Organisational and Business Ethics

Doing Good Business

No one can deny that the business world continues to evolve, and therefore the individuals involved must also be capable of adapting to the changes. There are many forces for change acting on Businesses such as technology, legislation, economics, politics and social changes. This is a time of rising expectations of Businesses and of falling trust in institutions. All of this must be taken into account when considering how decisions are made in your Business. Business Ethics is very much a part of the change and looks at the consequences of Business and organisational activities.

Business Ethicists ask, “What is right or wrong, good or bad, harmful or beneficial related to the decisions and activities associated with businesses and organisations?” Business Ethics looks at how these activities interact with society and provides a way of balancing the right to trade whilst bearing in mind the duties to act responsibly. Business Ethics also encompasses ways of highlighting potential misconduct and encouraging ethical behaviour whilst maintaining integrity.

Generally speaking Business Ethics can be defined as the methods, principles and processes a business or organisation brings to bear on:

Compliance to legislation
Compliance to regulatory and professional standards
Compliance to company standards
Keeping promises and commitments
Abiding by general principles or values e.g. Fairness, truth, honesty and respect.
Identifying who its stakeholders are and what influence the activities has on them
Accountability for its activities

The perception of those who have introduced business ethics is that they serve to protect their business and organisations from significant risks and help to grow the business.

Traditionally when asked people expect businesses to have three core purposes:

To trade profitably
To reward enterprise
To reward effort

Any businesses objectives are complex and certainly consist of more than just obtaining a quick profit. In today Business Ethics’ climate when asked people also expected businesses to take into account the values of:

Honesty
Trust
Respect
Responsibility
Fairness
Innovation

Overall when a business is clear about its core purposes and values and aligns its brand with them it is more likely to:

Attract and keep talented people
Reduce inefficiency and stress caused by conflicting messages
Attract and retain more clients or customers
Attract and keep suppliers who deliver goods to the same high standards.

For business and organisations doing Good Business means:

Staff’s well-being is catered for and they are treated with fairness and respect
Having a clear and transparent vision and values that are clearly evidenced
There are active policies on all aspects of Diversity
That the organisation is values led
There is a code of Conduct available and hence a framework to deal with ethical dilemmas.
A good communications network is in place
There is good training and personal development opportunities
Supports key employment skills enhancement
A fair wage is offered with clear reward packages
Health and Safety is promoted and complied with
Staff have representation
A system of reporting and accounting for the above is in place

This is applicable for all sizes of organisation. For SMEs in particular there is a need for staff teams to be highly multi-skilled trained individuals. Many SMEs are owner run and are having to work very hard to maintain their current market position.

In fact the following are consequences of engaging in good business practice it provides:

Personal development opportunities
Improved culture
Reputation
Productivity
Corporate Responsibility
Customers/Clients

Therefore doing “Good Business”, ethical business makes sense. It makes sense to pay heed to the trends. Not only does it open up markets, attract and retain customers and therefore impacts positively on reputation and the bottom line it also contributes to a more stable and better society.

However some people engaged in business remain sceptical. They need to be convinced of the competitive advantage that might be gained from engaging in good ethical business. We are interested in dispelling that myth, and work to achieve this through the Good Business Network, our workshops and other activities. We aim to ensure that the network encourages more businesses to become involved in their local community.

A healthy inclusive society includes people who are engaged, skilled and motivated. It is very important that the role Businesses of all sizes play here is realised.