Business Ethics Is a Very Significant Issue

Business Ethics

Ethics is a very significant issue in all businesses because it illustrates the moral values of any given business, according to an article in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Business Administration. This paper reviews and critiques the article. Authors Aytac Gokmen and A. Turan Ozturk present a study of business ethics issues in both domestic and international businesses.

Review / Critique of Article

The authors posit that ethical behaviors in an organizational setting "motivate employees" and "satisfies their necessities" (Gokmen, et al., 2012, p. 82). The authors contend that when employees are working in a fair, ethical environment their performance is enhanced. The issue of ethics goes beyond moral principles and fairness, according to this article. There are fundamental approaches to ethics that also enhance the quality of employees' performance: a) justice (means being treated impartially in an organization); b) a human rights aspect is important as well (equality among employees and stakeholders keeps the organization moving forward); c) utilizing company sources "in the best possible ways"); and d) helping to develop the individual for "social improvement" also pertains to the ethical nature of an organization (Gokmen, 82).

The authors emphasize "motivation" in several contexts; they contend that motivation -- along with good skills being practiced -- produces a "high level of performance," and in order for an organization to motive it's workers it must function using ethical standards to "…ensure impartial applications of business" (Gokmen, 83). Along with motivation is "enthusiasm," Gokmen continues. For executives in an organization, motivation is "…an integral component of good leadership and managerial expertise," Gokmen asserts. Employees are always struggling and striving for "equal chances [and] opportunities," and they thrive when treated ethically and when they see their supervisors and managers behaving ethically.

That having been clearly stated, the authors turn to the importance for a company that is international in its scope to understand local ethical values in the "host market" they work in. Ethical work values in Denmark will be quite different from ethical values in Jordan, Gokmen points out. Indeed the international company expects a "high return on investment and profitability," but there should also be an expectation that ethical values (matching the values that are in place in the host country) are as important as profit (Gokmen, 85). That is because there will be "social consequences" when the company does something that goes against the "moral values" in that host country. For example, a local employee that works for an international company will be offended on the one hand when unethical behaviors shown by the company offend his or her own cultural values.

Given the above-mentioned globalized reality for an international company, it is vital that a code of ethics be established. And that code of ethics must be based on "social responsibility" because a code of ethics (clearly written and fully explained by the human relations department to each new employee) is the official statement of the organization vis-a-vis how employees are expected to act and perform (Gokmen, 86).