Q.What is business ethics? Mention the basic elements of business ethics.

Business ethics refers to the socially determined moral principles that should govern business activities — the relationship between business objectives, practices and techniques on one hand and the good of society on the other. Examples: charging fair prices, using fair weights, giving fair treatment to workers and earning reasonable profits. …

Concept of business 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 of conduct approved by society.
• 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 of ethical business conduct: charging fair prices from customers; using fair weights to measure commodities; giving fair treatment to workers; and earning reasonable profits.
• A businessperson acts ethically when actions are upright and serve the interests of society. Because businesspeople control large amounts of society's resources, they have a much greater effect on society and are expected to hold higher standards than most.

Basic elements of business ethics

• (i) Top management commitment: The CEO and senior managers must be openly and strongly committed to ethical conduct, giving continuous leadership to develop and uphold the organisation's values.
• (ii) Publication of a 'code': The principles of conduct are defined for the whole organisation in a written document called a 'code', covering honesty and adherence to laws, product safety and quality, workplace health and safety, conflicts of interest, employment practices, fairness in selling, and financial reporting. …