Ethical and Moral Issues Memo
ETHICAL AND MORAL
Ethical and Moral Issues in Business
Teresa Sexton
MGT216
October 11, 2010
Kimber Rueff
Ethical and Moral Issues in Business
Ethical and moral issues in business go hand in hand, and go along well with one another. We each have our own moral standards that make us who we are and what we stand for. Our character comes from our moral ethics, and how we were raised to handle ourselves in certain situations. Ethical behavior comes from society and how we are perceived by society. Ethics in a business setting involves both morals and strong ethics. I am going to attempt to explain what the difference is between moral ethics and business ethics in this paper. The first thing to figure out is what is considered an ethical issue and what is considered a moral issue. The best way to answer that is an ethical issue is one that sets a standard or code, that affects society, and a moral issue is one that defines who you are as a person, or your character. For example, a fellow employee is stealing and you know what they have done. How do you handle this situation? The ethical view would be to view it as many would; “This person is stealing, I know it, others may know it, the act is wrong and against the code of conduct. I must turn them in because this is wrong.” A person that takes on the moral issue in a biblical sense would say; “This is wrong and the bible says thou shall not steal.” Although many of us do not think in biblical terms, we do still have a conscience that helps us determine what is right and wrong. Our families may teach us the differences and hold us accountable. This can be carried into our careers but we need to keep our moral ethics in line with what is more important for the company as a whole; this includes the public. In a business setting moral ethics plays a small role because as a business, the responsibility involves many people. It could involve shareholders, managers, fellow employees and the
Ethical and Moral Issues in Business
Teresa Sexton
MGT216
October 11, 2010
Kimber Rueff
Ethical and Moral Issues in Business
Ethical and moral issues in business go hand in hand, and go along well with one another. We each have our own moral standards that make us who we are and what we stand for. Our character comes from our moral ethics, and how we were raised to handle ourselves in certain situations. Ethical behavior comes from society and how we are perceived by society. Ethics in a business setting involves both morals and strong ethics. I am going to attempt to explain what the difference is between moral ethics and business ethics in this paper. The first thing to figure out is what is considered an ethical issue and what is considered a moral issue. The best way to answer that is an ethical issue is one that sets a standard or code, that affects society, and a moral issue is one that defines who you are as a person, or your character. For example, a fellow employee is stealing and you know what they have done. How do you handle this situation? The ethical view would be to view it as many would; “This person is stealing, I know it, others may know it, the act is wrong and against the code of conduct. I must turn them in because this is wrong.” A person that takes on the moral issue in a biblical sense would say; “This is wrong and the bible says thou shall not steal.” Although many of us do not think in biblical terms, we do still have a conscience that helps us determine what is right and wrong. Our families may teach us the differences and hold us accountable. This can be carried into our careers but we need to keep our moral ethics in line with what is more important for the company as a whole; this includes the public. In a business setting moral ethics plays a small role because as a business, the responsibility involves many people. It could involve shareholders, managers, fellow employees and the
References: DeGeorge, R.T. (2010). Business ethics (7th ed). Prentice Hall. Retrieved on October 11, 2010 from school text. Trevino, L.K., Nelson, K.A. (2007). Managing businessethics:Straight talk about how to do it right (4th ed). John Wiley & Sons. Retrieved on October 11, 2010 from school text.