Business Ethics and Corporate Culture

Abstract

I well remember what was probably my initiation into considering the subject of business ethics. In the mid-1970s I was asked by my employers at the time — Esso — to sign a statement regarding conflicts of interest. My reaction was not a favourable one: I felt rather as though my integrity was impugned by the suggestion that I would deliberately pursue interests that conflicted with those of my employer. It seemed obvious and natural to me (and, I think, to most other employees) that one would not carry on personal activities that were in conflict with the interests of one’s employer. Even at the end of the liberating 1960s, it was still reasonable to assume shared common values in our society and within the community represented by the company. Today I would feel uneasy at making that assumption. It would seem to me now eminently sensible for an employer to reduce the chances of confusion by spelling out clearly the principles to be followed in the company. Postmodern thinking and the logical positivists have indicated relativism where once we assumed a great degree of concurrence.