Importance of Business Ethics

Long-term growth: sustainability comes from an ethical long-term vision which takes into account all stakeholders. Smaller but sustainable profits long-term must be better than higher but riskier short-lived profits.

Cost and risk reduction: companies which recognise the importance of business ethics will need to spend less protecting themselves from internal and external behavioural risks, especially when supported by sound governance systems and independent research

Anti-capitalist sentiment: the financial crisis marked another blow for the credibility of capitalism, with resentment towards bank bailouts at the cost of fundamental rights such as education and healthcare.

Limited resources: the planet has finite resources but a growing population; without ethics, those resources are repleted for purely individual gain at huge cost both to current and future generations.

Corresponds to Basic Human Needs:

The basic need of every human being is that they want to be a part of the organisation which they can respect and be proud of, because they perceive it to be ethical. Everybody likes to be associated with an organisation which the society respects as a honest and socially responsible organisation. The HR managers have to fulfill this basic need of the employees as well as their own basic need that they want to direct an ethical organisation. The basic needs of the employees as well as the managers compel the organizations to be ethically oriented.

Credibility in the Public:

Ethical values of an organisation create credibility in the public eye. People will like to buy the product of a company if they believe that the company is honest and is offering value for money. The public issues of such companies are bound to be a success. Because of this reason only the cola companies are spending huge sums of money on the advertisements now-a-days to convince the public that their products are safe and free from pesticides of any kind.

Credibility with the Employees:

When employees are convinced of the ethical values of the organisation they are working for, they hold the organisation in high esteem. It creates common goals, values and language. The HR manager will have credibility with the employees just because the organisation has creditability in the eyes of the public. Perceived social uprightness and moral values can win the employees more than any other incentive plans.

Better Decision Making:

Respect for ethics will force a management to take various economic, social and ethical aspects into consideration while taking the decisions. Decision making will be better if the decisions are in the interest of the public, employees and company’s own long term good.

Profitability:

Being ethical does not mean not making any profits. Every organisation has a responsibility towards itself also i.e., to earn profits. Ethical companies are bound to be successful and more profitable in the long run though in the short run they can lose money.

Protection of Society:

Ethics can protect the society in a better way than even the legal system of the country. Where law fails, ethics always succeed. The government cannot regulate all the activities that are harmful to the society. A HR manager, who is ethically sound, can reach out to agitated employees, more effectively than the police.