ETHICAL AND UNETHICAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS 

                                                          BUSINESS ETHICS 

Business ethics is the study of proper business policies and practices regarding potentially controversial issues such as corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities. Law often guides business ethics, while other times business ethics provide a basic framework that businesses may follow to gain public acceptance.

FEATURES OF BUSINESS ETHICS 

         

ETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCES 

1.Cash and Compensation Plans

There are ethical issues pertaining to the salaries, executive perquisites and the annual incentive plans etc. The HR manager is often under pressure to raise the band of base salaries. There is increased pressure upon the HR function to pay out more incentives to the top management and the justification for the same is put as the need to retain the latter.

2.Race, gender and Disability

In many organisations till recently the employees were differentiated on the basis of their race, gender, origin and their disability. Not anymore ever since the evolution of laws and a regulatory framework that has standardised employee behaviours towards each other.

3.Employment Issues

Human resource practitioners face bigger dilemmas in employee hiring. One dilemma stems from the pressure of hiring someone who has been recommended by a friend, someone from your family or a top executive.

UNETHICAL ISSUES IN HUMAN RESOURCES 

1. Misusing company time

Whether it is covering for someone who shows up late or altering a time sheet, misusing company time tops the list. This category includes knowing that one of your co-workers is conducting personal business on company time. By "personal business" the survey recognizes the difference between making cold calls to advance your freelance business and calling your spouse to find out how your sick child is doing.

2. Abusive behavior

Too many workplaces are filled with managers and supervisors who use their position and power to mistreat or disrespect others. Unfortunately, unless the situation you're in involves race, gender or ethnic origin, there is often no legal protection against abusive behavior in the workplace.

3. Employee theft

According to a recent study by Jack L. Hayes International, one out of every 40 employees in 2012 was caught stealing from their employer. Even more startling is that these employees steal on average 5.5 times more than shoplifters ($715 vs $129). Employee fraud is also on the uptick, whether its check tampering, not recording sales in order to skim, or manipulating expense reimbursements.

4. Lying to employees

The fastest way to lose the trust of your employees is to lie to them, yet employers do it all the time. One of out every five employees report that their manager or supervisor has lied to them within the past year.

5. Violating company internet policies

Cyberslackers , Cyberloafers. These are terms used to identify people who surf the Web when they should be working. It's a huge, multi-billion-dollar problem for companies. A survey conducted recently by Salary.com found that everyday at least 64 percent of employees visit websites that have nothing to do with their work.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN FINANCE 

1.ACCURACY
A company’s financial manager ensures that all financial publications accurately and fairly reflect the financial condition of the company. Accounting errors and financial fraud, such as what was seen in the cases of Enron and WorldCom, damage the interests of shareholders, employees and affect confidence in the financial system.

2.TRANSPARENCY
Financial documents reflect a company's performance relative to its peers, and its internal strengths and weaknesses. Regulatory agencies require publicly traded companies to submit periodic financial statements and make full disclosures of material information. A change in the senior executive ranks, buyout offers, loss or win of a major contract and new product launches are examples of material information..

3.TIMELESS
Timely financial information is just as important as accurate and transparent information. Management, investors and other stakeholders require timely information to make the right decisions..

4.INTEGRITY
Financial managers should strive for unimpeachable integrity. Customers, shareholders and employees should be able to trust a financial manager's words. Managers should not allow prejudice, bias and conflicts of interest to influence their actions.

UNETHICAL ISSUES IN FINANCE

I. Deliberate abnormal delays in payments to (a) Vendors, (b) Dealers commissions and promotion costs.

ii. Delays in paying wages, interest to financiers, incentive, bonus to employees.

iii. Holding up bills of vendors on silly reasons and ultimately buying from others to avoid payment to earlier vendors.

iv. Not prompt in statutory payments of ESI, PF, Sales Tax and Excise Duties.

v. Cheating employees of their dues towards medical expenses, leave travel assistance, children education fees etc.

vi. Opening of current accounts in different banks to avoid adjustments against loans by earlier banker.

vii. Creating bogus bills of purchase to show higher costs and hence losses to avoid bonus payment to employees.

ETHICAL ISSUES IN MARKETING 

1.Emerging Ethical Problems in Market Research

Market research has experienced a resurgence with the widespread use of the Internet and the popularity of social networking. It is easier than ever before for companies to connect directly with customers and collect individual information that goes into a computer database to be matched with other pieces of data collected during unrelated transactions.

2.Grouping the Market Audience

Unethical practices in marketing can result in grouping the audience into various segments. Selective marketing may be used to discourage the demand arising from these so-called undesirable market segments or to disenfranchise them totally.

3.Ethics in Advertising and Promotion

In the early days of existence of corporations, especially during 1940s and 1950s, tobacco was advertised as a substance that promotes health. Of late, an advertiser who does not meet the ethical standards is considered an offender against morality by the law.

UNETHICAL ISSUES IN MARKETING 

1. Misleading advertising.

Misleading ads are more than just unethical—they’re illegal. The Federal Trade Commission regulates truth in advertising mandating that businesses make accurate statements in their advertising campaigns and, when possible, back their claims with scientific evidence.

2. Black-hat link building.

Media exposure is almost always a good thing for businesses, and earning inbound links to your company website is the single best way to boost your organic search rankings. There are ethical ways to build links and increase mentions of your brand; the most common is to use guest posting opportunities to write high-quality content for your target audience that cites one of your brand’s pieces of original research.

3. Insensitive controversy.

Stirring up a bit of healthy controversy can be an effective way to get more attention; you can stand out as a thought leader by presenting an unpopular opinion, and cultivate discussion among your readers..

4. Emotional exploitation.
One of the most effective ways to advertise a business is to call to people’s emotions. Making them laugh or evoking a sense of nostalgia helps consumers forge a small bond with your brand. However, when you intentionally evoke rage or sadness in a tasteless way, you could be seen as exploiting emotions, rather than sympathizing with them.