Teamwork Articles

G. Richard Shell, author of Bargaining for Advantage: Negotiation Strategies for Reasonable People, identifies three primary schools of ethics in negotiation. Business ethics operates on the premise, for example, that the ethical operation of a private business is possible – those who dispute that premise, such as libertarian socialists, (who contend that “business ethics” is an oxymoron) do so by definition outside of the domain of business ethics proper.

For example a Japanese employee believes that it Is unethical on his part to attend an interview with other company when he is still with the current company. However, it may be said that any individual who does not practice business ethics cannot be personally ethical even though the reverse may not also be true.

Although it is rarely the conscious intent of a business to harm the public interest, reality dictates that the businesses ability to increase profits will determine its success. In many businesses, having ethics is frowned upon or thought of as a negative subject.

Individual Ethics is more concerned with Moral reasoning, wherein actions are judged with reference to moral standards. The job profile involves introducing various insurance policies of a company to potential customers, according to their needs. Ethics may be viewed as the entire body of moral values that society attaches to the actions of human beings.

Peoples’ conflicting beliefs are revealed daily in expressions such as “It’s just business” (which attempts to exonerate commerce of all but the hardest of legislative controls) and, conversely, in aspirations such as “We will only prosper through creating win-win situations with partners and customers”.