Socrates, Some 2500 Years Ago,

¶ … Socrates, some 2500 years ago, the question of whether or not ethics can be taught or has limited application has raged on. Yet, a consensus that ethics does or does not have a place in business has never been garnered and the age-old issue will likely remain elusive in the centuries to come. Because the question remains unanswered does not, however, imply that future discussion and debate are not required, needed, or practical.

The longer the debate continues less likely the ethic's issue will be relegated to the crevices of forgotten knowledge. The remainder of this paper will focus on how ethics, according to one journal article author, impacts the financial decision-making process, those issues of ethics involved in financial decision-making with respect to financial objectives and financial decision-making. The analysis will also include comments on the author's use of business research formatting and the method by which the author presented his research investigation.

In order to exemplify these variables an article relative to the subject matter was chosen for analysis. The article chosen was published by the Australian Conservation Foundation and entitled Disclosure of Ethical Considerations in Investment Product Disclosure Statements: A review of Current Practice in Australia (August 2004). However, prior to any discussion as to the efficacy and content knowledge of the article it is important to first have a clear understanding of the basic elements of business ethics in business - an issue not referenced in the selected article.

For the most part business ethics in business are governed by the principles of selflessness, integrity, objectivity, accountability, openness, honesty, and leadership with respect to the social and environmental on business and business management. The primary investigative premise of the article was to discuss the extent to which environmental and social issues are taken into account with respect to the selection, retention, and realization of investment programming. In essence the considerations are viewed as ethical considerations.

According to the authors a problem exists relative to the impact of ethical considerations on investment decision-making wherein there exists is a gap between ethical corporate behavior and long-term financial performance. Pointed out was the fact that the investment community is not performing well with respect to looking out for the long-term interests of their investors, environment, and community.

As such the parties involved appear not to be interested, nor appreciate, the impact of ethical concerns on a company's performance and tend to consider ethics as risks and not financial opportunities and make business decision as ethics issues arise. More interesting is the fact that the involved parties, i.e., managers, do not generally heed ethical considerations and only take ethical considerations into account when they financially impact the value of the investment.

A review of several investment product disclosure statements by the author clearly evidenced only preliminarily ethic's disclosure issues and most were reported as being very misleading and vague. In an attempt to emphasize the extent to which finance manages ignore ethical consideration is by adhering to the following misconceptions in financial decision-making according to the author: Ethical considerations are idiosyncratic personal views and have no place in business decision-making. Ethical considerations are only relevant if they create risks. Sustainability of long-term investment is safeguarded by existing financial metrics.

The most important influencing variables are, according to the author, not always those set forth by watchdog agencies, rather by other influencing factors that are more internal and not usually committed to paper policy or disclosure statements. These internal factoring decision-making regimens are as follows: The manner in which a financial manager gathers relevant data about a prospective business.

Does the manager rely solely on financial press information or on social and environmental risk information of both? What financial information does the financial manager request from analysts when assessing a new prospective business? When environmental risk does not show up on a business's financial statement how does the financial manager assess environmental risk? The view that ethical considerations it the nemesis of financial decision-making and opportunity is held by many and, accordingly, limits the universe of possible investment opportunities.

However, financial business decision-making in the absence of ethical considerations will eventually lead to market and investment distrust, weakened balance sheets, and lost opportunity. Although both of the aforementioned statements were very clearly pronounced by the author little evidentiary support was given by way of scientific or research evidence. Summary. Research, whether experimental, historical, clinical trial based, or case study formatted, when executed properly.