Concept of business ethics - class-XI

Acting in ways consistent with what society and individuals typically think are good values. Ethical behavior tends to be good for business and involves demonstrating respect for key moral principles that include honesty, fairness, equality, dignity, diversity and individual rights.

Business should act ethically to keep its commitment to society as society and business are interdependent on each other. Investors invest their money in a business and expects the firm to act ethically in all its functions. Employees are aware and want to work in an organization that respect and behave ethically.

Sugarcane is a major crop grown in canal irrigated areas of the country. It was observed that due to climatic aberrations especially rainfall and maximum temperature affect productivity, sugar recovery and burning in sugarcane crop. Burning in sugarcane is found to be inversely correlated with rainfall.

Optimum Utilization of Resources Management utilizes all the physical & human resources productively. This leads to efficacy in management. Management provides maximum utilization of scarce resources by selecting its best possible alternate use in industry from out of various uses.

By taking steps to reduce waste, a business can:-

• save money on supplies
• conserve natural resources and energy
• reduce current waste disposal costs and hedge against increased future disposal costs
• meet customer demand for "green" products and environmentally conscious businesses
• avoid adding to the environmental burden caused by producing and disposing of unnecessary materials
• boost employee morale by giving staff members an opportunity to work together on an environmental project
• reduce the risk of future liability associated with the disposal of solid wastes.

True.

To increase consumer awareness, the Government of India launched the eco-labelling scheme known as $`Ecomark'$ in $1991$ for easy identification of environment-friendly products. Any product which is made, used or disposed of in a way that significantly reduces the harm it would otherwise cause the environment could be considered as Environment-Friendly Product. The $'Ecomark'$ label is awarded to consumer goods which meet the specified environmental criteria and the quality requirements of Indian Standards. Any product with the $Ecomark$ will be the right environmental choice.

Industrial production has grown in India by more than $50-$fold over the past century. Cement, Thermal power plants, sugars and oil refiners are all considered as heavily polluting industries. These  contribute to the environment in terms of suspended particulate matter, gases and effluents. About $77$ per cent of the industries contribute to water pollution while $15$ per cent to air pollution and the remaining eight per cent to both air and water pollution. 

A company is said to have adopted fairness in employment practice when it follows a policy of recruiting on the basis of qualification and other merits and not on the basis of bribe, recommendation etc.

An experiment about negotiations conducted with graduate business students revealed that they would misrepresent the truth to gain an advantage.

The Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar is a well-known Indian government award given for significant contributions in the field of environment, which is often linked to corporate environmental ethics.

Ethics or moral philosophy is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending, and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct. The field of ethics, along with aesthetics, concern matters of value, and thus comprise the branch of philosophy so in today's dynamic environment every small medium or large companies are adopting codes of ethics.

Primary responsibility of business is towards their employee as they are the most important asset (Human resource) who invest their efforts in favor of the company to better its position. Without employees company cant run.

Mumbai Grahak Panchayat $(MGP)$ is perhaps the largest voluntary consumer organisation in India with a membership of 24,500 families. It has been engaged in activities of consumer protection and education for the last 33 years. Its unique collective group buying system provides a best practice model for sustainable consumption.

The notion of ethics in business can be traced back to the earliest forms of bartering, based on the principle of equal exchange. Countless philosophers and economists have examined the topic, from Aristotle and his concept of justice to Karl Marx's attack on capitalism. But the modern concept of business ethics dates back to the rise of anti-big business protest groups in the United States in the $1970s$. The subject gradually became an academic field in its own right, with both philosophical and empirical branches. Eventually, ethics have been incorporated into businesses, reflected today in corporate social responsibility strategies and codes of conduct. Business ethics is now not only a firmly established academic field, it is something companies realize they need to manage and internalize.

Elements of business ethics 
1. The first element is a strong code of ethics.
2. The second key element to a solid ethics foundation is ethics training.
3. The third key element to a strong ethics foundations is an "ethics coach".

Customer satisfaction is a vital factor in successful business strategy. An organization with a strong ethical environment places its customer's interest as foremost. As customers are the backbone of any enterprises therefore business must be responsible to its customer.

Taking responsibility for the environmental impact of one's products is a core tenet of business ethics and corporate social responsibility.

Whistle blowing is the act of an employee exposing information or activity within an organization that is deemed illegal, unethical, or not correct.

The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, officially named the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act of $2002$, became law on $July\ 30, 2002$. The law was informally named after its sponsors, Senator Paul Sarbanes (D-MD) and Representative Michael G. Oxley (R-OH).

Insider trading is a word that has many definitions and connotations and which includes both legal and illegal activities. 

Promoting harmful products, corruption and alcohol are not a ethical practice. But promoting harmless product are an ethical activity.

Cultural environments that condone corruption. Such as defending or even admiring crooks. Or rationalizing false arguments with no moral basis . Who ought to promote that culture? Social leaders? Everyone?

following are the measures to improve ethical behavior of business :-

Ignoring employees relations are not ethical because employees are the most important resource of the company .

The European Business Ethics Network $(EBEN)$ is an international network of academics and practitioners that promotes ethical business practice and increases awareness about ethical challenges in the global marketplace. 

Indira Gandhi Paryavaran Puraskar ( Indira Gandhi Environment Award) is an environment award instituted by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India in the year $1987$, in order to encourage public participation in environment. It is awarded to individuals and organizations that have made significant and measurable contributions in the field of environment protection and improvement.The prize is presented every year on an occasion related to the environment.

Make it clear to employees that you welcome — and will implement — good ideas that also foster sustainability. For example, installing motion sensors in your workplace that turn off the lights when nobody is in the room will help save energy and save money. Establish a program that rewards and recognizes employees who come up with ideas that reduce waste and save resources. That's certainly a win for people, planet and profits.

There are many measures which can be taken by businesses to protect environment. All the above 3 are examples of the steps which  businessmen can apply in their business and contribute to the environment which will protect environment to a certain limit.

The latest trend followed by businesses in promoting environmental protection is 

Protecting the environment is itself a business, and many organizations, especially nonprofits, take that as their guiding purpose.Their direct influence over the natural world, however, is slight when compared against all the globe’s for-profit companies chugging away in the name of earning money. Whether the place is Cancun, or China, or the United States, the condition of the natural world depends significantly on what profit-making companies are doing, the way they’re working, the kinds of goods they’re producing, and the attitude they’re taking toward the natural world. Three common attitudes are