Slide 1. Introduction
Good afternoon, dear ladies and gentlemen. Today we gathered to discuss an extremely important topic “Should business be ethical”. Many of you agree, and I am not an exception, that businesses are set to make money. Nevertheless, I would like to disagree with this one-sided position and argue that business should not only be profitable, but also ethical. Many managers come across the situation when they have to make a choice between short-term profits and making an ethical decision that will not bring the immediate gains. Let me remind you that we live in a globalized society where market provides more and more opportunities every day and every hour. Being ethical can be another opportunity for businesses to grow and develop, and, what is more important, take societies’ and states’ interests into consideration. So let us start with reviewing the main principles of ethical business to show what opportunities they provide for further growth.
Slide 2. What is ethical business?
Investopedia defines business ethics as a certain set of rules and regulations that business can either adopt, or not (if these rules are not compulsory). Together these practices constitute a certain level of trust between all market participants and establish fair rules of the game between society, government, and business. Ethical business has a different standpoint towards such controversial issues as corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, bribery, and discrimination (Investopedia). The main aim of adopting ethical practices is to ensure that all parties are equally satisfied and compensated. This, of course, means refusal from short-term gains, but the overall principle is aimed towards continuous growth and stable development.
Slide 3. Benefits of ethical business
Moral judgment and understanding of what is right or wrong may seem to have no value for the main purpose of every business – money, however, such point of view is very deceiving ("The Arguments against Business Ethicsand how to meet them."). It has been proved that ethical behavior brings significant benefits for businesses, such as: attracts new customers and increases sales, increases productivity of employees and decreases their turnover, brings new investors, creates a positive image of the company, etc. (Business Case Studies) Although environmental friendliness, fair trade principles, and 100% customers’ satisfaction can be quite costly affairs, they are ethically right and leave the bigger number of stakeholders satisfied.
Slide 4-5. Examples of ethical and unethical business practices
On the other side, one can see a full set of unethical business practices on the example of one of the largest oil corporations Halliburton. Its main unethical offences are engagement in business transactions with countries prohibited by the US law, overbilling the US army for food and oil supplies during the war in Iraq, mismanaging waste in Iraq, and exposing its employees to hazardous chemicals (Gerri).
Despite Halliburton’s growing rates one can easily see instability of its development especially during the final years of Iraq War (Morningstar). Although ethical business can be one of the many factors of company’s growth, it is definitely worth considering when deciding between ethical and unethical behavior.
Slide 6. Common ground
The maximizing argument, i.e. that business ought to maximize its profit and nothing else, and claim that managers should employ funds for business objectives only can be reasonable enough for monopolistic environment where company dictates the rules of the game. However, the variety of competitors on the market and global economic trends do not let companies think of sheer profits. It is time to think globally and implement worldwide-accepted frameworks to match customers, employees, governments, and partners’ expectations. The previous arguments clearly show that ethical business does not mean unprofitable business. The best environmental, sustainable development, and hiring practices can also give a new push for the company’s development.
Slide 7. Solutions
Ethical behavior should not become something that obliges business to be unprofitable. To reach the gold mean between profits, development, and stakeholders’ satisfaction every business should consider taking the following steps:
- Conduct a research on customers’ ethical expectations from business;
- Combine technological development with ethical behavior (decreasing of water consumption in Starbucks is a great example of how technology goes side-by-side with ethical practices);
- Avoid making unethical decisions that bring more hard to society, environment, or government even if such decisions offer short-term gains;
- Establish a discussion platform to share ideas between all members of the process (for example, to take all suppliers’ needs into consideration).
Slide 8. Conclusions
The presentation stressed upon the importance of ethical business and its positive impact on company’s image and profitability. Ethical companies make morally justified choices that enable them to get public trust and gain the stakeholders’ support. On the contrary, unethical businesses see profits as the main objective of their activities, therefore, do not hesitate to overstep the norms of morality pursuing short-term gains. Ethical decision-making provides new opportunities in a globalized market and increases company’s performance in a long run. Sacrificing quick gains, ethical company gets a full package of benefits starting from positive image and ending with loyal employees and productivity increase.
Works Cited
"The Arguments against Business Ethicsand how to meet them." General Guide To Personal and Societies Web Space at Oxford. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Bloomberg Newsweek. "STARBUCKS CORP (SBUX:NASDAQ GS): Financial Statements - Businessweek." Businessweek.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Business Case Studies. "The importance of ethics in business - Ethical business practices - Cadbury Schweppes | Cadbury Schweppes case studies and information | Business Case Studies." Business Case Studies - Teaching business studies by example. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Gerry. "10 Most Unethical Business Practices." Business Pundit: Your daily dose of smart business opinion. N.p., 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Investopedia. "Business Ethics Definition." N.p., Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Morningstar. "Growth, Profitability, and Financial Ratios for Halliburton Co (HAL)."Welcome to financials.morningstar.com. N.p., 2014. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
Shields, Antony. "Good Business: 10 Companies With Ethical Corporate Policies | Consumer 's Wall Street." Minyanville. N.p., 16 Feb. 2013. Web. 3 Nov. 2014.
