Businesses have had various ethical issues and problems as far as their operations are concerned. In this case, there is a need to understand the ethical and moral issues that businesses are currently exposed to. This means that there are various differences that need to be understood. As a matter of fact, this is as far as real-world examples are concerned (Vendemiati, 2004, p. 29). There is a very big difference between business ethical and moral issues.
Morals revolve around the personal character that individuals are supposed to portray and display while ethics are supposed to come up with a social system that will enable morals to be practical in a business (Singer, 2000, p. 23). In this case, a business that has a good ethical system will cultivate the best morals that will make it competitive in the current demanding world of business. Ethics is an expected code of behavior that has been demanded of every business that wants to stay competitive.
A common example of the difference between ethical issues and moral issues is where murder is an immoral activity, but ethics will always demand that the accused should be defended by a lawyer as the law stipulates (Vendemiati, 2004, p. 16). This will be even against his personal morals as an individual. Another example is where a manager is not supposed to engage in a sexual relationship with his employees because the ethics of the organization prohibit office relationships.
On the other hand, the same manager has bad morals, where he is known to seduce female employees every now and then (Singer, 2000, p. 29). Morals are where an employee believes that he is supposed to do something depending on how he/she understands it. This is as far as his general conduct and believes are concerned. An example of ethics is what society expects business to do in the current world. For instance, a business is supposed to be transparent and open in a broad way as far as its ethics are concerned.
Personal ethics and business ethics is a wide issue that needs to be evaluated and critically looked at for long term sustainability. This is because of the role that these two aspects play in our society as a whole (Vendemiati, 2004, p. 63). Every business is composed of people, and this means that we have different beliefs and practices that define our lives. This is where business and personal ethics come in. Individual actions can be wholesomely described as personal ethics, and this means that people will always make personal decisions depending on what guides them (Singer, 2000, p. 45). This is solely different from business ethics that guide the way a business is run or operated. Business ethics identify a business from the other in a broadway. This means that a business is known by its own ethics and what it stands for.
A perfect example of the difference between business ethics and personal ethics is where a company has its own code of conduct and operations that its customers identify it with while personal ethics is how a given manager or employee is perceived by the company’s customers and clients (Vendemiati, 2004, p. 63). For instance, in the current real world, the way an employee relates with other individuals can be described as personal ethics, while business ethics is what will guide business in its day to day operations. In this case, a company can be identified by the society because it gives its customers quality goods and services (Singer, 2000, p. 28). On the other hand, an employee can be identified because of his professional conduct as far as accomplishing tasks on time is concerned.
Reference list
Singer, P. (2000). Writings on an ethical life. London: Harper Collins Publishers.
Vendemiati, A. (2004). In the First Person, an Outline of General Ethics. Rome: Urbaniana University Press.