Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh (2016, p. 96) defines ethics as \"standards of moral

Question

Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh (2016, p. 96) defines ethics as "standards of moral behavior, that is behavior accepted by society as right rather than wrong." I believe that ethics does start with the individual. Unfortunately, ethics cannot be taught successfully. Instead, it is a learned behavior. People's moral codes and ethics are instilled in them from birth through enculturation. How you are raised is your foundation; however, as you become an adult and start to observe more people and their behaviors, your moral compass may begin to change. You carry your ethics with you at all time, so as a head of a company, it is only natural that your moral values move into the company and shows in how you conduct your business. There will always come a time when you are faced with a challenge that may force you to choose between your ethics and your goals. According to Nickels, McHugh, and McHugh (2016, p. 97- 98), when you are faced with this type of challenge, it helps to ask yourself: (1) is my proposed action legal? (2) is it balanced? And (3) how will it make me feel about myself? "Individuals and companies that develop a strong ethics code and use the three questions above have a better chance than most of behaving ethically."

What is your opinion? Do you feel like you were born with a moral compass or is it taught?

Explanation / Answer

When we come across this kind of confusing debates the first sense that we need to have is that "instead of thinking which particular one is correct ,we need to see whether both are correct or not".

The reason to say like this is thatEthics is a learned behavior that is only realized if we focus on, and believe in, our personal potential. Societies and people who live in the society do not exist in a vacuum. Our behaviors are learned, formed, influenced and validated by our family, friends and peers. Ethical attitudes are based on learned values that are developed over time and as a result of cultural, family, and religious affiliations. Ethics is a learned behavior that grows and matures during the developmental philosophical and psychological stages of life.

When it comes to the matter of above three questions related to business ethics we need to know one thing that is "Ethical behavior is influenced by culture, religion and community standards. An ethical decision is a decision that is both legally and morally acceptable to the decision maker".

So it has to be balanced and moreover it should be convinced to ourselves that we are in right way and we should not carry that guilty.

Finally we could say that it depends on situation as well as on the type of ethic that we are talking about. Many times we do learn ourselves and at the same time we learn from others i.e by their teachings.

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