Business Ethics and Leadership Blog by Michael Josephson Article
“There are three levels of ethical issues in business.
Compliance: At the base level, ethics in business is directly associated with compliance – the legal and moral obligation to abide by the law. Illegal conduct subjects the wrongdoer to criminal and civil actions that often result in resource-draining and reputation damaging accusations. …
Lawful but Awful. The second level of ethics deals with professional or business conduct that is technically lawful but ethically questionable or clearly improper. An act is not ethical simply because it is lawful nor is it proper simply because it is permissible.Though many situations arise where there is not no clear-cut right or wrong answer (e.g., situations where the moral duty of candor may impose a duty to be more forthright and frank than is legally required) guidance can be found in professional ethical norms and core moral values like honesty, respect, fairness and responsibility. …
Moral integrity. The final level of ethics deals with personal and corporate values and the concept of moral integrity. Thus, every company has the prerogative to define its character by the criteria it uses in determining whether to accept or fire a client and whether to retain or release a highly productive employee who does not consistently abide by the organizations stated values. This final dimension of ethics is grounded in the self-image of a company and its stated aspirations to put ethics above expediency.”
