Businesses exist to make money, but believe it or not, practicing sound ethics makes good business, and increases revenue. Why does being ethical matter? Ethics allows for more profitability and preserves the integrity of the company. After all who wants to do business with an unethical corporation?
Positive Aspects of EthicsAccording to C. McNamara in the Complete Guide to Ethics Management, 2006, the benefits to managing ethics is that ethics improves society by getting rid of unnecessary wrongdoing. It also helps in maintaing a moral cost, develops strong teamwork, supports employee growth, and manages quality.
One of the greatest attributes to being ethical is trust. When things go wrong in business, management wants to have all the answers because they are held accountable to their employees, stockholders, and other interested parties.
The employee of a company reflects company standards, and one great way to show this is to avoid accepting bribes. Clear and open communication means good ethics. In project management it is important to acknowledge a problem and inform personnel of major decisions and project changes.
Legal Compliance of Ethics
Legal compliance is also a big part of ethics. There are times when differences of interpretation can be a problem, but whatever the interpretation, all the facts must be considered. This means that the players should be up front and honest. The Federal Sentencing Guidelines for Organizations and Corporate Compliance Programs of 1991 confirmed that organizations must have the public interest at heart. The guidelines also recommends that profiting from wrongdoing only alienates the public. It also encourages organizations to develop compliance programs to make sure that any unethical conduct is reported and becomes non-existant.
Disclosures and Trade Secrets
If an organization wants to outsource it must also criticaly examine service providers. This involves having a clear definition of the ethical rules and privacy policy of the organization. Trade secrets must be disclosed and third party service providers must be made known. It is also important to have good communication skills. Company background checks and customer references should also be examined. It is important to be aware of project successes and failures.
Security is a Part of Ethics
Employees must be taught security skills. Safeguarding customer records and proprietary information is routine. The presence of a whistle blower is also proper. Sujoy Chohan, a consultant for IT research for the Gartner company remarks that foreign countries are investing in security measures. This is reassuring especially because of the interest in globalization.
There will always be a good relationship among businesses and employees when the common focus is ethics.
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