Concept of Business Ethics

Origin and meaning of 'ethics': The word 'ethics' comes from the Greek word for character — the norms, ideals or morals prevailing in a group or society. Ethics is concerned with what is right and what is wrong in human behaviour, judged against a standard form of conduct approved by society in a particular field of activity.

• Ethics may be viewed as the entire body of moral values that society attaches to human actions.
• It can also refer to codes or systems for controlling means so that they serve human ends.
• Ethical standards are often enacted into laws, but ethical behaviour goes beyond merely observing laws and regulations — it is just and fair conduct that means adhering to moral principles, being guided by particular values, and behaving as people ought to act.
• The set of principles called ethics may be written or unwritten codes governing a professional or human activity.

Business ethics: Business ethics concerns the relationship between business objectives, practices and techniques on one hand and the good of society on the other. It refers to the socially determined moral principles that should govern business activities. Examples given:

• charging fair prices from customers;
• using fair weights to measure commodities;
• giving fair treatment to workers;
• earning reasonable profits.

A businessperson acts ethically when their actions are upright and serve the interests of society — a standard that applies to everyone, not just those in business. The key difference is that businesspeople, by virtue of their widespread control over society's resources, have a much greater effect on what happens in society than most others do. For this reason, business people and politicians are expected to hold higher standards than others — the price of being allowed to make decisions on behalf of society. …