Business Ethics and Corporate Governance, Second Edition

PRINCIPLES OF PERSONAL ETHICS

Personal values are the conception of what an individual or a group regards as desirable. Personal ethics refer to the application of these values in everything one does. Personal ethics might also be called morality, since they reflect general expectations of any person in any society, acting in any capacity. These are the principles we try to instil in our children, and expect of one another without needing to articulate the expectation or formalize it in any way.² The principles of personal ethics are:

1. Concern and respect for the autonomy of others.
2. Honesty and the willingness to comply with the law.
3. Fairness and the ability not to take undue advantage of others.
4. Benevolence and preventing harm to any creature. ...