The primary reason activists and shareholders talk about improving business ethics has to do with the transparency of business activity. We want to know exactly what corporations, limited companies and business executives are up to in terms of financial pay, company performance and corporate social responsibility.
And if we find they are underperforming, we need to be holding them accountable for their mistakes.
Protests have taken place around the world under the banner of “The Occupy Movement”. Although these activists have been largely removed from their camps situated nearby financial districts they have bought more attention to the subject.
And we need to keep supporting these types of protests because otherwise the message gets lost amongst the corporate PR that counters anything proclaimed by the protests.
Of course the corporations these stakeholders are fighting will view themselves as deserving of their pay packets at the end of each financial year.
But in light of the fact that the middle class is struggling to pay for the essentials, we need to keep fighting to improve business ethics across the entire economy.
We all need to rebuild a more sustainable economy, where businesses are doing their part and not trying to avoid the responsibility and burden that the middle class is having to bear.
The reason we talk about this on Community Ethics is because communities deserve a greater level of support from businesses.
We are not accusing all businesses of neglecting their corporate responsibilities, but there are some who continue to receive excessive bonuses despite poor company performance and poor shareholder return.
With that in mind, here are articles published on the Community Ethics blog about business ethics: