Being Good is Good Business

How business ethics reflect on decision making and how people succeeded by the use of good business ethics and its moral values Business ethics is also called corporate ethics and it is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines the ethical and moral values principles and problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct on behalf of both individuals and the entire company. It can also be stated as the written and unwritten codes of principles and values determined by an organization’s culture that govern decisions and actions within an organization. The idea of ethics in business focuses on the moral or ethical actions of individuals. It is in this sense that many people when discussing business ethics immediately raise examples of immoral or unethical activity by individuals. Many business people are strongly influenced by their religious beliefs and the ethical standard that they have been taught as part of their religion and apply these norms in their business activities. A prime example is [Aaron Feuerstein] whose actions after fire destroyed almost all of his Malden Mills factory complex kept his workers on the payroll until he could rebuild. He has stated often and publicly that he just did what his Jewish faith told him was the right thing to do. [Richard T De George].

One difference between an ordinary decision and an ethical one lies in the point where the accepted rules no longer serve, and the decision maker is faced with the responsibility for weighing values and reaching a judgments in a situation which is not quite the same as any he or she faced before. There is a connection between our perception of the world and the way in which we make decisions in the world. If managers believe that they are and ought to be rational egoists, concerned only with maximizing profit, they will take the decisions accordingly. If on the other hand they are aware of moral theories and social policies that affect their own societies and the wider world then they will be likely to make rather different and more complicated judgment. Social Responsibility is the obligation a business assumes to have for society. To be socially responsible is to maximize positive effects and minimize negative effects on society. The economic responsibilities of a business are to produce goods and services that meet the needs and wants of society at a price that can perpetuate the business while also satisfy the needs of the investors. The civil laws are the rights and duties of individuals and organizations. The idea of social responsibility became prominent during the 1960s in response to changing social values. Many businesses have tried to determine what relationships, obligations and duties are appropriate between the business organization and society. (Ferrell, Fraedrich, Ferrell, 2002.) Therefore, Social Responsibility can be viewed as a social contract with society whereas ethics relates to carefully thought-out rules of moral philosophy that guide individual decision-making. While business ethics relates to the effect of moral rules and principles on individual decisions and social responsibility is concerned with the decisions the organization makes and their effect on society.

BINTA NIAMBI BROWN, CEO, AND CO-FOUNDER OF FERMATA ENTERTAINMENT LTD, AND LAWYER

“Fifteen years ago, hours before closing a $3 billion asset acquisition Binta Brown, who was a senior associate in her late 20s, received some information that could have sabotaged the entire deal. At the time her partner wasn’t reachable and Brown had a choice to make, either to tell her client and risk losing the deal or keep quiet until the papers were signed. She chose to tell the client. After disclosing the information she uncovered to her client, Brown was able to help both sides come to a solution, and in the end, a deal was finalized. Her ability to have good judgment, do what she thought was right, and not let fear drive her decisions are lessons Brown has carried with her throughout her career.” In my opinion always be honest to your employer as well to your client because your carrier and future relies with the decision that you made and it also helps us to reach great height of success. Although it builds a trust in our customers mind and it helps to flourish our business and it will surely put our business or enterprise in a good position in the market. Moreover there is a saying “HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY”

KATHRYN MINSHEW, CEO, AND CO-FOUNDER OF THE MUSE

Minshew’s toughest ethical decision involved firing a company they had signed on to do business with. “They already paid us for the Muse recruiting product, but were treating our team so badly during onboarding that it just didn’t feel like how I wanted to do business,” recalls Minshew. “To make it worse they were really nice to me. It was just the junior staff they treated poorly” To make matters worse The Muse was just getting started at the time and was really in need of the revenue. Still it felt wrong to work with a company that behaved so poorly. “In the end, I gave them a warning, and then when it continued, told them nicely that it didn’t make sense to work together anymore and refunded the unused balance of their money. They tried to argue, but at that point, my mind was made up. I didn’t realize how relieved my team was–and how much they appreciated it until after it was all done.” I think we all should backup our team in certain important situation and talk for them and try to stand with our team members at any crisis or any situation because when a problem arises for us our team will arrive their at first. It is easy to break one stick but it is difficult to breakdown ten or twenty sticks altogether. It is also the matter of our team as well if we stay as a team we are strong but we are separated we are vulnerable. Moreover always go for the team goal rather than individual because we always have the backup of our team.

ANTHONY SOOHOO, CO-FOUNDER AND CEO OF DOT & BO

“During my time as a product manager on Apple’s PowerBook team we were gearing up to launch a new product. As part of testing we had found that a very small sample size was flawed and could be harmful. I was under tremendous pressure to make a decision on whether or not to hold off bringing the product to market. And there were good arguments on both sides VIA DOT & BO. On the one hand the defected sample size was small and not statistically significant, and millions of dollars would be lost by holding off shipment moreover on the other hand Soohoo believed the long-term impact risk was high. “If the flaw was bigger than we thought, it could have created a huge loss of trust with our customers” When there is a difficult decision to make, it based on what would create long term value instead of gaining the short-term win. Ultimately, Soohoo decided to delay the launch of the product. “In the end, it came down to taking a long-term perspective and it just made more sense to delay the launch,” he says. “Putting myself in the shoes of our customers, I think that’s what they would have expected Apple to do. Not a popular decision at the time, but it was the right decision for the business.” In my opinion trust your guts to do the right thing for the customers and when there is a difficult decision to make create it based on what would create long-term a value instead of gaining the short term win more over always think about the future instead of present to gain a profit and build up a business career and to gain goodwill for your enterprise although it also creates trust inside the minds of your customers and its helps to drag a lot of public attention without any cost of advertisement.

To sum up, the ethics is important not only in business but in all aspects of life because it is an essential part of the foundation on which of a civilized society is build. A business or society that lacks ethical principles is bound to fail sooner or later. People should reflect on the beliefs held to determine what principles are involved and what values serve as the base for the belief that one ethical principle is to be placed before or over another. The real answer to business ethics is how a business conducts itself. All marketers has to have moral values with dealing with others. Marketers should be aware of how their behavior may influence or affect the behavior of others in organizational relationships. They should not demand encourage or apply coercion to obtain unethical behavior in their relationships with others such as employees, suppliers and customers. The human resource function is to deal with a variety of ethical challenges.it deals directly with people employed by a company.

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Boatright, J. R. 2011. Ethics and the Conduct of Business, 7th ed. Boston: Pearson.

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Manuel G. Velasquez, Santa Clara University Published 09 Aug 2017

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