BUSINESS ETHICS IN A WORKPLACE: Principles and Benefits

What sort of things can be sold? How can they be sold? In whose interests should firms be managed? What do firms owe their workers and vice versa? Should firms try to solves social problems and can they influence social problems? How should profits be made? Should the means to achieving these profits matter or not? These, among many moral questions, form the fundamental concern of the ethical discourse in business.

Central to the ethical studies is the interrogation into the rational justification for our moral judgements as well as what is morally right or wrong, just or unjust. Philosophers technically use the term 'ethics' to mean a philosophical study of morality, where morality is understood as a set of social rules, principles, norms, that are intended to guide the conduct of people in a society. Ethical acts can be seen on different perspectives. These include teleological perspectives, which focus on the rightness or wrongness of actions by examining their consequences, deontological perspective which focuses on the rightness or wrongness of actions themselves, instead of examining any other considerations. Our actions and inactions on somethings have the capacity to confer implications either on us, our immediate fellows, our societies and our world at large. 

The fact that in our everyday life, the philosophy needed to guide us cannot be repudiated; not philosophy in a general sense as being one’s worldview, but philosophy in a technical form that delves into various areas of life readily using its critical, analytical and rational tools to solve real-life problems.

Ethics is a branch of philosophy that studies morality. Just like philosophy has branches, Ethics, also has its branches, they include: Normative ethics, Meta-ethics and Applied ethics. The branch of ethics that is of utmost concern in this article is applied ethics. Applied ethics in layman term is the application of ethics, morality or moral values in our daily lives. It is the subjection to rules, norms, and precepts that guide everyday interactions with and among people. Applied ethics, is further divided in sub-branches, they include: Business ethics, Bioethics, Environmental ethics, Engineering ethics, Legal ethics, etc. the list could go on and on, because ethics itself delves into all aspects of our lives. It follows that, most (if not all) professions, work environment and human societies, have their moral codes of conduct and ethical principles that guides the inputs, outputs and overall acts that every involving member of the particular place produces and exhibits. 

Business ethics is a discipline practiced at the intersection of ethics as a branch of practical philosophy and the managerial activity that is mostly associated with the economy, banking, trade and other forms of entrepreneurship. In clear terms, it is the systemic study of moral issues arising in business, industry, as well as other related types of activities and practices. It is a set of values, moral principles, and standards that need to be followed by both owners and workers in a business environment. It examines the practical problems that arise in a business environment and in response, creates solution by setting out rules and precepts that aim to make things better in the workplace.

HOW DID WE COME ABOUT BUSINESS ETHICS?

The history of business ethics dates back to the last two decades from now, when during the 6th Polish Philosophical Congress, that took place in Torun, the term “business ethics” got recognized as a philosophical sub-discipline. This sprouted out as a response to the concern raised by one of the members of the congress, who, brought it to their notice the need to take economic activity seriously. The whole thought is based off on the look in to human actions when they want to achieve a goal, in other words, goals and the means to achieving it. In a philosophical term – a means to an end. This term is one of the major discussions in the ethical discourse, should an end justify the means? Even if the means used produces the greatest of profits? For him, in the case of economic activity, the goal of getting benefits, profits, should not justify the means. Therefore, there is need to take seriously the evaluation of economic activities, in order to state that action which is right and that which is not in the process of profitmaking. This evaluation of activity should be based on the criteria of Effectiveness, Efficiency, and Ethicality, and these for him would compose the ethics of business. Hence, practices regarding potentially controversial subjects, including corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility, fiduciary responsibility, and much more; are issues that business ethics concern itself with.

Furthermore, the law usually sets the tone for business ethics, providing a basic guideline that businesses can choose to follow to gain public approval. Business ethics goes beyond just a moral code of right or wrong, it tries to bring to harmony, what is legally expected of companies and the companies’ struggle to maintain a competitive advantage over other businesses. (Competitive advantage refers to factors that allow a company to produce goods or services qualitatively and cheaper than its rivals.)

There are two aspects of business ethics, normative and descriptive business ethics. Business ethics is normative when it concerns how people ought to act while it is descriptive when it depicts how people actually are acting. As a corporate practice and a career specialization, the field is primarily normative and academics attempting to understand business behavior employ descriptive methods. The numerous forms of ethical issues in business reflects the interplay between profit-driven actions and non-economic concerns.

In the area if business, ethics is important because it helps to ensure that a basic level of trust exists between consumers and different kinds of market participants with businesses. There are many stories of discrimination in a workplace where employers only employ people whom they have particular kinds connections with or people who bribe them well, regardless of whether or not they are qualified. Business ethics helps to ensure the public receives fair treatment. There are several ways in which firms, companies and businesses display business ethics, in other words, principles of business ethics; these include: leadership, accountability, integrity, respect for others, honesty, respect for laws, responsibility, transparency, compassion, fairness, loyalty, environmental concern and so on.       

 TYPES OF BUSINESS ETHICS

Having explored the philosophical foundations of business ethics, let’s now delve into the practical manifestations through different types of ethical consideration. The different types of business ethics include: Corporate social responsibility, Transparency and trustworthiness, Fairness and technological practices.

CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

One prominent aspect of business ethics is Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). It is the idea of satisfying stakeholders needs while taking into consideration the effects that doing so has on workers, the environment, society, and the local community where the company is based is known as corporate social responsibility. It suggests that the wellbeing of society, consumers and employees should come first since research has shown that ethical behavior and corporate governance improve financial performance. 

TRANSPARENCY AND TRUSTWORTHINESS

In our discussion on practical business ethics, transparency and trustworthiness play pivotal roles.

Companies should make sure they report their financial performance with transparency. Some firms and companies withhold some information concerning their financial performance in order to not disclose how much they have made; this happens especially when companies underpay their workers. 

FAIRNESS AND TECHNOLOGICAL PRACTICES

On technological practices, there is a need for a business to ensure that with the way the use of technology in all forms of business operations, the technology and information it gathers are uses ethically, and secured to the utmost of its ability, especially as many businesses store customer information and collect data that those intentions can use. Also, a workplace should ensure it is fair to all its employees regardless of race, religion, ethnic group, age, identity, or beliefs. A fair working environment promotes growth and success of workers.  

A good business ethics can be implemented through the following:

By creating a code of conduct, which states the personal conducts expected of a worker while on the job, which violations they should avoid, and dress codes they should adapt to.

Another very important aspect in maintaining a good business ethics at a place of work is the provision for procedures in reporting defaulting workers or even exposing unmoral, manipulative or dangerous activities at the place of work. Provisions should also be made to compensate such people lest these places of work tag them as ‘Whistle blowers’, betrayals and untrustworthy and discontinues their appointment

Organizing training programs to enforce ethical behavior. Once conduct is defined and programs implemented, continuous communication with employees becomes vital

BENEFITS OF BUSINESS ETHICS IN A WORKPLACE

It has sustainably improved society

Ethics programs help maintain a moral course in turbulent times

It helps cultivate strong team work and productivity

It helps to support employee growth and learning.

It has also helped to ensure that policies are legal. 

Through business ethics, ethical values have been managed

It helps to avoid criminal acts of omission

It has helped to manage values associated with quality management, strategic planning and diversity management.

A strong public image would be promoted through business ethics.

SUMMING IT UP

The law usually sets the tone for business ethics, providing a basic guideline that businesses can choose to follow to gain public approval. Business ethics goes beyond just a moral code of right or wrong, it tries to bring to harmony, what is legally expected of companies and the companies’ struggle to maintain a competitive advantage over other businesses. (Competitive advantage refers to factors that allow a company to produce goods or services qualitatively and cheaper than its rivals.)

An ethical workplace means a happy workplace, happy workers and a happy society at large. For no reason should a business, firm, organization or establishment be devoid of one. It is more important that every human exhibit a moral way of life, for it be easier to adapt to an ethical environment when found in one and to create one where it does not exist!