Business Ethics

Business Ethics

“things are good or evil only in reference to pleasure or pain. That we call good which is apt to cause or increase pleasure, or diminish pain in us…” (Stumpf, S.E., 1987).

The goal of a business is not just to earn profit. As a matter of fact, to be successful in the long run, businesses need to be ethical in dealing with customers, employees, investors, community, and society at large. It is imperative for business people to realize that business decisions foster trust among individuals in business relationships. Hence, ethical violations destroy trust and make the continuation of business difficult, if not impossible. An ethical business enterprise will always endeavor to strike an acceptable balance between its interest of profit making and the interests of all parties affected by its actions.

It is common to hear people say that ethics is of little concern to business persons. It is said that ethics is ethics and business is business. This paper is an attempt to examine the relationship between ethics and business, in the light of Locke's moral philosophy.

Morality, according to Locke is based on the command of God. He also maintains that morality is capable of demonstration like mathematics. The basic principles of morality are decreed by God and are also self-evident. From these self-evident principles, Locke asserts that detailed rules of human conduct can be deduced, with certainty as in mathematics. The enterprise of business is not distinct from the enterprise of life, because they share the same bottom line - people. Therefore, as in the rest of life, business is required to ask the question: What ought to be one in regard to others? This paper is an attempt to respond to this question and also try to show that unethical business practices are at the root ...