Below areviews of the world’s famous CEOs about ethics in business in an interviewconducted by Robert Reiss of Forbes:· Dan Amos, Chairman and CEO, Aflac,11 time recipient of Ethisphere’s World’s Most Ethical Companies award and theleader in voluntary insurance sales at the worksite in the U.S.
· Timothy Erblich, CEO, EthisphereInstitute, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethicalbusiness practices · Rodney Martin, CEO, Voya Financial,a leading company that helps Americans plan, invest and protect their savings;and a 4-time World’s Most Ethical Companies honoree.Robert Reiss: What phrase defines ethics and explain why?Dan Amos: “Ethics is a mindset, not an option.” There is no alternative intoday’s highly skeptical culture and when you do it right, consumers willrespond in a positive way.Tim Erblich: “Good Ethics is Good Business.” In fact, there is a growing bodyof data, including our own, that shows that the financial return of ethics(ROE) is significant.Rodney Martin: Ethics is a reflection of our commitment todoing business the right way. We emphasize trust andtransparency — and we reward our people based on not only whatis achieved, but how it is achieved.Reiss: What is the relationship between social corporate responsibilityand ethics?Martin: Corporate responsibility includes key aspects of a companyculture, such as ethics and transparency; diversity, inclusion and equality;environmental sustainability; governance; and volunteerism and philanthropy.
Ithas been invaluable in defining and building the character of the Voya brand.Corporate Responsibility, highlighted by the commitment of our people,demonstrate the authenticity of our culture — and help to deepen ourrelationships in our communities and with all of our stakeholder groups.Erblich: Corporate Social Responsibility is a critical component of theoverall ethics quotient. As is governance culture, transparency, riskmanagement and employee, customers and community relations. At the same time,company culture, diversity, gender equity, philanthropy, keeping a healthyworkplace environment are all traits of a socially responsible company. It isall combined to build trust.
Throughdirect observation as daily stakeholders of a company, we as the general publiccould weigh that it is better to be a customer on ethical firms than those whodo not know our values. Thus, we, as stakeholders are the center of thebusiness industry, their profitability and we can define their performance.Through the researchers’ claim it is very crucial for a business to haveethics.DEFINITION OF TERMS:1.) Business Ethics CorporateEthics (or commonly referred as Business Ethics) means providing reasons on howthings ought to be in the economic world. Ethics is normative and is concern onwhat should be done, not what is done.
It requires the following:Arranging values to guidedecisions. There needs to be a clearly defined andwell-justified set of priorities about what’s worth seeking and protecting andwhat other things are willing to be compromised.Understanding the facts.To effectively apply set of values to any situation, the situation itself mustbe clearly defined. Constructing Arguments.
This shows how one action serves our values better than other actions. 2.) Shareholders Entitiesthat are affected by the business directly or indirectly. They are composed ofthe customers, employees, government, shareholders, etc.
