Perspectives on Ethics in Business and the Importance of Leadership in Business

Topic: 1. The importance of ethics and values in business sustainability

2. How important is leadership in the success of business organizations

Table of content

1. Introduction 3

2. Importance of ethics and values in business sustainability

2.1 Ethics 3

2.2 Values 3

2.3 Sustainability 4

2.4 Integrate ethics and values into business 5

3. How important is leadership in the success of business organisations

3.1 What is leadership 6

3.2 Theories of leadership 7

3.3 Examples and significance of leadership in an organisation 8

3. Conclusion 9

4. Reference 10

1. Introduction

This is whereby we look at the concept of business management in greater detail and at ethics in the business sustainability and leadership. For us to be able to link these two aspects with one another we define the important aspects like the ethics, values, sustainability, etc. and how they are integrated, with supporting examples. An example is made of a company who had an ethical issue, an American gas organisation called, Enron. We then break leadership into smaller compartments, as we look at its theories and significance to the advantage of a successful business

2. The importance of ethics and values in business sustainability

2.1 ETHICS

For a business to be effective and running, ethics and values are important factors. Both of these factors work in correlation with one another and they are central to any organization. We then define ethics as moral principles that govern a person’s behaviour. This can be identified on how stakeholders (consumers, customers and shareholders) behave in the organisational environment. Edward Westermarck (Lee and John 1986 37-38) agrees in saying that ‘ethics are concerned with doing good or the right thing in a given human situation’. In the business context, ethics has to do with the extent to which a person's behaviour measures up to such standards as the law, organizational policies, professional and trade association codes, popular expectations regarding fairness and what is right, plus one's own take on moral standards (Sauser, 2005: internet).

Business ethics are, therefore, concerned with an estimation of business practices in the light of some concept of human value; it looks at corporate profits not for their own sake but with respect to the success of some human good.