Business ethics is an interesting branch of business theory, mainly due to the fact that it is intrinsically interesting in a market economy. People tend to be very suspicious of corporations in market economies, and the larger they are, the problem of trust tends to get worse. Therefore, business ethics are politically charged in many different circumstances and that, in turn, serves to make them interesting. However, aside from this academic interest, business ethics is also important to a company and its success. Here are some ways this is true.

Public image

It is impossible to discuss business ethics as a branch of academia without taking a look at the relationship between business ethics and public image. Each corporation has a particular public image, which represents the way the public views the corporation. Wal-Mart, for example, has a terrible public image. Toyota, on the other hand, has a very positive one. These public images are the result of a number of different things, but they are primarily the result of the way a company acts with respect to the different things around it.

The environmental policy of a corporation, the way they treat their employees and the way they treat the communities in which they exist are part of their general behavior and this, in turn, is the main factor in determining their public image. . As proof of this, you will notice that even though Wal-Mart makes products that are of decent quality and extremely low price, they still have a negative public image.

Since public image is largely the result of company behavior, business ethics plays an important role in determining public image, as it determines behavior. And public image is important to success in most cases, which is one reason why business ethics is important to the overall success of a company.

Investment

Another reason business ethics is important is the relationship they have with investing. When a person or entity is considering investing in a particular stock, there are a number of things they take into account. Apart from the quantitative factors surrounding a company’s profit margin and future prospects, a particular company is also considered from the point of view of qualitative aspects such as its public image and the products it sells. All of these things are taken into account before making the final investment.

Therefore, a company that would like to encourage additional investment is a company that has a strong sense of business ethics. Part of business ethics is the responsibility of the investor, and for that reason, companies with a strong reputation in the field of ethical business behavior are also companies that tend to attract more investment from people who are new to the market. Investment is definitely important for success.

Associations

In the corporate world, joint ventures happen all the time. They happen all the time because, ultimately, they are of great importance to the results of companies. A business can be made or undone in a single joint venture, and part of the reason joint ventures are successful is that they sometimes combine the forces of two extremely powerful companies.

If you want your business to do well in joint ventures, you must have good partners. The only way to get good partners is to have a good reputation both in terms of track record and in terms of your overall business. And, of course, the best way to build a good reputation is to make sure your company has a strong tradition of ethical business behavior.