Why maintaining an ethical culture is imperative for organizations

¶ … Ethical Culture

In business, culture is what drives an organization. If it is a negative culture, outcomes will be negative: in-fighting will exist, employees will not rise to the challenges placed before them, management will not communicate well, leadership will be absent. If it is a positive culture, the inverse is true. Part of establishing a positive culture depends upon maintaining a culture of ethics within the organization. No company without an ethical core at the heart of its company culture can survive -- and there are many examples of this fact. Enron, for instance, was a corporate darling for a number of years -- before the rotten, unethical behavior below the surface eroded stakeholders\' trust in the company and the organization literally imploded over night. Had the organization maintained an ethical culture -- a culture of virtue, of transparency, of accountability and of law and order, it would be with us still today. Therefore, this paper will discuss why maintaining an ethical culture is imperative.

To maintain an ethical culture means to develop and sustain a system of ethics that guides the company\'s core values, its vision, its mission, its objectives, and its pathways to success. An ethical culture can be rooted in virtue ethics or a code of ethics that is unique but in conformity with the standards and expectations of society regarding right conduct. Maintaining an ethical culture means adhering to the standards that lead one to right and good behavior (Beeri, Dayan, Vigoda-Gadot, Werner, 2013). Through a formalized program that follows a core set of ethical codes and/or values promoted by the organization, a company can provide a framework by which leaders in the firm can develop strategies for success. This is the essence of maintaining an ethical culture.

The role that culture plays in global business ethics is just as vital. Ethical standards are universal (Schwartz, 2013). The concept of right conduct extends beyond borders, beyond ethnicity, and beyond nationality. In a global context, where international trade and commerce is the norm in the modern world, firms must pay attention to the need to adhere to critical ethical standards so as to facilitate this trade and commerce. A breakdown in trust, in honesty, in accountability on one end can be fatal to the entire system: global business depends upon unity of vision and ethical conduct. An unethical company in the global context is like a wrong note that can throw off the whole symphony.