Organizational Business Ethics

Life is about choices. We deal with choices in our personal lives everyday. Most of us are guided by such questions as, "Is this the correct thing to do? Is this the right decision to make?" We are guided by our own sense of morality, i.e. the difference between right and wrong.

Organizational business ethics work much the same way. Here, we are dealing with choices, also, about anything and everything related to organizational activities and business situations. We apply our own personal set of values, standards, rules, principles, strategies, and even knowledge of what is lawful to every decision, and these are the things that guide us. But that's not to say we aren't tempted. That's not to say we don't always go against our sense of morality (right vs wrong) at various times. That's not to say we always make the right choices. Sometimes, we make the wrong one.

Organizational business ethics occupy a prominent role in the modern spectrum of American business. Society's greater consciousness of ethics gives rise to how it permeates and influences every aspect or organization activity.

For example, employees have a role in ethical behavior and their commitment to the organization. They share a role in shaping the ethical image and reputation of an organization just by their actions and the way they represent the organization. Leadership and management would prefer that the actions and activities of their employees be driven by loyalty to the organization. We can only hope that management behaves ethically, because oftentimes employee behavior reflects the behavior of the leadership in the organization.

How about investors? Organizational leaders hope that investors will see the company as an upstanding organization committed to responsible behavior so that they (the investors) will be more prone to invest in the company. If they invest in the organization, they are putting their trust in the organization and its leadership. In short, investors want to be confident that their financial commitment will be used responsibly and appropriately cared for.

Likewise, we as customers need to be have a degree of confidence in the organization, too. What does the company brand represent? Are we getting fair value for our money? Do we have an adequate level of trust in the company to stand behind its products and services? If our image, as customers, is not positive from an ethical perspective (nor any other perspective, for that matter), then we are not likely to patronize that company nor their products and services.

Where does a negative ethical image of a company come from? In reality, it could from any number of sources or occur for any number of reasons. It may come from some legal problem the company had. It may come from some bad publicity. It