Combining ethics and business can sometimes be difficult, as the goal of every business is to make profit and some ethical issues may be overlooked to avoid complications that may hinder success of the company's business and jeopardize its earnings opportunities. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay The relationship between ethics and business has been discussed by many experts, such as Friedman (1970), who argued that a manager's decisions should be guided by money, but must not ignore the fundamental rules on which every modern society. This might seem like a good solution to the ethical issues most businesses face today. Some practical solutions to the ethical problems faced by leaders managing a group of individuals were provided by Aristotle, a Greek philosopher who certainly did not manage a company, but analyzed and discussed the duties of a leader, attaching great importance to their tasks. morality and virtue, as every leader would have to be virtuous to deserve this name, as he emphasizes in his Nicomachean Ethics. First, it would be useful to analyze the meaning of the adjective “ethical” before applying it too freely. Ethics derives from the ancient Greek “ethos”, which means “character”, understood as the common belief that guides and determines the actions, behaviors and thoughts of a community. Ethics are not “absolute”, as different communities may have different opinions on what is ethical and what is not, so before conducting a critical study on the relationship between ethics and business, it is worth clarifying that when it comes to business, Western cultures countries are the ones that dictate and set the standards for what is ethical, as Miriam Schulman (n.d.) rightly observed. Now, ethics and law do not always go hand in hand, since law can sometimes be unethical and a good deed that may seem morally right could have been considered illegal by a country's code, for example when Hitler ruled Germany , the Holocaust, although unethical, was permitted by law, while helping a prisoner escape was considered illegal, even arresting someone and forcing them to work without giving it to them. a salary just because of their religious beliefs or nationality is absolutely immoral. Every manager should be able to distinguish between what is legal and what is ethical to make decisions that are not simply compliant with the law, but also ethically “right”. Ethics, in fact, has to do with what concepts such as good, bad, right, wrong, just and unjust. The German philosopher Marx described the entire production process, explaining how the worker alienates himself when he produces/creates something, whatever it is, underlining the importance of equality as opposed to meritocracy. This is the main reason why Marx's theories have been questioned several times, because it is not easy to say whether equality is ethically correct, given that people who possess qualities that others do not have and work harder than others they deserve to be given more responsibility and accountability. rewarded accordingly, as Michael Young (1958) observed. Human society and businesses are dynamic, meaning they tend to change along with the needs, expectations, and actions of people and governments. It is their complexity that makes business ethics such an interesting, yet critical topic that every HR manager should understand to make decisions that can benefit the company without harming its employees in any way. In the paragraphNext, some cases analyzed and discussed will be illustrated to show what type of problems can arise when corporate ethics are violated and to determine whether human resources management is compatible with them. Psychological implications in human resource management. Managing an organization's employees is not an easy task and requires specific skills, without which a manager could seriously damage the company they work for. In fact, since employees should not be seen as a mere workforce, but also and above all as individuals with ambitions, needs, expectations, problems and feelings, a human resources manager, in fact, should know that when it comes to managing people, Theoretical issues are addressed, as well as practical ones. Therefore, a deep understanding of the human psyche and behavior is necessary, which is why psychology plays a very important role in human resource management, as Suraj Kumar (2011) pointed out. Job dissatisfaction is not to be underestimated, as all human beings tend to adapt to new situations, and when they find themselves in unpleasant situations, research has revealed that they do everything they can to reduce dissatisfaction. These defense mechanisms can negatively affect a company, leading to poor performance, absences, low productivity, withdrawn behavior and, last but not least, lack of loyalty, meaning that employees will leave the company as soon as they have the opportunity to do so . , damaging the company, which will have to invest time and money in finding and training new employees. (Rosse, J.G., Saturay, SL, 2004)O'Toole (n.d.) argued that Aristotle's theories on leadership and ethics could be adapted to modern times and used by managers to make good decisions for the benefit of the companies for which they work and supervise employees. To do this, they should ask themselves what they would want if they were in the employees' shoes, how they would like to be treated, what kind of treatment and incentives would help them realize their potential, whether they would like their opinions to be taken into account when making important decisions that it could affect their career and so on. Furthermore, Aristotle, as well as other thinkers, such as Socrates, argued that a leader (and humanity in general) should not be able to govern other people unless they know themselves and are virtuous. According to Socrates, self-knowledge is an ability that prevents failure from occurring. In light of these illuminating observations, it would be useful to analyze some contemporary cases. Nike Inc. is a popular and successful sports apparel brand and equipment supplier whose net income, in 2010, was over $1.9 trillion (United States Securities and Exchange Commission, 2010). The company has been harshly criticized for manufacturing its products in countries such as China, Vietnam, Mexico, Cambodia, Pakistan and Indonesia, where, according to Locke (2002), not only low-paid adult employees, but also children are mostly employed in sewing centers. Although Nike's code of conduct states that the company provides healthy and safe workplaces for all its employees, ensures that no one under the age of 18 can sign an employment contract with them, it does not use any form of labor forced, respects its employees, does not discriminate and is committed to providing its employees at least the minimum wage plus benefits (Kochan, AT, Schmalensee, R., 2003), Australian Channel 7 News (2008) revealed numerous cases of forced labor involving the American company and a few years later the Associated Press (2011) published an article in which it denounced cases of forced labor and abuseby employees at some Nike factories in Indonesia. Are forced labor, abuse and child labor ethically correct? Obviously not, since freedom is not just a privilege, it is a right for the simple reason that everyone is born free, even if many factors contribute to shaping man's judgment and choices throughout his life. According to the English philosopher Thomas Hobbes (1651), a person is free when he can decide to do something even if he could have done otherwise. This is free will, understood as freedom. Regarding child labor, the employment of people under a certain age, which is not always 18, is seen as a form of exploitation in most Western countries, because, ethically speaking, children are more weak adults and should not be forced to work hard, especially considering that several Western companies, such as Nike and Gap (The Guardian, 2007) have been criticized for contractor workers employing children, forcing them to work in horrible circumstances and treating them almost like slaves, in terms of minimum wage and abuse. It goes without saying that these practices are not ethically correct, as we are all born equal and one person should not exploit and abuse another. As reported by The Guardian (2007), after the child labor scandal, Gap upheld its code of conduct, promising to end working with contractors found guilty of child labor and abuse and to recall thousands of products made by children . Two other interesting cases are those of H&M and Zara, two popular clothing retailers who have been accused of using cotton that could be harvested by children in Uzbekistan and Bangladesh, where they are forced to work in horrible conditions. Both have responded to these allegations by stating that their codes of conduct prohibit child labor, however ensuring that raw materials are not harvested by children is a very difficult thing to do, as most underdeveloped and developing countries do not they succeed in ensuring that unethical practices, such as slavery and child labor, are removed. (Independent Television News 2009) Nowadays, ethical behavior and commitment to moral (not economic) values ​​are often used by companies to promote their services and/or products. However, Adam Smith (1952) argued that the ultimate goal of businessmen is to make the public believe what they want to believe, which is to increase prices. This is why sensitivity to ethical issues is often included by companies in their marketing strategies. No matter how hard they try, governments cannot monitor companies' sensitivity to ethical issues, since ethics regulates the details of human actions and behaviors that governments cannot control. (Berle, A. A., & Means, G. C., 1932). Utilitarianism is a philosophical trend started by Jeremy Bentham (2005) and John Stuart Mill (2009), who spoke in depth about ethics, their relationship with businesses and human rights, arguing that right action leads to a good consequence, therefore the ethical value of an action can be measured by its result. Unlike other philosophers, such as Hume (1975) or Locke (1997), who simply argued that every action has a consequence without providing recommendations on what is the most ethical thing to do, Bentham and Mill argued that, when faced with a decision , everyone should carefully consider their options and the consequences implied by each of them and ultimately choose the one that will generate the greatest happiness. Only by going through this specific decision-making process can you be sure of making an ethically correct choice. According to Richard Mervyn Hare (1981), most of thePeople tend to use intuitive, rather than deductive, moral thinking to make decisions, because doing so maximizes happiness. However, when it comes to more sensitive issues, such as human rights, managing and supervising other people, and ensuring that employees are treated fairly, not only because employee dissatisfaction is known to increase the likelihood of failure, but also and above all because it is right to treat employees fairly, a more deductive and critical method of thinking is necessary. Applying the utilitarian principle particularly to business and human resource management, a manager should consider the various options, asking what the various courses of each action might be, what costs, risks and damages they would imply, not only for the company, but also for its stakeholders, employees, themselves and all those who could be in some way affected by their decision. The main problem managers usually face is avoiding potential conflicts of moral rights. To do this, a manager should ask decide what choice they have the moral right to make in relation to the current circumstances, what moral rights the other party has, and whether there is a conflict of moral rights between them and the other party. In the event of a conflict of any kind, the manager should check whether his rights or those of the other party deserve precedence. While ethics are often overlooked especially during negotiations, when information that could jeopardize the success of a merger, to name just one, is withheld, managing employees is an entirely different matter. Indeed, taking ethics into account when making decisions that involve employees, in developing strategies that will influence them or simply in assigning tasks is essential for creating a stimulating and productive work environment. According to the American psychologist Hertzberg (1993), job enrichment is the best method to motivate employees, guarantee their loyalty and collaboration, allowing them to express their abilities and realize themselves. To create a pleasant work environment that energizes employees and benefits the company, a manager should ensure that each employee is given the opportunity to perform different tasks of varying difficulty, face challenges, and receive constant feedback. Communication is key to encouraging work ethical behavior and motivation, as through it a manager can provide recognition of merit. Among other things, a manager should provide his employees with adequate resources to perform their assigned tasks well, give clear instructions, let employees know what the company mission is and make them feel involved in the decision-making process, provide them with sufficient freedom, rewards, incentives and encourage them and, last but not least, ensure variety of work so that every employee can express their skills and feel fulfilled. Now, to create a positive work environment where the manager takes actions that showcase their virtues, instead of their vices (dishonesty, greed, laziness, selfishness, negligence…), ethical behavior should be motivated. Therefore, it is important for the manager to set an example for employees and develop a program that rewards good behavior and penalizes bad behavior through fines and penalties. Rules and expectations that define what is and isn't acceptable should be written down and communicated to employees. employees, in order to anticipate incorrect behavior. At the same time, good behaviors should be rewarded through incentives and praised. Participatory management techniques should be used to motivate ethical behavior and, for,., 2001)