Examples of Business Ethics

Business ethics

The Business ethics or business ethics is a branch of applied ethics or professional ethics that analyzes the behavior of those who work in the world of business, that is, of Business, individuals and organizations.

Business ethics can be applied from a normative point of view (to indicate the right path) or from a descriptive point of view (to observe how morality operates in business).

The way of understanding business and economic exchange has not been the same since the beginnings of industrial capitalism until today. Each era brings with it its own concerns and considerations for the general welfare of society. The need for a business ethic, however, arises from the growth and prominence of companies in the contemporary capitalist world, especially at the end of the 20th century, when the need to think about the fundamental purpose of companies beyond simply generating Profits.

Until then, the logic that seemed to rule the business world was summarized in the phrase of the American economist and Nobel laureate Milton Friedman (1912-2006): “the social responsibility of companies will be to produce as much profit as possible, observing the basic rules of society, both the contained in the

laws as in ethical customs ”. However, at the beginning of the 21st century the vast majority of companies have assumed ethical codes and non-economic needs as part of their discourse and their mission and vision business.

Thus, the Business ethics has become a necessary tool in the contemporary vision of business and production, since it allows us to think about the free economic exercise, their moral duties and their place in a world that struggles to achieve sustainability in the face of change climate. Among its main themes are:

We must not confuse the Business ethics with Corporate Social Responsibility, although the latter is one of the many ways in which corporations try to live up to certain moral standards of society.

Examples of business ethics

Here are some examples of business ethics, expressed in certain specific situations:

1. A company that sells auto parts discovers, during a quality control, that its products have a high probability of fracture, as they are using a new, cheaper material to manufacture them. Putting quality before profit, the company decides to discard what was produced and reuse the previous material, instead of lying to its customers. customers.
2. During the transfer of a shipment of raw material for one industry, an accident occurs and several minerals pollutants go to the bottom of a lake. It is an ecological disaster. The company not only assumes responsibility for what happened formally, but also invests a portion of its profits in collecting the unused minerals and dispose of them properly, and in reviewing and improving the industrial safety controls of your transportation.
3. To an importer of food A government official proposes to him to hide his products for a month to generate an artificial shortage and to be able to raise the prices of the product. The company responsibly refuses the plan and denounces the official.
4. Factory employees are at tremendous risk in their jobs, as they handle highly flammable material. The company, therefore, invests in fire detection and combat systems, in protective suits for its workers, and in an insurance company so that its employees work in the best situation possible.

Examples of ethical dilemmas in the business field

An ethical dilemma is a situation in which the correct path to follow is not entirely clear, and we are forced to evaluate our options and weigh which is the path that does the least harm or that brings the most well-being to all involved. Some examples of these dilemmas in the business field are:

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References:

• "Business ethics" in Wikipedia.
• "Is business ethics necessary?" in EADE University Studies.
• "How does business ethics work?" at European Postgraduate Center.
• "Business ethics" in eserp Business & Law School.