Business Ethics vs. Moral Ethics - How to reconcile?

People (the general masses) require a leader: someone who exhibits the qualities that we think are 'virtuous', and thus we provide ourselves with a model, something to aspire to. That's all fine and good, in theory.

And looking at current society, I can understand why this or that person was chosen as a leader of the masses -- they exhibit, what I call, 'business ethics' (as opposed to 'moral ethics'). They _are_ the epitome of the values that current society holds as valuable... whether or not we agree with it.

At it's simplest form: Business ethics strive to create 'good business' people, their 'goodness' measured by their assets. Moral ethics strives to create 'good people', their 'goodness' measured by their character.

From Wikipedia:

General business ethics

• This part of business ethics overlaps with the philosophy of business, one of the aims of which is to determine the fundamental purposes of a company. If a company's main purpose is to maximize the returns to its shareholders, then it could be seen as unethical for a company to consider the interests and rights of anyone else

Unethical to consider the interests and rights of anyone else besides the company? ....that is Business Ethics in 'the shell of a nut'...

People, animals, seemingly life itself becomes objectified because of this monetary distance. Indeed, there are countless articles about the child sex trade ('Sex Tourism' Street Children) -- even children have become commodities! They are being sold to the brothels...

We _know_ that these actions are morally incorrect.
In fact, the actions make humanity into hypocrites...
to which Business Ethics replies: Maybe. But, at least we're rich hypocrites!!

The emphasis is skewed to different ends.

As the saying goes: 'Money talks' ... and morality walks.

(Indeed, how many classmates have I known who took Business Management to secure their future paychecks, rather than classes that would develop their passions?
They looked at me: "I'll be the one giving you a dollar when you're homeless..."
I looked at them: "Fine. At least I'll be happy with my chosen profession..."
Again, note the different emphasises...)



So how do we reconcile these differences?

Is it possible to make the business-person realize the virtues of being a morally upright person?

With society arranged as it is, I have to admit that unless there's a paycheck involved, people will not willingly change their ways. Object materialism has a tight grip on people, and their futures.

There is no monetary gain in being virtuous. You cannot claim it for a tax deduction, nor as an asset for a loan. It has no value in this society.

The only solution that I can think of is Gandhi's Seven Deadly Sins which at least works towards bringing Business Ethics and Moral Ethics together... However, Business Ethics would argue that they 'lose' their values, and Moral Ethics would retort that social transactions are worth more than business transactions.


Couple Business Ethics with people's everyday lives, and we begin to understand why there's been a serious change in the way that people think of themselves -- specifically, that they think more about themselves than others, than the idea of a community.

I'm 25. Society raised me to be an individual. The only sense of community that I have is my family -- which even that I ran from (and will be returning to shortly). My neighbors have their lives, and _very rarely_ do they ever intersect. I have my personal bubble (aka 'home'), and you have yours, and everyone has their own little island.

This is why moral relativism has such a strong foothold in society -- everyone to their own, and to pursue some universal code of ethics is tantamount to imperialism.


So, even IF a leader arrived on the scene, touting the value of Moral Ethics... people (probably) would not hear it.


Indeed, Business Ethics has even kidnapped the meaning of value:

(taken from Free Online Dictionary:

1. An amount, as of goods, services, or money, considered to be a fair and suitable equivalent for something else; a fair price or return.

2. Monetary or material worth: the fluctuating value of gold and silver.

3. Worth in usefulness or importance to the possessor; utility or merit: the value of an education.

4. A principle, standard, or quality considered worthwhile or desirable: "The speech was a summons back to the patrician values of restraint and responsibility" Jonathan Alter.

5. Precise meaning or import, as of a word.

6. Mathematics An assigned or calculated numerical quantity.

7. Music The relative duration of a tone or rest.

8. The relative darkness or lightness of a color.

9. Linguistics The sound quality of a letter or diphthong.

10. One of a series of specified values: issued a stamp of new value

Monetary value takes the first and second places, and moral value takes fourth.


And that is society's current value of 'value'...