BUSINESS ETHICS

Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

Ethics are important in any business

organizations. Discuss

1 ASSIGNMENT OBJECTIVES
The objectives of this assignment are to carry forth a discussion of what
Ethics is in the world of business and business organizations and its
importance to these business organizations.
Throughout this paper, I will elaborate on Ethics, what are Business
Ethics, the Functionalities of Ethics within a Business Organization, the
Advantages How efficiently any business firm can operate with the
implementations of Ethics and Disadvantages Which are the downsides to Ethics in business firms and lastly; how a business firm will be,
without Ethics.

2 INTRODUCTION
2.1

What Ethics is NOT?

When one is asked what ethics is, he or she will say; that it is following
the letter of a governed law, while others say that their ethics is tied to
their religious beliefs, some might say that ethics is following the
behaviours and examples of their own societies and what their societies
accept and some would go to the length of tying their ethics to what their
heart tell them whether theyre actions is right or wrong and some of
these people, do not event truly know what ethics really means.
In this section of the assignment, I will clarify what Ethics is most
certainly not. Firstly, ethics is not following ones emotions, because
emotions are not even relevant to the principles of ethics. This is
because feelings can make individuals recoil from doing what is right
and feelings can also confuse an individual from knowing if the action is
wrong. It is in fact that feelings frequently deviate from actual ethics.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

Secondly, ethics is also not following the letter of the law. This is
because even law has ethical standards in which most citizens will abide
by. And just like feelings or emotions, law can also deviate from ethics.
Other than following emotions and following the letter of the law, another
factor that distracts us from the actual meaning of ethics is to identify
ethics with religion. It still does not justify the fact that, if ethics were
confined to religion, this would mean that, these ethics are tied to
religious people only. And why does this deviate us from the true
meaning of ethics? It is because ethics can be applied to anyone
from the behaviours of an atheist to even the behaviours of a devout
religious individual. In other words, religion can always set high ethical
standards and can provide him or her intense motivations for ethical
behaviour, but ethics still cant be confined to religion, nor is ethics the
same as religion. Therefore making Ethics and Religion two separate
entities.
Lastly, ethics is not following the lines of what societies can accept.
This is because in any society, a majority of people would accept the
ethical standards as they already are, because they are ethical. But then
the standards that have been set by societies can morally deviate itself
from what is ethical. And if being ethical is to follow the needs and wants
and the acceptance of the society, what will happen is that an individual
would have to go through the lengths of finding out just what it is that the
society can accept.
For instance, if I were to decide on whether I should do an abortion, I
would have to construct a survey for Brunei Darussalams society and
then will analyze and confirm what Bruneis society accepts, even when
this abortion has nothing to do with them and this abortion problem is not
the problem of the society but it is of my own. And truthfully, no one
would go through great lengths to make a concrete decision. Some
people may accept and agree to an abortion, while some would not.
Another good example of why following through to what societies want
are different in nature is ; Nazi Germany - standards of behaviours that
this society has set had deviated from what is ethical and it has made an
entire society corrupt. And if being ethical meant that we are to do what
our societies accept, we would have to find an agreement on issues
which do not, in fact, exits.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

2.2

What Ethics IS?

I have already established on entities that deviate from the actual

meaning of ethics. Therefore, we now ask ourselves, what then is
ethics? - Generally, ethics has been divided into two separate things,
first and foremost, ethics refers to the founded standards of right and
wrong that determines what human beings are to do. This is usually in
the terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness and equality
or specific virtues. Ethics, for instance can refer to standards that impose
reasonable obligations to prohibit actions such as rape, stealing, murder,
assault, slander and fraud. Ethics also includes the standard of
individuals who prefer virtues of honesty, compassion and loyalty.
Other than prohibiting harmful actions as well as supporting good virtues
for individuals, ethics is also responsible for its relation with rights; such
rights include the rights to live (or rights of life), the right to freedom from
any injury and of course the rights to ones privacy. Such standards as
mentioned are the adequate and are proper standards of ethics because
they are supported by consistent and well-founded reasons and also
because the issues that had led to these rights do, in fact, exist.
Secondly, ethics is also referred to the study and the development of an
individuals ethical standards. As it had been mentioned in the previous
section of What Ethics is NOT we know that feelings, laws, and social
norms can lead us astray from ethics, which makes it a necessity to
consistently monitor ones standards. Keeping a close watch on ones
standards ensures that ones reasons are reasonable and well-founded.
This also means that the constant effort in the studies of our own moral
beliefs and our moral conducts, and not to forget our continuous strive to
ensure that we live up to the standards that are reasonable and solidlybased.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

2.3 Types of Ethics

In this section, I shall explain in brief - the three types of ethics that have
been studied from back then and still studied now. The different ethics
are shown as, below:
2.3.1 Metaeithcs
One from the three types of ethics is called Metaethics
(Pronounced: Metaethics). The word Meta means after or
beyond, which consequently makes this ethic all about the entire
birds-eye-view of ethics. The study of Metaethics involves the
study of origins and meanings behind ethical concepts. The issues
that metaethics address to, are: (1) Metaphysical issues; which
concerns the morality that a human being possesses
independently and (2) Psychological issues; that underlines a
humans mentality on moral judgements and conduct.
2.3.2 Normative Ethics
The second form of ethics is Normative Ethics. Normative ethics
refers to the standards of what is right and what is wrong, or in
other words, it is a search for an ideal behaviour. The most obvious
and golden of rules is We should do to others what we want
others to do to us For instance, I dont want my Bag to be stolen
from me, so why should I want to steal a bag that belongs to
another.
The key assumption to this type of ethics is that there is only one
ultimate condition of moral conducts, whether it is a single rule or a
set of principles the three are: (1) Virtue theories; which
emphasizes on moral education since virtuous character traits are
developed in one's youth. Adults, therefore, are responsible for
instilling virtues in the young. Examples of virtuous traits are:
wisdom, courage, temperance and justice. Another theory is (2)
Duty theories; which are theories derived from specific and
foundational principles of obligations. Examples of duties are
duties such as; Caring for your own children - knowing that it is
wrong to not care about ones children, even if it means that one
can financially save more, duties unto others which are
universally binding from one being to another and conditional
duties . And lastly (3) Consequential theories, which refers to our
moral responsibility by weighing the consequences of our actions.

2.3.3 Applied Ethics

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

Applied ethics, are roots of ethics that contain the analysis of

specific and controversial issues such as; animal rights or even
abortion. Throughout the years, applied ethics has subdivided into
Medical Ethics, Business Ethics, Environmental Ethics, and Sexual
Ethics. In a nutshell, for any issue that deserves to be classified as
applied ethics must be a distinct moral issue. The distinct moral
issues by contrast, are also tied to a universal obligatory practice
such as our duty to avoid lying.

3 CONTENTS
3.1

What is Business Ethics?

Business Ethics is classified under Applied Ethics, as mentioned above.

Now, business ethics can vary from one business organization to the
other. Business ethics are the moral principles that can guide the way a
business behaves or function or operate. These functions help
individuals within the organization to base their decisions on a
companys stated beliefs and practices within its industry.
The six characteristics of business ethics are, as follows:

Leadership

For a business to be ethical, a leader must show examples of such

moral ethical actions in any given situation. A successful leader is
a leader who can choose the correct path will have successfully
created an ethical culture in the business.

Values

An ethical business has a core value. This value can be described

as an organizations goals, missions or ambitions. The value is first
created, then implemented by informing all the representatives of a
business organization and lastly, making sure that they follow the
created value. Following this value can provide a code of conduct
that supports the organizations goals, mission or ambitions and
ultimately, the code of conduct will be the guidelines or each
employee to follow as he or she carries out organizational values.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

Integrity

Integrity is one of the important directions of ethical business that

obligates to all laws and regulations and the fair treatment and
towards employees as well as fair dealings or transactions towards
customers and vendors especially when it comes to competitive
pricing, timely payments and the highest quality standard of
producing a product or service.

Respect

This is when Respect and Ethics come hand in hand to ensure the
possibilities of an ethical business practise. The ethics in business
portrays respect for employees by valuing opinions and treating
each employee equally. And the business respects its customer by
listening to their feedback and indentifying their needs and wants.
And ultimately, respects its community by being environmentally
responsible, showing concerns (e.g.: caring and being involved
with Charity, assisting educational institutions and making
donations towards Orphanages) and giving back

Loyalty

Solid relationships can be described as a Nobel Prize for ethical

business practices. This is because loyal relationships produces
benefits for both parties either managerial or subordinate. For
instance, an employee who is working under a loyal employer
would maintain this relationship and will work harder to sustain and
prolong it. While vendors and customers will remain loyal to a
business that is reliable and dependable in all situations. And
lastly, an ethical business stays loyal to partnerships even when
threading through rough waters and shall result to an even more
stronger relationship when they have emerged successfully from it.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

Concern

An ethical business organization cares about everything that has a

impact on how it successfully operates or run. This includes
customers, employees, vendors and the public. Every business
decision that is made is based on the effects it may have on one of
the groups of people or the environment that surrounds them.

Thus, making these six characteristics an important contribution to

enabling the success of a business organization. Due to its constant
practice of business ethics.

3.2

Importance of Ethics in Business Organizations

In conjunctions with the succession of any business organization, it is

important to realize the power of what ethics has on all business
organizations within any business in its industry.
Business ethics is important because it is responsible for the
commitment of employees to their employer, the confidence and loyalty
of an investor or consumer, legal problems and penalties in regards to
the business, the satisfaction of consumers, the ability for an
organization to build relationships with stakeholder, the ability for const
control; which is to minimize production costs but maximizing revenue
and lastly, to ability for an organization to uphold a good reputation and
image throughout the operation of the business.
We all know that the Golden Rule is that business morality should cater
from top to bottom levels as well as all its stakeholders. Here are two
factors that highlights the importance of ethics and they are, as follows:
Long-term Growth and Sustainability
For a business organization to grow and sustain, it must realize that
earning large profits is not just the go-to-goal anymore. As a
business organization, we need to re-evaluate our endless search for
larger profits as larger risks will follow. For instance, the financial
crisis which had begun since 2008 is one of the obvious and most
painful evidence of searching for larger profits.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

More and more organizations realize that focusing on long-term

missions is far beneficiary then of short-term missions. Its leaders
should know that the only way to change or avoid those risks are to
recognize the importance of business ethics and the thriving need to
change towards a more suitable and sustainable model of growth.

The Reduction of Risks and Costs

For any business organization, the reduction of risks and costs are
very important. As this would help an organization to avoid; failed
business transactions, bankruptcy, liquidation or even victimized by
being black-listed in the industry and the eyes of the public. The
reduction of these risks and cost also pay tribute to the long growth
and sustainability of an organization.

Public Image
Another factor that highlights the importance of business ethics is an
organizations public image. Each organization has a particular image
that represents they way in which the public views them. For
instance, Company As public image is terrible, yet Company Bs
image is substantially positive. And these images are the result of a
number of different things, but they are primarily related to the
characteristics of business ethics (as stated in sub-section 3.1, under
section 3)
Since the public image is a reflection of an organizations behaviour,
ethics plays a large role in determining public image as ethics has
determine the behaviours of an organization. And public image is
important to the success of any organization which leads us back to
the reasons as to why business ethics are important to a companys
overall success.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

Investment
Other than an organizations public image, another highlight of the
importance of business ethics is Investment. This is because when a
person or any entity is considering to invest in a particular stock, there
are other things to take into account. Aside from the quantitative
factors surrounding the organizations profits and future prospects,
considerations are also given to the qualitative point of views, such as
public image and the products being sold before and investor makes
his or her final decision.
Therefore, a company should encourage and attract more investors
by having a higher and strong sense of business ethics. This is
because business ethics is responsible for catering to an
organizations investors and for that reason, catering to investors will
maximize the organizations reputation in the field of ethical business
practices and behaviour and in return, will attract more investors. In
the end, highlighting the importance of ethical business to a
companys success.

Partnerships
Another milestone that is possible for any business organization to
achieve are Partnerships. In the business world, joining ventures with
another company happens all the time, just like Sony and Ericsson =
Sony Ericsson , who are the manufacturers of the various model of
hand phones and smart phones. And if an organization wants to join
ventures, then the organization must have reliable and loyal partners
and how does an organization make good partnerships? an
organization can make good partnerships by having a good
reputation in terms of both track records and in terms of the
performance of the business. Overall, having a strong sense of
ethical business and implementing them thought day-to-day
operations will elevate the organization in having more chances with
partnership deals or joint ventures.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

3.3

The Advantages of Ethics in Business Organizations and the

Disadvantages of Ethics in Business Organizations

In the next section of this assignment, I will share what the advantages
and disadvantages of the implementation of business ethics in business
organizations are.

Advantages
of
Ethics
Business Organizations

in Disadvantages of Ethics in
Business Organizations
It is COSTLY, due to the
Increased KNOWLEDGE of what is development, implementation and
good (and bad).
maintenance of applying business
Established TRUST among the ethics.
participants
It is also TIME CONSUMING,
Reduced RISK because the more because of the planning and the
we know the more we can avoid re-evaluation of the organizations
doing the wrong thing.
ethical values.
The LACK in management support
Improved
PRIORITIZATION of following business ethics will
because we know how to choose contribute to an organizations
rightly among competing goods.
spiral in just focusing on the
quantitative factors.
Increased PROFIT. A business has
an ethical imperative to make
money. How we make money
affects our reputation and the good
will on the balance sheet of our
business.
ELIMINATING
occupational
disease with the implementation of
managerial
order
and
the
characteristics of business ethics.
AVOIDS criminal acts and fines.
Helps an organization PROMOTES
a strong and positive public image.
Part of implementing the business

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

ethics program is that it ENSURES

insurance policies, to protect all
individuals that contribute to an
organizations success.

4 CONCLUSION
To conclude this whole assignment, I have already made my
clarifications and answers towards what the true meaning of ethics is,
the various kinds of ethics, the definitions of business ethics, the
importance of business ethics and the advantages and disadvantages of
business ethics.
And what I have learnt from the beginning of this assignment thought till
this very end is that. Ethics is a part of the everyday life of the living as
well as any organizations and not just business organizations. And from
the scales of the advantages and disadvantages, it is evident that the
advantages of implementing business ethics practices within
organizations outweighs the disadvantages and reasons to not follow
business ethics.
And if I were to own a business, I will personally choose to follow the
codes and conducts of ethics because of my own ethics which inhibits
me to do so. Following proper business ethics, will not get me into any
financial, criminal or organizational troubles, which will lead to my
organization operating smoothly and legally. And this smooth operation
will in turn, enhances the chance for my organization to grow and sustain
for as long as my business should. And furthermore, the fact that I have
followed and implemented business ethics and its codes of conduct will
be seen by my vendors, consumers and investors because of the
positive image my organization has portrayed towards the public which
also makes my organization more desirable to investors, hence more
profit too. Just like all organizations, I want my company to be successful
too.
And for more information of the types of ethics, the references are
shown in Bibliography Section.

BUSINESS ETHICS
Individual Assignment by Norhuda Binti Mohd. Mohsin

5 BIBLIOGRAPHY
Manuel Velasquez, Claire Andre, Thomas Shanks, S.J., and Michael J.
Meyer.
(2010). What
is
Ethics?. Available
[ONLINE]
at:
http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html.
Last
accessed 8th January 2015.
James
Fieser.
(2010). Ethics. Available
[ONLINE]
at:
http://www.iep.utm.edu/ethics/#H2. Last accessed 8th January 2015.
Cindy
Phillips.
(2007). Six
Characteristics
of
an
Ethical
Business.Available [ONLINE] at: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/sixcharacteristics-ethical-business-22401.html. Last accessed 8th January
2015.
Syed Arslan. (2013). Importance of Business Ethics. Available [ONLINE]
at: http://www.slideshare.net/SyedArslan/importance-ofbusinessethics.
Last accessed 8th January 2015.
Dhananjaya Parkhe. (2013). Top 10 Benefits of Business Ethics
Program. Available: https://csuitementor.wordpress.com/2013/01/30/top10-benefits-of-business-ethics-program/. Last accessed 8th January
2015.