What does business ethics look like in the U.S.?

Business without any sort of control or regulation would be quite scary with how much money is involved and owned by corporations. If it weren’t for businesses having ethics we would not have an outline of acceptable behaviors beyond government control. Corporations promote business ethics and created business ethics for the purpose of prompting integrity among employees. This also gains trust between stakeholders, investors, and such. Most people talk about their purchasing decisions are based upon business ethics and company values, especially if they are stockholder because they fell apart of the company. These ethics guide them through decisions about finances, negotiations, and even operate responsibility. With a solid set of ethics, a business can avoid trouble with law, encounter financial pitfalls, and moral situations. Ethics basically satisfy the people who want to know if a business is good or not. When a brand doesn’t follow ethics, everyone loses trust it jeopardizes sales, employees, and even government agencies.

Without business ethics it affects your reputation, employee behavior, and the bottom line. Your reputation is impacted greatly in that people won’t see your business for what it really is, and you will only be viewed was a harsh company who doesn’t care about the people. All of the people that brought your product will question your values and your products, this usually ends up in finding a substitute brand, and investors leave. Employee behavior is based upon how leadership sets its examples. A positive example such as ethics will instill a great deal of integrity between your employees. This also just encourages everyone in the community to do the same because they have good examples around them every day. When business ethics impacts the bottom line is when a company can really lose serious power and control. This leads many people to again race to a substitute product, and this has happened to companies like Wells Fargo and Enron have suffered the effects of bad behavior. If you just do the right things such as Microsoft and Dell, they have been rewarded for ethical behavior and they still make great profits.

The best way to strengthen your ethics is by developing your own moral compass that will help you keep to what you stand for in tricky or sketchy situations. Asking yourself the tough questions ahead of time will ensure that you are mentally prepared to hold yourself or others accountable for actions. Get comfortable with uncomforting situations and make it your strong suit of how to get through tough times. You basically just need to know morally what you should do in tough situations to be correct to yourself. Taking ethics into business which could include classes on ethical principles integrated to business, this also plays into issues you could encounter in the workplace. Perspectives and philosophies differ which is why we are able to solve issues ethically, this builds relationships and business itself.

This helps everyone because the community knows when businesses are being ethical which gives them more trust in the business. There are very few reasons a business would be bad if they have a great ethical foundation, which also gives investors a lot of confidence. This allows you and your business to retain a positive image and keep your important shareholders and potential investors happy. Committing your business to a great ethical foundation will only plant the seed that will continue to grow through your company. This also relates to businesses treatment of employees which businesses want to be a positive treatment. Respecting the environment is also a part of being an ethical business as well because you don’t want mass pollution, that wouldn’t help their image. Consumer treatment like price and fair market practices will tell your consumer that you want them to feel appreciated.

Being an ethical person will translate to your business and allowing your business to adopt ethical practices will benefit profits and loyal customers largely. Drive your employee’s behavior by being a positive and safe practicing business. Being ethical can be a small but very impactful way to better the environment, community, and every day decisions. Become an ethical business and watch positivity flow throughout your business.