Corporate Ethics, a Business Asset

Corporate Ethics, a Business Asset 1.Corporate Ethics, a Business AssetEthics in the corporate world is a key concept that has gained importance, more so in the recent years, possibly due to the very publicized and prominent scandals of 2002 concerning Enron, Aurther Anderson, and snowballed effect to another scandal of WorldCom.It created more awareness among the stakeholders which is making ethics harder and harder to ignore. The noise on Ethics in the corporate world has gained a key place not only due to the Bad guys, also due to Good guys, one such company who has been at the top of the list on the fortune 500 is GE. Other companies being Starbucks, Johnson and Johnson, Southwest2. Ethics:2.1 What is Ethics? ;-A system of moral principles or values-Rules or standards governing the conduct of members of a profession-A matter of developing good habits-Standards of conductOrOne of those things that we conveniently forget when faced with tough choices!!2.2ConceptsCorporation Street, Birmingham - Temple Pointof Ethics :Very Briefly:Relativism: believes in morality being relative. Under the descriptive doctrine it claims that different cultures have different moral values, under the normative doctrine it claims each culture is right in itself.Egoism: under the normative doctrine, believes one ought to act in maximizing benefit for ones self.Utilitarianism: is about good consequences, looks for maximum benefit. Ends justify the means. Corporations can sometimes end up looking at the bottom-line a little too closely being morally bound to the shareholders and use means which could prove to be disastrousDeontologism: believes that the right action is independent of consequences. Actions which are duty bound, keeping aside personal gain.Moral=YesImmoral=NoBuilds security, trust. E.g. corporation values, code of business ethics, Corporate Social responsibility, corporate citizenship.3. Corporate Ethics:A system of morals and values applied in the business world providing guidelines of acceptable behavi or stated by the organizations...