What Business Ethics are NOT

Business ethics in the workplace are about prioritizing moral values for the workplace and ensuring behaviours are aligned with those values - it's values management. Yet, some of these myths arise from general confusion about the notion of ethics; other myths arise from narrow or simplistic views of ethical dilemmas.

Myth 1: Business ethics are more a matter of religion than management.

Altering people's values or souls are not the aim of an organizational ethics program - managing values and conflict among them are.

Myth 2: Our employees are ethical so we don't need attention to business ethics.

Most of the ethical dilemmas faced by managers in the workplace are highly complex. One knows when they have a significant ethical conflict when there is presence of (a) significant value conflicts among differing interests, (b) real alternatives that are equality justifiable, and (c) significant consequences on "stakeholders" in the situation. Most ethical dilemmas are grey.

Myth 3: Business ethics is a discipline best led by philosophers, academics and theologians.

Real life ethical delimmas have given rise to National Codes of Governance (such as King in South Africa), which have made ethics management a business imperative.

Myth 4: Business ethics are superfluous -- it only asserts the obvious: "do good!"

The value of a codes of ethics to an organization is its priority and focus regarding certain ethical values in that workplace. For example, it’s obvious that all people should be honest. However, if an organization is struggling around continuing occasions of deceit in the workplace, a priority on honesty is very timely and honesty should be listed in that organization’s code of ethics.

Myth 5: Business ethics are a matter of the good guys preaching to the bad guys.

Those people well versed in managing organizations realize that good people can take bad actions, particularly when stressed or confused. Managing ethics in the workplace include all of us working together to help each other remain ethical and to work through confusing and stressful ethical dilemmas.

Myth 6: Business ethics are the new policeperson on the block.

Many believe business ethics is a recent phenomenon because of increased attention to the topic in popular and management literature. However, business ethics was written about even 2,000 years ago - at least since Cicero wrote about the topic in his On Duties. Business ethics has gotten more attention recently because of the social responsibility movement that started in the 1960s.

Myth 7: Ethics can't be managed.

Actually, ethics is always "managed" - but, too often, indirectly. The point of this course is to assist you to learn how to manage ethics in the workplace.

Myth 8: Business ethics and social responsibility are the same thing.

The social responsibility movement is one aspect of the overall discipline of business ethics, as the definition and further discussions will prove Writings about social responsibility often do not address practical matters of managing ethics in the workplace, e.g. developing codes, updating policies and procedures, approaches to resolving ethical dilemmas, etc.

Myth 9: Our organization is not in trouble with the law, so we're ethical.

One can often be unethical, yet operate within the limits of the law. Further, breaking the law often starts with unethical behaviour that has gone unnoticed. The "boil the frog" phenomenon is a useful parable here: If you put a frog in hot water, it immediately jumps out. If you put a frog in cool water and slowly heat up the water, you can eventually boil the frog. The frog doesn't seem to notice the adverse change in its environment.

Myth 10: Managing ethics in the workplace has little practical relevance.

Managing ethics in the workplace involve identifying and prioritizing values to guide behaviours in the organization, and establishing associated policies and procedures to ensure those behaviours are conducted. One might call this "values management". Values management is also highly important in other management practices, e.g., managing diversity, Total Quality Management and strategic planning.