false promises and exaggerated demands on resources. In a proposed sale, is it the seller’s duty to disclose all material facts regarding the product /service in question or is it the buyer’s responsibility to conduct due diligence? Should the seller answer each question exactly as it was asked, and ignore some pertinent information or merely address the spirit of the question?


Maxwell Pinto, Business Consultant & Author

[Stephen Ryan]

Business ethics to me is about perspective
1. Short term
2. Medium term
3. Long term
Your business ethical perspective very much depends on how you view your relationships in terms of time and effort.

A lot of cut throat businesses use low ethics because they have to make a quick buck.
The long term players have higher business ethics because they intend to be around in the market a long time.
I play the long term game because there is more money in it for everyone. Here today, gone tomorrow relationships is not good for me.

Notable long term players : Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, Larry Ellison, Steve Jobs etc

[spurs yeah]

Just get your job done and don't bully and everything will be alright.

[td2011]

There are businesses out there that have a good go at it but I think it's hard to find truly ethical business, I think the meaning has been lost in this context.

[NikiRebin]

Interesting perspectives on business ethics! I think Fergal has it pegged pretty well with his post; treat others with the same respect you would expect of them, and do what feels right deep down. In many cases, deliberating and deliberating again can only cloud the issue at hand: you start to weigh the benefits of a less "ethical" move, and slowly legitimize it by thinking of the extra profits you could be making. In most cases, your gut feeling is what will guide you to the right decision. If you initially recoil from a certain action, obey that feeling! The stereotypical ethically-impaired businessman sickens me as an entrepreneur, as it should anyone with a good moral compass. I'm so glad that there are others thinking of this!

Niki

[ladydeluxehotel]

on my own point of view, in business what you sow is what you will reap.. As a business person, you must learn to give and respect your consumers, your employees and yourself to get the respect you want your company to earn.. Just be humane and your business will grow.

[JBMedia]

Ah, ethics, one of my favorite topics. It's hard to have "concrete" lines of what ethics are bad and good in todays business world because so many people think such differently when it comes to this part of business.

Although Harjos in his original post states what main ethics most businesses today follow, there's still quite a few out there that don't even follow those to a T.

Unfortunately business ethics is one of those things that are "to each their own" kind of deal. My personal beliefs on ethics in a broad term is that as long as it's a positive outcome overall and not illegal, it's ethical. However, in todays business world, someone gets screwed and that's how the money comes in. Not always the case or true, but generally speaking, it happens a lot more than it should.

[James Greg]

Be loyal to what you do and do not become a hurdle in any one path (unless it becomes really necessary). Yeah we all love business ethics as long as the others have to abide by them, but seriously business ethics is really long subject which if followed will cause peace and harmony in the entire world.

[lindarose]

Is ethical behaviour good or bad for business?

You might think the above question is an easy one for businesses to answer? Surely acting ethically makes good business sense? As with all issues in business studies, there are two sides to every argument:
The advantages of ethical behaviour include:

Higher revenues – demand from positive consumer support
Improved brand and business awareness and recognition
Better employee motivation and recruitment
New sources of finance – e.g. from ethical investors
The disadvantages claimed for ethical business include:

Higher costs – e.g. sourcing from Fairtrade suppliers rather than lowest price
Higher overheads – e.g. training & communication of ethical policy
A danger of building up false expectations

[hershey20]

in business you need to follow the business ethics..

[Fergal]

in business you need to follow the business ethics..

What do you mean when you say "need to follow"? Unfortunately many businesses engage in unethical behaviour and business practices.

[Peter Birganza]

When business people speak about “business ethics” they usually mean one of three things: (1) avoid breaking the criminal law in one’s work-related activity; (2) avoid action that may result in civil law suits against the company; and (3) avoid actions that are bad for the company image. Businesses are especially concerned with these three things since they involve loss of money and company reputation. What is your point of view on business ethics?

Hi,

In my point of view business ethics are the actual translator of your company`s behavior. These business ethics include customer involvement, that means how much your customer is satisfy with your business that you deliver him. So according to me the actual definition of business ethics is your company`s behavior towards employee ad customer that they think for your company.