Business Ethics and Corporate Responsibility, pt. 1

Two terms that often times seem to be polar opposites, business and ethics. It seems that the only times business ethics is discussed is when there is a violations of ethical practices or corporate scandals. It is understandable to see why, violation of ethical conduct in most cases causes harm to a person or group of people. Yet not all business ethics discussions need to revolve around scandal and failure, there are business ethics examples that can also highlight the good aspects and relate how some corporations establish and follow a code of ethics. Of course it doesn’t always make for exciting reading, but it can provide a balance to the explosive and weighty issue of business ethics.

Many examples exist of poor ethical decisions and choices by corporations and their employees or owners. One doesn't need to look any further than the corporate bailouts of the last few years, or the housing and banking disasters that recently occurred. Of course one of the best well known examples is Enron, which in many ways began the current trend of business ethics gone wrong. It has been said that a culture of deceit and unethical business practices where at the heart of the failure of Enron, and that there was no adherence to a workable and viable code of conduct or code of ethics. Other notable stories that have been at the center of business ethics scandals include, Bank of America, AIG, Goldman Sachs, and Bernie Madoff. It is unfortunate that many other corporations have also followed this practice of unethical reporting and accounting practices, but it does not follow that all corporations are inherently evil or unethical. 

Where do these failures occur? What is the cause of these scandals? And can they be prevented? All of these questions arise when discussing business ethics, and corporate scandals. The biggest factor and perhaps the most significant factor as well is a lack of training and understanding of business ethics. With a corporate culture that focuses on the bottom line and soaring profits it is easy to fall victim to unethical practices to meet demands of investors and consumers. Lacking a thorough understanding of business ethics, or failing to understand the ethical implications of certain actions, corporations are susceptible to unethical practices and business ethics violations. Many times the lack of a coherent code of ethics, also known as a code of conduct, is the mitigating factor in business ethics scandals. A code of ethics that is ambiguous or impractical is a main concern when addressing reasons and consequences of unethical behavior. Likewise, failure to follow or implement a code of ethics is another sure fire way to open the door for business ethics violations. Yet, is can't be said that by just having a code of ethics, nothing unethical will occur. It is still the responsibility of those at the top to adhere and maintain an ethical standpoint and procedure. Training and education in ethics and business ethics are as always the most important and best way to ensure that those in charge of corporations meet the corporate responsibility to maintain an ethical and socially responsible business.  

Ethics and Morality

Every day, in every situation we are all confronted with ethical decisions and problems. All of these situations and our responses to them shape who we are as ethical and moral beings and contribute to our own self-image. As people living we are constantly bombarded with information about ethical decisions and moral controversies and are subjected to continuous theories of what is morally and ethically right and acceptable? But what is morality? What is ethics? How do people arrive at ideas about acceptable behavior in ethical and moral situations? 

The most common form of ethics deals with right action in regards to personal life and others, and most, if not all, codes of conduct are really ethical codes, how to act in given situations for the good of all concerned. Ethics may also deal heavily with obligations and duty, to either a community or to oneself. Ethics deals with what is right or good in relation to a group or society and highlight the ways in which an individual should act if the wish to be ethically right.

Morality is very similar to ethics; in fact most people interchange the two terms, yet it also has certain differences that set it apart. In the more important ways in which morality differs from ethics is that morality is mainly a personal choice and belief. As such it is harder to concretely say whether some action or thought is morally right in general sense, yet in many cases morality fits with ethics very nicely and the two are not at odds. 

Given that the two are so similar and inter-changeable any situation dealing with one will in most respects deal with the other. Any ethical dilemma will involve a moral one as well, and any moral dilemma will involve an ethical problem. But, not all situations pose problems or difficulties, some situations may simply highlight the ethical implications of the action or actions taken. Any situation will have a moral component, how one should act in this particular instance is defined and guided by their moral code, and on a large scale how will this instance affect the ethical code of that person within in the society in which they live.

The only way to find a moral and ethical compass is to view all occasions as an instance of choice, and to balance the personal moral code with the societal ethical code. There are countless examples of these types of choices, and continuous chances to re-evaluate and refine one’s personal code, and ones societal code.