ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR BUSINESS

ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR BUSINESS

 

Ethical principles are universal standards of right and wrong. These principles prescribe the kind of behavior an ethical company or person should engage in. Business people and business executives should practice the principles in their personal life also.

 

Principles of an ethical business can be explained as follows:

 

Honesty

Be honest in all communications and actions. Ethical business should be trustworthy. It should not deliberately mislead or deceive others by misrepresentations, overstatements, partial truths, selective omissions, or any other means.

 

Integrity

Maintain personal integrity. Integrity refers to a wholeness of character demonstrated by consistency between thoughts, words and actions. Ethical business should be principled, upright and positive. It should not sacrifice principles for convenience and for the sake of practicality.

Promise-Keeping

Keep promises and fulfill commitments. A business is worthy only when it makes every reasonable effort to fulfill the letter and spirit of its promises and commitments. It should never try to interpret agreements in an unreasonably technical or legalistic manner in order to rationalize non-compliance or create justifications for escaping from commitments.

 

Loyalty

Ethical business executives should demonstrate loyalty by safeguarding their ability to make independent professional judgments. Their decisions should always be for the growth and development of business. They should never use or disclose information learned in confidential way, for personal advantage. 

 

Fairness

Strive to be fair and just in all dealings. Business people should never make use of any kind of indecent means to gain or maintain any advantage. They should never take undue advantage of another’s mistakes or difficulties. Ethical executives must be committed to justice, and should give equal justice and treatment to all individuals. They should be open-minded; and willing to admit their mistakes.

 

Caring

Demonstrate compassion and a genuine concern for the well-being of others. Ethical executives should be caring, compassionate, benevolent and kind towards all stakeholders of business. Whenever they take decisions, they should consider the financial and emotional consequences of their actions on all stakeholders. 

Respect Others

Treat everyone with respect. Ethical executives should demonstrate respect for the human dignity, autonomy, privacy, rights, and interests of all those who have a stake in their decisions. They should be courteous and treat all people with equal respect and dignity regardless of sex, race or national origin. 

Law Abiding

Obey the law. Every business should follow laws, rules and regulations relating to its business activities.

 

Commitment to Excellence

Pursue excellence all the time in all things. Ethical executives must be excellent in performing their duties. They should be well-aware of all environmental factors around and be prepared to increase their proficiency in all areas of responsibility. 

Leadership

Exemplify honor and ethics. Ethical executives should be conscious of their own responsibilities. They should make use the opportunities of their position of leadership and should be positive ethical role models by their own conduct and character.

Reputation and Morale

Build and protect the company’s good reputation and morale of its employees. It is the duty of business executives to create, maintain and increase the reputation of the company. They should never engage into any actions which hurt the morale of employees.

Accountability

Be accountable. Business should be accountable to its own people such as management, employees etc. and also to communities, customers, competitors and government. It should expect a social audit every time and should be prepared for it.


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