Part - I

The credibility of the term 'Business Ethics' has come into question, in recent times as 'business ethics' is increasingly being considered an oxymoron. It is generally believed that business and ethics cannot coexist and organizations are said to thrive on unethical practices. Business ethics, as far from being a contradiction in terms, has become one of the most important areas of managerial competence and responsibility. The ethics question warrants exploration on several levels: -

1. At the macro- level: focusing on the ethical rightness of the system.

2. At the corporate-level: focusing the decisions that impact others.

3. At the individual-level: within an entity.

What is Business Ethics?

The simplest definition of ethics and moral values would be to not distinguish between the two and say that they describe what is right and what is wrong in human behavior and what ought to be. Business ethics are the desired norms of behavior exclusively dealing with commercial transactions. Moral values are deep seated ideas and feelings that manifest themselves as behavior or conduct. If we know the consequences of our actions we can convert values into rules of behavior that can then be described as ethics, i.e, Values + Knowledge = Ethics

Why Business Ethics?

There is an increasing realization today that business leaders need to be more responsible not just to their stockholders but also to their other stakeholders i.e: consumers, employees, supliers, the government and the society. Although no one will deny that a business must be profitable, the sole pre-occupation with profit to the exclusion or neglect of other considerations is no longer acceptable. Profits, once the be all and end all of business, are now viewed as a means to serve the larger interests of the society. This implies that business decisions should be based on high standards of both economic and ethical performance.Businesses should inculcate ethical practices and values into the system and workculture right from the inception stage. The sense of responsibility and accountability towards societal welfare and development must be nurtured in every organisation. Ethics in business is necessary to maintain harmony and amity within the organization and promote mutual trust and understanding. The ethics and value system prevailing in an organization also helps in promulgating a better image of the company among the public. It helps in the development of an environment of bilateral faith and leads to bilateral development.

The Present Corporate Scenario

The present scenario is rather bleak with ethical values fast declining in an extremely competitive business environment. With the onset of the LPG (Liberalization, Privatization, Globalization) policies, there has been massive privatization and firms are trying to maximize their gains by marginalizing values and societal well-being. Recent scandals that have kept the world agog with the abrasive and totally unethical methods that have been in void, has led to hostile public reactions. The need of the hour is to inculcate and develop the value system in the corporate world and rely on the strength of ethics.

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* Contributed by: -
Vidhya S. R. & Thenral V.,
PGP - I,
BIM, Trichy.