Ethics in Business

Why do we need ethics in business? We need ethics in business for the same reason we need ethics in our day to day lives. If you consistently are trying to get one over on the people around you, then eventually the people around you aren’t going to put up with you anymore. The same can be said for businesses. Businesses that continually try to trick their stock holders and consumers with eventually get a reputation as the type of corporation that lies to people and then people won’t have anything to do with them.
Corporations need to behave ethically because it’s in their own best interest to do so.

Take Taco Bell for example and this recent news about their meat not being up to FDA regulations. This is going to haunt Taco Bell, and depending on how they handle it later on, this could become something they are known by. Taco Bell already has a reputation for having less than quality food, and now if they become know for not having any meat in their meat. Then that’s just one more thing to drive people away from Taco Bell, and that means less money for that corporation. If Taco Bell had behaved ethically and made sure that they where actually meeting FDA regulations on their food, then they wouldn’t have this problem.

If you are in the business of serving food, then you should make the food you serve your business. In today’s age, where information is so readily available, they fastest way to lose a customer is to lie to them. Even small lies can come back to bite you. Employers lead by example, whether they know it or not, and to tell your secretary to tell a client you out just because you don’t want to take his call just lets they secretary know that its ok to lie. Why shouldn’t she after all? The boss does it.