There are three sections comprising ethics: “meta-ethics, normative ethics and applied ethics” (Britannica Encyclopedia, 2009, n. p. ). Meta-ethics is primarily concerned with the validity of ethical judgment such that any action should be of moral value. Many studies about meta-ethics are related to logical and semantic facet of moral language. Theories connected to meta-ethics include emotivism, intuitionism, prescriptivism, and naturalism. On the other hand, normative ethics deals with establishing the relationship of human actions to sets of standard conducts or norms.
It seeks to prove that human actions can be judged as morally right or wrong depending on the perceived end results and the compliance to the standards of morality of such actions. Theories that evolved from normative ethics include consequentialism and deontological ethics. Lastly, applied ethics refers to the employing the normative ethics to sensible moral crisis or problems. Bioethics and the ethical principles in the fields of medicine, law, and business are major fields of applied ethics (Britannica Encyclopedia, 2009, n. p. ).
Based on the definition and explanation, we can draw an Ethical Paradigm which suggests that human beings act based on what he knows as good or right or based on the ethical standards (norms) set by the society. Furthermore, some individuals are compelled to act only because they are obliged by the situation, regardless of the norms and without thinking if their action is good or right. Having the ideas discussed above, we can now identify the ethical practices in a business environment. In order to do so, we must first define and elaborate the different concepts and meanings attached to business ethics.
Business ethics (an example of applied ethics) is the application of ethical theory to business environment which aims to identify which business practices are morally right (acceptable) and which are not (unacceptable). Businessmen carry a great influence to their employees in determining the ethical practices and philosophies of their organizations. As the saying “follow the leader” states, employees are expected to follow the ethical examples of the business owners as part of their duties and responsibilities business articles summary
Meanwhile, there are enterprises and organizations which are not engaged in moral businesses. It follows that their employees are not required to act and perform their duties according to ethical standards and according to what is good and right. More to this, there are employees working in ethical companies who are dishonest and unethical. Most of these people give much preference to their self-interest against the interest of their organization and the interest of the public. They are tagged as deceitful employees.
