The various elements of business ethics are as under:
1. Top management’s commitment: Top management has a crucial role in guiding the entire organization towards ethically upright behavior. To achieve results, the Chief Executive Officer and other higher level managers need to be openly and strongly committed to ethical conduct.
2. Publication of a code: Enterprises with effective ethics programs define the principles of conduct for the whole organization in the form of written documents which is referred to as the code. This involves areas such as fundamental honesty and adherence to laws; product safety and quality; health and safety in the workplace. etc.
3. Establishment of compliance mechanisms: Company must ensure that actual decisions and actions comply with the firm’s ethical standards by establishing suitable mechanisms.
4. Involving employees at all levels: Involvement of employees in ethics programs is a must as at different levels they are the ones who implement ethics policies to make ethical business a reality.
5. Measuring results: Although it is difficult to accurately measure the end results of ethics programs, the firms can certainly audit to monitor compliance with ethical standards. The top management team and other employees should then discuss the results for further course of action.
