Business ethics comprises various traits, such as trustworthiness and transparency in customer services. Ethical business practices strengthen customer relationship that is of prime importance for long-term organizational success. It deals with retaining and creating a long-lasting impression in the minds of customers. Such impressions help the enterprise to win the trust of customers and get more business.
Business ethics plays a very crucial role in various management functions, which are given as follows:
i. Ethics in Finance:
It deals with various ethical dilemmas and violations in day-to-day financial transactions. An example of ethical violations is data fudging in which enterprises present a fabricated statement of accounts and other records, which are open to investigation. Ethics in financial transactions gained importance when due to their insufficiency nations suffered massive economic meltdowns.
The following are the ethics in finance:
a. Following truthfulness and authenticity in business transactions
b. Seeking the fulfilment of mutual interests
c. Getting the economies and financial units freed from greed-based methodologies.
ii. Ethics in Human Resource Management:
It deals with the enforcement of the rights of employees in an enterprise.
Such rights are as follows:
a. Having a right to work and be compensated for the same
b. Possessing a right for free association and participation
c. Enjoying a right for fair treatment in an enterprise
d. Holding a right to work in a hazard-free environment
e. Blowing whistle (an activity where an employee can raise voice against any wrong practice of anyone in an enterprise)
iii. Ethics in Marketing:
Deals with a number of issues, which are as follows:
a. Misinforming the customers about the products or services
b. Deciding high prices for the products and services
c. Creating false impression on the customers/consumers about the features of products
d. Promoting sexual attitudes through advertising; thus, affecting the young generation and children.
iv. Ethics in Production:
It deals with the responsibility of an organization to make sure that products and processes of production is not causing harm to the environment.
It throws light on the following issues:
a. Avoiding rendering services or producing products that are hazardous to health. For example, tobacco and alcohol
b. Maintaining ethical relations with the environment and avoiding environmental pollution.
