Reasons for unethical behavior in business

Unethical Behaviors in Enterprise

The reason for unethical practices on the part of business professionals may initially seem to be obvious: to make more money. However, while on the surface this may be the case, and often money plays a critical motivating role to run afoul of the law, there are often deeper psychological motivations for unethical behavior. An individual may cheat a company he or she works for because he feels underappreciated. Thus he or she 'deserves' some extra perks that are listed as 'business expenses' on a tax form or company expense account. The businessperson may subconsciously feel guilty working long hours at work, and thus buy extra things for friends and family on the company dime. The unethical businessperson may have a superiority complex, and enjoy cheating customers and employers for the sake of feeling clever, even if what he or she gains is relatively small. Getting excessive compensation for work may be a 'power trip,' as might have been the case for the CEO of Tyco, famed for reaching 'deep' into the company coffers for lavish parties and perks, despite a generous executive salary.

Other reasons may be institutional -- a harried employee may cover up mistakes, for fear of losing a job or a client in a pressured situation. or, an employee may be asked use unethical accounting practices to cover up business losses, ostensibly to protect shareholders and employees with a vested interest in the company's success. An accountant may feel pressured by a client not to use generally accepted ethical accounting practices and rationalize the fact he is saving an important client money, thus his behaviors are 'good' despite being technically illegal or unethical. As during the Enron crisis, workers may feel pressured to comply with top-level management's unethical behaviors for fear of losing their jobs and also because of the 'bunker' mentality that 'everyone is doing it' at the company so it must be 'okay.' Groupthink, guilt, even a desire to help others may all be as much of a motivating factor as greed for some individuals.