Final Paper/ Powerpoint

Honesty and Ethics in Business

Trae’Von Clavo

Belhaven University

MSA 643

Honesty and Ethics in Business

Building a business that takes pride in being socially and ethically responsible is not an easy task and many businesses end up losing more than a few customers due to their dishonesty practices. A keen look at most organizations would reveal that honesty is not prized as one of the key pillars needed for success (Ciulla, 2020). However, it is almost impossible to build trust with partners if the business does not value honesty. In business, honesty allows companies to do things the right way and to express their values upon which they are built. Honesty plays a crucial role in establishing a workplace culture that is necessary for propelling the business to long-term success. In addition to this, honesty creates consistent behavior in an organization. This is important for fostering workplace behavior that stays consistent regardless of external influences.

Unethical business practices and conduct has serious consequences for both businesses and individuals. For individuals, unethical conduct could lead to job loss and decline in general morale. Unethical conduct by businesses leads to serious consequences such as loss of credibility, low productivity due to lack of morale by employees, and huge financial losses or fines. A good example to illustrate the impact of unethical business practices or conduct would be the case of Arthur Andersen (Mukherjee, Bhattacharjee, & Singha, 2016). This firm was among the well-known “Big Five” accounting firms until it started engaging in accounting malpractices. Due to the misconduct, the company was forced to surrender its license. In addition to this, the company went bankrupt due to the unethical conduct related to its clients. Though ethics is a complex area, it mostly requires making the right decisions that are based on moral principles and values of what is right and wrong.

References

Ciulla, J. B. (2020). Business ethics as moral imagination. In The Search for Ethics in Leadership, Business, and Beyond (pp. 121-129). Springer, Cham.

Mukherjee, S., Bhattacharjee, S., & Singha, S. (2016). Workplace Spirituality: A Paradigm Shift to Ethics from Business. IOSR Journal of Business and Management, e-ISSN.