Ethical Responsibilities of Business.

This article explores the ethical responsibilities of business. Business ethics became a hot-button issue in the wake of the corporate scandals that were exposed in the late 1990s through the early 2000s. Businesses do not exist in a vacuum, but rather they play a vital role in sustaining economic growth, providing jobs, giving employees access to health care, and more—businesses can and do exist for the betterment of our society. However, people run businesses, and human nature sometimes manifests itself in unethical conduct. The way toward maintaining ethical business standards is by examining the moral character of business people, employees, and consumers and adhering to the basic moral codes of trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. In short, the ethical responsibility of business is to be a good corporate citizen, and adhering to moral codes is a responsibility that we all share.