Business Ethics

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Master's February 2001

download word file, 2 pages 5.0

Downloaded 73 times

Business Ethics Discussing the ethics of big business can very well get complicated. At the same time they can be very simple. Ethics of big business in a free enterprise system consist of some ideas. Some important ideas are competition, workers rights, and consumer protection.

Productive resources let businesses produce goods and provide services. The Idea of Maximum Profit is very important in business. Profit is the businesses earnings after all the expenses have been paid. These expenses may very well include the cost for manufacturing, for land (workplace), and wages. To increase the profit and work for the goal of maximum profit, depending on the situation, businesses may increase the amount of goods and services or even decrease the amount of goods and services.

At the same time businesses have to worry about competition. Some businesses have more or less competition than others. Nonetheless, they all have to keep some reasonable standards.

They all have to maintain and keep reasonable prices to attract and keep the consumers or the customers. This can mean lowering prices or increasing the quality of the products because it may be possible for a consumer to abandon a manufacturer if they find better deals. To attract the consumers business can use various forms of advertising.

In a free enterprise economy government have certain controls over businesses. These are Health and safety regulations, moral regulations, and antitrust laws. To ensure the welfare of a company's employees, customers, and the community, businesses have to abide by health and safety regulations. These consist of some controls. An example is the limits on the number of hours that people work and safety standards of the work environment. Since some business may interfere or conflict with the moral standards of the community or society, businesses have to abide by...