Ethics in Business are an Optional Extra - Essay Example

ing even in corrupt practices they justified by reasoning along the lines of cultural relativism and the need for practical thinking, they believed that they were acting ethically even if their actions had unethical effects, such as promoting slave labour conditions. Increasing pressures from stakeholders are changing the behaviour of businesses, making those who manage them more aware of the need to follow higher standards of business ethics. Five different forces were identified as the sources of these pressures that are slowly but surely convincing businesses that the practice of social responsibility has become necessary.

A key factor in this change of attitude is the experience that practising business ethics can help the firm achieve its purpose of earning profits whilst meeting the needs of its stakeholders. Another factor is that as more firms engaged in unethical business practices, whatever advantages they may have derived from doing so have become counterproductive, leading to serious threats to business survival. The paper concludes with the argument that ethics in business is in the process of being transformed from an “optional extra” to a “must-respond issue” that is necessary for the firm’s sustainability and competitiveness.

This paper is a discussion of ethical practice in business. Starting with a description of business ethics and its important role in society, the discussion proceeds to the key issues related to the practice of ethics by business organisations. Examples are cited why business ethics is a controversial issue and the sources of the controversy, and how these are resolved in practice. The critical discussion that follows addresses the central question as to whether ethics is important and serves the purpose of a business, or whether it is merely an optional extra that a business could do without.

The European Forum for Quality Management (EFQM, 1999) describes business ethics as a set of codes, values, and