Business Sustainability, Corporate Governance, and Organizational Ethics

CHAPTER 24Overview of Business Ethics

1. Introduction

This chapter is one of the seven chapters in the organizational ethics module, which starts with the general definition of ethics, its field of study including metaethics, normative ethics, and applied ethics, and proceeds with business ethics. Ethics can be broadly described as moral principles about right and wrong, honorable behavior reflecting values, and/or standards of conduct. Honesty, openness, responsiveness, accountability, due diligence, and fairness are core ethical principles. This chapter presents an introduction to business ethics, its implications for business, and curriculum developments. The case that ethics are important to the lives of human beings is not a difficult one to make. By extension, the premise that ethics should also be prominent in the organization of business affairs also falls into place.

This chapter begins Module IV, a unit on business ethics that comprises seven chapters of interrelated material. The case that ethics are critical in our personal lives in and outside our organizations is made first. Chapter 25 takes up the question of where our conception of ethics comes from. Chapter 26 discusses current thinking on how people make decisions that are believed to have ethical implications. Chapters 27–30 turn sustained attention on ethics in the modern corporation. Since that entity is the focus of the ethical behavior that we would like to see, ideas about the ethical nature of corporate ...