Business Ethics

In the pursuit of profits, business ethics often get lost or forgotten - or simply ignored altogether. But in the grand scheme of things, ethical business practices are vital to the success of any business, no matter how large or how small that business may be. This includes your business.

Business ethics are not written in stone. There is no set guide to go by. Instead, business ethics simply means conducting your business in a way that is both honest and moral, whatever that means in your particular industry. There was a time when ethics played little or no role in business practices. Today, however, consumers, employees, and businesses that serve other businesses are extremely informed, and business ethics are more important than ever.

While there is no written guideline for business ethics, there are specific areas that are covered. These include general business ethics, professional ethics, and even ethics of economical systems. For example, insider trading has a strong, negative impact on the economy, and therefore, it is not an ethical business practice. It also is not a legal business practice. Insider trading would be considered a breach of ethics concerning economical systems.

Not all breaches of ethics are illegal, however. Some are just frowned upon, while ignoring some business ethic principles can literally ruin your reputation and put you out of business, even though it won't send you to prison. Let's take a look at some of the more important business ethics that you should be aware of:

Ethics that concern consumers. - This would include things such as developing quality products, charging a fair amount for the product, backing the product with a guarantee and honoring that guarantee, and making sure that your customers - consumers - are completely satisfied in their business transactions with you. It also entails providing safe products for consumers, and advertising those products in an ethical - truthful - manner.

Business ethics - concerning business-to-business transactions - Obviously, you should conduct business with other business owners in an ethical manner. Failing to pay vendors is not ethical. Ruining the reputation of a vendor, without just cause, is not ethical. Asking another business to do something illegal is not ethical. Getting creative with the accounting is not ethical. Bribery, kickbacks, and other types of transactions such as this, of course, are not ethical, and are illegal in most cases.

Employee ethics - Just as you expect your employees to hold up to a certain set of standards, your employees expect you to hold up to a certain set of standards as well. Most people will remember the Enron scandal for years, and many business schools will hold the Enron scandal up as an example in their business ethics classes for the rest of time. Other ethical concerns that relate to employees include discrimination, sexual harassment, union busting, privacy issues, and even work place surveillance, such as reading the email of employees, or listening in on their personal phone calls.

If you are a business owner, and you have never taken a course in business ethics, you should really consider doing so. Such classes are offered at most local colleges, and are even available online. Know what is and what is not acceptable in the business world, and you will be better able to help your business grow and succeed, with your reputation intact.

For More Information about the author and how we can assist you please contact:

Jed A. Reay
Managing Partner of 5 Star Success Team
800-863-4592 Option #1
www.jedreay.com
www.jedthecommunicator.com
Communitelligence dot com
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R&R InfoSystems, Co. ~ P.O. Box 7427 ~ Eugene, OR. ~ 97401 ~

Excellence can be attained if you Care more than others think is wise; Risk more than others think is safe; Dream more than others think is practical; and Expect more than other think is possible. Author Unknown

More than likely, there was a time in your life where you're parent said 'and if they jumped off a cliff, would you jump to?' He or she was probably referring to you following a person or the crowd in doing something that you should not have been doing. But, when it comes to ethical leadership, you must ask yourself that same question in reverse if you know that others will follow you, will you jump off a cliff anyway?'

Just as there are ethical business practices and ethical behavior in general, there is also ethical leadership that must be considered. This pertains to any type of leader. You may be a leader in your church, in a civic organization, or in business, such as a network marketer with a down line that needs leadership. No matter what capacity you are a leader, you must learn about ethical leadership.

As you probably know, ethical behavior is simply a set of standards by which we live, play, and work. For instance, in life in general, telling a lie is unethical. In sports, cheating is unethical, and in work, allowing customers to purchase a product or service that you know does not live up to its promises is unethical. But how does one practice ethical leadership?

Have you ever heard the term 'lead by example?' This means that you conduct your life and your business in a way that sets good examples for those who are following you. This same concept applies to ethical leadership. For instance, if you are a leader of a civic organization, you would make sure that you were always in attendance at the meetings, and that you were always on time. You would take your responsibilities within that organization seriously, and of course, you would always be honest with the other members of the organization.

That is what ethical leadership is. You must go above and beyond what you expect from the people following you. If it is your job to assign duties to others, you must make sure that you are doing just as much, if not more, work than that which you are assigning. This is not only ethical, it is leading by example.

Ethical leadership means keeping the lines of communication between you and those that you are leading open and strong. Those that you are leading should feel that they can come to you to discuss any problems that they may be having concerning the job at hand, at the very least. They need to know that you will hear them out, and that you will always make the fairest possible decision. An ethical leader would never promise something to someone and not follow through with it. Furthermore, ethical leadership means that the leader never gossips about other members of the group, or shares any private information about them with others.

Ethical leadership means that you live and operate above reproach. It does not, however, mean that you are a perfect human being. Even great leaders know that they not only have to listen to the expertise of others, but that they actually have to ask for help from time to time. Are you practicing ethical leadership in your organization?

For more information on the author and how we can help you build a respectable and profitable business, contact:

To Your Success

Jed A. Reay
Managing Partner of 5 Star Success Team
800-863-4592 Option #1

www.jedreay.com
www.jedthecommunicator.com
Communitelligence dot com
Linkedin

R&R InfoSystems, Co. ~ P.O. Box 7427 ~ Eugene, OR. ~ 97401 ~

Excellence can be attained if you Care more than others think is wise; Risk more than others think is safe; Dream more than others think is practical; and Expect more than other think is possible. Author Unknown

Feed Shark

No matter how large or small your business may be, the chances are good that there is some level of business ethics training that is needed - either by you or your employees or managers. Too often, however, many business owners think that business ethics training is a waste of time.

This, however, is not the case. Numerous things can be accomplished with business ethics training, and this type of training can be either very simplified or very complex. The business ethics training needed for you and your managers is typically more extensive and complicated than that which you will be requiring for your employees.

Implementing an ethics program in your organization accomplishes many things. First, research has found that greater attention to ethics in the workplace has actually improved society overall, in that we no longer have to fear poverty due to accidents in the workplace, and our children are no longer forced to work. Because of business ethics, people in the workplace have more rights, and are therefore more productive.

The business also benefits from implementing an ethics program. Employees are less likely to quit, and this enables the company to grow, and to cut down on the costs associated with training new employees as old - or not-so-old - employees leave the company for better jobs. With an ethics program, again, employees become more productive, and actually work better as a team.

An ethics policy also protects the business from a legal standpoint, ensuring that all policies of the company are in fact legal. Many people don't realize it, but an ethics program covers a wide range of business departments, such as planning, management, research, development, human resources, and marketing, as well as numerous other company specific departments. Aside from this, an ethics policy also goes a long way in building a positive relationship with the community, as well as in strengthening the company's public image as a whole.

Once business owners and managers have had business ethics training, training for employees can begin. This should include existing employees as well as incoming employees. The ethics program should be reviewed with all new employees during the training or orientation period. For employees, this usually not only includes a review of the ethics program, but may also use a number of example ethical situations, where the employee, or prospective employee, is asked to state how they would handle the situation.

Ethics training, or at the very least the ethics policy of the company, should be given to the employee for them to keep. Each employee should also be asked to sign a form stating that they have reviewed the ethics policy of the company, and that they have received the company mandated business ethics training.

To Your Success

Jed A. Reay
Managing Partner of 5 Star Success Team
800-863-4592 Option #1

www.jedreay.com
www.jedthecommunicator.com
Communitelligence dot com
Linkedin

R&R InfoSystems, Co. ~ P.O. Box 7427 ~ Eugene, OR. ~ 97401 ~

"The only question in front of you now, now that you know what you want, is the question, how? And the only answer is, you need to take specific, continuous, persistent action, every single day, in the direction of your goal --- knowing that you will fail more times than you succeed, and every failure is going to teach you something that is inaccessible to your ultimate success." Brian Tracy