Business Ethics: An obligatory aspect of current business. Business ethics are a form of professional and moral ethics which a business organization must follow when doing its business.

1. Business Ethics: An obligatory aspect of current business
Business ethics are a form of professional and moral ethics which a business organization must
follow when doing its business. Ethical way of doing the business generally helps the company
to make right decisions at the right time without any panic where all the stakeholders of the
business are being taken into high consideration. This is identified as the moral obligation of a
business too.
“Business that makes nothing but money is a poor kind of business”
- Henry Ford -
Business organizations must not involve in any unethical practices which can harm the
reputation of the organization and ruin the expectations of the stakeholders especially customers
and shareholders. But at the same time developing and following right ethical practices is not an
easy task. 100% dedication, commitment and determination are important to implement and
follow ethical practices in the organization. Employee security & satisfaction, transparency with
the shareholders & Government, environmental protection and CSR (Corporate Social
Responsibility) are some of the aspects which one business organization should consider as
business ethical practices / corporate ethical practices.
There are number of ethical theories which clearly guide the business organization to follow
ethical practices. Theories such as Moral objectivism, Moral relativism, Consequentialism,
Deontology and Principlism explain the duties, morality, integrity, and behavior of the company,
employees and the society. Though each and every theory defines certain aspects related with
single individual, it says that how the individual’s moral believe, attitude and behavior changes
according to the situation. It is the serious obligation of individuals who are supposed to practice
& implement ethical aspects in the organization. Ethical believes and behaviors such as
Trustworthy, Integrity, Loyalty, Fair Concern & respect others, Law abiding, Commitment,
Leadership and Moral are more important for businessmen to be more effective in their business
and to achieve success.
At the same time business organizations must worry about the ethical issues that it can face while
doing its business. It may be the stakeholder issue, business expansion or network issue,

2. environmental pollution issue and Health & Safety issue. Sometimes the organization might have
to face some other external and / or internal environmental issues which are not highlighted here.
But it has to be handled very carefully since it has the tendency of harming the business
activities. Achieving the business objectives is the main concern of any business organization. At
the same time ethical issues try to influence the business where stakeholders like government and
society are the complainant. This can be effectively handled through the moral obligation of the
business organization. Moral obligation of a company is mandatory on each employee where
they are accountable for doing what is right. Sometimes it will be communal responsibilities,
which involve all employees in the company. Moreover Company’s culture often commands the
importance of moral obligation in the organization. Therefore, company must set vibrant ethical
practices which can be evident while achieving the business objectives.
A business organization cannot carry forward this alone. It needs the fullest support of the
stakeholders of the business. At the same time the business organization must have a serious
ethical consideration to get the maximum support from them. This definitely helps the company
to achieve its business objectives while following the ethical and moral obligations towards the
stakeholders of the business. This can be perfectly done through a clear mechanism of business
ethics through which the employees can understand and follow the ethical aspects of the
organization. These are set of guidelines and values where the employees’ behavior can be
shaped and morally tuned. Code of ethics, rewards & disciplinary actions for ethical / unethical
behavior, and managers as role models are some of the areas which a business organization can
focus to establish the ethical behavior.
Therefore, it is clearly understood that, developing and implementing a set of business ethics is
very much important to a responsible business organization in the current business world to
achieve success.
By
R Mafas
Senior Lecturer & Educationist