Ethics in workplace: Link it to business success

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Writuparna Kakati | 16 Mar, 2009
What is ethics? Ethics refers to well based standards of right and wrong that prescribe what humans should or shouldn't do. Whether to tell the truth or lie, be friendly or unfriendly, whether to be generous or greedy - all these, and all other questions about how people act toward themselves and one another refer to ethics.

Is there any connection between ethics and business ? Should business people adhere to some acceptable sets of behavior or 'business ethics'? Almost everyone in business- whether as an owner, officer, stockholder, or employee - often faces some type of moral or ethical dilemma at some point of time. Business ethics come into play whenever a situation arises where a a conscious decision has to be made about those dilemmas.

Business ethics acts as a moral compass that keeps it pointed in the right direction. Issues like charging fair prices from customers, paying taxes honestly , giving fair treatment to workers - business ethics covers all possible areas of business ends and suggests that these activities should be justifiable as per the norms of society.

So, how to manage ethics in your workplace? Businesses can ensure an effective ethic management program following guidelines below -

1. The act of managing ethics should be seen as a process that must be integrated to achieve business success. Values are discerned through the process of ongoing reflection and therefore an ethics program must be more a process than a management practice. An organization must set forth an effective business framework that integrates all ethical activities within the enterprise.

2. The ultimate goal of an ethics management program must be to create a good working environment. Even the best ethical values and intentions will be useless unless they fail generate fair and just behaviors in the workplace. It is why important that an organization translates its ethical values into appropriate behaviours by implementing appropriate policies, procedures and training programs.

3. While making an ethical decision, it should be made in groups. It is important because making a decision in groups helps to include diverse interests and perspectives into the ethics program. At the same time, it is also advisable that an ethical decision is made in public as it help reduce suspicion and increases the credibility of the decision process.

4. The ethics management program should be integrated with other management programs of an organization. A business needs to develop different strategies for its diverse rage of activities; ethical values should be included during the process of strategic planning of all these activities and should not be viewed as an isolated program.

5. While developing an ethical program for your organization, it is vital that all the cross functional teams of the organization take part in the program. It helps making the employees feel a sense of participation and thus assists in increasing the effectiveness of the ethics program. In addition, it is very important to develop a common Code of Ethics for all the employees which sensitize them to ethical considerations.

Concluding, the business advantages of business ethics may be hard to quantify but moral ignorance can cost businesses a lot. In recent times, we have seen more than enough images of corporate executives being carted off in handcuffs. But that is not all about the devastating effects of corporate moral dysfunction. Ethical business practices also play a big part in corporate success. Remember those consumers who hesitate to buy from unethical ones, and they don't hesitate to make their displeasure public and speak negatively about the company to others. Of course, it is possible to get ahead without business ethics -everyone knows powerful executives who have done well without holding on to a scintilla of morality; but long-term business success is ultimately not sustainable if one neglects morality in business.