What is Business Ethics?

What is Ethics?

According to Thomas Donaldson,” There is a growing realisation all over the world that business ethics is important for any business and the progress of any society. Ethics alone, not government nor laws can protect the society. An ethically responsible company is one which has developed the culture which flows throughout the organisation from the top managers and leaders”

The Concept of Ethics

What is ethics? Ethics is the set of universally accepted moral principle and values that govern the behaviour of the person or group in terms of what is right and wrong.

Ethics is concerned with how people think about the rightness or the wrongness of business practices. Business Ethics is guided by principle of commercial relationship and right and moral standard applied within an enterprise that indicate what is good and right for business.

Ethics is the basis for developing a system of morality and moral laws that evolve from ethics. Morality is the activity that governs appropriate human conduct in a given culture. People’s behaviour is guided by moral rules and obligation in their lives. For example. It is a moral obligation to care for parents and children and even to support one’s country.

What is Business Ethics?

“Business ethics”, a subject that for years has been low profile in business publications and business school curriculum has suddenly gained status. The word ‘ethics’ was once considered irrelevant by corporate loyalists, but now it is increasingly seen as not only important but also critical of , Company’s success. The intensity of consumer movements and the rising levels of awareness among corporate stakeholders are making it difficult for corporate to get away with unethical business practices Indian corporate have lately realized that integrity, transparency and open communications are the new norms of the corporate worlds.

Ethics is a subject that deals with human beings. Human by their nature are capable of judging between right and wrong, good and bad behaviour. Ethics is a normative science. The word normative implies a guide or control of actions; so normative ethics tells us what ought to do. Ethics deals with human conduct that is voluntary and not forced by any persons or circumstances.

Business can be defined as a primary economic institution through which people in modern societies carry on the tasks of producing and distributing goods and services. Business ethics refers to the application of ethical judgements to business activities. Business ethics concern itself with what is right or wrong in the workplace. Business ethics explain that business can generate profits even when being ethical. Due to expansion of business, the application of ethical practices and its implications has created a need for practicing business ethics. Today much importance is being to the application of ethical practices in business dealing and the implication of business decisions. At times, business finds it difficult to explain its action on ethical ground. Any business, if it wants to survives and grow in the long run must strike a balance between its social obligation and economic objectives. These obligation may be complex and costly to discharge. But if the organisation wants to be ethical it has to discharge its social obligations towards the society.