Understanding 12 Ethics in Business
There numerous business practices that every company needs to focus on. Understanding 12 ethics in business and how they shape a business. How many times have you heard about a company having unethical business practices? The size of the company does not matter. Ethics in business applies to all, whether it is a small one man operation or a business consisting of 20,000 employees.
I can think of numerous examples of companies that were involved and guilty of unethical business practices;
- Firestone- Firestone knew there were problems with the tire tread separating, but they chose not to address and resolve the problem until they were forced to.
- Johnson & Johnson-J&J knew some of the ingredients in their talcum powder contained carcinogens that could cancer.
- Toyota-Toyota knew some of their cars had ‘acceleration’ issues, but chose to lie and cover it up.
- Bernie Madoff- knew he was scamming his investors. He used their money to buy his houses, cars and other toys instead of investing it for his customers. His poor and unethical business practices ruined many peoples’ lives including his own family.
I could go on and on because there are so many examples of unethical business practices, fraud and scams. If you have ever watched the show ‘American Greed’, you are probably aware of other companies both large and small that didn’t care about running their business in an ethical manner. They didn’t care if people died, were injured or financially ruined as direct result of their poor and unethical business decisions.
Ethical issues in business have a lot to do with the character of the people within a business. How they view ethics and morals will lay the foundation of how the company operates and how they treat their employees and customers.
1. Being a Good Leader
Every company has a leader. Some leaders are good and some aren’t so good. Good leaders understand the importance of ethical business practices and behaviors. Being a good leader isn’t that hard if you have empathy and compassion for others. Adopting and practicing the 12 business ethics we are discussing in this article can make anyone a good leader if that what they choose to be.
A good leader leads by example or they ‘walk the talk’. They set the tone of how the company operates and the environment of the workplace. For example, if a leader is honest and respectful, their employees are more likely to be honest and respectful. The opposite holds true too.
Being a good leader involves coaching, mentoring and empowering their employees. The ‘open door policy’ is important for people to know their voice will be heard and their concerns or suggestions will be considered or acted upon. Good leaders also welcome constructive criticism without the desire to retaliate against those who speak up against them or stand up to them. They don’t threaten or create an environment of fear.
Good leaders allow their employees to do their jobs with micro managing them. They are supportive and available when needed, but stay out of the way of progress and productivity.
Bad leaders are dysfunctional and will play a big role in the success or failure of a company. Companies with bad leaders may be successful to a certain point, but the morale is probably poor along with the productivity of its employees. Bad leadership has to be addressed if a company wants to expand and grow.
2. Respect
Respect is the act of making people feel important, valuable or good regardless of who they or what role they play. This applies to employees, colleagues and customers. Everyone deserves to be treated with dignity. Don’t humiliate people in public. Address issues behind closed doors.
3. Excellence
Excellence is having a high standard in everything you do. It also involves looking for ways to continuously improve current products, services, skills and procedures. Excellence is what can set you apart from your competition.
4. Honesty
Honesty means sticking to the facts and being truthful. Don’t mislead people about your products or services. Avoid exaggerating the effectiveness of a product. Don’t lie to your employees, colleagues or customers. Being honest builds trust and loyalty.
5. Accountability
Accountability involves taking responsibility for your actions and decisions regardless of the consequences. Admitting to wrong doing and mistakes shows integrity and good character. As humans, we all make mistakes. Admitting to them and learning from them is part of accountability.
6. Obeying the law
Obeying the law should apply to everyone within a business. Everyone should be committed to following the laws, guidelines and regulations that apply to their industry. When a business breaks a law, it puts both the employees, shareholders, and customers at risk. Employees can lose their jobs or if they knew a law was being broke and didn’t come forth, they too could be held liable. When companies choose to cover up unethical business practices or lie about problems with their products, consumer safety and health can be put at risk.
7. Integrity
Integrity is having a high moral standard. Integrity involves honesty, credibility, good character and accountability. Following through on your commitments and admitting to your mistakes shows how much integrity you have. Failing to keep your promises leads to mistrust. Lying or blaming others will cause you to lose credibility.
8. Keeping Your Promises
Keeping your promises and following through on your commitments is a crucial aspect of ethical business practices. People remember promises kept and broken promises. If you continuously break your promise, people will not trust or believe in you, nor will they want to do business with you.
9. Loyalty
Being loyal to your business associates, partners, employees and customers means keeping their best interest in mind. Being too loyal can undermine your ability to make good decisions. Be careful and avoid the need to lie or cover for other peoples’ bad behavior. Avoid just ‘going along’ with the crowd and make sure you use good judgement when making decisions that will impact other people.
10. Caring
Caring means having compassion and empathy for other people. Careful involves being kind and considerate of other peoples’ feelings. Understanding how your behavior and decisions will impact the people around you shows you care.
11. Morale
The morale or environment of a business is very important. Morale can be positive or negative. A good leader will encourage and promote enthusiasm and excitement. Positive morale leads to higher productivity and creativeness among the business team.
12. Fair
Being fair involves treating all at an equal level without showing favoritism. Fairness involves making sure situations are win-wins and not giving some an unfair advantage. For example, insider trading is illegal because it involves providing information about a company that the general public doesn’t know. Those who do know have an unfair advantage. ‘Doping’ in sports is another good example of having an unfair advantage.
Conclusion
Understanding 12 business ethics discussed in this article will aid you in laying a solid business foundation. It will help you build a great reputation, as well as attract and keep loyal employees and customers. Ethical decision making requires all of the behaviors and principles we have discussed in this article.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Business_ethics