Corporate
ethics is the field of applied ethics concerned with ethical practices in the
business world. Corporate ethics specifically focuses on the practices which
should and should not be made allowable within business, which is significant
primarily because some business practices which might be acceptable when viewed
only in light of the business goal of making a profit might ultimately be
detrimental and even dangerous for the world and the people involved with the
company.
Corporate
ethics thus might focus on any number of different elements of business
practices, from ethical treatment of laborers to ethical use of resources and
space to ethical treatment of consumers. Corporate ethics has become a particularly
important concern in recent years, as examples of ethical misconduct in
corporations have become more and more abundant and well-known, with the Enron
scandal being one of the most obvious examples of a breach of corporate ethics.
Corporate
ethics might include principles such as corporate social responsibility,
ethical responsibilities to stakeholders in the company, ethical
responsibilities vis-a-vis inter-company relations, corporate ethics with
regard to the political or governmental system, and corporate ethics regarding
marketing schemes.
A corporate leadership council, in general, is an
organization made up of leaders from different corporations and companies,
particularly within the same industry. A corporate leadership council will then
allow these individuals to communicate and discuss what appropriate corporate
ethics are for their companies and their industry. A corporate leadership
council can thereby often lead to an improved overall state of corporate
ethics, as many companies will agree to work by the same ethical rules.
