Morals Matter

In high school, I was part of the speech and debate team. I remember preparing a case one time in particular for my Lincoln-Douglas debate. The topic was something to the effect of "Should corporations be upheld to the same ethical standards of an individual?" Piecing together an "aff" case was a breeze, but I of course had a hard time trying to put together the "neg" case for this topic. How was I supposed to argue that corporations should not have to hold the same ethical standards as an individual when I expected a company to treat me the same as I expected an individual to? After brainstorming for quite some time on how I could create a neg case that would not be stating that corporations should not be held to the same moral standards as individuals, I consulted with my debate coach. He proposed to me that I should create a case saying that corporations should be held to a higher standard than individuals. I did just that.

The reason for telling this story is because practicing morals and ethics in your own life each day will help you to be ethical in all of your business dealings. Businesses have responsibilities just as individuals do. Companies are run by individuals and if individuals lack moral values, so too will the company. A bad experience will stick with a customer longer and will be spread faster than a good one. If you lose the trust of consumers you can kiss your business goodbye. People already have a tendency to distrust business. If the company consists of individuals who are unethical in their personal lives, consumers will conduct business with competitors whom they have more trust in because of their ethical standards.

At the very least, a business has the responsibility to act in a legal manner. It should abide by all laws. I argue that a business should not only practice in a legal manner, but should practice more social responsibility than that. It should treat its consumers with respect and never cheat them. A business should be honest and never try to deceive. If you do not practice these behaviors in your personal life, you cannot expect them to come about in your business. Having high ethical and moral standards are one of the most important things an entrepreneur should practice. You should hold your business to at least the same moral standards you practice. If your moral standards are lower than consumers deem appropriate, you will lose business. Some ethical decisions will be tough to decipher if they are ethical or not because there are no guidelines to what is ethical and what is not, but others will be easy. If you have been practicing ethical standards you feel are appropriate each day, it will be much easier to have your business be considered a trustworthy, fair and ethical business.