Business Ethics

6 Pages 1458 Words

How to behave towards oneself and toward other individuals is a matter of making choices: whether to be friendly or unfriendly, whether to tell the truth or lie, whether to be generous or greedy, whether to study in order to pass an exam or to spend valuable study time watching television and cheat to pass it. These, and all other questions about how people act towards themselves and one another are dealt with in a field of study called ethics.
Another name for ethics is morality. Because both words suggest customary ways of behavior, they are somewhat misleading. It has to do with what should or should not be done. Divide practical wisdom into two parts: moral philosophy and political philosophy. They are defined together as a "true reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man"(Drucker, 1996). One area of the problem is business organizations. They are plagued by the fact that there are liars, cheats and thieves among them. Liars, cheats, and thieves are not new, nor are they likely to disappear. People will do anything to get what they want. This is why there is a lack of ethics.
The word ethics is derived from the Greek ethos, meaning "character," the pattern of behavior or personality found in an individual or group, moral constitution, moral strength, self discipline, and fortitude(Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia). Business ethics refers to what is right or wrong, good or bad, human behavior. The concept of business ethics is "being able to look at your face in the mirror"(Drucker, 1996). Ethics is a code of conduct and values that is accepted by society as being right and proper. The code of ethics is simply a compilation of the rules that are meant to govern the conduct of members of a particular organization or profession. Moral and political philosophy are the true and reasoned state of capacity to act with regard to the things that are good or bad for man. ...