Moral Norms in Management Ethics

The culture and values of a community shape its behavior with the support of all the norms, rules and institutions created for this purpose. Business environment is focused on the responsibility to company success. This philosophy is the base of business ethics, of specific rules systems, supplemented and not replaced by legal regulations. However, responsibility for business can come into conflict with the common morality of society, the public in general, creating an paradox. The harmonization of these interests creates a moral organization, based on an identified set of principles, values and challenges. The introduction of ethics in the business routine requires a coherent program and tools, of which the easiest to use is the code of ethics. These codes are particularly useful for resolving moral or interest conflicts, guiding in a practical way the conduct of managers and employees. Called either codes of ethics or codes of conduct, they are adopted by many major companies in the world. This paper presents the functions and objectives of ethical codes, present increasingly more in the business environment, and propose a model for such a code that addresses the full range of issues and potential conflicts.