The Price of Ethics

As a business major, ethics has been an area of high interest not only personally but in my career choice. Ethics can be applied to any job or situation. However ethics are especially important than the business world. What you do isn’t any more important as how you do it. Business is based around customers, and the customers not only value satisfaction, they expect it.

Ethics can make or break business deals and relationships. Companies revolve around people: employees, management, and customers. There is certain ways in which a company should interact with its people on the inside and out. In companies, the CEO is the parent, and employees are the children, which together make up a family. Both are important elements in making the family complete; however, the children (employees) look to the parent (CEO) for guidance and perform according to their actions. With such hard work, intelligence, responsibility, and power, CEO’s are clearly financially comfortable. Although this can make other employees in and out of the company frustrated and envious, this position has stern obligations. The job of the CEO goes beyond increasing revenue; the job flows into a much more personal level. How you speak, interact, compromise, and satisfy employees becomes just as (if not more) significant to the company. A CEO is nothing without its employees. Being "socially successful" has become just as effective as being financially successful. In fact, the two correlate so closely that one relies on the other.

Ethics are an imperative part of CEO’s responsibilities; however, using them as a monetary incentive does create problems. The goal of being ethically responsible isn’t based solely on expectations. Of course there is a standard of what’s “right and wrong.” A CEO could easily pretend to care about maintaining an ethically strong work environment simply to gain the benefits (money). This itself is ethically wrong, and is makes the whole idea appear hypocritical. It is understandable that by placing a reward system on a necessity in the business world. In a society where everyone’s concern is to make more money, surpass the competition, and strive to be better, people will do what it takes to get ahead. To behave ethically in order to make more money could focus the attention of CEO’s away from what real ethics is all about. Employees would also be affected from this in that genuine relationships with customers lose their meaning. With this motive, why would a CEO care about what ethics truly mean to the company and customers? Morals and values can easily be expressed as long as they can earn more money. The idea is affective and optimistic but I am afraid the desire for money will exceed the desire to be ethically authentic.

Someone in such a high paying, respected career should treat these matters as priority. To employees and CEO’s especially, ethics should hold a high importance not matter what you are paid. Unfortunately, money has extreme power over our decisions and actions. A CEO is expected to act morally and provide standards which employees adhere to. Developing relationships with customers is heavily dependent upon how the company is in a social and moral sense. People have many options when it comes to doing business; a CEO who practices people skills will not only generate revenue, but they will gain loyal customers. What sets businesses apart is how they interact and what they value. These issues are all based around the leader-- the CEO. Ethics are not just our conscience, they are also learned. I strongly believe a CEO who is able to demonstrate ethic principles to those around them in and out of the office deserve to benefit. Although money can cause trouble, I agree with this idea of an incentive. This not only rewards a strong ethic leader, it shows the business world what really matters. It’s not about doing business, it’s about how you do business.