Essay Sample Describing Ethics in Business

In what way has the ethics class changed your views of business?

Learning about ethics in business has changed my complete outlook on the practices in business. I have learnt that ethics differ with the industry that the business is in. the nature of the operations in the business have a major influence on the ethical issues that arise. The ethics class has taught me the importance of ethics in business. For instance, factories and industries particularly those companies in the energy sector are always faced with ethical dilemmas. This is because these companies have a responsibility to care for the environment and not contribute to its degradation. However, due to the nature of their work, these companies are the biggest contributors of pollution in the environment. There have been cases where industries have used riverbeds as their dumping grounds thereby contaminating the water sources for the communities that live in the neighboring environment. For this companies, ethics is important in that they have a responsibility to the communities to ethically conduct their business operations. Another example is the media industry where the company produces TV content, the company is ethically obligated to promote good values by ensuring that material produced is fit for the intended audience. This ensures that the children are not exposed to content that would damage their young minds. Still, the content produced should be content that does not instigate any political unrest in a country or region or biased against any race, gender, or sexual orientation.

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I have also learnt that ethics in business is also beneficial to the business as it creates customer loyalty. This is because when a business is ethical, it attracts customers to the firm's products.

Ethical business goes hand in hand with corporate social responsibility. Such practices build a good reputation for the organization thus attracting clients to the business. Reputation is one of the company's greatest assets and it can be extremely difficult to build once it is lost.

Ethic does not only involve what the business gives to the customers or the environment. It also means how the company treats its employees. The employees are the heart of the organization and how an organization treats its employees reflects greatly on it. The business should create a good and positive working environment where the employees are comfortable working in. this reflects well on the business and attracts great talent to the organization. Still, the level of employee turnover reduces drastically and enables the business to reduce funds that would have otherwise been spent on recruitment.

Do you believe that managers have greater responsibilities towards stakeholders than shareholders?

Yes, managers have a bigger responsibility towards shareholders than stakeholders. This is even when both entities are just as important to the business. The shareholders advance their capital to the managers who are expected to spend the funds as authorized by the shareholders. However, the managers have a responsibilities to use the resources and perform activities that would increase the profits without deception and fraud. The managers have a responsibility to ensure that the business engages in business free from fraud and other illegal activities. The managers should also ensure that the business engages in ethical practices towards the employees, the customers and the community. This then shows that the managers also have a responsibility towards the stakeholders.

The managers in the organization act as go-betweens of all the stakeholders and have the obligation to make sure that the rights of these stakeholders are not violated. This means that when making decisions, they need to balance the legitimate interests of the stakeholders. The managers however are the stewards of the shareholder capital with the sole responsibility of investing the shareholder's capital so as to create profit for the shareholders. Without the shareholder's capital, the business most of the time would collapse. The shareholders assist the organization to be on its feet and by giving their money to sustain it. The shareholders only support an organization when they are confident they would receive their return on investment. Without any profits, the shareholders would withdraw their funds and the business would struggle.

However, even when the shareholders are the greatest responsibility, it is important that the managers do not neglect the stakeholders. The stakeholders in a company include the customers, the employees, and the supplies among others. These people are important for the business to fully function and for the shareholder to be able to get their return on their investments. The managers should not focus on the shareholders so much that they neglect the rest of the stakeholders. The employees particularly should be well treated and provided with good working conditions and a good remuneration. The employees are the key to ensuring that all then stakeholders are well treated and their needs fully met. It is ethical to ensure that the business does not focus on just their responsibility to the shareholders but also their responsibility to all stakeholders involved. While the shareholders are the roots and foundation of the organization, the stakeholders are the reason the organization can function.

Does being ethical actually matter to the bottom line?

Yes, ethics does matter to the bottom line. Ethics come into play in the decisions we make every day. Whenever we are faced with an ethical dilemma, the decision you make often reflects on your moral conduct. This is also the same with businesses whereby the decisions made reflect on the business and their code of conduct. Businesses that are ethical or that make decisions which are based on good ethics often attract investors. This is because the businesses build reputation on their ethics and their corporate social responsibility which makes the investors want to associate with the organization. This is very important to the bottom line since the business is able to attract investors, increase their production levels and since the customers are also attracted by the ethical conduct of the business, the sales of the business increase. The shareholders benefit from the return on investment while the organization enjoys profit maximization.

Ethics in business are important to the bottom line because just like people, organizations also have values. The values most of them act as guidelines for human conduct in the organization. When the organization choose these values they communicate them to the employees, customers and other stakeholders. For example, in the food industry the company's values may be selling of the highest quality products and caring for the community. These values are communicated to the public and the public often holds the organization accountable to these values. This makes it important for the organization to observe ethical practices so as to maintain the organizational values communicated to stakeholders.