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Managing Business Ethics

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Managing Business Ethics
Ask business managers how to manage business ethics and they are bound to receive many answers or quizzical looks. How can managers educate employees about the importance of business ethics in the company? Integrating business ethics into an organization, one must first be able to understand business ethics. Trevino and Nelson’s textbook, “Managing Business Ethics Straight Talk About How To Do It Right” (2011), introduces students to this topic.
As a result of many scandals in large corporations today, business ethics is fast becoming an important subject to many business professionals. Not only do they have to learn what constitutes ethical responsibility, but they also have to “understand and manage” (p. 2) it. Companies while trying to uphold a reputable image, slip when there is a profit to be made, and this results in disasters such as the “no doc loans” or “liar loans” (p. 6) and the resulting crash of the housing market. Agencies need to be in place to ensure people are not taken advantage of and coerced into loans that they cannot realistically afford.
Trevino and Nelson define “ethical behavior in business as “behavior that is consistent with the principles, norms and standards of business practice that have been agreed upon by society” (p. 19). Many standards and policies were translated into laws, but there are also some behaviors that cross into the ethics realm not considered illegal. Also, some behaviors illegal in the United States, but they may not be recognized as illegal in other countries. Where, when, and how is it determined what is ethical and what is not ethical? Should individuals even bother to conduct themselves ethically if there is no law against it? People in society have morals, values, and standards that feed into their ethical decisions. Organizations should be concerned with whether or not

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