by Olufemi Oyedele

Created on: March 26, 2009

Business success is not always the outcome of practising good ethics. Actually ethics in business came into prominence because of sharp practices of business men to maximize their profits at the detriment of their corporate social responsibilities to the other stakeholders.

If practising good ethics is the determinant of business success, all business men will practice them as a matter of conviction and not a matter of compliance. The business ethics put in place are monitored and reviewed regularly so that it can be practiced by the businesses. Businesses believe their only motive of creation was profit-making and aim to make the maximum profit at any available opportunity. Businesses thereby, cut corners and embark on sharp practices so as to maximise their profits.

Some business ethics eat into the superfluous profits of organisations and the management of these organisations thereby close their eyes to practising these ethics unless their is an agent of the government or the recommending body monitoring their compliance and obeyance. For example, since the world of business is a pool of risk, it is a good ethic insuring a business against loss. If businesses, especially the financial services providers, have been insuring themselves during the time of soaring profits, they will have something to fall on in the time of loss. If simple ethic has been in practice, we will not find ourselves in this global economic crunch. Instead of practising good ethics, what we had businesses doing was compensating chief executive officers, managing directors and executive directors over and above their agreed salaries and wages in the name of 'bonuses'. If they are to practice good ethics, chief executives will not earn extra for what they are paid in the first instance to do.

Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) is an organisation established in 1986 in the United Kingdom with the vision of leading the dissemination of of knowledge and good practice in business ethics. Office of National Statistics (ONS) is a government office and custodian of national official records and statistics where business men go to collect statistics for business analysis. IBE claims businesses find it easier to visit ONS where they can predict profit than visiting IBE where they can learn to improve good ethics.

Business Corporate ethics is a special report compiled by the Washington Post in America, outlining recent corporate scandals involving ethics violations. Breaking News features, Enron issues,

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