The Role of Ethics in Business

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The Role of Ethics in business George D. Norwood,Sr. MGT5019-8 Ethics in Business July 21, 2013 Business Ethics?? Is this a company, personal, or employee issue? We will see that ethics in a company relies on both the company and the employee. The role of company ethics has as much to do with how the company views the customers, its employees and the community, just as the employees deal with all of the aforementioned. It takes both aspects of a company/business to decide if a business is an ethical company, are business practices fair and just and what is the company’s stand on ethics both personnel and business. Should personnel ethics even be considered when dealing with the role of ethics in business? Does the company follow fair labor practices, do they use slave labor (sweat shops) overseas to manufacture the products they sell. Let’s look at the concept of ethics and how it relates to business operations. In the Business world ethics plays a contrasting role. What may be ethical in business, may not be ethically in everyday life and vice-versa. Companies are loyal to their own people, to their stockholders, to the ones who helped them get started in their said business? As Thompson states in Understand Ethics: “Business ethics considers whether companies have responsibilities other than those to their shareholders and to make a profit.” (Thompson, 1994) To consider a business an ethical one, you’d have to consider who runs the business, how they treat their employee’s, how they treat their customers and what they do to support the community at large. On the surface a company may look legit and ethical, does not necessarily mean the company is ethical in the eye of society. As Jennings notes: Without the cheap labor, the shoe manufacturer believes it cannot
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