Understanding Business Ethics

Institutions that follow business ethics have an aim of ensuring that they impact the corporate world. Though at the same time they have to ensure that they abide by the law for instance by not associating themselves with activities such as fabricating misleading reports. Business organisations are faced with various ethical issues among them being pay equality. Statistics claim that as of 2011, an average woman earned 77 percent of the amount a man made in doing a fulltime job. Such figures expose an entrenched policy for which women are underpaid for doing the same job as men even though most institutions claim to welcome gender equality when paying their workers. Corporate governance critically involves putting into balance the interests of various stakeholders of a firm including; customers, shareholders, management, suppliers, financiers and many more.

Corporate governance also encompasses management activities among them being internal controls and action plans which help in improving the performance of the company. This is done through establishing a framework that assists in attaining the stipulated objectives. Corporate social responsibility can broadly be defined as the relationship between the governments of different countries, global corporations and individual citizens. It establishes the relationship between an organization and the society in which it belongs to and undertakes its activities. In most cases, violating regulatory compliance regulations brings about punishment which could result in federal fines. Legal compliance, on the other hand, is whereby a company must comply with all rules, laws and regulations which apply to its business activities and operations. In this case, company employees, officers and directors should comply with the regulations, laws and rules which apply to the responsibilities and business activities related to the company.

Corruption can be referred to as the misuse of power with the motive of personal gain. It could also be identified through classes such as petty, political and grand depending on how much money has been lost and occurrence in which sector. In one's life, a person may feel a greater sense of ethical responsibility to family and friends. Though in business, business owners have ethical duties to people who count on them to do the right things. Natural environment refers to the ecosystems affected by business. A business organization can affect the natural environment through business activities such as fishing, hunting, agriculture and animal testing. Other activities such as mining, building, regulating rivers and polluting the air affect the natural environment.

One of the principles is respecting diversity and dignity of individuals where the company is committed to respecting human rights and is against discrimination of any kind. The company is also committed to ensuring that working hours comply with state, national and local laws. Samsung also has a principle of competing by business ethics and stipulated laws. Here the company is obliged to competing freely and being fair in all business sites available as well as abiding by relevant standards-based whether internationally or locally. Samsung also portrays awareness of ethical concerns by maintaining transparency of accounts whereby transactions are recorded accurately. Also in fulfilling the corporate social responsibilities, Samsung aims at practising co-existence and respecting social-cultural values of the communities they are involved with.

The images above demonstrate the commitment of Samsung as an organization in demonstrating ethical awareness. Social implications touch on the actions of a business that affect society as a whole. In the case of Samsung, these issues relate to certain areas of activity including ethics in human resource management as well as ethics in finance. When dealing with financial activities, there are related unethical behaviour. Samsung as an organization has strived to address ethical issues in their activities by for instance recognizing the source of its competitiveness comes from the trust and association between employees, executives and stakeholders. Samsung Electro-Mechanics strives to strengthen and ascertain an organizational culture free from bribery and corruption. This is done by regular provision of anti-corruption training and regulation.

Other than improving and identifying the vulnerability in processes, Samsung provides ethical management campaigns and education for its business partners. Commitment to addressing ethical issues has in turn brought about success for the company through global recognition and influence as well as the increase in sales through continuous customer satisfaction. Such practices enable workers to do right in spite of the popular opinion. In today’s world business organizations have additional responsibilities other than just generating profit for the owners. Though profits are essential for survival, considerations about relations with the community are necessary. Stakeholders have an interest in the company, and they include more than employees and customers. Pressure groups, on the other hand, could exert influence if they feel they have pressing issues or concerns which need to be handled.

In the instance where suppliers, brands and retailers are responsible for making working conditions better for their workers, it is referred to as an ethical trade. For example, companies who are obliged to do ethical trade develop codes of labour practice which they expect workers to work towards. This could include addressing issues like hours of work, wages, safety and health among others. Also, ethical business practices by a business organization bring benefits and add value once they are properly implemented. Finally, a business is supposed to comply with the stipulated laws be it local, national or regional. Suppliers A business organization that acts ethically is also judged by choice of its suppliers, therefore, enhancing the public image and attracting more customers.

Businesses that act ethically face higher costs for example in sourcing from widely known Fairtrade suppliers rather than from cheaper ones. Competitors Once a business is run ethically, it does not use its competitive advantages to perform better than their competitors or hurt them financially. Survival of the business is threatened since there is less flexibility over prices while as the market is competitive and customers are price sensitive. Communities Businesses operating ethically have substantially improved the wellbeing of the society, for instance, upholding laws against discrimination and unfair labour practices. In that extra training of employees would consume time and resources which could be used elsewhere and failure to train employees could lead to employees doing mistakes. Samsung as an organization can improve its operations ethically by developing and creating a plan whereby there is focus particularly on addressing situational needs of the organization.

The plan should be uniquely equipped to fit the needs of Samsung for instance clear communication of policies on ethics and code of conduct, improving the recruitment process and discouraging wrongdoing. Clear procedures and policies should also be developed to investigate and handle breaches of the ethical policies thus improving business ethics. Experts could also be brought in to help guide through the process of implementing the plan. This has led to higher retention of employees, effective recruitment, better motivation and increased productivity in general. The global society has also accepted the organization due to its obligation to conduct operations ethically. Also, the products of Samsung have proven to be more popular than competitor products due to having qualities such as consideration and honesty.