Introduction
This paper will discuss ethical behavior in the business world. In particular, the question of what ethical behavior actually involves will be analyzed in depth. Ethics is a topic that can be discussed at length without reaching universal consensus, and this text will not be an exception. However, it should shed some light on the issue of ethical corporate behavior. The objectives and responsibilities of business will be covered, as well as the ethical obligations of various parties.
Scholars have declared that business and ethics are required partners; a business cannot succeed without sticking to good ethics. But what actually is ethical behavior? It may even be debatable what can be considered a successful business.
Ethics: The Foundation
The focus of this paper will be the application of ethics for business situations. In order to concentrate solely on the application, it is very useful to establish the theory in the beginning. Therefore, I will define the understanding of ethics that will be used for the remainder of the paper.
Ethics are relative. There are many factors that contribute to this relativity. First, ethics can be considered to be relative to a period in time. This will not be an issue for the discussion because we will only be looking at business in relatively recent history. Second, ethics can be considered relative to the role of a particular entity. Assuming a role is ethical, the acceptance of an entity to perform in that role carries responsibilities with it. The entity has an ethical obligation to carry out that role. Admittedly, this is a very abstract idea. An example is that, after accepting an individual as a client, a defense attorney has an ethical obligation to defend the client.
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