What are the factors that influence business ethics?

What are the factors that influence business ethics?

 A number of them come to mind.

One is current ethical and moral trends in society.  After all, people who behave one way at home are not likely to be of a different stripe at work.   They’re won’t be walking into the office one day a miraculously changed person.  Their behavior at home will most likely be replicated on the job.  That’s why best recruiting practices call for a thorough background check on all potential employees and chatting will their personal references.

Two is the personal morals and integrity of your organization’s staff and management team.  For sure there will be a segment of managers and staff who tend one way or the other but the wildcard lies in the dominant office personalities and the sway that they hold over their peers.  And don’t forget the other stressors such as the level of customer conflict and how that can influence staff and managers to cover up unpleasant exchanges or hide other ethical lapses.

Three is the management style of the organization’s leaders.  Is it a mild-mannered group of managers who operate on group consensus or do they have an authoritarian style of leadership that demands rigorous adherence to company rules and ethical standards?  If the latter, then there’s a greater chance of a stronger ethical environment up and down the organizational ladder.

Four is the type of industry you’re talking about and the clout that ethics violations have over the actions of staff and managers.  If it’s a law firm, you’ll probably have more stringent ethical behavior because of the potential for disciplinary action against attorneys and staff for violating boundaries.  If it’s a government lobbying firm, there will be most likely be more wiggle room given the nature of the beast.  Ethical lapses are not only common in that environment, they’re almost expected.

In short, there can be many factors that influence business ethics but so much depends on the people, the industry and the social norms.  Without knowledge of those facts, there are few easy answers to this question.   Nevertheless, those are a few.

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