Ethic fail?

Have we let business get away with not having any ethics?

In recent unit of study, we briefly covered business ethics. While the module itself was brief, it did raise a question or two with me.

A set reading for the module discussed the corporation as an individual, looking at the corporation as a "moral agent in its own right", and it was this concept that really set me thinking.

Over the last few years, it seems the concept of being an "ethical company" or "good corporate citizen" has become for many corporations a key deliverable, a measure of success. We now see Corporate Responsibility Reports, internal campaigns to make staff feel good about how the company operates and external feel good campaigns to tell the world how good a corporate citizen the company ABC really is.

Another area we can see big business selling out the dream is with the recent momentum behind claims of green credentials and being environmentally friendly. Again we hear the green mantra yet time and time again it seems like so much hollow rhetoric.

Have we then let the corporations hi-jack the concept of ethics and being green, and turn it into yet another cheap marketing ploy?


Sources
What is a corporation? and The Corporation as an Individual, In Boylan, M. (Ed.). (2001). Business ethics. (pp40-42) Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall