Business! Setting up and managing a business is a very challenging task and requires great skill and hard work. An individual can start up a business but incorporating ethics in its working is very difficult. Business ethics are moral principles that guide the way a business behaves. The same principles that determine an individual’s actions also apply to business.[1]
Ethics guide businessmen to decide whether an action is right or wrong. If a business’s actions are unethical then it may have many negative effects. In the Stakeholder Theory, Freeman has stated that it is crucial for a business to satisfy the needs of all its stakeholders.
Recently in Business Insider[2], I read an article about the American based airlines ‘JetBlue’ which displays the way in which working ethically actually helps the business. Due to the cold weather in Barbados, many flights of JetBlue had to be cancelled. And also many passengers were stranded due to this inconvenience. This had made JetBlue’s stakeholders- the crew, shareholder, passengers, pilots and others very unhappy. This was very bad for the business, therefore to prevent losses, the core team of the company had decided to expand its functions into the Midwest. Also, the business had decided to provide more services to its passengers. Apart from this, the company has also decided to start an emotional new ad campaign, through which they would be giving free flights to citizens who perform good deeds. It was reported in 2015 that the company is bouncing back and is making more money and higher profits than before. In this way, JetBlue had tried to satisfy its stakeholders demands. This shows how it is crucial for a business to think about each stakeholder and try its best to satisfy their needs.
Image Source: JetBlue Official website
