What is ethical business? Many people consider this an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms, in that business dealings are never truly ethical. Ethics is a topic that has been fiercely debated since the time of Socrates and the other great Greek philosophers. But what is meant by ethical anyway? The most common understanding is knowing what is right and what is wrong and then doing the right thing, but the definition of right and wrong is seldom universal, particularly in the world of business. Suppose your sales manager walks in your office one day with a copy of your main competitor's bid for a large contract you want. Are you going to use it? Or perhaps you are short on your year-end targets but can make it up by recording some sales from next year. Will you do it? Maybe you are about to close on a big contract when the buyer suddenly asks you for a "small favor"; his son or daughter is in need of a job and can your company help out? More common still, half of your day in the office was spent surfing the net or working on reaching a new level of Minesweeper. Was this ethical behavior? Situations like these are faced everyday in the world of business, and how we apply the concept of ethics in these seemingly minor matters can be serious in consequence to not only the parties involved but also to the other stakeholders of the company as well- the shareholders, the employees, the customers, the community and even, in some cases, the government.

The problem of course that still remains unanswered is this matter of what is right and what is wrong, and by bringing in all of the other stakeholders in the matter this answer just got a whole lot more complicated. But defining ethics can usually be reduced to a few simple rules that should apply to all. They are:

Obey the laws
Don' t lie or cheat
Keep your promises, both written and spoken
Be fair in your dealing with others
Avoid harming others intentionally
Respect the rights of others
Help those in need when you can

Seems too simple and dogmatic, right; sort of like a job description for the Good Samaritan? Some people might even argue this is some kind of right-leaning, conservative religious "doublespeak" with its strong emphasis on right or wrong and really not practical in the dog eat dog world of business. But took a close look at any company's Code of Conduct or Business Ethics policy and every paragraph and sentence can be reduced to one of these simple values.

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