Ethical Issues in Business, Essay Example

Businesses operate with the sole objective of making profits. However, in so doing, it is necessary that they act within some acceptable code of behavior. Several ethical issues may arise in business operations and there is urgent need to prioritize the manner in which they would be resolved. Key among areas of necessity include offering employ the appropriate quality of product or service. This implies that businesses should stay away from false trade description. In the hiring process, discriminative practices should equally be avoided. In this paper, I consider some of the main areas that ethical issues are bound to arise and possible resolution to these issues.

Free-market vs. sustainable business economic paradigms

Liberalized markets allow businesses to carry out their engagements in various markets without restrictions. However, this provision does not permit the business to exploit the opportunity to destabilize the economic paradigms. Instead, appropriate business practices should be employed to prevent the economy from crumbling.

Corporate social responsibility and corporate culture and values

Every business has a responsibility to carry out its activities in a socially responsible manner. This implies that engaging in activities that directly or indirectly impact negatively to the community around is unethical. For instance, businesses have a role to dispose their waste products in the right manner. Furthermore, the products they deal with should be packaged in manner that is less likely to impact negatively on the consumers.

Obligation to environmental stewardship

Businesses operate in an environment that needs to be conserved. As such, their social obligation ensures that this environment is kept free from pollution or any act that may result to its degradation. This may be achieved by taking the lead role in supporting the environmental conservation movements as well as discouraging any sort of pollution from within the business.

Sustainable management, production, and supply chain

Whereas businesses exist to make profit by making the maximum possible sales volume, it is equally important that they do so in a manner that would ensure sustainability in the supply chain process. Wasteful practices that do not guarantee sustainability are unethical.

Sustainable consumerism, “greening” the market

In the process of providing goods and services to the consumers, businesses have the duty of ensuring that they package the products in materials that cause the least harm, if any, to the environment. This includes replacing the non-biodegradable package materials with those that are biodegradable.

Resolution of ethical problems

In line with the ethical issues discussed above, it is necessary that businesses adopt a system that would ensure such issues are resolved within the shortest time possible. Among the strategies employed, include adopting a legislation that would curb unethical practices amongst business organization. Secondly, businesses have the obligation to understand the role that they have to play as far as ethical matters are concerned. As such, as part of their core values, businesses should stay away from malpractices.

The governments in conjunction with various non-governmental organizations have joined hands in establishing ethical environment within the business setting. Those organizations that engage in unethical practices have fallen victim of concerted criticisms from both the public and the private sector. Therefore, as a general resolution to ethical issues, there is an urgent need to adopt and fully embrace the ethical guidelines as stipulated by the various laws enacted.