Is “business ethics” an oxymoron?
Perhaps many people think so, but that doesn’t make it so. Some people reason this way: business is about maximizing profits; ethics is about compromising profits for the sake of principles; therefore ethics is not compatible with business. If you reason this way too, then why don’t you rob, cheat and steal for a living? Why don’t you scam elderly people out their life savings? Why don’t you sell narcotics to children? (Maybe you do, in which case you should stop!) Most people don’t do these things for the sake of profits, because these things are wrong! Not just illegal, but also immoral. Such activities engender misery, suffering and harm. Such businesses are bad–even if profitable–and those who engage in them sooner or later pay the moral price. They are suspected, reviled, feared, hated, pursued, targeted, investigated, arrested, indicted, sentenced, jailed, otracized, ruined. Even though Hollywood glorifies organized crime, do you really think that’s an enviable life? Of course
