Business ethics is a pretty general topic and though it provides the opportunity to think outside the box, deciding where to start is a bit of a challenge. So let’s start with the definition, according to investopedia, business ethics is the study of proper business strategies and practices. It includes areas such as discrimination, bribery, and corporate social responsibilities. Business ethics is often guided by laws and regulations set into place such as the GAAP Principles that must be followed by all accountants. For those of us sitting in a chair reading about business ethics, it’s easy to judge businesses who are not so ethical in their everyday dealings. However, one of my COMM 101 professors once said to the class, see the situation from both perspectives. Perhaps some businesses ignore ethics because there is a lack of reward or even consequences in trying to be. Take Chiquita for example, a banana distributor that tried to be ethical, but received no credit for it. They were the only American company that voluntarily admitted they used paramilitary forces to protect their plantations, however this only resulted in a boatload of lawsuits. Other companies who have witnessed Chiquita’s misfortunes will now want to avoid ending up in the same situation, it is clear being truly ethical will be harder than we all thought.

References:

http://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/business-ethics.asp – definition of business ethic

http://www.economist.com/node/21551500 – Chiquita, full story