1.3 Is Business Ethics Necessary?

Two Extreme Views of the Business

World
Business needs policing because its a dirty enterprise
featuring people who get ahead by being selfish liars.
Successful businesses work well to enrich society, and
business ethicists are interfering and annoying scolds
threatening to ruin our economic welfare.
 The argument that bluffinglyingin business is acceptable
because everyone does it and everyone knows everyones
doing it doesnt hold up.
 Opposing the view that business life is corrupt and needs
serious ethical policing, theres the view that economic
enterprises provide wealth for our society while correcting
their own excesses and problems internally. How does the
correction work? Through the marketplace.
 Conclusion. Its not true that doing business equals being
deceitful, so its false to assert that business ethics is
necessary to cure the ills of commerce. It is true that the
business world may be left to control its own excesses
through marketplace pressure, but that doesnt mean business
escapes ethics.
Business Ethics Is Inevitable

Business ethics is not about scolding, moralizing, or

telling people to be nice. Ethics doesnt have to be annoying or
intrusive. On the other hand, it cant just be dismissed
altogether because ethics in business is unavoidable.