What is Business Ethos?

Business Ethics Business ethics means how ethics can be used in conducting the business. It helps businessmen in determining the difference between the correct and incorrect and ethical and unethical activities. A set of moral standards is provided by business ethics which helps in carrying-out business ethically. Each and every person engaged in executing and administrating business is required to adhere to these moral standards.

The business environment is filled with several problems that involve ethical issues. Business ethics is a tool that helps. In solving those problems by providing ethical criteria, standards and principles. Business ethics is a type of applied ethics as it is the application of ethical values, codes and principles in the real business world. These ethical values, codes and principles help in defining the principles and preferences to be followed by the organizations.

The need for Business Ethics

• Protect Consumer Rights:- Today consumers are considered asking. All businesses should focus on fulfilling the needs of the consumers. But in actual, businessmen are busy in earning profits for themselves instead of taking care of consumer's interest. They get indulged in unethical practices like adulteration, misleading advertisements, etc. This is why the need for business ethics arises in the business world. Business ethics helps in protecting consumer rights by controlling businessmen activities and making business more consumer-focused

• .Socially Accountable:-Organizations are now exploiting employees and customers. They are making excessive and unethical use of natural resources. Business ethics is a tool to make an organisation socially answerable and accountable for its activities. It means that organisations are now required to protect consumer, society, employees and natural resources

• .Introducing Socialism:-Business ethics helps in introducing the theory of socialism in a country. In socialism, business is not the sole property of the business owner. Success and growth of any business also depend on the endeavours of many stakeholders like shareholders, employees, creditors, customers, etc. Hence, profit must be distributed among all the stakeholder's

• Protect Small-Scale Industries:-Large-scale organisations share a major portion of the market. They overshadow the small-scale industries and try to terminate them from a business. Business ethics helps smallscale industries to stand in the market by providing ethical standards and code of conduct to be followed by the small-scale industries.

• Consumer Strength:-Consumers are nowadays becoming more aware of their rights. Due to increased consumer knowledge and awareness, the need for business ethics arises among the businessmen. Organisations are expected to perform activities keeping in mind various ethical guidelines.

• Strengthening Business-Society Relationship:-Business can be connected with society in terms of several aspects like the business connection with employees, customers, creditors, shareholders, competitors and government. Business ethics helps in strengthening the connection between business and society. It builds a strong relationship by fulfilling the entire stakeholder's interest.

• Focus Shifts from Sellers to Buyers:-In the beginning, the major focus of any business was to earn the profit. Every business activity was performed based on the seller's interest. But now the focus of the business has shifted from sellers to buyers. Business activities are done not only to make a profit but also to satisfy customers.

• Benefits to Business and Society:-Business and society directly or indirectly influence each other. Business ethics is useful for business as well as to society. It helps businessmen in adopting justice, truthfulness, reliability and the human element in their actions. It guides businessmen in distinguishing among right and wrong, just and unjust and acceptable and non-acceptable actions. Not only this, but business ethics also helps in protecting consumer and employees' interest, promoting healthy competition and sustaining values and morals of society. Thus, business ethics also helps in the growth and development of society.

Ethical Concerns in Organisation

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Principles of Business Ethics

• Be Credible:-Business should be based on credibility. Business ethics explains that customers can do business with an organisation only if they have faith and confidence in the organisation. An organisation following credibility as its major principle can be easily identified by the customers. Credibility can be gained by adopting principles like justice, truth and fairness in business activities.

• Be Broad-Minded:-For the success of a company, leaders of the company should be broad-minded. They should be willing to consider the ideas of others. They should also take suggestions and feedback of consumers as well as team members so that the best idea can be implemented.

• Fulfil Liabilities:-No business can go through good times forever. There are also situations of crisis. Therefore, businessmen should try to fulfil their liabilities to regain lost customer's and creditor's faith, even in the worst business conditions as well.

• True Documentation:-One of the important principles of business ethics is documentation. Organisations reach to their customers through advertisements, pamphlets, brochures, etc. Organisations should maintain all these paper records correct, clear, concrete, concise and professional. They should also check these records periodically to ensure that they are not misunderstood by the customers.

• Involvement in Society:-Business should actively contribute to society for its betterment. For this, a business should indulge in social activities and solve social problems.

• Proper Check of Financial Statements:-Companies should make proper records of accounting and financial statements. These financial statements depict the true financial conditions of a company. These records also help in controlling unethical and unjust activities by highlighting transactions which are doubtful in nature.

• Respect Others:-Respect can be gained only by giving respect to others. Businessmen should treat everyone with humility and dignity. They must not discriminate others based on their status, power, age, religion, caste, etc.

Factors Influencing Business Ethics

• Social Institutions:-Various social institutions exist in a society like family, school, religion, government. These institutions are also linked with each other. Individuals acquire the values taught by these institutions. These institutions set norms according to which they reward or punish the actions of individuals in society. As a result of which individuals learn to adopt values from their day-to-day life experiences.

• Organisational Goals:-Ethics in business is also affected by the goals and objectives of the organisation. Companies have to make decisions to achieve their goals. These decisions can be in contradiction to the ethical values of managers. But some values like leadership, integrity, truth, knowledge, etc. can help in changing organisational goals and employee's action to achieve these goals.

• Work and Career:-One of the important factors affecting business ethics is work and career. WON the job or tasks to be performed by the individual whereas career is a systematic arrangement of me work profiles of an individual during his lifetime. Some values are associated with each and every work. Individuals are required to conform to those values.

• Superiors:-Superiors also affect the ethical values of subordinates. Subordinates are forced to do activities which are beyond the ethical boundaries. For example, superior may ask a subordinate to prepare an advertisement having a misleading message to gain profit.

• Peers and Colleagues:-Peers and colleagues are the other factors affecting ethical values of an individual. An individual cannot work alone. He has to make an informal relationship with peers and co-workers also. To remain in the group he has to follow group norms. Group norms are the standards to be followed by all group members. Therefore, it can be said that an individual's values and beliefs are influenced by the values and beliefs of his colleagues to a great extent.

• Professional Codes:-Professional codes are the codes made by the management to influence the actions of members of their organisation. For example, bodies of law professionals, company secretaries. accountants, engineers, doctors like Institute of Chartered Accountants of India (ICAD. Institute of Cost and Works Accountants of India (ICWAI), All India Management Association (AIMA), have made certain ethical codes. Not only professional bodies, but companies also formulate code to advise the employees to act ethically. These are made to show that the company takes care of the interest of employees, consumers, and society. Codes are generally made regarding policies of companies like fair recruitment and wage policy.