ETHICS IN BUSINESS

The Importance of Ethics  Individual  Personal sense of right and wrong in order to make good decisions  Helps employees gain the trust of the people with whom they work  Company  Businesses develop ethics to help them determine how to behave  These ethics reflect a company’s belief about what actions are appropriate and fair among people  Helps businesses gain the trust of customers, suppliers, and others  Profession  Outlines professional responsibilities, values, standards, and rules of behavior

Dealing with Ethical Dilemmas  Ethical dilemmas are situations in which the ethical course of action is not clear  Having a code of ethics and a personal sense of what is right and wrong can help business managers choose the right course of action.

Solving Ethical Dilemmas 1. Have you defined the problem accurately? 2. Whom could your decision or action injure? Can you discuss the problem with the affected parties before you make your decision? 3. How would you define the problem if you stood on the other side of the fence? 4. Are you confident that your position will be as valid over a long period of time as it seems now? 5. Could you disclose without qualm your decision or action to your boss, your CEO, the board of directors, your family, and society as a whole?

Code of Ethics  Code of ethics is a document that outlines the principles of conduct to be used in making decisions within the business organization  Some of the areas they cover are: Honesty Adherence to the law Health and safety in the workplaceConflicts of interest Selling and marketing practicesSecurity Political ActivitiesProtection of the environment Product safety and qualityEmployment practices

Code of Ethics (cont)  Does merely having a code of ethics prevent unethical behavior?  NO! To be effective, it must be enforced!  It is very important that companies discipline employees who violate their codes of ethics  Nike Code of Conduct for Contract Factories Nike Code of Conduct for Contract Factories