Business Ethics in the Next 20 Years

In the current essay there is the brief analysis of the most important ethical issue that the world will face in the next 20 years. From point of view of theoretical approach it is rather important to define the area of business ethics and to describe the current situation of the ethical aspects in business, its meaning in the society and the ways of improving. The issue of business ethics is of contradictory nature; thereby it can be argued and discussed from different points of view.

Thus the first issue represented for the analysis of the issue of business ethics is the business ethics itself. Some people doubt about the existence of the business ethics at all (Malachowski, 2001, p.36), because it is strange that there is ethics in business sphere of our life. Those people who are involved in all the filthy things would probably understand what is meant.

For those who do not understand the vague hints here comes an explanation: “Various scandals concerning undesirable business activities, such as the despoiling of rivers with industrial pollutants, the exploitation of sweatshop workers, the payment of bribes to government officials, and the deception of unwary customers have highlighted the unethical way in which some firms have gone about their business” (Crane, 2007, p.4).

Different authors that have written some guidelines on the issue of business ethics suggest their own opinion on it; whereas the subject of business ethics concerns the moral principles of firms of different forms of ownership and the ways these moral principles are included into the companies’ policies. As stated by Jennings (2008, p.73) the moral aspects of behavior have individual approach and are substituted by people, “moral standards are canons of personal behavior that are neither legislated nor changed by legislation” (Jennings, 2008, p.73).

Another aspect of business ethics concerns the social mission, which is “a commitment by the organization to give back to their community and external stakeholders who make the organization’s existence possible” (Weiss, 2008, p.281). Thus the business ethics is not only the issue of the relations and influence of company on the external links and individuals, such as environment and government officials; but it also is the subject of the company maintenance, the interrelations between the employees.

One of the most important ethical issues that the world will face in the next 20 years is mainly the issues of moral behavior, because the competition between the companies is the result of the actions of the company’s employees. The common workers are responsible for some range of operations and actions but their activity is stipulated by the company’s policy. Thus when the companies’ authorities and managerial employees change their position towards the external links and the methods of achieving goals, the business ethics will not be considered an oxymoron anymore.

The issue of business ethics is an extremely contradictory notion; it can be influenced and changed according to the decisions of the heads of companies. The business ethics concerns more the moral principles of people which are implemented through the actions of the company: the company’s policy on the issue of environment, the wages paid to the employees and the principles of payments; the methods of competition with other companies working in the same sphere, and other issues which can influence the moral aspect. The most important issue of business ethics depends on the attitude of people to different social, political and national policies of the country.

Bibliography

Crane, Andrew & Matten D., 2007. Business ethics: managing corporate citizenship and sustainability in the age of globalization. 2^nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press.

Jennings, Marianne M., 2008. Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings. 6^th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning.

Malachowski, Alan R., 2001. Business ethics: critical perspectives on business and management. 1^st ed. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Weiss, Joseph W., 2008. Business Ethics: A Stakeholder and Issues Management Approach. 5^th ed. Mason: Cengage Learning.