What is business ethics? An essay about it can be a task in your class. For that, you need to understand the term and what it implies.
Running a successful business, negotiating a contract, or simply dealing with clients is impossible without understanding and applying business ethics and its practices. It is a study of appropriate policies that companies and employees can use. They are vital in controversial situations that involve corporate governance, fiduciary responsibility, corporate social responsibility, etc.
That’s where the importance of business ethics comes from. For a company to be successful in the modern world, it should implement techniques and practices of business ethics. Customers and clients expect firms to behave appropriately. Operating this way is more than not breaking laws.
Our team came up with some tips that can help you write your business ethics essay. Additionally, you will find topics for different academic papers, and you can check our free samples.
How to Start a Business Ethics Essay
Let’s start with learning the basics of a business ethics essay. Here we will explain how to approach such a type of academic paper.
First of all, you need to see how this essay will differ from other assignments. That’s why we’ve prepared a step-by-step plan for you:
Pick an idea.
As you can imagine, you need to have a solid idea. It does not have to be defined at the very beginning. However, you need to know what direction you want to take. You need to come up with an assumption that you will later develop in your essay.
Research your topic.
The next step in starting your business ethics essay is to research the case carefully. The Internet, non-fiction books, interviews, business journals can become great sources for your paper.
Take notes.
While doing your research, you should always write down key information. It will ensure that you will not miss any vital data and keep track of good thoughts.
Craft a thesis statement.
After you’ve conducted your research, the next step is to explain your message and position. A thesis statement usually appears at the end of your introductory paragraph.
Think of your introduction.
After step number four, when your thesis statement is ready, you can develop your introduction. It has to catch readers’ attention and adequately introduce the topic of your essay. Additionally, think about the way it can be connected with your conclusion.
Outline your essay.
One more step before writing is organizing your text. Like any other academic paper, an ethics essay follows a structure. It consists of an introduction, body, and conclusion. The opening and the closing take about twenty percent of the entire article, and the rest eighty percent is left for the body.
17 Business Ethics Essay Topics
Now that you know how to start your business ethics paper, we’ve prepared a list of seventeen topics for your assignment. They can help you compose a fantastic essay about business ethics or use them to inspire your homework.
How does social responsibility connect with business ethics?
Can moral principles guide business decisions?
Ethical issues in business law.
Advantages and disadvantages of Confucian business ethics.
The role of ethics in purchasing decisions.
Ways to eradicate unfair treatment due to race or religion at a workplace.
Walmart business ethics and ethical standards.
Social media in business ethics.
Ways to reduce business’s environmental impact.
Concept of corporate social responsibility.
CSR trends in 2021.
A balance between profit and CSR.
Ethical dilemmas people face every day at the workplace.
5 Business Ethics Research Paper Topics
We also came up with five high-quality business ethics topics for the research paper. Good luck with your essay and with learning more about business ethics!
List major ethical issues that business faces today.
Kantian approach to business ethics and morality.
How utilitarianism ethics can be used in companies.
The role of ethics in international business.
Applying Aristotle’s virtue ethics to business.
Thank you for reading the article till the end. Do not hesitate to share it with your peers who may need our tips or topics. Now, you can also look at our business ethics essay examples below.
Business and ethics are incompatible and that is why business ethics is an oxymoron. Business ethics is an oxymoron because business and ethics are incompatible.
Below are discussions on the root cause of the company's choice: whether the company's management had any other choice; what the incumbent management team can do to restore the company's reputation; the role of corporate [...]
The foremost portion of business ethics understands the theory of rights as one of the core principles in the five-item ethical positions that deem essential in the understanding of moral business practices.
It is a case study of McDonalds and how the international company disregards the ethical considerations of business in the fast food industry. To this end, the ethical practices include the accurate representation of a [...]
The firm has established a global code of conduct that generally identifies the main objective of conducting business in the right way as a part of its corporate mechanism aimed at ensuring that customers of [...]
The reasons for the considerable recalls of products were that the toys manufactured on the facilities based in China were dangerous for children's health due to the lead paint discovered in the toys and the [...]
All employees at the group are inferior to the Interim Group Chief Executive Officer Ray Gammel, who is responsible for managing and consulting all departments in the Etihad Aviation Group.
In this light, this paper discusses the importance of ethics and social responsibility and various practices and theories employed in different organizations. In future, ethics and social responsibility will have a new meaning in the [...]
It is necessary to note that the code of ethics is a document to be taken into account by all employees of the company though it is clear that some points are likely to be [...]
According to the theory, it may be viewed as a set of guidelines that help to determine the level of appropriateness of corporate norms, policies, and activities.
These guidelines consider the ideas, norms, laws, and business regulations that govern how individuals act within the institution and how the firm operates in the community.
This is one of the deontological rights that the company may have under deontological ethics; it must not be condemned for the reason that its products cause obesity to young children.
Additionally, all employees should have a written contract in their local language provided to them by H&M, and they should be aware of the terms and conditions.
The manager of the North American company has a difficult task because in as much as the decision taken by the company depends on him, he wants to please both parties, that is, the client [...]
As already mentioned and also according to the theorist, Goodrich was not morally responsible for the scandal and therefore, he should be excused in the first place.
In addition, the analysis also identifies the problem of forced labor and modern slavery in Nestle's supply chain and proposes strategic alternatives to address it.
Some of the problems she faces include: Lack of ethical leaders and workers in the organization. To resolve the lack of ethical leaders within Providence Healthcare, Walsh needs to lead the organization through ethical leadership.
The issue that arises is whether employees make the right decision that would benefit the company or they make the wrong choices that call for the downfall of the company.
To be more precise, the Ford Pinto case will be evaluated from the legal point of view to establish which laws were violated in the process of corporate decision-making that led to the production of [...]
However, it is the policy of the company to consider the effect that the product will have on the people or customers rather than considering the financial gain that the company will derive from such [...]
A particularly contentious issue in the Barangaroo development is the approval of a new hotel building which is to be built on a pier jutting into the harbor The project's developer, Lend Lease, affirms its [...]
The sustainability strategy and its issue selection are well-aligned with the company's business because it seeks to promote the learning of children through play.
This means that the application of CSR in the global business environment is likely to increase in the future. In a nutshell, incorporating CSR in human resource management is beneficial to the firm and all [...]
Another set of the company's stakeholders that affect the ethical code of business in the company is the external environment like customers and the society; there is a level of quality that customers expect from [...]
The main point of the argument is that philosophical approaches to business ethics provide guidelines for making ethical business decisions, but some of these approaches are controversial and have no support from most moral scholars.
Agumagu, Adesope and Njoku note that the core objective of the scheme is to instill in the Nigerian youth "the spirit of selfless service to the community, and emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood [...]
This is an unfavorable situation for foreign companies considering that these are credited with introducing revolutionary technologies, products, and ideas to the host countries, leading to improvement in the quality of life in such countries.
The ability to effectively articulate high levels of ethics in tourism and hospitality industry is a key determinant of the capacity for the aforementioned sector to trace its missions, achieve the set goals, objectives and [...]
Maximizing profits should not be the only aim of a business because it encourages the exploitation of consumers and employees, abandonment of long-term business goals, and abandonment of social wellbeing. One of the shortcomings of [...]
At the end of the day, the government, employees, investors, competitors, and the customers suffer while the crooks enjoy the fruits of their unethical business practices.
The company has code of business principles that gives an account of the various ways in which its activities are to be carried out and it ensures that everyone working in the company follows it [...]
This case study will use Walmart as an illustration of the overall role of businesses in communities and societies, their ethics, and their responsibilities.
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the company Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream based on their announced values, structure, and track record in relation to CSR.
The purpose is to show that a company like Google must behave ethically and all the decisions made by managers and other superiors should be guided by the highest morale and respect to the surrounding [...]
According to the case, business ethics is the observance of rules and regulations that have been put in place. Child labour is one of the serious ethical issues that businesses have to deal with in [...]
GlaxoSmithKline released the two drugs to the market without informing its customers of the side effects. However, the company kept the safety issues from the public to protect the company's image.
The purchasing power of customers in the industry has been reduced after the global economic crisis, and this has forced companies in the industry to apply low cost strategies to reduce prices of the products [...]
The company's main breakthrough is not in the idea of cars on call, and not even in the technology itself, but in the accelerated restructuring of the American workforce and rethinking the future of the [...]
The 40% of his $210 million dollars in his exit package or even the $84 million was for the reason that there was an acceleration vesting in the options as well as the stock awards.
The purpose of a code of conduct is to ensure all the employees and stakeholders embrace the most desirable actions. The organizational goals should be aligned with the code of conduct.
Defining the situation In the case, a woman is suffering from the major depression because of divorce filed by the husband and the looming court proceedings that may result in the loss of the sons [...]
Despite the fact that different scholars hold different opinions about ethics and corporate social responsibility, there is need for a multinational firm to include the two in its operations so as to create a good [...]
The purpose of this article is to highlight the ethical issues surrounding the engineering profession. The company's desire to make profits and dominate the market compelled the management to disregard ethics of the engineering profession.
The main issues that affected the brand reputation and customers' reactions are the inadequate Toyota's response to the problem in 2009 and 2010; the impossibility to accept the responsibility for accidents; and the concealment of [...]
On the one hand, the moral problem presented in the case is that an individual and leaders should be able to understand that the question of morality revolves around their ability to act in an [...]
According to libertarian theories of the corporate and global capitalism, multinational enterprises have moral obligations of returning proceeds to stakeholders within the bounds of moral side-constraints that are grounded in the rules of the game.
According to the narrow approach, corporate governance is perceived as a set of procedures and activities for governing the company in order to remain accountable to major shareholders' interests.
The following paper aims at analyzing the CSR program of Nike, a publicly traded sportswear company, in order to determine the transparency and effectiveness of social and environmental responsibilities stated in their report.
Even if there are no rules, regulations or bans in the countries these products are exported to, allowing the sale and export of goods that have been proven to be dangerous are to become complicit [...]
Despite his dwelling on the concept of bureaucratic power, Weber says that power is the most important aspect of leadership and the followers should be the only people who grant it to the leaders.
Thus, the question becomes, should the firm be operated to the advantage of its shareholders with the sole intention of increasing profits maximally regardless of the harm it does to the society, or should it [...]
Despite the evidence in the literature, the question of the nature of the interaction between the interests of business and society as a whole still needs to be solved outside a small group of prominent [...]
The guiding principle that determines the ethical principles of Starbucks is utilitarianism. The company specializes in coffee and can assist coffee growers by paying them higher market prices for their beans.
The objectives of this paper include determining whether VW's move to use the defeat device was wrong and to establish the unprincipled standards of behavior within the company with the view of analyzing areas where [...]
In this regard, he would not have supported the imposition of an extra charge for obese people. This proposal aligns with the principle of equality because it would be unfair to other passengers if obese [...]
This is because of the huge sums of money involved, and the suspicious arrangement the Rigas family made with the company that required the company and the Rigas family to be guarantors of each other.
Fuller is not responsible for the overall addiction of street children to glue sniffing, but the company is responsible for neglecting its own contribution to the dissemination of substance abuse.H.B.
Besides, based on the technology of fuel switching, the company has allowed a room for the switching of the car's engine between gas and electricity, hence reducing the amount of fuel that is consumed per [...]
Like wise if the organization carries out the activities that pollute the environment the people can sue the organization for its harmful activities to the people and the environment.
The article sought to establish the responsibility of businesspeople to the society. It is the company's attempt to remain responsive to the needs of its shareholders and to behave in accordance with certain values that [...]
The SEC established that the company took disciplinary measures towards those found guilty and has since repeatedly warned its audit staff to refrain from cheating in exams. Therefore, the case involves a company that is [...]
Therefore, the strategies in Satz's and Anderson's articles seem more justified and have a better impact on the audience due to the fair consideration of the opposing perspective than the approach of Gintis whose use [...]
Corporation raises a number of ethical issues and discusses unethical aspects that can be identified in the world of business. A list of several issues mentioned in the movie follows.
Trying to define the problem of the conflict of interests within the professional of a chemical researcher, the specific examples are going to be considered with the possible ways of solving those situations.
According to the researches, personal, situational, organisational, and external factors influence an individual's ethical behaviour. In general, individual's behaviour in an organisation is determined by both individual and situational factors.
The employees of the firm are expected to maintain the business conducts and ethics policies. Darden recognizes the fact that it has a responsibility to respond to the needs in the community.
In relation to the above dilemmas, the bounded bribery applies to the psychological tendency of the conspirators to fulfill selfish interests of self enrichment at the expense of the shareholders' goals and objectives.
The company puts a lesser emphasis on Kantian or Care ethics, as its corporate culture is notably impersonal, and the company's actions towards the competition show a lack of belief in the Categorial Imperative.
Social responsibility is a form of regulatory strategies that firms induce into their operations in order to safeguard its stakeholders in different ethical manners.
The survey further indicates that only 70% of firms tried to evaluate the effectiveness of their compliance programs in the US, and only a third among them were confident of using the right metrics.
The paper will investigate how this fraud was conducted, the failures in the internal controls at Diamond and the consequences. Despite these new developments, Walnuts remained at the heart of Diamond's business, which is evident [...]
UCITA, on the other hand, as the title of the acct implies are totally concerned with governing the transactions related to computer information. Sales involve a complete transfer of ownership rights from the owner to [...]
The report concludes that young leaders encounter difficulties in maintaining ethical standards primarily due to the lack of experience. The changes in the perspectives of leadership ethics also suggest that experience is vital to maintain [...]
Greenwashing is the kind of marketing where the marketers deceive the customers that their products and policies are environmentally friendly, so that the customers can buy the products.
The community expects the corporation to be ethical and in addition, be able to assist them in ways outside the corporation's core business of the company.
Objectives for the research Many scholars of different fields have already researched on the Enron scandal and the bankruptcy of this Corporation, but the prime objective of the writer of this research paper is to [...]
The distinction between a normal choice and an ethical one is that the latter requires one to exercise the duty of weighing virtues and arriving at a judgment in a case that is unique from [...]
The research is motivated by the need to understand the possible gaps in the company's CSR strategies, and hence determine the necessary adjustments that the firm should undertake.
Tiffany and Company exist in both the internal and the external environment, and these forces affect the operations of the company either positively or negatively.
One of the key issues that led to the failure and bankruptcy of Enron was the lack of transparency and the dishonesty of Enron's key top management team and partners.
Due to the power of self-interests, McDonald's should focus on its objectives, which is to increase the wealth of its owners rather than distributing its revenues to people.
In particular, the researchers attempted to achieve logic as they sought to determine the answers to some of the most basic questions on ethics and the related practicality.
Organizational culture is defined as the values and beliefs associated with a certain organization, the value attached to the work done by employees in the organization and the beliefs of the staff on what is [...]
The aim of this paper is to critic and analyse the claim that the main goal of businesses is profit maximisation. CSR is the obligation of businesses to offer social, legal and economic support and [...]
In light of the resent standoff between the company and its employees there is need to modify the code of ethics especially regarding employees relations.
Business ethics is a set of professional ethics that tries to inspect ethical problem or the principles of ethics that can emerge in a business organization. Implementation of ethics in a business organization increases costs [...]
Despite the fact that this aspect violates Apple's principles of ethical supply chains, which prohibit the use of child labor, the company continued to cooperate with the supplier for another three years.
Clicks and TRESemme were embroiled in a hair ad saga that has led to racial discrimination allegations, and blacks boycotted Clicks and TRESemme brands as a result. The Clicks and the TRESemme brand both experienced [...]
The presentation will tackle such aspects as the company's background, the facts of the ethical dilemma, the evaluation of the implied ethical framework, alternative ethical solutions, and the dilemma's impact on businesses' corporate social responsibility.
It is inspired by the feeling of mutual trust."Wasta" is the name that is commonly used in Arabic, Urdu, and other languages in Dubai to refer to nepotism.
This situation leads to a high percentage of the illiterate population in the Philippines and consequently creates obstacles for the development of the country in terms of culture and technologies.
The main point of the article is a misunderstanding of the ultimate goals of CSR initiatives by the majority of companies and the resulting discrepancies in its implementation.
Furthermore, the firm is committed to improving the level of customer satisfaction through the adoption of long-term improvement in its product lifecycle and supply chain. H&M has also developed a culture of inclusiveness in its [...]