Business Ethics - Who makes the cut, and who doesn't?

Poor ethical choices are made on a daily basis, some we have control over and some we don’t. We as individuals need to follow our own morals to determine what is right and wrong. We as people are faced with situation everyday that could challenge our morals and ethics. Let’s say you go and buy a new car. The price of the car says $15,000, the dealer then says well I can offer it to you for $14,500, but that’s the lowest I can go. You then find out a week later that your neighbour has purchased the same car for $13,500, at the same dealership. Is it unethical for the salesman to have lied? What if he needed that extra commission to pay his mortgage that month, does it still make it ethically wrong? Another prime example would be the purchase of funds form financial institutions.  They show you the growth of the fund but fail to tell you that their MER (Management Expense Ratio) fees are grabbing most of your profit. Thanks to new laws that are now in place, financial institutions are now forced to show you exactly what you are buying and the fees that come with the product. Ethics are based on a lot of different factors but we have to ask ourselves before making the decision, do the positives surpass the negatives? If so then we have clearly made the right choice.

Greed and power can alter a person’s morals and ethical decisions. This was the case for Kenneth Lay and Jeff Skilling, CEO's of Enron. According to Forbes magazine Kenneth Lay is one of the top 5 most publicized CEO’s to have violated the code of ethics in this day in age. As we enter the story of Enron we will see that his actions and decisions have not only affected the company, but the lives of several Americans as well. Next we will investigate a very different company, one that prides itself on moral and ethical practices. The Body Shop is an excellent example of a company that puts the moral and ethical values above the bottom line price. They are willing to take the chance that consumers agree with their ethical values, and are willing to pay the price for moral and ethical sustainability.