If you have been watching the news, especially in regard to business, the topic of business ethics has shown (in the last three years) that ethical standards have gone downhill. This is something that happens all the time, and they simply appear to be worse than usual. Over time, the practice of bad business has actually pervaded history, especially as of late.
Every business can choose to do things the right way, or go a completely different direction. Good business ethics is something that is handled differently depending upon the size of the business. Smaller businesses are simply not going to be as stressed as larger businesses will be. Businesses will make a choice, and then live with that decision. That’s how it works.
To offer a hedge against negative consequences in your area, you need to create operating policies and procedures that are ethical and comprehensive. If you want your business to prosper, both the owner, and the board members, must adhere to ethical approaches to business each and every day. Very often it is the intensely competitive nature of business that tempts people to engage in unethical practices. These types of challenges always occur, in life and in business. It is something that is inevitable. Doing the right thing over and over can be very frustrating, but there are many advantages to conducting yourself and business this way.
Consumer support for brands they feel are ethical is greater and therefore the company benefits. People tend to have trust issues with companies. This is a trend that seems to continue. The monopolistic company gets sales by default due to the nature of the market hold.
In most cases, consumers will go with a company that they trust that sells quality products that they need. You will probably end up with many more sales, as well as customer loyalty, when you run your business in an ethical manner.
Companies that tend to have legal issues are the ones that are usually the most unethical. Their finances are essentially destroyed after litigation because of the fines that are placed upon the company. There are rewards to conduct business along ethical lines and this is just one of them.
Your company may be considered guilty, even if it is innocent, if you have created a negative reputation for your company based on your decision-making processes.
The ethics of the company, and the decisions that they make, good or bad, usually comes down to risk management on the part of those in charge. It’s all about whether or not they think it will be caught and prosecuted. A small company that goes to court may not do as well as a larger company in most cases. Regardless of the size of the company, or the person making the decision, risk management is usually what causes people to choose negative ethical behavior.