Values and ethics in simple words mean principle or code of conduct that govern transactions: in this case business transaction. These ethics are meant to analyze problems that come up in day to day course of business operations. Apart from this it also applies to individuals who work in organisations, their conduct and to the organizations as a whole.
We live in an era of cut throat competition and competition breeds enmity. This enmity reflects in business operations, code of conduct. Business houses with deeper pockets crush small operators and markets are monopolized. In such a scenario certain standards are required to govern how organizations go about their business operations, these standards are called ethics.
Ethics –Greek word “Ethos”- which means systematic endeavour to understand morals concept and justify moral principles and theories. Moral – Latin word “mores” which is closer to the idea of custom or actual practices
Business ethics is a wider term that includes many other sub ethics that are relevant to the respective field. For example there is marketing ethics for marketing, ethics in HR for Human resource department and the like. Business ethics in itself is a part of applied ethics; the latter takes care of ethical questions in the technical, social, legal and business ethics.
Origin of Business Ethics
When we trace the origin of business ethics we start with a period where profit maximization was seen as the only purpose of existence for a business. There was no consideration whatsoever for non-economic values, be it the people who worked with organizations or the society that allowed the business to flourish. It was only in late 1980’s and 1990’s that both intelligentsia and the academics as well as the corporate began to show interest in the same.
Nowadays almost all organizations lay due emphasis on their responsibilities towards the society and the nature and they call it by different names like corporate social