Ethics

Definitions of ethics

1. Moral principles.
2. Principles which govern the conduct of any individual or corporate member of a professional organisation.

Characteristics of ethical issues

The Institute of Business Ethics (IBE) identifies the following characteristics, to help to determine whether a business issue is an ethical issue.

If one or more of these characteristics is present, it is likely to be an ethical issue:

• One individual's 'right' decision about the issue may not be the same as another's 'right' decision.

The issue:

• raises moral questions
• is not covered by law
• compromises personal or organisational values
• is against any code of ethics or code of practice
• involves personal duties and responsibilities or
• provokes the responses 'should I?' or 'ought I?'

Tests of ethical behaviour

The IBE has identified a number of key tests to help to determine whether a course of action, or inaction, is ethical:

• Is the action legal, transparent and fair?
• Who will it affect?
• Who benefits?

See also

• ACT Competency Framework
• ACT Ethical Code
• Code of practice
• Corporate governance
• Corporate social responsibility
• Agency risk

Other links

Does ethics matter? The Treasurer 2010