ETHICS AND BUSINESS

ETHICS AND BUSINESS

1. The company as a community and moral subject

   • Globalization makes possible the emergence of very large companies, so it is necessary to determine the activity and the level of responsibility of each element of the company.
     • company, owners, directors, officers, managers and employees
   • The company is an association of people who seek to achieve common goals.
   • All of them must have the same characteristics such as; commitment to comply with certain rules; respect a series of values; have a common objective...
     • Corporate culture: several common effects such as attraction and selection processes or retention and voluntary turnover processes.
   • Mission: the company's raison d'être. Vision: the definition of the future situation we want to achieve. Values: the ethical judgments that are considered inalienable.
     • Mision: Long term; management is very committed; defines a corporate identity that helps establish personality and helps identify potential customers.
     • Vision: it raises the idea of success, maintaining itself over the years. It also increases the motivation of the components and develops a competitive spirit.
     • Values: dynamic where they put in all life situations. They represent the ethical support of the mission and vision of the company.
       • Some processes of values: establishing the fundamental values; defining the hierarchical scale of values; communicating the values; putting them into practice; evaluating whether the attitudes are in line with the values.
   • Internal stakeholders; shareholders, management, employees...
   • External stakeholders: customers, suppliers, distributors, competitors, public administrations, financial institutions, social environment, environment...
   • Process of the company's relations with stakeholders: description of the groups, interrelationships of interests, union of groups, legitimization of interests and appropriate moral response.

2. Business ethics

   • Motives for business ethics: separation of ownership and management, globalization, deregulation of the economy and sustainability.
   • Business ethics: deals with the analysis of moral issues that arise in the company.
   • Personal ethics: the managers of the company have a decisive influence on business ethics, but the responsibilities and methods of decision making are different.
   • Universal principles: Respect and protection of human rights, compliance with labor rights and environmental sustainability.
   • Ethical tools; Code of ethics (introductions, scope of application, values, relations with stakeholders, model of managerial behavior), ethics committees (drafting the code of ethics, making decisions, reviewing compliance...), SGE 21 standard and corporate social responsibility.
   • Competitive advantage; employees (more involved in the company), supplier/distributor (tensions are eliminated and relations are simplified), customers (they are more loyal, so they can achieve more sales), quality system improves, costs are prevented, and the possibilities of generating innovations are increased.

3. Corporate image

   • is the one that the company designs to be attractive to the public, its objective is to transmit the company's message to the public.
   • Functions in the internal sphere; improve quality, increase staff performance, enhance internal community systems...
   • Functions in the external sphere: reflects the company culture, generates notoriety and prestige, strengthens the positioning of the products.
   • Functions in the external sphere: reflects the company culture, generates notoriety and prestige, strengthens the positioning of the products.