Ethics/Business ethics

Introduction

The study of Ethics is a systematic science.Its scope encompasses all human relationship in a society.Ethics also known as moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing , defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.The study of ethics can be dividend into four operational areas namely - meta ethics, normative ethics, descriptive ethics and applied ethics.

Ethics fundamentally comprises of two elements:

Firstly, ethics refers to well founded standards of right and wrong that describes what humans ought to do in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, etc.
Secondly, ethics refers t the study and development of one's ethical standards.

Business Ethics

According to Andrew Crane," business ethics is the study of business situation,activities and decisions where issues to right and wrong are addressed."

Raymond C. Baumhart contend-"the ethics of business s the ethics of responsibility .the businessman must promise that he will not harm knowingly."

Thus, Business Ethics is a form of applied ethics or [professional ethics that examine the ethical principle and moral problems that arise in business environment. Business Ethics concern itself with adhering to the social principle of the situations in which business takes place .The analysis of this definitions leads us to the following discussions.

Business for Profit

It would seem that business does not come within the confines of ethics.But people find mechanisms to generate the highest possible returns when conducting business.No one hold it against a worker for demanding higher wages .Their actions are not considered illegal or unethical .Business is for profit , just the reward for doing business lies in the excess of returns on investment.

Business and Ethics

The business world is an important part of society as it is concerned with the livelihood of people.business activity too is subjected to the code of conduct without any exception. People expect businessman to possesses same rationality as any other citizen.We have to keep business within the bounds of ethics.

Professional Ethics

Just as a society runs on social codes of conducts and country functions by its Constitution,a business is run on business codes.There is a professional code of conduct for every business. These codes keep evolving as other things around evolve and develop.

External links

The Atlantic: Seven Years Later, Wall Street Hasn't Learned Anything