Business Ethics Oxymoron

BUS 311 The concept that “business ethics is an oxymoron” is a topic that at first may seem like a contradiction. This refers to the “apparently inherent” conflict between morality and the pursuit of profit (Transcript: Ethics: Business an Oxymoron?, n.d.). The implication is that if a company has to choose between profits and doing the right thing, the business will choose profit because that is what businesses are all about. However, this notion comes from a point of view not familiar with how businesses actually operate. There are more benefits and incentives for a business to act ethically than to act unethically, and that is what this essay tries to prove. Having strong ethical components in a business is the only way businesses

Business act ethically because it is the best long term-strategy for a company. Of course, being ethical does come at a price. Doing the right thing can be costly, but that is only a short term cost endured in the hopes for long term profit. The logic behind this notion is that ethical businesses have comparative advantages to unethical businesses when we measure them against each other in the long run (Transcript: Ethics: Business an Oxymoron?, n.d.). If a firm conducts business in an unethical manner, in the long run, it will lose its customers because they will not appreciate being treated poorly. Those customers will then become loyal to firms that are ethical, and thus the ethical firms are the ones that will benefit the most in the long run. This series of events happens because when a business takes advantage of its customers or employees, which are unethical actions, those groups retaliate by not purchasing the firm 's product and by not working for the firm, which cripples the business. So, in order for businesses to be successful, they must work hard to create strong relationships with its customers, which therein also creates good reputation. Those two things can only be received by firms that use ethics to conduct their business, and thus only ethical businesses can reap long term benefits of playing by the rules. In other words, most people prefer to conduct business with an ethical company, rather than an unethical company. Technically, this proves that in the long run unethical behavior is costly, and ethical behavior creates its own competitive