Business Ethics is a form of Applied Ethics. It originates from individuals, organizational statements or from the legal system. It can be said to be the attitude, culture and manner of doing business by the business community. Decision Making: It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it our actions would be random and aimless. Leadership: The conscious effort to adopt, integrate, and emulate the other 11 principles to guide decisions and behavior in all aspects of professional and personal life. Accountability: Holding yourself and others responsible for their actions. Commitment to following ethical practices and ensuring others follow ethics guidelines. Integrity: Incorporates other principles—honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability. Someone with integrity consistently does the right thing and strives to hold themselves to a higher standard. Respect for others: To foster ethical behavior and environments in the workplace, respecting others is a critical component. Everyone deserves dignity, privacy, equality, opportunity, compassion, and empathy. Honesty: Truth in all matters is key to fostering an ethical climate. Partial truths, omissions, and under or overstating don't help a business improve its performance. Bad news should be communicated and received in the same manner as good news so that solutions can be developed.

1. Ethics in Business
Dr.T.Sivakami
Assistant Professor
Department of Management Studies
Bon Secours College for Women
Thanjavur

2. BUSINESS ETHICS
Business Ethics is a form of Applied Ethics. It originates from individuals, organizational
statements or from the legal system. It can be said to be the attitude, culture and manner of doing
business by the business community. It is a framework of contemporary organizational standards,
principles, sets of values and norms that govern the actions and behavior of an individual in the
business organization.

3. BUSINESS ETHICS - Definition
• According to Andrew Crane, “Business ethics is the study of business situations,
activities, and decisions where issues of right and wrong are addressed.” Business
ethics are those principles, policies or philosophies that are concerned with moral
judgment &good conduct as they are applicable to business situation.

4. Business Ethics- Features
• 1. Code of conduct: Business ethics is the code of conduct which businessmen should follow while conducting their normal business
activities.
• 2. Based on moral and social values: Business ethics is based on well-accepted moral/principal values. It suggests moral of conduct for
businessmen. They include self- control, service to society and fair treatment to social groups and not to harm/ exploit others.
• 3. Provides basic framework: Business ethics provides the framework within which business is to be conducted. It suggests legal, social,
moral, economic and cultural limits within
• which business has to be operated. It suggests what is good and what is bad in business.
• 4. Needs willing acceptance for enforcement: Business ethics cannot be enforced by law or by force. It must be accepted as self-discipline by
businessmen. It should come from within the businessmen.
• 5. Education and guidance required for introduction: Businessman should be given proper education, guidance and training in order to
motivate them to follow ethical business practices

5. • 1. Decision Making: It is our means of deciding a course of action. Without it our actions would be random and aimless.
• 2. Standardizing Behaviour of Employees: Business Ethics is about standard of behavior in workplace, with partners,
colleagues, customers etc. Many companies have standard code of ethics which everyone in the organization has to follow.
• 3. Greater Customer Satisfaction: Customer will be satisfied only if the business follows all the business ethics. Business
ethics is needed to make business activities fair to consumers. It checks business malpractices and offers protection to
consumers
• 4.More Responsible Behaviour: Business ethics is needed in order to make businessmen conscious as regards their duties
and responsibilities towards consumer and other social group.
• 5. Improved Confidence of Stakeholders: Business ethics is needed in order to improve the confidence of consumers as
regards quality, price, reliability etc. of goods and service upplied. It also helps in retaining confidence of
stakeholders like financial institutions, shareholders, buyers, suppliers etc.
• 6. Protecting Rights: Business ethics is needed for the protection of rights of consumers at the business level such as right to
health & safety, right to be informed, right to choose, right to be heard etc.
IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN BUSINESS

7. Principles of Business Ethics
 Leadership: The conscious effort to adopt, integrate, and emulate the other 11 principles to guide
decisions and behavior in all aspects of professional and personal life.
 Accountability: Holding yourself and others responsible for their actions. Commitment to
following ethical practices and ensuring others follow ethics guidelines.
 Integrity: Incorporates other principles—honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability. Someone with
integrity consistently does the right thing and strives to hold themselves to a higher standard.
 Respect for others: To foster ethical behavior and environments in the workplace, respecting
others is a critical component. Everyone deserves dignity, privacy, equality, opportunity,
compassion, and empathy.
 Honesty: Truth in all matters is key to fostering an ethical climate. Partial truths, omissions, and
under or overstating don't help a business improve its performance. Bad news should be
communicated and received in the same manner as good news so that solutions can be
developed.
 Respect for laws: Ethical leadership should include enforcing all local, state, and federal laws. If
there is a legal grey area, leaders should err on the side of legality rather than exploiting a gap.

8. Principles of Business Ethics
 Responsibility: Promote ownership within an organization, allow employees to be responsible for their
work, and be accountable for yours.
 Transparency: Stakeholders are people with an interest in a business, such as shareholders, employees,
the community a firm operates in, and the family members of the employees. Without divulging trade
secrets, companies should ensure information about their financials, price changes, hiring and firing
practices, wages and salaries, and promotions are available to those interested in the business's success.
 Compassion: Employees, the community surrounding a business, business partners, and customers
should all be treated with concern for their well-being.
 Fairness: Everyone should have the same opportunities and be treated the same. If a practice or
behavior would make you feel uncomfortable or place personal or corporate benefit in front of equality,
common courtesy, and respect, it is likely not fair.
 Loyalty: Leadership should demonstrate confidentially and commitment to their employees and the
company. Inspiring loyalty in employees and management ensures that they are committed to best
practices.

9. Benefits of Business Ethics
• Ethics in business provide competitive advantages for companies, as customers and
investors would rather associate with businesses that are transparent.
• Being compliant with set business ethics improves a business's image, making it more
attractive to talent, customers, and investors.
• Ethics in business help create a motivating work environment where employees love
to be since their morals are aligned with the company's morals.
• Though complying with ethical practices is mostly voluntary, some ethical business
practices are mandatory, such as obeying the rule of law. Early compliance saves
businesses from future legal action, such as large fines or business failure resulting
from non-compliance with rules and regulations.

10. Drawbacks of Ethics in Business
• Developing, implementing, adjusting, and maintaining ethics in business takes time,
especially when a business is just recovering from a reputation scandal due to poor ethics.
Ethics also need to be regularly updated by businesses due to changes in business laws and
regulations.
• The possible trade-off between ethics and profit is another issue. Ethics in business can
affect a business's ability to fully maximise profit-making opportunities. For example, an
ethical business with a production factory in a developing country would not try to cut down
on labour costs by unethical means. Such means could include increasing profits by paying
low wages or making employees work overtime without compensation.

11. Characteristics of Business Ethics
 Differ with persons: ethical questions do not have a unique solution but a multitude of alternatives
 Ethical decisions are not limited to themselves, but affects a wide range of other situations as well.
 Ethical decisions involves a trade off between cost incurred and benefits received.
 Consequences are not clear
 Every person is individually responsible for the ethical or unethical decision and action that he or she
takes
 Ethical actions are voluntary human actions

12. Need of Business Ethics

13. Need of Business Ethics
• Stop business malpractices: Some unscrupulous businessmen do business malpractices by
indulging in unfair trade practices like black-marketing, artificial high pricing, adulteration, cheating
in weights and measures, selling of counterfeit (duplicate) and harmful products, illegal hoarding,
etc.
• Improve customers' confidence: Business ethics are needed to improve the customers' confidence
about the quality, utility, reliability, quantity, price, etc. of the products. The customers have more
trust and confidence in the businessmen who follow ethical business rules or principles.
• Survival of business: Business ethics are mandatory or compulsory for the survival of any business.
The businessmen who do not follow it will only have short-term success, but they will fail in the long
run.
• Safeguarding consumers' rights: The consumer has many rights such as the right to health and
safety, right to be informed, right to
• Protecting employees and shareholders: Business ethics are required to protect the interest of
employees, shareholders, competitors, dealers, suppliers, customers, government, etc. It protects

14. Need of Business Ethics
• Develops good relations: Business ethics are important to develop good and
friendly relations between business and society. This will result in a regular supply of good quality
goods and services at low prices to the society.
• Creates good image: Business ethics create a good image for the business and businessmen. If the
businessmen follow all ethical rules, then they will be fully accepted and not criticized by society.
• Smooth functioning: If the business follows all the business ethics, then the employees,
shareholders, consumers, dealers, and suppliers will all be happy. So, they will give full
cooperation to the business.
• Consumer movement: Business ethics are gaining importance because of the growth of consumer
movements all over the world. Today, consumers are well aware of their rights.
• Consumer satisfaction: Today, the consumer is the king of the market. He can make a business or
break a business. His every wish (expectations) should be taken as a command and must be
fulfilled as early as possible.
• Healthy competition: Today, competition is a part and parcel of our lives and business world is no
exception to this. Competition is essential because it inculcates creativity and innovation,
competitive pricing, affordable services, corporate responsibility, consumer satisfaction, etc in the
realm of business.

15. Moral Vs Ethics

16. TYPES OF ETHICS
• (i) Transactional Ethics
• Man is a social animal. He has to act and react with others through different transactions. Thepractices of ethics in all these
transactions is called as transactional ethics. In order to let each party’stransaction run smoothly, all parties have to accept
the principle of equality, implying that every agent should allow every other the same amount of freedom or action he claims
for himself.
• ii) Participatory Ethics
• Participatory ethics is a privileged part of business ethics. Parties cooperate in order to produce more distant common good
that has three characteristic features:
• The good can only be realised through the participation of all parties.
• Participation cannot be enforced into explicit moral obligation to take part in the project.
• Principle of decency where a real opportunity to contribute to the general welfare presents itself and no insurmountable
obstacle arise, one should have solid moral reasons not to go for it.

17. • (iii) Recognition Ethics
• As human beings, people are endowed with the ability to understand the problems of others.
• This quality leads to the recognition of individuals, institutions and societies. Conflicting situations can be
solved by the correct recognition of the situation.

19. Difference Between Morality and Ethics
•About Ethics
• Descended from the Greek word “Ethikos” indicating character, ethics helps shape our behaviour. This is a moral
philosophy that encounters conducting principles of a person or a group of persons.
• These standards are predetermined and are not flexible. Some of the ethics expected to be followed by any individual in his
or her life are loyalty, integrity, honesty, truthfulness, respect, etc. Treating a person with partiality or making a decision
with a biased opinion is considered to be an ethical breach.
• About Morality
• The origin of the word morality is in the Greek works of literature. It is adapted from the word “Mos” meaning custom.
Morals are beliefs in the social or cultural or religious sphere which determines the fine gap between right and wrong.

20. Ground Of Difference Ethics Morality
Definition
Principles are helping any group or
individual to decide on the good or
bad.
A belief as to what can be right or
what should be wrong
Root word Ethics which means the character Mos which means custom
Influenced By
Individual factors, or factors that are
legal and professional
Social and cultural factors
Dependent On Other’s perspective Own perspective
Can be applied in business? Yes, it should be Not in major cases
Consistency
These are generally uniform all across
the world
They differ from one society to the
other and also across cultures.

21. Difference Between Law and Ethics
Law may be understood as the systematic set of universally accepted rules and regulation
created by an appropriate authority such as government, which may be regional, national,
international, etc. It is used to govern the action and behavior of the members and can be
enforced, by imposing penalties.

23. Ethical Issues in Business
• Discrimination: Discrimination is one of the most important ethical challenges facing the corporate sector in
2023. Discrimination, on the other hand, can occur in firms of all sizes. It refers to any activity that causes
an employee to be treated unfairly. Discrimination is not only unethical; it is also unlawful in certain
circumstances. Employees are protected by laws that prohibit discrimination based on age, gender,
ethnicity, religion, disab.
• Nepotism and favouritism: Due to a personal connection, some business owners choose to hire someone they
know or are connected to a particular individual. Favouritism can also arise when senior managers treat
some employees better than others for no reason. These types of ethical difficulties in the workplace can
demotivate other
• Safety and Health: According to the International Labour Organization, almost 2.3 million people die each year
as a result of workplace accidents or diseases. Health and safety issues are brought to light by a lack of fall
protection, weight and resistance regulations, safety equipment, and uncontrolled risks. Important
necessities like electricity and wiring procedures are frequently overlooked. employees, lowering
productivity.

24. • Privacy of Data and Abuse of technology: It may appear that using your company's internet connection to surf the web is
harmless. Most businesses monitor their internet connections and track their employees' surfing habits.
• Accounting related Ethics: All businesses must follow proper bookkeeping procedures. Organisations, particularly
publicly traded firms, are concerned about "cooking the account books" and other unethical accounting
practices. The Satyam computer services accounting scandal that took place in 2009 is a classic example.
• Non Disclosure: Many firms are concerned about current and former employees stealing information, including
customer data that could be exploited by competitors. Corporate problems occur when intellectual property is
stolen or confidential customer information is illegally disclosed.

25. Thank You