Ethics
A student wrote to me: “You often mention about ethics in the workplace but what is ethics and how do we know if we are ethical or not? Please explain."
Answer: Basically, ethics means knowing what is right and what is wrong, then doing the right thing. However "The right thing" may not be as clear as described in textbooks. Depend on the situation, some people may have different opinions on what ethics means. Some believe it is a moral principle; others believe in special situation and it is up to the individual to make the decision.
Many people consider an ethical belief is a legal matter. Ethical guideline can be translated to laws, regulations, or rules that guide how people must do. However, being ethical is not the same as following the law. The laws set rules to which most people must follow but laws can differ from what is ethical. For example, the laws in the dynasty area where the emperor rules everything is obviously not the same as what we consider ethical today or the laws allow some people to keep slaves is no longer ethical.
Some people consider ethical belief is “Whatever society accepts”. Ethical guidelines are not written but understood by people as “The way business is conducted here”. However being ethical is not the same as doing "What society has accepted." In any society, certain behavior can differ from what is ethical as an entire society can be ethically corrupt. For example, not long ago white people can keep black people as slaves and it is what society has accepted or some people accept bribery but many others do not.
Basically ethics refers to standards of right and wrong that prescribe what people should do in terms of rights, obligations, benefits to society, fairness, or virtues. Ethics refers to those standards that impose the obligations to refrain from stealing, killing, and fraud. Ethical standards include honesty, compassion, and loyalty and to behave with respect, fairness, responsibility, etc.
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
