Business ethics are a side of ethics that play into the business world. When developing your business structure, it is key to know where your business stands on issues that may arise and how you want your business portrayed to the public. Since the turn of the 21st century, businesses have become more conscience players in the economy and are being held more accountable for their actions. One of the prime examples of this is the “green movement” and consumers willing to pay a little more to support an ethically moral business model.
You don’t have to be a green company to make yourself known that you keep employees and yourself morally responsible. Business ethics come into play on a much larger scale once you start hiring employees as well. It’s easy for you to know where you stand but every employee is now a face and personality that represents your brand to the public. It is imperative to have your ethics lined out, usually in some form of employee handbook, so that everyone can be on the same page.
If you lay out what is considered to be unethical or unmoral to your company, you will have a business ethics code to hold your employees by. If you were a green company like one that was mentioned earlier, you may find it unethical to use anything but energy efficient light bulbs in your office. It sounds bizarre but being that you’ve created an environmentally friendly company, it’s not farfetched. Unless you spell that out, though, there’s no way for the person whose responsibility it is to order light bulbs to know it was unacceptable.
The biggest issue is that your business will gain a reputation just by being in business. It’s how you decide your company makes money and to what extent you are willing to take it to that the issue of business ethics is raised. Ethics come into play in almost every aspect of business from wages paid to products sold. If you own a retail shop, you should determine the ethics behind the companies of the products you carry. Huge multi-million dollar companies have been fined countless times for unethical business practices as well as small businesses losing customers because they gain a bad reputation in the area in which they work. Identifying early on what is acceptable and where the line is drawn ethically for your company can help build a positive relationship with your community.
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