Introduction to Business Ethics - Definition, Principles, Importance

Define business ethics.

Business ethics in business realm are the moral values and righteousness which helps in making important decisions and to operate the organization in an appropriate way, with consideration to its culture. These are the believes, values and behaviors of the members of the firm to, along with corporate social responsibility, trying to bring greater good the firm as well as it's stakeholders.

What is the importance of business ethics?

Business ethics are important to every organization because, they help the firm to work on a right direction, complying to moral and legal conduct, have concern about the people they serve and to good return to the investment.

What are some ethical issues that may arise in business?

There are various ethical issues an organization may face and they may arise anytime at any area of the firm. These include compromising on the integrity and honesty of the business undertaking to fetch maximum revenue and increase the profitability. Another issue can be in the forms of employees discrimination, and not treating event member with equity. This might involve illegal business affairs, poor health and safety norms, and ineffective leadership that doesn't value ethical conduct. Etc.

How can businesses promote ethical behavior by employees?

Business can promote Ethical behaviors by employees with a strong policy guidelines that are backed up by ethical values and are to be included in every work procedures and affairs. Every manager or leader along with top management need to stay ethically strong and set examples so that employees value it and follows it. Employees can be trained to behave ethically and adapt to right actions and stay integrated. They must be provided with right atmosphere, effective leadership and concern so that they will be honest and also work with loyalty.

Explain the advantages of business ethics.

The advantages of business ethics are as follows:

• Business ethics provides a competitive advantage for companies. It built consumers trust in the their ethical brands through which consumers become and remain loyal to their favorite brands.
• It helps in creating positive working environment and boost their good employees which in turn helps in retaining those employees.
• It helps employees to act as team player and teaches them that they should be honest about their experience in work and their capabilities.

What do you think management's role should be in setting ethical standards?

Management's role in setting ethical standards are as follows:

• Top management draft ethical standards for the organization and enforce them to be maintained from top to bottom hierarchy in the management.
• In order to succeed in long-term and to make successful ethical standards, managers need to consider its customers, co-workers and company in which he or she operates.

What is social responsibility?

Social responsibility can be described as an ethical framework that has an obligation to work for the society for their benefit at a large extent. It is a duty that every individual needs to perform in order to maintain between ecosystem and economy.

What responsibilities do corporations have to their stakeholders?

The responsibilities that corporations have to their stakeholders are as follows:

Stakeholder engagement is the primary responsibility of the corporation towards their stakeholders. As stakeholders helps in guiding the leaders of the company by giving them information regarding public awareness, regulatory issues and business development.

Explain and define the ethical theory known as utilitarianism.

Utilitarianism is a moral philosophy that promotes activities that bring happiness or pleasure while opposing actions that bring misery or harm. A utilitarian ideology would aim for the welfare of society as a whole while making social, economic, or political decisions. According to utilitarianism, an activity is justified if it leads to the happiness of the largest number of people in a community or group. According to utilitarianism, an action is right if it contributes to create happiness and wrong if it tends to produce sadness, or the opposite of happiness, not just for the actor but for everyone impacted.

Utilitarianism's Three Generally Accepted Axioms state that - 

• The only thing that has inherent value is pleasure or happiness.
• When actions lead to happiness, they are correct; when they lead to despair, they are erroneous
• The happiness of everyone is equally vital.

Although utilitarianism is unquestionably a rational approach to defining good and wrong, it is not without flaws. One of utilitarianism's flaws is that it tends to establish a black-and-white morality.

Utilitarianism can't say if the effects of our acts will be beneficial or negative with any confidence.

Justice and individual rights are similarly difficult to account for under utilitarianism. Let's imagine a hospital has four people who need on organ transplants to save their lives: a heart, lungs, kidney, and liver.

Explain utilitarian application in business with reference to cost-benefit analysis.

Cost-benefit analysis is regularly perceived to be personally associated with utilitarianism and contrary with other moral hypotheses, especially those that attention on deontological ideas like rights. One illustration of utilitarianism in business is the act of having layered evaluating for an item or administration to various kinds of clients. For instance, the carrier business offers top notch, business class and economy class seats on a significant number of their planes. Cost-benefit analysis (CBA) = the view that social approaches ought to be orchestrated to amplify the proportion of benefits to costs, when the entirety of the benefits and costs are estimated in financial terms.

Expecting that the entirety of the significant benefits and costs can be estimated in monetary terms, CBA operationalizes utilitarianism. By the utilitarians' cost-benefit computation, it would be ethically off-base for the man to stand up. Another model: two extremely dear companions are on an Arctic endeavor together. One of them falls extremely wiped out in the snow and unpleasant cold, and sinks rapidly prior to anything should be possible to help him. Productivity as measured and advanced by cost-viability analysis here and there clashes with value and other moral qualities, for example, the "rule of salvage" or rights-based moral qualities. We depict the utilitarian establishments of cost-viability analysis and contrast it and option moral standards. We find that while unsteady, utilitarianism is normally better than the other options. This is fundamentally on the grounds that proficiency – the boost of medical advantages under a spending imperative – is itself a significant moral worth. Other moral edges might be unimportant, inconsistent with one another, or have inadmissible ramifications. One illustration of utilitarianism in business is the act of having layered estimating for an item or administration to various sorts of clients. For instance, the carrier business offers five star, business class and economy class seats on a considerable lot of their planes.