Challenges in the Era of Globalization - iaabd

Proceedings of the 12th Annual Conference © 2011 IAABD
society itself. This view is similar to the one articulated by Diale (2008) when stating that ethics is a
notion that is used to refer to standards of behavior that tell us what we ought to do in both our private
and professional life. They apply to all individuals, organizations and society as a whole. They represent a
purposive action according to some set of values in determining what actions measure positively or
negatively in terms of acceptable societal moral standards. The same could be said of the assertions by
Rossouw & van Vuuren (2005) and Nadler (2007). On the basis of the above-stated exploration, it could
be deduced that ethics is an inescapable aspect of life in general and, human-kind in particular to make
ensuing interactions meaningful.
Related to ethics is the notion of business ethics which Ghillyer (2008) describes as involving the
application of standards of moral behavior to business situations which can be approached from two
distinct perspectives, namely; a descriptive summation of the customs, attitudes and rules that are
observed within a business, this is basically a documentation of what is happening and; A normative (or
prescriptive) evaluation of the degree to which the observed customs, attitudes and rules can be said to be
ethical, this is a recommendation of what should be happening. Business ethics according Rossouw
(1997) is based on the results of the study conducted among eminent academics in Business Schools,
business leaders interested in business ethics and other academic departments providing ethics education
in South Africa. In the author’s view, business ethics can be explained along the following trends. These
are; (1) business ethics can be explained in terms of personal values and virtues that should be applied to
business; (2) in terms of the application of societal or religious norms/rules/standards/values to business
practices and; (3) as a reflection on economic practices and decision-making that will ensure that business
activities are beneficial to individuals and society alike within the framework of a competitive marketdriven
economy. Rezaee (2009) identified the following levels according to which business ethics have
been identified based on what type of business and how their actions are evaluated. They are: (1) the
society level, which defines ethical behavior and assesses the effect of business on society; (2) the
industry level, which suggests that different industries have their own set of ethical standards (e.g.
chemical industry v/s pharmaceutical industry); (3) the company level, under which different companies
have their own set of ethical standards and; (4) the individual manager level, at which each manager and
other corporate participants are responsible for their own ethical behavior.
On the basis of the afore-mentioned, it can be argued that business ethics should not be applied as a
separate set of moral standards or ethical concepts from general ethics, instead, business ethics by all
intents and purpose call for moral action within the corporate environment so that the business entity can
remain viable and continue serve its market both efficiently and profitably (Fourie, 2010)(Ghillyer, 2008).
The case for business ethics can be justified on the following aspects, viz. the importance of business
ethics based on the public role that business play in society; the contribution that business ethics can make
toward improvement of business performance and; business ethics help to overcome the discrepancy that
individuals often experience between their individual values and those pursued by in business (Rossuw,
1997). In simple terms, business ethics makes a strong case for minimizing the effects of ethical dilemmas
for employees and managers alike when confronted with situations of making business decisions or
taking actions that might have the potential for compromising the integrity of the organization.
Instances of organizational collapses due to ethical indiscretions by decision-makers are abundant. The
ethical track record of many organizations over the last two decades would make one to believe that there
have been no such policies and procedures which led to questions as to whether “Is Business Ethics an
Oxymoron?”. The negative publicity of ethical meltdown of business organizations brought to the fore the
urgency of business organizations to re-look into their ethical outlook and make-up. Internationally, as
articulated by Ghillyer (2008) and Stanwick & Stanwick (2009), numerous prominent organization that
were previously held as models of aggressive business management; (e.g. Enron, Global Crossing,
Health South, IMClone, Tyco, WorldCom, Parmalat, Livedoor, Boeing to name but a few) have been
proved to be fundamentally flawed in their ethical practices. Similarly, South Africa did not escape the
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