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The Role of Ethics in Tomorrow's Society

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The Role of Ethics in Tomorrow's Society
The Role of "Ethics" in Tomorrow 's Society

by

Abia Bassey Edet

Abstract

Ethics pervades business decision making in all spheres of production, finance, marketing and distribution, and customer relations. The operational challenge is therefore the extent to which business decision-makers incorporate ethical standards openly into their business strategy, business management processes, and the creation of an environment in which ethical codes are practiced by “commission” as opposed to such codes being violated by “omission”.

Companies today live in a pressure of expectations, personal and organizational, and often financial. At the same time it is clear that there are persistent concerns about corporate ethics that raise important questions about whether there is a sufficient commitment to ethical decision-making and, frequently, a cynicism that there is not. This article explores ways to strengthen and assure a high standard of ethical conduct, and the role of leaders in making this happen.

. In this paper, we are exploring ethics beyond compliance programs, ethics training, codes of conduct, values statements, and company policy. I will use these as important contributors to an ethical environment, but my focus is the likely role of "ethics" in tomorrow 's society from a business perspective and the everyday life of the organization where our values rub up against reality.

INTRODUCTION TO BUSINESS ETHICS

Business ethics (also known as corporate ethics) is a form of applied ethics or professional ethics that examines ethical principles and moral or ethical problems that arise in a business environment. It applies to all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the conduct of individuals and business organizations as a whole. Applied ethics is a field of ethics that deals with ethical questions in many fields such as medical, technical, legal and business ethics.

Business ethics can be both a normative and a descriptive discipline.



References: 1. Issues in Ethics, IIE V1 N1 (Fall 1987) Revised 201 2. Smith, A (1776/ 1952); An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press:55 3. Berle, A. A., & Means, G. C. ([1932]2003); The Modern Corporation and Private Property. New Jersey: Transaction Publishers 4. Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J. Meyer; What is Ethics? Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University 5. Smith, A (1776/ 1952); An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press: Page. 55 6. Jack Gilbert, Ed. D; The Role of Ethics and Personal Integrity in Organizations. New Page Consulting, Inc. 1155 Camino Del Mar #402, Del Mar, CA 9201 7. Sahakian, William S. & Sahakian, Mabel Lewis; Ideas of the Great Philosophers. pp 32-33. Barnes & Noble Books (1993). ISBN 9781566192712 8. ethics@scu.edu 9. Borgerson, J. L. and J. E. Schroeder (2008); Building an Ethics of Visual Representation: Contesting Epistemic Closure in Marketing Communication

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