BUSINESS ETHICS AND PROFESSIONALISM MANAGEMENT ESSAY       2200w

Ethics mean different meanings to different people. It can be principles, morals, beliefs, moral principles, moral values, moral code and so on. Ethics in general includes the fundamental ground rules by which we live our lives. Philosophers have been discussing ethics for at least 2500 years, since the time of Ramayana, Mahabharata, Socrates and Plato. Many ethicists consider emerging ethical beliefs to be “state of the art” legal matters, i.e., what becomes an ethical guideline today is often translated to a law, regulation or rule tomorrow. Values that guide how we ought to behave are considered moral values, e.g., values such as respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility, etc. Statements around how these values are applied are sometimes called moral or ethical principles.

But far too many resources about business ethics are not written for those people who are charged to manage ethics in the workplace: leaders and managers! Most of the resources speak about palpable questions such as ” Should employees cut corners? Should a manager steal from the company? Should the directors lie in the prospectus? Etc.

Professionalism on the other hand is said to be practicing professional ethics by a learned or specialized person in his area of discipline. An ethical person need not be a well read. But a professional need to follow some ethics. For example code of ethics is prescribed for company secretaries, chartered accountants, cost accountants, doctors, lawyers, etc., by their governing body. In fact the body gives printed norms at the time of admitting them as members. So the business ethics dealt in at length is mainly for professionals to inculcate professionalism in their career.

Two Broad Areas of Business Ethics

1. Managerial mischief: Madsen and Shafritz, in their book “Essentials of Business Ethics” (Penguin Books, 1990) explain that “managerial mischief” includes “illegal, unethical, or questionable practices of individual managers or organizations, as well as the causes of such behaviors and remedies to eradicate them.” There has been a great deal written about managerial mischief, leading many to believe that business ethics is merely a matter of preaching the basics of what is right and wrong. More often, though, business ethics is a matter of dealing with dilemmas that have no clear indication of what is right or wrong.