While business ethics became a field in the 1970s, international business ethics only emerged in the late 1990s, looking back at the international developments of that decade. [183] Many new practical issues have arisen from the international context of the economy. Theoretical issues such as the cultural relativity of ethical values are further emphasized in this area. Other older editions can also be grouped here. Topics and sub-areas include: Dr. Pat Lynch conducted a study published in the Journal of Business Ethics in which he asked more than seven hundred business people and business graduate students to assess their values in the workplace; These included competence, work ethic, overcoming adversity, seniority and keeping promises. Lynch found that keeping promises was at the bottom of the list of people, regardless of gender, supervisory experience, or religious background. Johannes C. Maxwell, There`s No Thing as “Business” Ethics (New York: Center Street, 2003), 121 Honesty is a way to stand out and build your reputation. You may have heard the phrase “do the right thing.” This is the essence of ethics: choosing to do what is right when you have the choice of actions. Being ethical means that you will do the right thing, whether or not there are possible consequences – you treat others well and behave morally for themselves, not because you are afraid of possible consequences.
Simply put, people are doing the right thing because it`s the right thing to do. Thomas Jefferson summed up ethics in a letter he wrote to Peter Carr in 1785: “Whenever you have to do something, although it can never be known except yourself, ask yourself how you would act if the whole world looked at you and acted accordingly.” Gerhard Gschwandtner, “Lügen und Täuschung beim Verkaufen: Wie man erkennen, wenn Kunden oder Interessenten belügen,” Selling Power 15, Nr. 9, www.sellingpower.com/content/article.php?a=4256 (accessed March 16, 2010). As part of broader compliance and ethics programs, many companies have formulated internal guidelines for ethical employee behavior. These guidelines can be simple warnings in broad and very generalized language (usually called a statement of business ethics), or they can be more detailed policies that contain specific behavioral requirements (usually referred to as corporate ethics). They are usually intended [by whom?] to determine the company`s expectations of employees and to provide advice on how to deal with some of the most common ethical issues that may arise in the course of their business. It is to be hoped [by whom?] that such a policy will lead to greater ethical awareness, greater coherence in the application and prevention of ethical disasters. Eliot Spitzer, the governor of New York, admitted that he violated his personal ethics and those of his office when he resigned in March 2008 for alleged involvement in a sexual network.
Ironically, he built his reputation as a “Sheriff of Wall Street” because of his efforts to crack down on corporate misdeeds. Danny Hakim, “Eliot Spitzer,” New York Times, Times Topics, August 31, 2009, topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/s/eliot_l_spitzer/index.html (accessed August 31, 2009). His shame has been the subject of many conversations about ethics. Adam Smith said in 1776, “People of the same trade rarely meet, even for happiness and distraction, but the conversation ends with a conspiracy against the public or an invention to raise prices.” [3] Governments use laws and regulations to steer business behaviour in a direction they deem beneficial. Ethics implicitly regulates areas and details of behavior that are beyond the control of the government. The emergence of large corporations with limited relationships and sensitivity to the communities in which they operate has accelerated the development of formal ethics regimes. [4] Very often, we find that the company is not bound by any ethics other than compliance with the law. Milton Friedman is the pioneer of sight.
He considered that companies have an obligation to make profits under the legal system, nothing more. [189] Friedman made it clear that the duty of business leaders is to “make as much money as possible while following the basic rules of society, both those embodied in law and those embodied in ethical practices.” [190] For Friedman, ethics is nothing more than respect for customs and laws. However, the reduction of ethics to respect for laws and customs has drawn strong criticism. The effectiveness of ethics officers is unclear. Establishing an ethics officer position is likely insufficient to advance ethical business practices without a corporate culture that values ethical behavior. These values and behaviours must be consistently and systemically supported by those at the top of the organisation. [206] Employees with strong community involvement, loyalty to employers, supervisors or owners, smart work practices, trust between team members shape a corporate culture.[207][208] The customer is always right unless they ask you to do something unethical. What should you do to maintain your ethics and maintain your relationship? SellingPower.com proposes the following four steps: Every company has a code of conduct that applies to both the company and its employees. Business ethics are the driving force behind this code of conduct. Companies often voluntarily adopt principles of business ethics, but sometimes these principles are imposed by legislation.
