Is Business Ethics An Oxymoron?

From the normal average person, business ethics sounds like fairytale concept with limited relevance to the real world. The practice of business is to buy cheap and sell at expensive price and will not bother in some instances whether the cheap price obtained or the selling price is ethical or not. From the pace, scale and complexity of modern business has forced a change in how business is done. While it is accepted, it is foolish to do business with someone who is cannot be trusted. A question arise when whether you can trust someone who is not ethical in all of their behaviour. Trust is built on expectations of truth in words and consistency in behaviour. It is impossible to do profitable business with someone who says one things in one day and does something different the next day. There is also exposure to a legal penalties. Companies involved in international trade have to represent their products to potential or current clients based on their expected inputs by the suppliers. A company that is involved in illegal activities, or in knowingly falsifies the information on inputs supplied can create serious problems for its business partners. Another issue challenging the practice of good business ethics is the values which employees bring to the work environment. It had been an issue for over the past years. The effect of low ethical work will results in low productivity owed to high levels of absenteeism, theft and acceptance of bribe taking. A company that wishes to be efficient and competitive in the future cannot accept this state of affairs. So, they need to follow a few ethical behaviour to support their company and also achieve their company mission and vision. These were the several ethical behaviour :

Enhanced Reputation and Goodwill
-  A reputation for integrity is important for securing the loyalty of customers, for recruiting and training the best staff, for winning community acceptance and accessing bank and also supplier credit.

Risk reduction
- The process of developing a business ethics program involves the company in identifying and assessing the factors that could pose risks to reputation and financial performance, and developing and implementing the business processes that reduce those risks.

Reduced costs
- Providing employees with clear guidelines of how to conduct day to day business such as where and when to obtain quotations, how to carry out tenders, how to conclude contracts and how to avoid conflicts of interest can reduce transaction costs and improve the supply chain function.

Protection from Unethical Employees
- A program would include clear guidance in respect of the misappropriation and unauthorised use of company resources, and the consequences that could flow from violations, information that employees with undeveloped values may not fully appreciate.

So I believes that the implementation of a formal business ethics program can contribute to an improved culture at a company, and improved overall performance. Ethics in business should not be taken lightly and we believe that such a programme is well worth practising for the growth and development of business.


Your Writer,
Akeem Mohamad