BUSINESS ETHICS

Is Business Ethics an Oxymoron?

Is Business Ethics an Oxymoron?

Introduction

Business ethics is an academic field, which deals with the moral and immoral acts of not only individuals, but also organizations in business administration. The business ethics is to act with the moral character of the economic system in which people and their organizations live and try to live a happier life.

Overview

Business ethics is a relatively young scientific field. Conventional estimsates of business ethics has been with us since early 1980. This does not mean that there is no emphasis on the ethical side of the economy and capitalism, until 1980, but it is not anchored recognized academic area. In the United States was an early interest in business ethics by some religious motifs inspired. Important questions are whether it is possible to bring the principles of capitalism with moral behavior in line, as required by various religions, as well as business people to answer the call, that of religion? In Europe interest in this subject was inspired by the more humanist interests. Here are the main issues related with how employees should be treated with respect, and how commercial organizations can be beneficial to society as such. There is no doubt that the proposed differences between American and European approach is rather vague. On both sides of the Atlantic, these and other questions were not only scientists but also practitioners, clergy, writers, journalists and politicians (Albert, 1985, p. 273) raised.

Number of reasons, usually when considering why was relatively different academic field of business ethics, and finally included. First was the growing concern about the negative consequences of business in a capitalist world in the 1960s and 1970s. With the advent of new media and television, new technologies, aggressive journalism, and so on, accounting scandals and the violations were more common than in previous years. Apparently you can no longer take for granted that commercial organizations have been helpful to take the world. In this sense, the ethics seek nothing more than an academic, critical analysis of a business organization and critically evaluate the significance of capitalism as such.

Second, the sensitivity was always about the business practices of dubious moral aspects of the work. As commentators such as Jacques in 1996, Carroll noted in 1999, the debate on the bill have the morality business and their organizations more popular. Much older than ethics, for example, the debate on corporate social responsibility, charity, business, administration or of humility. In this sense, the academic business ethics which are already considered power in society (Carroll, 1999, p. 275) as an extension.

Third, given the widespread concern about the nature of the business, business ethics has also been invented, as practitioners and researchers as a way to rest, or at least the channel forms of criticism muddy (Ackerman, 1973, p. 93). As such, it has always been regarded as a tool to help companies not only in terms of the moral better performance, but also from the standpoint of economic ...