Page 1 of 10
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 255
VALUE OF VALUES AND ETHICS IN BUSINESS
Malavika Srivastava
Assistant Professor
Institute of Information Technology and Management (IITM Group of Institutes),
New Delhi, Affiliated to Indraprastha University, Delhi
Values and Ethics are considered very essential in human life as well as in business. As for
humans it is said that they drive them towards a righteous path and for business it is believed that
they lay its foundation and also develop a sense of responsibility to maintain the essence of their
foundation till the business exists. But these statements are subjective, as it neither necessarily
applies to every human nor does it apply to every business. We can say so because after
expecting all ethical deeds from humans and business we are all surrounded with both unethical
humans and unethical business.
Earlier business could be formed and could be operated successfully without including in their
conduct anything that is a concern of society, beyond what is valued, created and delivered
through the market. It was assumed that any responsibility that business had towards society is
duly discharged through the market mechanism. Services, goods, raw materials and other
resources that are drawn by business from society are adequately recompensed by the price
established by the price mechanism.
But today with such a huge paradigm shift in business, it has to be more responsible towards
society. It has to be accountable to the environment. And, it has to be good to its shareholders.
Without having such ethical conduct in business, it may cease to exist. Thus, there is a need to
incorporate in their ‘business philosophy’ all the three dimensions. There is a need to treat
corporate responsibility as a package of three dimensions; (a) good governance, (b) CSR and (c)
environmental accountability. This implies that all three of them co-exist and can no longer be
put in three watertight compartments. Business has been forced to accept corporate responsibility
in its eternity, which means amalgamation of all the three dimensions taken together.
In this light this paper moves forward with a question that, “Why business disowns ethical
practices, leaves behind their values and become socially irresponsible?”. Further in the paper we
are going to discuss the importance of above mentioned aspects of business as well as with the
Page 2 of 10
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 256
help of some case studies will try to find out the main reasons for such big organizations to go
unethical. Firstly, let us discuss some broad concepts and their association among themselves.
Values and Ethics:
The historical background of values and ethics goes back to ever since the first man trod the
surface of the earth, among the great religious books of the past, Bhagvad Gita is a unique book
with a central theme on work values and ethics. India’s soil is rich with traditional values and
beliefs. Different management problems had been tackled very beautifully in ancient scriptures
and mythological books.
Concept of Values:
Values represent the standard or ideals about what a person, object, event or activity, ‘ought to
be’. Values are the means of perfection. Values are concerned with internal development of the
person, purifying mind and heart.
Values are called gunas. Here values are divided into Human values and Holism. Human values
consist of ethical and moral values. Holism means unity, oneness, co-operation and synthesis.
Both Human values and Holism in a management are called Business Ethics. Both Human
Values and Holism are two sides of the coin of an organization.
Values are pervasive because they involve the selection of missions, goals and objectives. The
functions of management like planning, organizing and controlling depends upon the manager’s
values. Values lay the foundation for the organization.
Ethics in Business:
According to PETER PARTLEY, (The essence of Business Ethics) ethics has a twofold
objective: It evaluates human practices by calling upon moral standards; it may give prescriptive
advice on how to act morally in a specific kind of situation. This is discussed as follows in detail:
a. The first aim implies analysis and evaluation. It leads to an ethical diagnosis of past
actions and events. The analysis consists of clarifying standards and lines of argument.
Ethics is basically an area dealing with moral judgment regarding voluntary human
conduct. Moral judgment requires moral standards by which to judge human conduct.
Moral standards are also related to moral obligation, or the duty to do what we consider
to be ‘right’ and ‘proper’. The basic assumption behind our moral actions and judgments
are mainly taken for granted.
Page 3 of 10
European Journal of Business &
Social Sciences
Available at https://ejbss.org/
ISSN: 2235-767X
Volume 07 Issue 05
May 2019
Available online: https://ejbss.org/ P a g e | 257
b. The second objective is to provide therapeutic advice. It suggests solutions and policies
facing the present dilemmas and future dangers based on well- informed opinions. This
prescribes moral behavior and makes recommendation about how to or how not to
behave. This especially requires an identification of relevant stakeholder and a clear
understanding of the vital issues at stake.
There is one quotation Ethics always says, “Not I but thou.” Its motto is, ‘Not self, but non-self.’
The main idea of individualism to which man clings when he is trying to find that, Infinite
Power, or that Infinite Pleasure through the senses, have to be given up, says the laws of ethics.
You have to put yourself last and others before you. The senses say, “Myself first”. Ethics says,
“I must hold myself last”. Thus all codes of ethics are based upon this renunciation, destruction
not construction, of the individual in the material plans. That infinite will never find expression
upon the material plans. The infinite will never find expression upon the material plans, nor is it
possible or thinkable.”
Values vs Ethics
The terms “values” and “ethics” are not interchangeable. Ethics is concerned with how a moral
person should behave, whereas values simply concern the various beliefs and attitudes that
determine how a person actually behaves. Some values concern ethics when they pertain to
beliefs as to what is right and wrong. Most values do not.
Simply put, ethics involves learning what is right or wrong, and then doing the right thing- but
“the right thing” is not nearly as straightforward as conveyed in a great deal of business ethics
literature. Most ethical dilemmas in the workplace are simply a matter of “Should Bob steal from
Jack?” or “Should Jack lie to his boss?”
Corporate Social Responsibility:
It is the perception about the nature of business and its relationship with society that defines the
‘social responsibility of businesses’. It determines what the responsibility of business towards
society is and hence, the setting up standards of such responsibility is based on philosophy of
business since it is concerned with ‘the fundamental principles that underlie the formation,
existence and operation of a business enterprise’
In today’s world, Society is expecting much more from business than in the past, social
responsibility refers to that a person or on organization must become accountable for how its acts
