Why is ethical behaviour important in business?
Ethical business practices include assuring that the highest legal and moral standards are observed in your relationships with the people in your business community. This includes the most important person in your business, your customer. Short term profit at the cost of losing a customer is long term death for your business. A reputation for ethical decisions builds trust in your business among business associates and suppliers. Strong supplier relationships are critical to a successful business. Consider the problems you might have if you could not supply what the customer needs…at the time that they need it. Ethical behavior is merely making good business decisions based on an established “code of ethics”. Entrepreneurs should establish a written code of ethics that can serve as a framework for decisions to be made by the entrepreneur as well as the employees.
