Business ethics as a separate scientific branch arose in the USA in the second half of the last century and by the 1970s had been developing by leaps and bounds. Its emergence and development was due to the emerging social need to comprehend those moral norms and relations that arose in the entrepreneurial or business environment. And to be precise, closer to the middle of the 20th century, facts of corruption among American civil servants began to be increasingly discovered. This entailed the realization that the violation of ethical standards individuals is fraught with the destruction of social ties, as well as undermining confidence in the business community in particular and in the state in general.

Of course, the natural development of morality and business ethics used in world and domestic business practices occurred much earlier - simultaneously with the development entrepreneurial activity in society, moral and ethical points of view on business relationships were formed and approved.

But it is in recent years that business ethics has attracted the concentrated attention of an increasing number of sociologists and researchers, managers and managers, representatives of public organizations and others. Courses on the basics of business ethics today are taught in almost every business school. The modern business environment, as well as its business communities (businessmen and entrepreneurs of all levels, politicians, representatives of public and non-profit organizations) are increasingly aware of the urgent need to increase the degree of moral responsibility at all its levels, since it is this kind of responsibility that is a valuable component of a business with the highest possible profitability.

Principles modern business among other things, include assessing the reputation of business partners, following ethical standards interaction and cooperation, the correctness and ethical expediency of applying sanctions, etc. Also, the social responsibility of business, which implies the improvement of the welfare of society, compliance with the law, and the fulfillment of obligations assumed, is becoming increasingly important.

Thus, business ethics gradually acquired the status of an actual scientific discipline, the scope of which was the understanding of the possible consequences of accepted or being made management decisions.

In real life, business ethics is understood as a rather complex combination of related disciplines. This explains the difficulties in its at least conditional classification, systematization, as well as in theoretical development and even in understanding.
At modern approach, business ethics is usually considered at the intersection of such sciences as cultural studies, psychology, sociology, philosophy, etc. Scientists and public figures involved in the study of this issue define this scientific branch based on which of the social sciences underlies it .

However, today business ethics is traditionally understood as the observance of moral and ethical principles in a wide variety of business circumstances, as well as the possible consequences of violating generally accepted ethical norms and requirements.

Business ethics and its subject area

In a very common sense, business ethics refers to certain customs of business etiquette or norms of official behavior. Such a point of view, of course, has the right to exist, but it does not at all reflect the full scale subject area this scientific discipline. In fact, it is a complex scientific section that studies the most diverse problems that the business environment hides in itself, as well as the ethical aspects of the activities of such economic units as an individual, a separate social group, organizations and corporations, states and even communities of international reach.

Business ethics studies and explores the value-normative aspects of interaction within and between business communities. The facets of this interaction are closely related and represent a huge, simply gigantic complex of related disciplines, and the range of problems considered by business ethics is vast and diverse.

For example, business ethics studies issues such as:

1. Social responsibility of business communities;
2. Models of social responsibility in domestic and world practice;
3. Social justice as a guarantor of the social responsibility of business;
4. Modern management and methods of managing organizations;
5. Moral aspects of the use of business information and competition;
6. Violations in part labor law and human rights;
7. Compliance with or violation of legal norms;
8. Participation of business in sponsorship or charitable projects;
9. Discrimination on various grounds;
10. Moral climate within organizations and behavior patterns of business community members;
11. Corruption, fraud, theft in various business sectors;
12. Problems of shadow economic interactions;
13. Moral and ethical aspects of commercial advertising;
14. Principles of fair competition and their violation;
15. Dishonest pricing methods;
16. and others.

Interaction of business ethics with other scientific fields

Since business ethics in its general understanding rearranges a certain complex of related disciplines, there is a need to consider separately the elements that form it, the relationship between them, as well as possible results from this interaction.

• Relationship with philosophy

Traditionally, ethics, including business ethics, is viewed from the point of view of philosophical disciplines, which are based on morality and its basic principles. The norms of business relations are based, among other things, on the norms of morality and ethics recognized in universal human relations. At the same time, despite the close connection with universal moral norms, the principles business relations may be due to professional features. For example, law practice involves non-disclosure of client information, even if any facts from the client's personal life contradict generally accepted moral values ​​and norms.

• Relationship with sociology

Business ethics develops side by side with sociology in terms of social interaction between the business environment and society as a whole. For example, in this case, the social responsibility of business in any of its manifestations is especially relevant.

• The relationship with psychology is carried out at the level of interpersonal interaction

Knowledge of patterns and features interpersonal communication allows business relationships (with colleagues, partners, subordinates, management, shareholders or founders, with clients, etc.) to be built with greater efficiency and success.

• Business ethics is connected with cultural studies by cultural, national, religious, etc. features of interaction, which to a tangible extent can determine and influence the norms, order and principles in business practice.
• With conflictology, business ethics is united by the need to know the features and ways of resolving all kinds of corporate conflicts both within any organization and outside it, in the outside world.
• The relationship with the basics of management is determined by the need to achieve specific business goals in a highly competitive environment, using the available economic and social resources.

The main constituent elements of business ethics

The elements of business ethics are understood as certain social categories that determine its main essence.
So, the main elements of business ethics include:

1. Principles of business interaction. These are fundamental moral principles that have a direct impact on professional activity. Very often, the basic principles of business interaction are discussed, collectively approved and fixed in some document (for example, a declaration, charter, code or agreement). As a rule, such a document does not have any legal status, but informally it is nevertheless assigned the “position” of some moral law. Compliance with the principles of interaction according to the basic rules business communication can guarantee an impeccable reputation colossal importance in the business community.
2. Moral social norms. Norms regulating or regulating relationships based on social and moral principles. For example, peculiar and unwritten moral laws that are reproduced in the ordinary and everyday behavior of people in a particular society.
3. Generally established rules of conduct that presuppose some ordered sequence of human actions in certain circumstances, regardless of whether these are constant or changed conditions. Quite often it happens that the rules, from their moral point of view, conflict with economic advantages. And in this case, conscientious businessmen make decisions based on moral convictions.
4. The principles of service relationships are a commonality of moral and administrative norms that determine the nature of the relationship between managers and subordinates, between colleagues, employees and clients, etc.
5. Interpersonal relationships, which are caused by a wide variety of phenomena that arise in the course of the development of business relationships.
6. Human rights in the framework of labor and professional legislation.
7. Leadership style as one of the elements of professional business ethics, one way or another, is associated with formal and informal rules of interaction with subordinates, colleagues, partners, customers, competitors, etc. in terms of the moral aspects of cooperation and interaction.
8. As well as leadership style, the overall management culture is closely related to ethical business norms, regulations and conditions.
9. Business ethics in matters of resolving conflicts and disputes, which are almost a constant companion of continuous interaction between people.
10. Business philosophy as an element of business ethics implies a set of certain intrapersonal beliefs that guide businessmen or entrepreneurs in the course of their professional activities.

Of course, each of the listed elements has its own unique meaning and can perfectly exist on its own without being tied to a single complex or set of moral and ethical standards. However, being in close relationship with each other, any social category of those listed or some other not included in this list acquire additional significance and form a rather complex system of relationships, which, in turn, forms business ethics in its traditional sense.

Functions of business ethics and its structure

The principles of business ethics are primarily based on:

• to respect the interests of their organization;
• to respect the interests of all other participants market relations;
• and on the recognition of the public interest in general.

The social role of ethical business interactions is expressed in the possibility of achieving benefits by an extremely large number of market participants, as well as in obtaining equivalent opportunities for access to them.
Thus, the distortion of market relations, the increase in all kinds of risks and transaction costs invoke actions such as:

• non-observance of rights;
• theft of classified information;
• false advertising and its distribution;
• use of commercial espionage;
• obtaining profitable or privileged orders, bypassing the tender procedures;
• a lot others.

The deformation of relationships in the labor market is caused by such phenomena as discrimination or the practice of "poaching brains".

All this and similar practices discredit the ethical norms of behavior in the market, destroying it. Therefore, business ethics is based on a kind of social contract (an informal agreement on acceptable standards of behavior) and the social responsibility of business.
Speaking about the structure of business ethics, there are three hierarchical levels.

1. Hypernorms or world level. These norms are based on universal human values. And in the most concise presentation they are reduced to:

• tasks formulated by social business responsibility;
• tasks associated with the modernization technological processes and production methods;
• to questions on the treatment of the environment;
• to problems associated with the growth of trust in business and the refusal of any illegal actions;
• and etc.

Of particular importance is the moral obligation of organizations in relation to such categories as buyers and clients, partners and suppliers, employees of enterprises, business owners and investors, competitors, as well as the local population.

2. Ethical standards on an industry scale or in the range of the national economy - the macro level. This hierarchical level in the general structure of business ethics includes ethical standards applied or implemented in industry or national business communities. Speaking about ethical standards, the business environment of this level most often focuses on the difficulties in terms of respect for private property, on the problems of fair market competition, on the authenticity of business information, on existing problems discrimination on various grounds in the labor market.

3. Moral and ethical standards on the scale of one organization - the micro level. At this hierarchical level, relationships between people within the framework of the activities of one single organization (employees, customers, partners, suppliers, management, business owners, etc.) are considered. At the micro level, problems related to personal ethical problems are most often resolved.

Laws of business ethics belong to the category of unwritten market laws. The regulation of relationships, from the point of view of moral standards, to some extent has an impact on the legal, economic, as well as socio-psychological aspects of the interaction of market participants.

Modern business is increasingly striving to follow ethical norms and rules, understanding their importance not only from the standpoint of public approval, but also from the point of view of possible consequences in case of non-compliance with the principles of morality and ethics.

The concept of "ethics" has Greek roots. In literal translation, it means "character", "temper", "custom". As a rule, the concept is used in two senses. First of all, ethics is called a scientific discipline, within which morality and morality, the features of their occurrence, factors and dynamics are studied. The same term denotes a direct set of rules of conduct in a particular area of ​​activity.

Business ethics and business ethics

Certain requirements are imposed on the labor activity of a person. Some of them are directly related to the behavior of the subject in the process of managing. Business ethics is a relatively recent development. Its basis was the general labor morality. A key place in this concept is occupied by business ethics. It includes several components. Professional business ethics consists of the rules of management, partnership communication, behavior, etc.

Development features

The principles of business ethics that exist today did not appear in ready-made. They were formed over a long historical period, in the course of the development of civilization. People consciously followed certain customs and traditions. The first principles of business ethics began to take shape in the heyday of ancient civilizations. It was at that time that the Hippocratic oath was formulated, the norms and rules of trade, ideas about the importance of observing contractual terms were developed. Meanwhile, spiritual world antiquity and the Middle Ages did not allow the connection between labor and wealth. These categories existed separately, independently of each other.

The emergence of the modern system

The business ethics that exists today includes many norms and postulates developed in the Protestant era. During the Reformation, the states of Western Europe experienced an important spiritual upheaval. Its essence was to rethink wealth and labor. It was at that time that the attitude to commercial activity changed.

Business ethics in Russia

The development of norms in our country has a number of features. They are specific to historical development states. In the 19th - early 20th centuries, business ethics in Russia consisted of a set of traditions that allowed it to reach the same positions as others. major countries. At that time, the Morozovs, Mamontovs, Tretyakovs, Chizhov, Alekseev, etc., gained wide international fame. At that time, a mechanism was in place in the country by which those who could not comply with the established norms and rules were excluded from entrepreneurship. Each city had its own merchant society. It had the right to recommend an entrepreneur to the guild or refuse him. Meanwhile, such powers also had to be earned. For each member of the merchant society, business ethics came first. Everyone who joined the guild announced the amount of their capital. This greatly simplified the control activities of the tax service. If the merchant violated business ethics, the Constituent Court could deprive him of the right to engage in entrepreneurship. As a result, such rules and concepts as "the hand of the giver will not be impoverished", "trade the truth, there will be more profit", "word-promissory note" and so on were developed and firmly entered into use. Subsequently, faith partnerships began to form. They united entrepreneurs without any founding agreements, and the partnership rested on the merchant's word.

Socialist period

In this era, business ethics were virtually non-existent. This was due to the attitude of the ruling elite to entrepreneurship as such. It was perceived as an occupation, acting as a "source of profit." Under socialism, private property was not recognized - everything was common. If the pre-revolutionary business ethics were largely based on the norms of Orthodoxy, then during the period of socialism they were replaced by Marxist ideas. They substantiated the comparative independence of morality as a model public consciousness and affirmed the class character of norms and requirements. In this regard, labor relations were based on the principles of priority of the public over the personal, discipline over initiative, and so on.

Modern realities

Today, there is a kind of mutation of previously existing forms of cooperation, the search for new viable options for doing business. The formation of a new class of entrepreneurs is influenced by various forces, value systems. This is due, first of all, to the presence in the business sphere of people of different nationalities and views. In the 1990s, many foreign persons entered the domestic business. Their activities, in turn, are based on the rules of Western European business ethics. Cooperation with foreign entrepreneurs causes the interweaving of national features with global ones. To a certain extent, this contributes to the inclusion of domestic business in the international one.

Existing Obstacles

Meanwhile, the development of Russian business ethics and the inclusion of the country in the international circulation is slowed down by a number of factors. Let's consider a few of them. First of all, the principle of the inviolability of individual (private) property does not work effectively enough. Secondly, domestic business operates in the conditions of non-acceptance by the majority of society of wealth in any form, success as such, even if it is the result of one's own labor. In addition, at the present time in the country there is a special attitude to the authorities and legislation. According to experts, the ethical paradox of domestic business lies in the fact that the moral aspect of an action is often determined neither by personal choice nor by the rule of law. In practice, it is determined mainly by the need to survive in conditions of uncertainty, non-compliance and imperfection. legislative framework, indifference, abuse of authority. At present, the economic situation in the country is quite difficult. The government needs to look for options that would satisfy all parties.

Problem solving

The existing contradictions can be eliminated only if the state fulfills its obligations to create normal, civilized conditions for doing business. In this case, the coming to power and entrepreneurship of people who are ready to change themselves and adapt to new economic models will become possible. For them, their own benefit will be quite legitimate, but at the same time, its achievement will be carried out through an increase in the welfare of the state.

The opposite approaches to the relationship between ethics and business discussed above: either business or ethics actually express extreme points of view. In fact, the solution to this question is historical and concrete. So, in general, the perception of ethics and social responsibility of business by society in developed Western countries over the 20th century went through three stages:

• management aimed at income maximization (until the second quarter of the 20th century): ethics is secondary to profitability (the period of "wild" capitalism);
• guardianship department (since the 1930s): an organization cares about its employees and their families insofar as this ultimately leads to higher productivity and profitability;
• social management (since the 1960s-1970s): the organization has a responsibility to society as a whole and, in particular, to stakeholders (groups of interested persons).

These steps correspond to three approaches to understanding the problems of social responsibility business and ethics of management decisions.

• Traditional (narrow economic ) an approach formulated by renowned scientist Milton Friedman. According to his concept business organizations should serve the interests of their owners, and since managers are ultimately only employees, their primary task is to conduct business in accordance with the wishes of the owners. One of the main arguments of the proponents of the traditional approach is that the broad social responsibility they oppose will lead to a decrease in the company's income lines and, therefore, the costs of social responsibility programs will eventually be passed on to consumers in the form of higher prices. In addition, a company that bears a large share of social responsibility may lose in competition to other companies.
• Ethical Approach formulated by management classic Peter Drucker. According to him, the organization as a whole has an ethical obligation to certain groups interested parties - stakeholders. Stakeholders typically include founders, managers, shareholders (owners), suppliers, lenders, customers, local communities, trade unions, government regulators, professional associations, and employees. This multi-layered social environment can significantly affect the achievement of the organization's goals, so the organization's management has to balance the internal purely economic goals with social, ethical and economic interests of stakeholders.
• Socio-ethical (affirmative ) an approach formed in the 1960s–1970s. influenced by the philosophical and ethical views of Kurt Lewin, Edgar Schein, and others. According to this approach, managers and employees of the organization are responsible for balancing, following the company's common interests: economic interests organization, stakeholder interests and the global public interest. This approach states that organizations should have voluntary obligations to society and direct part of their funds to improve it.

Proponents of an ethical and social-ethical approach also put forward a number of arguments in support of their position for social responsibility. In their opinion, the social involvement of the organization lies at the basis of its own interests, as it creates a better society and the best environment for the organization's business; social responsibility justifies the existence of the organization as an element of society, etc.

General ethical business principles

Despite the specifics of business ethics at various levels, one should highlight universal ethical principles business. In this regard, we note that back in 1924, the Business Ethics Committee under Chamber of Commerce The United States for the first time in history developed a national code of ethics"Business Principles". It noted that at the heart of business is trust, resulting from fair relationships, efficient service delivery and mutual benefit.

By the 1950s in the United States, a number of socio-philosophical doctrines have been formed, which can be given the general name of "the theory of human relations." In the practice of corporations, the slogans " social partnership", "sharing in income", etc. The last significant revolution in the ethics of business was caused by modern scientific and technological revolution and the environmental threat it created. The moral requirements imposed by society on business have changed significantly. The main feature of these changes is the growth of social responsibility of business. now demands such as employment, health, elimination of discrimination, protection environment and so on.

In the field of relations between the firm and society, the traditional model is being replaced by a new type of corporation. It proclaims itself morally responsible both to the people who work in it and to all who are influenced by its activities. The following principles, which are essentially ethical in nature, are recognized as important:

• the amount of power wielded by business must be matched by the amount of social responsibility;
• business should act like open system which receives from society necessary information and provides the public with objective information about its operations;
• within its competence, business should help society to decide social problems;
• accounting for social costs and revenues should be one of the decisive factors in the decision-making process.

Today there is an extensive literature that reveals the ethical principles of doing business. In our opinion, the following can be distinguished as the main ones:

• honor over profit;
• business responsibility;
• honesty and decency in business relations;
• tolerance, which helps to establish mutual trust, understanding and frankness between partners;
• tact and delicacy, which involve taking into account the various qualities of a business partner (iol, age, nationality, temperament, habits, etc.);
• the desire to find a "golden mean" between the need for competition and ethics;
• business commitment, compliance with contracts;
• adherence to business culture.

Introduction

Business ethics in a broad sense is a set of ethical principles and norms that should guide the activities of organizations and their members in the field of management and entrepreneurship. It covers phenomena of various orders: the ethical assessment of both internal and foreign policy organizations, i.e. professional morality; moral climate in the organization; images of moral behavior; business etiquette.

Business ethics is one of the youngest and fastest growing areas of science. The most complete embodiment of business ethics falls on the corporate culture of modern Western companies with their clearly structured business conduct. In Russia, however, it has only recently begun to develop. I believe that business ethics and moral and ethical standards should be present in a leather company. The activity of the company, honest and fair relations with consumers, competitors and employees within the company depend on this. This scientific discipline is very little developed in our country, it is little covered in the media. This topic is one of the most relevant in our business on this stage time. It is because of its ignorance that this topic is of interest to me.

What is business ethics

In order to define the term "business ethics", it is necessary to refer to the fundamental terms "morality" and "ethics". I.N. Kuznetsov said that "Ethics as a philosophical science studies morality. Morality is a form of social consciousness, public institution which performs the function of regulating human behavior. Thus, "ethics is the scientific discipline that studies social morality." It is possible to give a more complete definition of the word ethics. Ethics is a system of moral behavior and duties of people towards each other and society as a whole.

Based on the foregoing, we can define the term "Business Ethics". This definition was formulated by Laura Nash: “Business ethics, as a scientific discipline, is the study of the correspondence of moral standards of a person to activity and goals. commercial enterprise. It is not a simple set of certain moral standards, but is a tool for analyzing and solving problems that confront a moral person in business.

Professor P.V. Malinovsky in his article defines business ethics: “Business ethics in a broad sense is a set of ethical principles and norms that should guide the activities of organizations and their members in the field of management and entrepreneurship. It covers phenomena of various orders: the ethical assessment of both the internal and external policies of the organization, i.e. professional morality; moral climate in the organization; images of moral behavior; business etiquette."

In the aggregate of these definitions, one can clearly understand what a business epic is. Business ethics is a science that studies moral norms. These moral standards should guide the organization and entrepreneurs.

Often, many people confuse business ethics with business etiquette. Therefore, I want to distinguish between these concepts. Etiquette in Greek means "custom". This is a strictly established order and forms of relations, the rules of human behavior. In our everyday life, we are also faced with the need to comply with the norms of behavior in in public places, away, etc. In the field of business, business etiquette includes certain rules of conduct for entrepreneurs and managers in different situations such as meetings with clients, business negotiations. So what is the relationship between ethics and etiquette? In D. Yager's book " Business Etiquette: How to Survive and Succeed in the Business World” provides an interesting example. “An American firm hired an etiquette specialist to train a promising young employee in good manners. The consultant taught the young man how to behave at the table, how to look perfect and much more. A few months later, the etiquette specialist asked the head of the company how his ward was doing. “We had to fire him,” he was told. "How to get fired? exclaimed the consultant. “He did everything so well.” “We caught him trying to get a bribe, and our firm is not going to tolerate such unethical behavior.” This example answers our question. Etiquette is a set of rules of conduct concerning external manifestation relationship with people." Therefore, we can conclude that the concepts of "ethics" and "aesthetics" should not be confused in any way.

Business ethics is one of the youngest and fastest growing areas of science. The most complete embodiment of business ethics falls on the corporate culture of modern Western companies with their clearly structured business conduct. In Russia, however, it has only recently begun to develop. I believe that business ethics and moral and ethical standards should be present in every company

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