{"id":2920,"date":"2023-02-19T16:11:08","date_gmt":"2023-02-19T16:11:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/chapter\/building-business-ethics\/"},"modified":"2023-07-21T12:03:42","modified_gmt":"2023-07-21T12:03:42","slug":"building-business-ethics","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/content.one.lumenlearning.com\/introductiontobusiness\/chapter\/building-business-ethics\/","title":{"raw":"Learn It 6.1.2: Business Ethics","rendered":"Learn It 6.1.2: Business Ethics"},"content":{"raw":"

Individual and Corporate Ethics<\/h2>\r\nGovernments use laws to regulate businesses and to shape business behavior in ways that are supposed to be beneficial for individuals and society.\r\n\r\n
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business ethics<\/h3>\r\nBusiness<\/strong> ethics<\/strong>\u00a0refers to standards or sets of values that govern the actions and behavior of individuals within a business organization and of the business itself in areas that are not directly regulated by laws.\r\n\r\n<\/section>As the definition of business ethics above suggests, business ethics is a broad term\u00a0that applies to the\u00a0behavior of the individuals\u00a0who work at a business as well as\u00a0the actions of the business itself. There is a narrower term, \"corporate ethics,\" that is used for this second area\u00a0of the actions of a business. Corporate\u00a0ethics express the values of an organization to its internal and external stakeholders.\u00a0Websites such as EthicalConsumer.org<\/a>\u00a0promote \"ethical consumerism\" to help consumers\u00a0act in the marketplace in ways that are consistent with their ethics and highlight the poor corporate ethics of companies such as Nestle and Amazon as target of consumer boycotts.\r\n\r\nBut it's not all grim news when it comes to business\u00a0ethics.\u00a0For example, the Ethisphere Institute\u2014an organization focused on gauging ethical business practices\u2014publishes a list of the \u201cWorld\u2019s Most Ethical Companies\"<\/a> on an annual basis. The overall goal of Ethisphere\u2019s rankings is\u00a0to \"to measure and showcase the superior achievements of organizations that are committed to doing business with ethics and integrity.\"[footnote]World\u2019s Most Ethical Companies. \u201cFAQs,\u201d September 12, 2022. https:\/\/worldsmostethicalcompanies.com\/faqs\/[\/footnote] But just because a business is on this list doesn't mean that it's perfect. For example, Starbucks has been on the list 14 times[footnote]World\u2019s Most Ethical Companies. \u201cFAQs,\u201d September 12, 2022. https:\/\/worldsmostethicalcompanies.com\/faqs\/[\/footnote] yet many workers accuse the company of not paying fair wages.\r\n\r\n
[ohm2_question height=\"300\"]4305[\/ohm2_question]<\/section>","rendered":"

Individual and Corporate Ethics<\/h2>\n

Governments use laws to regulate businesses and to shape business behavior in ways that are supposed to be beneficial for individuals and society.<\/p>\n

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business ethics<\/h3>\n

Business<\/strong> ethics<\/strong>\u00a0refers to standards or sets of values that govern the actions and behavior of individuals within a business organization and of the business itself in areas that are not directly regulated by laws.<\/p>\n<\/section>\n

As the definition of business ethics above suggests, business ethics is a broad term\u00a0that applies to the\u00a0behavior of the individuals\u00a0who work at a business as well as\u00a0the actions of the business itself. There is a narrower term, “corporate ethics,” that is used for this second area\u00a0of the actions of a business. Corporate\u00a0ethics express the values of an organization to its internal and external stakeholders.\u00a0Websites such as EthicalConsumer.org<\/a>\u00a0promote “ethical consumerism” to help consumers\u00a0act in the marketplace in ways that are consistent with their ethics and highlight the poor corporate ethics of companies such as Nestle and Amazon as target of consumer boycotts.<\/p>\n

But it’s not all grim news when it comes to business\u00a0ethics.\u00a0For example, the Ethisphere Institute\u2014an organization focused on gauging ethical business practices\u2014publishes a list of the \u201cWorld\u2019s Most Ethical Companies”<\/a> on an annual basis. The overall goal of Ethisphere\u2019s rankings is\u00a0to “to measure and showcase the superior achievements of organizations that are committed to doing business with ethics and integrity.”[1]<\/sup><\/a> But just because a business is on this list doesn’t mean that it’s perfect. For example, Starbucks has been on the list 14 times[2]<\/sup><\/a> yet many workers accuse the company of not paying fair wages.<\/p>\n