Business ethics and unethical practices

by: Verena Veneeva

The study of business ethics and its implications for different stakeholders have experienced phenomenal growth in recent decades. It has also been an increase in the use and development of codes of ethics and ethical practices for ads by many companies, but companies are still criticized for their unethical practices at different levels (Papers4you. com, 2006). Business ethics, as the literature has been entrenched details Philosophical Ethics (Trevino & Nelson, 1999). Ethics has been defined as the activity of the consideration of moral standards of society, and wondering how these standards apply to everyday life and whether those standards are reasonable '(Velasquez, 1998, p . 11).

The literature on business ethics is divided on its views on the motivation and the reason that companies have an ethical dimension. Inspired by Harrison (2001), there are two main schools of thoughts, firstly those who suggest that firms are profit-generating institutions and therefore business ethics is another way to attract customers, secondly those who support the moral conscience and intrinsic motivation for the adoption of business ethics.

Business ethics has been regarded as highly subjective by nature and according to Paul (2001) is regarded as a function of time and culture. It was established that the transition from the business ethics of the time have changed and the values and cultural norms drive business ethics within national and regional borders. One of the major studies on national values was conducted by Hofstede (1983). According to this research, which was only based on four indicators of individualism, ie, power distance, uncertainty avoidance and masculinity, there are many differences between the values among different nations and therefore ethics business. The standardization associated with globalization has made companies financially efficient, but at the same time raises questions about the standard code of business ethics across national boundaries.

Vinten (1991) has divided the business ethics issues at different levels ie international affairs, national affairs and ethics. At the international level, ethical questions are freemasonry and socialism against capitalism at a national level, including religious dimensions, social marketing and ethical education, and finally at the individual level, including bribery, corruption and Data Protection (Papers4you.com, 2006).

There are many reasons and criticisms of the failure of the adoption of ethics in business. First, the concept is viewed as too theoretical and he also denies the basic object of any knowledge of business to create shareholder wealth. Secondly, there is a lack of direction and unanimity across different cultures and academic groups. Finally, it has many inherent dichotomies outstanding, according to Sternberg (1994) make a case of relativism rejected.

References:

Harrison, J. (2001), Ethics for Australian Business, Prentice-Hall, French Forest

Hofstede, G. (1983), the cultural relativity of organizational practices and theories, Journal of International Business Studies, Vol. 14, No. 2, pp.75-89

Papers For You (2006) "SB92. What distinguishes the ethics of economic activity unethical and how significant are the principles of business ethics in modern business?" Available from http:www.coursework4you.co.uksprtbus21 htm. 17062006

Papers For You (2006) "SB49." If companies are trying to be ethical? A critical discussion ", available from Papers4you.com 18062006

Paul, S. (2001), Culture and Business Ethics, Cross Cultural Management: An International Journal, Volume 8 No. 1, pp 22-35

Sternberg, E. (1994), Relativism rejected: the possibility of transnational business ethics, in Hoffman, WM, Kamm, JB, Frederick, RE, Petry, ES Jr (Eds), National Conference on Business Ethics. Proceedings of the 9th Conference on Business Ethics Sponsored by the Center for Business Ethics at Bentley College, Quorum Books, New York, NY, pp.143-50

Trevino, LK, Nelson, KA (1999), Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk on how to do things, 2nd ed., J. Wiley & Sons, New York, NY

Velasquez, MG (1998), Business Ethics: Concepts and Cases, 4th ed. Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Business ethics Vinten, G. (1991): Busybody or Corporate conscience?, Audit Log Management, Volume 5, Number 2, pp. 123-144

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