We are witnesses to the development of the modern world. Cultures and societies flourish while technological advancements are popping up more often. With that said, lots of trends that concern business are also evolving. Ethics is one of those issues in businesses.
List of Ethical Issues in Business 2017
By definition, ethics are the moral guidelines or principles that govern behavior in which one does an activity. In business, there five ethical issues that need to be known.
Here are the five current ethical issues in the business world:
Social Media
Social media sites are one of the most common features of the internet. Figuratively speaking, the use of it is hard to stop. Facebook and Twitter are examples of those sites that are being actively used by most people nowadays.
Many dilemmas arise from the use of social media sites. These issues include breach of confidentiality, conflicts regarding interest, misuse of company assets, and damage to a company’s reputation. Although social media can be very helpful in spreading a company’s reputation, it can also become very disruptive if used in a wrong way.
Companies, however, can form strict guidelines that outline the control of social media use among employees and help the development of the firm with social media as a powerful tool.
Surveillance
Technological advancements have provided businesses with easier ways to monitor employees and ensured quality production. This situation is a dilemma when it comes to individual employee privacy. For a company and employee to agree on terms, full disclosure should be in writing. Details in the disclosure should involve the methods and tools used in surveillance.
Transparency
In the past, transparency would mean “owning up to one’s mistake and righting a wrong.” Nowadays, companies understand the new concept transparency brings. A company’s activity whether good or bad should be explicitly addressed and not hidden in any way.
Leaders are often tasked with projecting proper conduct towards employees, customers, internal cultures, and corporate goals to make business value transparent.
Child Labor
Many companies are against child labor. In contrast to that, some companies still violate this law. Large firms often practice “willful ignorance”, only addressing issues when brought to attention, and eventually goes back to its ways once surveillance or inspection is over.
For companies to proper address the issue, a suggestion should be made that policies regarding child employment should be privately and publicly acknowledged.
Environmental Concerns
Large companies often have trouble when it comes to sustainable practices. Companies need to balance the need of profit with sustainable ways of preserving the environment around them. Pollution, waste management, deforestation issues, carbon footprints, and global warming are a just a few of these problems.
Takeaway
With the pace of how the world revolves around people, technological advancements bring tremendous advantages. As a result, Commerce and industry thrive. With these new advancements, moral and ethical issues arise.
Issues such as environmental problems, child labor practices, transparency, social media, and surveillance are the five current ethical issues that the business world faces. These problems should be in discussion so that solutions can be immediately addressed.
Utopia is believed to be unattainable, but with the help of people and companies working together, the way to it may become the easier than expected.
Author Bio:
Phoebe Walker is a writer currently living in Park County, Colorado. She is very knowledgeable in the field of business analytics. Phoebe is also interested in psychology and personal development. In her free time, she shares valuable knowledge about her readings with her readers. 🙂