Editing Business ethics (section)

===Corporate policies===
{{See also|Corporate governance}}
{{More citations needed section|date=March 2025}}

As part of more comprehensive compliance and ethics programs, many companies{{Who|date=March 2021}} have formulated internal policies pertaining to the ethical conduct of employees. These policies can be simple exhortations in broad, highly generalized language (typically called a corporate ethics statement), or they can be more detailed policies, containing specific behavioral requirements (typically called corporate ethics codes). They are generally meant{{by whom|date=March 2021}} to identify the company's expectations of workers and to offer guidance on handling some of the more common ethical problems that might arise in the course of doing business. It is hoped{{by whom|date=March 2021}} that having such a policy will lead to greater ethical awareness, consistency in application, and the avoidance of ethical disasters.

An increasing number of companies{{Who|date=November 2017}} also require employees to attend seminars regarding business conduct, which often include discussion of the company's policies, specific case studies, and legal requirements. Some companies{{Who|date=March 2021}} even require their employees to sign agreements stating that they will abide by the company's rules of conduct.

Many companies{{Who|date=November 2017}} are assessing the environmental factors that can lead employees to engage in unethical conduct. A competitive business environment may call for unethical behavior. Lying has become expected in fields such as trading. An example of this are the issues surrounding the unethical actions of the [[Salomon Brothers]].

Not everyone{{Who|date=November 2017}} supports corporate policies that govern ethical conduct. Some claim that ethical problems are better dealt with by depending upon employees to use their own judgment.

Others{{Who|date=November 2017}} believe that corporate ethics policies are primarily rooted in utilitarian concerns and that they are mainly to limit the company's legal liability or to curry public favor by giving the appearance of being a good corporate citizen. Ideally, the company will avoid a lawsuit because its employees will follow the rules. Should a lawsuit occur, the company can claim that the problem would not have arisen if the employee had only followed the code properly.

Some corporations{{Who|date=March 2021}} have tried to burnish their ethical image by creating whistle-blower protections, such as anonymity. In the case of [[Citigroup|Citi]], they call this the Ethics Hotline.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Citi {{!}} Investor Relations {{!}} Ethics Hotline|url=https://www.citigroup.com/citi/investor/ethics_hotline.html|access-date=2020-06-15|website=www.citigroup.com}}</ref> Though it is unclear whether firms such as Citi take offences reported to these hotlines seriously or not. Sometimes there is a disconnection between the company's code of ethics and the company's actual practices{{Who|date=November 2017}}. Thus, whether or not such conduct is explicitly sanctioned by management, at worst, this makes the policy duplicitous, and, at best, it is merely a marketing tool.

Jones and Parker wrote, "Most of what we read under the name business ethics is either sentimental common sense or a set of excuses for being unpleasant."<ref>{{harvnb|Jones, Parker, et al.|2005}}</ref> Many manuals are procedural form filling exercises unconcerned about the real ethical dilemmas. For instance, the US Department of Commerce ethics program treats business ethics as a set of instructions and procedures to be followed by 'ethics officers'.,<ref name=program/> some others claim being ethical is just for the sake of being ethical.<ref>{{harvnb|Jones, Parker, et al.|2005|pp=3–8}}</ref> Business ethicists may trivialize the subject, offering standard answers that do not reflect the situation's complexity.<ref name=ag43/>

Richard DeGeorge wrote in regard to the importance of maintaining a corporate code:

{{Blockquote|Corporate codes have certain usefulness and there are several advantages to developing them. First, the very exercise of doing so in itself is worthwhile, especially if it forces a large number of people in the firm to think through, in a fresh way, their mission and the important obligations they as a group and as individuals have to the firm, to each other, to their clients and customers, and to society as a whole. Second, once adopted a code can be used to generate continuing discussion and possible modification to the code. Third, it could help to inculcate in new employees at all levels the perspective of responsibility, the need to think in moral terms about their actions, and the importance of developing the [[virtue]]s appropriate to their position.<ref>{{cite book|last=DeGeorge|first=Richard|title=Business Ethics|publisher=Prentice Hall|pages=207–208}}</ref>}}

Ethics codes often state a company's view on [[Diversity, equity, and inclusion|DEI]] (diversity, equity, inclusivity).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Ethics of DEI: Cultivating a Positive Workplace |url=https://www.icpas.org/information/copy-desk/insight/article/fall-2023/the-ethics-of-dei-cultivating-a-positive-workplace?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.icpas.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |first= |title=Examining Professionalism through a DEI Lens |url=https://naceweb.org/diversity-equity-and-inclusion/best-practices/examining-professionalism-through-a-dei-lens/?utm_source=chatgpt.com}}</ref> In 2025, some companies began changing their ethics policies to reduce the focus on DEI,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clarence-Smith |first=Louisa |date=2025-01-28 |title=DEI is not over, but it will have to be reinvented |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/companies/article/dei-is-not-over-but-it-will-have-to-be-reinvented-s6gfhn0gt?utm_source=chatgpt.com&region=global |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=www.thetimes.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jeyaretnam |first=Miranda |date=2025-02-26 |title=These Companies Aren't Ditching DEI |url=https://time.com/7261857/us-companies-keep-dei-initiatives-list-trump-diversity-order-crackdown/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-02-27 |website=TIME |language=en}}</ref> and some companies have decided to complete eliminate DEI from their policies.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Franey |first=James |date=2025-02-26 |title=BlackRock, Bank of America drop DEI policies amid White House's war on 'woke' |url=https://nypost.com/2025/02/26/business/blackrock-bank-of-america-drop-dei-policies-amid-white-houses-war-on-woke/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-02-27 |language=en-US}}</ref>