Morality has always been the ultimate gray area, a concept that instantaneously encourages debate. I believe that the true essence behind business ethics is not the debatable definition of what is right and wrong, but rather the question of when is it okay to “let it slide”, for the sake of business; when is it necessary to play dirty. Some moralists may state that there is no money, nor business, nor corporation above ethics. And some businesspeople may respond, that they haven’t been out there, that things are tough, and there is no time to be a saint. It’s survival of the fittest—isn’t?
Well, playing dirty is just not cool. And here’s my story about it:
Short after my dad started a business called Tauro, a factory that makes plastic bags, he received a call from the CEO of “Yamber”, his competition. This man was an acquaintance of my dad. My dad saw the call as an act of good faith; they talked about prices and costumers. Later on, my dad realized that the CEO of Yamber had lowered significantly the selling price of his product after learning at how much Tauro was selling. Tauro lost an important client, but kept going at its own pace…
Ten years after, Yamber went from being a monster in the industry to a failed company. Hmm… the results of playing dirty?
Conclusion: don’t play dirty. It ain’t nice.
Ethics is concerned with “doing the right thing” in terms of morals, fairness, respect, caring, sharing, no false promises, no lying, cheating, stealing, or unreasonable demands on employees and others, etc. In addition, business ethics calls for corporate social responsibility (CSR) and addressing social problems such as poverty, crime, environmental protection, equal rights, public health and improving education. We need a practical approach rather than a philosophical one (as discussed later), with “leadership by example.”
Business decisions often concern complicated situations which are neither totally ethical nor totally unethical. Therefore, it is often difficult to “do the right thing,” contrary to what many case studies will have you believe!
For instance, in a proposed sale, is it the seller’s duty to disclose all material facts regarding the product/service in question or is it the buyer’s responsibility to find out the pros and cons of what he or she is getting into? Should the seller answer each question exactly as it was asked, and ignore some pertinent information? Or should he or she merely address the spirit of the question? Is the buyer responsible for conducting due diligence, including checking out the pros and cons of buying products/services offered by the competition? In the light of real world constraints, is it really feasible to draw upon the teachings of Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and other philosophers before making a decision in every single situation?
Ethics training can raise ethical IQs and monitor behavior, but it is difficult to alter the basic nature of individuals such as Bernie Madoff, Conrad Black and Vincent Lacroix. Ethics is conscience-based, knowledge-based and attitude-based, and not suited to some individuals, who, by their very nature, have consistently demonstrated selfishness and greed.
Maxwell Pinto, Business Consultant and Author.
The above comment from Maxwell Pinto is a cut-and-paste comment found in many places on the internet.
i m not satisfied with this answer