Business ethics
Introduction
Business ethics (sometimes called corporate ethics or business ethics) is a type of applied ethics or professional ethics that analyzes the ethical and moral principles that apply in the business world. It includes all aspects of business conduct and is relevant to the individual behaviors of people as well as that of organizations as a whole.[1] Organizations are part of the social fabric in which they operate, so their behavior within the framework of their relationship with society is of great importance and should be analyzed.[2].
The field of business ethics has normative "Norm (philosophy)") and descriptive dimensions. As a corporate specialty and area of expertise, the field is primarily normative. Scholars attempting to understand and analyze business behavior employ descriptive methods. The range and number of ethical issues in the business world reflect the interaction of profit-maximizing behaviors with non-economic concerns.
Interest in business ethics grew greatly during the 1980s and 1990s, both within corporations and in academia. For example, at the beginning of the century most large corporations promoted their commitment to non-economic values under elements such as ethical codes and social responsibility commitments.
Adam Smith said, "People in the same line of business rarely get together, even for celebration or fun, but when they do the conversation ends in a conspiracy against the public, or in some agreement to raise prices.")"[3] Governments use laws and regulations to identify business behavior that they consider to be beneficial directives. Ethics implicitly regulate areas and details of behavior that are outside the scope of government control.[4] The emergence of large companies or corporations with limited relationships and little sensitivity to the communities in which they operate, has accelerated the development of formal ethical regimes.[5].
History
Business ethical standards reflect the standards of each historical period. As time passes, norms evolve, causing behaviors that were previously acceptable to become questioned, if not rejected. Business ethics and the resulting behavior of companies also evolve in parallel. For example, companies have historically been involved in slavery,[6][7][8] colonialism,[9][10][11] and the Cold War.
The term "business ethics" came into common use in the United States in the early 1970s. By the mid-1980s, at least 500 business ethics courses reached 40,000 students, using about twenty textbooks and at least ten case books supported by professional associations, centers, and business ethics journals. The Society for Business Ethics was founded in 1980. European business schools adopted business ethics beginning in 1987 with the European Business Ethics Network (EBEN). In 1982, the first single-author books in the field appeared.[12][13][14][15][16].