Ethics

Yes yes, I know I haven’t blogged in a long time, it’s just been getting more and more busy, as I’m sure it is for everyone else too. I’ll try to keep this up as best I can, but no guarantees…

Anyway, we started the topic of ethics in business today. I know a lot of people think business ethics is somewhat an oxymoron… just like being a lawyer… but still, it needs to be taught, discussed, and hopefully learned. The lecture was the same usual stuff, our prof just doing his usual spiel just like any other topic. But then I had my business lab today, and that’s where it got interesting. We had an “ethics test” or sorts. It wasn’t entirely accurate or complex, but it still gave everyone an idea of where they stood. Of our class of about 25, no one had the result of “bishop”, or “very ethical”, but about 6 of us (that’s including me) fell into the “average ethical” category. Just about everyone else fell into the “you need help” category. So anyway, it doesn’t mean all that much, but everyone was a little surprised. We went onto a discussion on a case that involved ethics though, and the reasons for those results sorta showed through. I’m not saying I’m the most ethical person by any means, but it really shocked me to see how willing the class would be to bend laws, take bribes, give bribes, etc. There was one instance where someone brought up an example of cheating. They said that there was a situation where a case report needed to be handed in, and the answers where posted on the internet. Just about everyone in the class didn’t hesitate to say that they would use the website for their own cases, in spite of the chance that the school found out and would charge them for plagiarism. It was just an example, but it kinda got me thinking. This whole thing about what’s right and wrong, relativity, etc. In God’s eyes, everything’s black and white, right or wrong, but of course, in our standards, there are just about infinite shades of grey. If the world were ideal, everything would be black and white, but they’re not. So what are we to do? Is it really possible to succeed by living in the most ethical means possible in an imperfect, generally immoral world? Anyway, it’s just something I’m going to have to think about for a while.