Ethics related to entrepreneurship
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Ethics related to entrepreneurship
Making sound decisions is crucial in our daily lives. The decisions we differ but have to be morally right or wrong, and thus one’s choices/decisions are underpinned by oneself. Shakespeare would put it this way, ‘to be moral or not to be moral.’ The implication of morality in our lives has brought a skew view of good and evil. According to Peter Singer, ethics and morality are closely related and co-exist together. He defines ethics as a branch/field of study/a discipline whose primary concern is to determine what is morally right/good and wrong/bad, i.e., it’s a study of morality. Ethics is fundamental to decision-making. It can alter one’s decisions as it deeply incorporates the ultimate values and standards that result from individual choices. Mostly, ethics are reflective as they reflect human behavior and conduct. However, ethics may change/vary from time to time. For example, holding hands with one another wasn’t a big deal in the recent past; currently, it’s a risk due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, ethics apply in each area of our lives.
Ethics involves proper/appropriate ways of implementing business practices and policies following the underlying principles. It helps a company/entrepreneur succeed as well as maintaining acceptable standards (Alexandra, 2020). Let’s say, ‘good ethics good business.’ The world has turned into a global village with entrepreneurs emerging from all over the world and venturing into business. Entrepreneurship involves personal /individual attachment to work whereby a person with interests ventures into an activity and assumes to take all the risks associated with it. Conversely, some claims to work permeate deeper into many entrepreneur’s lives, shaping their subjectivity and inciting personal/individualized connections to the business world. These aspects have engrossed the attention of many scientists to try to understand entrepreneurship and the ethics involved.
By current standing dons from a Malaysian Business, an Ethics study showed how the government has dramatically strived to promote business ethics among entrepreneurs and small businesses to sustain its growth amidst the rivalrous global ecosystem. It argued that small businesses within the Malaysian economy had played a vital role, and it’s the backbone for industrial development within the nation. The Malaysian Ministry of Trade, Cooperatives, and Consumerism found that entrepreneurs did not apply ethics well despite its great significance. It resulted from a lack of business exposure to ethics awareness. The study found business ethics an essential sustainer of customers’ loyalty, a way to evade lawsuits, a driver to necessary direct foreign investment for the nation’s general wellbeing. Thus, educating and embedding entrepreneurs on ethics was considered crucial. The business ethics module was developed to guide and address the existing gap between entrepreneurs and equip them with proper knowledge and create conscious importance of ethics and its daily live applications in businesses for sustainability.
Business ethics in Malaysia have led to the rapid growth of its economy. Entrepreneurs have fully industrialized the nation, but some fail to follow the government’s ethical guidelines to capture greater market/reap quicker profit maximization gains. Due to these effects, Malaysia has engaged in constant business ethics enhancements. Applying ethics has helped entrepreneurs maintain existing customers, attract new customers due to its corporate image, thus increasing profits. Entrepreneurs have also been able to comply with the set of rules and regulations. Business ethics have made entrepreneurs strive harder to fulfill the needs and interests of stakeholders.
Nevertheless, issues as food for thought have interfered with how businesses should conduct themselves. It’s argued that it’s impossible to be both an effective manager and an ethical person from a perception of what managers should do and how they act. Also, it’s believed that ethical behaviors should be single-mindedly pursued when it comes to entrepreneurship, as each entrepreneur has different financial interests despite the current state of the market. Other entrepreneurs reap greater profits despite their inefficiency in the production level, and as a result, they injure the society at the expense of a higher profit margin. According to Alex C. Michael’s argument, entrepreneurs should pursue their interests and ignore ethics. Other views say that it’s ethical if it’s legal, and thus ethics shouldn’t be more than the law requires (Elbert and Griffin, 2007).
However, ethics requires a conviction that moral actions are social responsibility, and some ethical considerations can’t be ignored. Entrepreneurs need to be honest, as ethics in their business will also impact how they conduct themselves privately. They should be able to make rational and sound decisions in all their undertakings to pave away any chances of making losses. Such decisions consider moral views for social justice (Khaliah et al. 2018) and promote ethics for significant wellbeing minimizing negative influences on society. Thus every entrepreneur should not consider ethical principles in; resource and asset management, protection of intellectual property, advertising and promotion, environment, safety and health of others, etc. It means that entrepreneurs should manage their assets and resources well without any wastage. They should protect their intellectual property most ethically without interfering with the property of other entrepreneurs.
Advertising and promoting their products should be ethical, so it doesn’t affect the customer’s morale and complies with the law. Entrepreneurs should also sincerely state all the ingredients used in producing a product for the safety and health care of his/her customers, as some may be allergic to some compounds. The commodities sold to customers must be well labeled of the right quantity and quality and should not be expired or harmful to the consumer’s health. Entrepreneurs who adhere to the stated principles of ethics are considered ethical and positively impact the nation.
According to another research by John R. Clammer, there is a need to put more effort into humanity, society, and life. He argued that entrepreneurs should observe ethics. They should not cheat the customers, sell standard products, timely pay for their suppliers, consider society’s interests at large, etc. He also argued that entrepreneurial practices might be affected by the concept of globalization, which has involved issues such as pollution, climate changes, increased poverty levels, etc. Ethical responsibilities have then been enlarged due to the global crisis resulting in a significant impact on millions of people’s livelihood. A responsible entrepreneur will ensure that his/her actions affect society favorably. Such an entrepreneur engages in a business in which he/she can adhere to its ethical principles. He/she will ensure proper care of the customers and the society at large. The entrepreneur will provide his/her employees with fair wages, employee promotions, and appraisal should be just, etc. Ethically, an entrepreneur should be responsible for the ‘afterlife’ of their products, but many of them ignore these ethics. They should strive to reduce pollution that may result from their production activities. For example, if an entrepreneur is involved in energy-producing activities that require him/her to use coal, it would be ethical for him/her to reduce the emission of Carbon (II), which might affect the health of millions of people.
Other values that entrepreneurs need to incorporate include fully being honest with their suppliers and customers. Uphold of integrity standards, be careful and critical in all they do to avoid making losses, and always be open to accommodate new ideas/criticism. Confidentiality is curial so as not to expose important information to competitors. However, entrepreneurs face many ethical challenges that tempt them to do wrong. They have pressure to manipulate their accounts etc. Thus, they are exposed to challenging ethical dilemmas day in day out. Entrepreneurs have their energies elsewhere and limit the time they have to monitor their behavior. Entrepreneurs who own other intellectual property are perceived to have violated the other person or industry rights. Other entrepreneurs face challenges of the strained relationship as they shift their energies into the business. Another dilemma comes in if the entrepreneur has a funder. They’re always tempted to lie to them. They end up exaggerating the amount they need for start-ups. Technological advancements are another factor pressurizing entrepreneurs as many can’t afford to advance their technology continually, and thus they end up aging behind their competitors. Other entrepreneurs lie to their customers to boost their accounts and results in losing some core customers. One entrepreneur once said, ‘The same drive that made me entrepreneur now drives me to try to save the world.’ Anyway, all entrepreneurs desire success.
The future is inevitable, and therefore, more ethics need to be developed with life-enhancement and sustainability goals. Entrepreneurs should involve themselves in practical thinking, and they should come up with social ethics they would be willing to follow.
References
Alexandra, T. (2020). Business Ethics.
Ali, K.K., Ali, M.N.M., Panatik, S.A., & Rahman, A. (2018). Framework and Development of Malaysian Business Ethics Module.
Hong, P. (2017). Macro-levels trends, linkage role of ethics and entrepreneurial responses; A conceptual framework for research Agenda. IBA Journal of Management and Leadership.