Task One Business Ethics On Our Society

Task One
Business Ethics On Our Society


If we talked about business ethics, we’ll imagine that what business ethics is.
Ethics is the discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation. Ethics can also be regarded as a set of moral principles or values. Morality is a doctrine or system of moral conduct. Moral conduct refers to that which relates to principles of right and wrong in behaviour. Business ethics, therefore, is concerned with good and bad or right and wrong behaviour that takes place within a business context. Concepts of right and wrong are increasingly being interpreted today to include the more difficult and subtle questions of fairness, justice, and equity (Caroll & Buchholtz)
Ethics is a philosophical term derived from the Greek word “ethos,” meaning character or custom. This definition is germane to effective leadership in organizations in that it connotes an organization code conveying moral integrity and consistent values in service to the public.
(R. Sims, Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility – Why Giants Fall, C.T.:Greenwood Press, 2003)
Thus, there are some keywords :
• Ethics: Is the discipline that deals with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation, can also be regarded as a set of moral principles or values.
• Ethical behavior: Is that which isaccepted as morally “good” and “right” as opposed to “bad” or “wrong” in a particular setting.
• Morality: A system or doctrine of moral conduct which refers to principles of right and wrong in behaviour.
On the Business Ethics Case Studies and selected Reading (book written By Marianne M. Jennings); Ethical standards are not the standard of the law. In fact, they are a higher standard. Sometimes referred to as normative standards in philosophy, ethical standards are the generally accepted rules of conduct that govern society. Ethical rules are both standards and expectations for behavior, and we have developed them for nearly all aspects of life.
Ethics consist of those unwritten rules we have developed for our interactions with each other. Ethics is more than just common, or normative, standards of behavior. Ethics is honesty, fairness, and justice.
Business ethics means a great deal more than obeying the civil law and not violating the moral law. It means imagining and creating the new sort of world based on the principles of individual creativity. Business ethics means meeting the responsibilities of corporations and smalls business.
Experts often crack jokes that business ethics are a contradiction term because in business ethics have contradiction between ethics and individual interest that orientated to look for the profit. When there are conflicts between ethics and profit, business prefer profit better than ethics.
Nowadays, maybe a part of society doesn’t know what ethics in business are. It can be they assume business doesn’t need ethics, because the matter of ethics only is in society that has forcefully culture. Or ethics only be as someone privacy area. But, in fact ethics still be on society and applied on themselves. How with the firm environment? Firm also a part of organisation that has surely structure of management. Many interactions of interpersonal and institutions implicated on it. Besides, conflict and corruption easy happened. So, in organisation needs ethics as a control of policy.
But, can ethics applied on society and sensed by people who must get it? In fact, many firms prefer to get profit than apply ethics. It can be manipulation and corruption for get the firm importance. For the cases that are, Lapindo mud in Porong, Sidoardjo, Buyat Bay, and so on. Where is the responsibility of the businessman? Could we see it? That all happened because of unapplied ethics in business. In the ethics contain appreciation, honourable, moral and social responsibility towards human and nature. That are two important things; firm and society must balance. Within also contain rights and duties that have to fulfilled. For other case, we can see in our district, some businessmen that have unfair attitude, like sale meat ball (bakso) without cow meat, but from rat, cat, and other animals, or fill their merchandise with formalin, borax, and other dangerous materials. We know that materials can damage people health. What shall we do? What a poor attitude!
Lets we make introspection, unapplied ethics in the business can be boomerang for the people or firm who do that unethical attitude. That can be much cost for resolving the cases and the bad value of the firm in society. That matters will damage the firm. Whereas, the research write that, business ethics can increase firm earnings, profitability, market value added, and better revenue twice or three times than firm which unapplied business ethics (De Paul University, 1997). Such was the cases; the people must apply the business ethics on society for having many benefits, like the sustainability or long term business.
The implementation of ethics always influenced religious factor and cultural factor. Such as the Islamic law (syari’at Islam) in our district , Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam, that give general regulation and standard of ethics that connected with business concept, such as the matters of ownership, fairness, price, competition, and relationship between owner and worker. Normatively, basic values that give guidance in business attitude reflected by Rasulullah SAW attitude. As a trading manager, his attitude has motivation and Qur’any attitude, such as vision to the next life and important for making plan (QS 59:18). In ethics concept like that, human should pay attention for the next life (akhirat); public interest, like emphasize the important of professionalism at business (such as commitment of quality, job productivity, effectiveness, efficiency, and others). Business ethics are the regulation of business based on Al-Qur’an, Hadits, and the regulations made from the fuqaha. Islamic business ethics have some principles that are tauhid, responsibility, fairness, and truth. So, it can make a best relationship between someone with Allah, other people, and nature.
I’m sure that Islamic business ethics on our society can increase the quality of job and also human resources. We hope that people aware that everything what it right or wrong that people do, Allah can watch it everywhere and every time. So, everyone is a leader, he has responsibility of his job.