Role of Moral Principles in Business Decision Making

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Moral principles are a crucial component of a business’s success and employee trust. Organizations rely on leaders and employees to make the right choices at work, even when it may be difficult. Learning some common standards that executives and employees may have can help you understand why these are important.

Ethical principles in business are the moral standards set by a company as a whole and individual employees within an organization. These principles take into account values, standards, regulations and common industry rules that dictate how people behave in the workplace and how a business operates in the community.

Consumers are increasingly aware of how businesses run. Organizations with a solid moral foundation develop trust and gain credibility with clients and employees. A strong reputation builds a loyal customer base. Achieving success legally and ethically is a more sustainable, stable approach to long-term success.

What is the Purpose of Moral Principles in Business?
What are Moral Principles in Decision-making?
What is the Importance of Principles in Business?
What are the 10 Fundamental Business Principles
How is Kohlberg’s Moral Reasoning Development be Helpful in a Business?
What are the 7 Moral Principles?
How is Moral Reasoning Effective in Decision making?
What are Moral Principles?
What is the Most Important Business Principle?
What is the Most Important Principle in Creating a Business?
What are the Purpose of Principles?
What is the Role of Morality in Strategic Management?
What are the Characteristics of Moral Principles?

What is the Purpose of Moral Principles in Business?

It’s essential to understand the underlying principles that drive desired ethical behavior and how a lack of these moral principles contributes to the downfall of many otherwise intelligent, talented people and the businesses they represent.

There are generally 12 business ethics principles:

Leadership: The conscious effort to adopt, integrate, and emulate the other 11 principles to guide decisions and behavior in all aspects of professional and personal life.
Accountability: Holding yourself and others responsible for their actions. Commitment to following ethical practices and ensuring others follow ethics guidelines.
Integrity: Incorporates other principles—honesty, trustworthiness, and reliability. Someone with integrity consistently does the right thing and strives to hold themselves to a higher standard.
Respect for others: To foster ethical behavior and environments in the workplace, respecting others is a critical component. Everyone deserves dignity, privacy, equality, opportunity, compassion, and empathy.
Honesty: Truth in all matters is key to fostering an ethical climate. Partial truths, omissions, and under or overstating don’t help a business improve its performance. Bad news should be communicated and received in the same manner as good news so that solutions can be developed.
Respect for laws: Ethical leadership should include enforcing all local, state, and federal laws. If there is a legal grey area, leaders should err on the side of legality rather than exploiting a gap.
Responsibility: Promote ownership within an organization, allow employees to be responsible for their work, and be accountable for yours.
Transparency: Stakeholders are people with an interest in a business, such as shareholders, employees, the community a firm operates in, and the family members of the employees. Without divulging trade secrets, companies should ensure information about their financials, price changes, hiring and firing practices, wages and salaries, and promotions are available to those interested in the business’s success.
Compassion: Employees, the community surrounding a business, business partners, and customers should all be treated with concern for their well-being.
Fairness: Everyone should have the same opportunities and be treated the same. If a practice or behavior would make you feel uncomfortable or place personal or corporate benefit in front of equality, common courtesy, and respect, it is likely not fair.
Loyalty: Leadership should demonstrate confidentially and commitment to their employees and the company. Inspiring loyalty in employees and management ensures that they are committed to best practices.
Environmental concern: In a world where resources are limited, ecosystems have been damaged by past practices, and the climate is changing, it is of utmost importance to be aware of and concerned about the environmental impacts a business has. All employees should be encouraged to discover and report solutions for practices that can add to damages already done.

There are several reasons business ethics are essential for success in modern business. Most importantly, defined ethics programs establish a code of conduct that drives employee behavior—from executives to middle management to the newest and youngest employees. When all employees make ethical decisions, the company establishes a reputation for ethical behavior.

Its reputation grows, and it begins to experience the benefits a moral establishment reaps:

Brand recognition and growth
Increased ability to negotiate
Increased trust in products and services
Customer retention and growth
Attracts talent
Attracts investors

When combined, all these factors affect a business’ revenues. Those that fail set ethical standards and enforce them are doomed to eventually find themselves alongside Enron, Arthur Andersen, Wells Fargo, Lehman Brothers, Bernie Maddoff, and many others.

What are Moral Principles in Decision-making?

Ethical decision-making is an unavoidable part in a lot of aspects, be it education, medicine, or social. When there are decisions that have an ethical dimension, there will require ethical decision-making. It is important to arrive at ethical decisions that will benefit the people involved.

Moral decision-making definition is the process by which people consider different ethical rules, principles, and guidelines that will affect the decision. During ethical decision-making, people evaluate and select among the alternatives in a manner that is in line with ethical principles. After all consideration processes, action will be decided upon and carried out.

Ethics is a set of rules that are based on the standard of right and wrong that influences what a person should do, usually with the aim to benefit society, ensure fairness, and protect the rights of different individuals. When considering what is ethical decision-making, there are a few principles to base a decision on.

The principles of ethical decision-making are considerations taken into account during dilemmas and can be used to solve conflicting issues. They include the following:

Autonomy: Autonomy refers to the respect of an individual’s independence and self-determination. This principle suggests that people should have the freedom of choice and action.

Justice: Justice refers to the importance of treating different people with the consideration that every individual is unique and should be treated as such in order to maximize their ability or to maximize the benefit they can receive.

Beneficence: Beneficence means that an ethical decision should aim at contributing to the good of others. This can also translate to taking proactive action to protect and prevent harm when possible.

Nonmaleficence: Nonmaleficence is the concept of ‘do no harm. An ethical decision should strive to cause as little damage as possible and is referred to as the basis of the ethical decision-making process.

Fidelity: Fidelity refers to trust and faith. During ethical decision-making, one should always honor commitments and remain faithful to others that will be affected by those decisions.

What is the Importance of Principles in Business?

Fundamental business principles are statements that a company or organization adheres to in order to identify its priorities and guide future decisions. These principles may address things like organization and strategy or customer experience and satisfaction.

They may also be specific to a team or company and undertake specific goals or industry-related operations. A corporation may publish its fundamental business principles for its consumers to read, or a team may publish theirs for other employees to view.

Fundamental business principles can have many benefits for your company and help you establish and maintain successful practices. These principles can benefit businesses in the following ways:

Creating a foundation: They can help create a foundation on which all company stakeholders build trust and form professional relationships. These stakeholders can include customers, shareholders, employees and suppliers.
Guiding decision-making: A list of appropriate principles can provide management with guidance in decision-making situations. This list can also help them create strategic plans and navigate what their team can do in order to accomplish given tasks.
Establishing a company culture: By clearly outlining the fundamental business principles of your company, you can inform all employees and stakeholders regarding the expectations, values and standards you intend to uphold. This can create a distinct and established company culture where employees know how to succeed.
Distinguishing your company’s unique identity: While there are general business principles that can apply to various companies and industries, identifying a specific list of what’s important to you and your business can help distinguish its identity and set you apart from competitors in your field.
Improving employee retention: By establishing a list of values and standards that align with your company, you can attract employees that agree with your vision and have a desire to join your team. This means that you may improve your retention rates because employees know the expectations ahead of time and believe in your company’s mission.
Influencing staff behavior and practices: Having an outline of the core principles of the company may influence the way employees behave and how they approach their job duties. If they know the company as a whole prioritizes customer satisfaction, they may feel inclined to follow through with this practice.

What are the 10 Fundamental Business Principles

Here’s a list of 10 fundamental business principles to consider:

1. Know the industry and your competitors

Industry knowledge can be an important aspect of business leadership and may influence your standards of business operation and strategy. Consider researching the market you’re in or collaborating with industry experts in order to improve your understanding of what consumers expect and care about.

Additionally, learning about your competitors’ pricing, quality and marketing strategies can help ensure that you’re offering clients a product that is relevant and adequately priced. This information can help you stand out amongst similar businesses and appeal to the client in a unique way.

2. Build a qualified team

This fundamental business principle can be beneficial for many work environments, regardless of your industry. Having team members that are enthusiastic and well-trained can help ensure that your business strategies and operations are successful.

Competent employees can bring innovative ideas or relevant industry knowledge to your company and continually improve the quality and delivery of your products. Recognizing your team’s skills and accomplishments can encourage them to continue to perform their best, so training them to do their best can have positive effects on the company and employees overall.

3. Create a high-quality product

Creating a high-quality product can set your company apart from competitors and motivate customers to be loyal to your brand. Successful companies may typically produce well-made products or services that address the preferences and desires of the consumer.

Focusing on the quality of your merchandise can improve customer satisfaction by providing them with positive and consistent interactions with your brand. This may help grow your client base and brand awareness.

4. Define your goals

It’s typically a good idea to define your goals and business objectives, making this a valuable fundamental principle. Creating goals can help you track your success and progress, and identify when to reward employees for their efforts.

If you’re determined on growing your business or consumer base, a list of objectives can be a helpful tool. Consider creating a plan or outline for how to achieve each goal, and consult with other team members to assemble a manageable list of effective tasks.

5. Promote your products or services

Another fundamental business principle is to promote your product or services. Skilled sales and advertising techniques can improve your revenue and profit and contribute to your company’s success. Consider making a sales plan and a marketing plan in order to have an effective and sustainable approach.

Employees can use a sales plan to promote specific products for a designated amount of time in order to yield an ideal amount of profit. Alternatively, a marking plan grows brand awareness within your industry overall and is less focused on specific quantifiable measures.

6. Understand organizational structure

Understanding how successful business leaders organize and operate their companies can help you implement similar strategies within your own organization. There are many aspects of structure within a business, including the management of projects, the allocation of tasks and the composition of personnel or employees within a department. Mastering effective business structures can help you ensure that your company is remaining as productive and efficient as possible.

7. Know the principles of finance and accounting

In addition to company structures, understanding key information related to finance and accounting may be a fundamental business principle. This can guarantee that your organization continuously adheres to the laws and regulations of your industry. Finance and accounting information may include the necessary taxes to fill out, permits to apply for and deadlines to meet. Some specific accounting principles include:

Accrual principle
Consistency principle
Full disclosure principle
Economic entity principle
Matching principle
Conservatism principle

8. Understand operational systems and processes

Understanding operational systems and processes can be a valuable business principle if you’re trying to grow or scale up the size and reach of your business. There are several operational systems you can consider, including:

Managing your customers
Communicating with your team and clients
Tracking your sales and marketing techniques
Supervising the spread of information through your company
Keeping track of your sales and revenue

9. Use capital strategically

The strategic use of your revenue can be an integral aspect of your business’s success. Ensuring that you have sufficient funds to pay all of your employees and allot enough for additional costs that may arise can allow you to continue to operate and grow your company. Knowing how to allocate your profits can make it possible to continue to produce and improve upon your products and merchandise.

10. Prioritize your customers

It can be beneficial for your organization to prioritize your customers and provide them with products that address their interests and desires. You can focus on customer service to ensure they feel like you care about their issues and concerns.

It may be easier to sell a new product or upsell existing products to an established customer than to find new clients, so it’s beneficial for your brand to maintain positive relationships with them so that they continue to purchase or consume your goods and services.

How is Kohlberg’s Moral Reasoning Development be Helpful in a Business?

Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory on the development of morality has been widely influential in psychology, feminist studies and even in business ethics. Kohlberg’s theories can help business owners and managers assess how their employees and other key stakeholders interact with the organization and its leadership at various stages of growth.

Kohlberg’s six stages are categorized into three levels, as explained by Villanova University. Understanding moral development and moral reasoning in business ethics can help leaders make ethically defensible choices that benefit the greater good.

Desire to Please Others

The pre-conventional level of moral development addresses the earliest reactions that children are likely to have to their surroundings and relationships. At the earliest ethical development stages, the child will almost always defer judgment to someone in control and does not have many desires of her own.

The second stage begins when the child starts rudimentarily looking out for her own needs. She will show love and affection, and her actions will largely be motivated by a desire to please authority figures.

When applied to business, the pre-conventional level explains the reactions of many employees when they first join an organization. There is often apprehension about pleasing the boss and a desire to perform work diligently and without much upset.

Adherence to Authority

Kohlberg says that as a person matures morally, she enters into the conventional stages of good interpersonal relationships and a sense of maintaining social order. This normally occurs in the teenage years, when the person will start to develop more intense relationships with others that go beyond self-service, and she will want to obey authority, not for reward, but because she sees it as a way to maintain order and secure justice.

In business, this conventional stage of morality is witnessed as employees become more comfortable working within the organization and with their co-workers and supervisors. While the employee will ideally still want to be productive with her time, her focus begins to shift to the better good of the company as opposed to purely selfish motives.

Acceptance of Social Responsibility

Kohlberg’s highest stages of moral development are called post-conventional and involve a recognition of the social contract and of universal ethical principles. A social contract orientation is an idea that people have to give up certain rights in exchange for other rights or for protection.

This is the recognition that free speech has restrictions, Certain laws are meant for the greater good and ethical principles work in conjunction to help society’s members live better lives. Higher moral reasoning facilitates ethical decison making, according to the Business Ethics Resource Center.

In the business setting, the post-conventional stage is likely to be seen in employees who have a long history with the company. These employees may have risen to management positions and are keen to secure a sense of rights and responsibilities among their subordinates.

What are the 7 Moral Principles?

These seven universal principles are:

Help your family (People)
Be a loving parent, care for frail relatives and pass on property to the next generation

Help your group (People)
Join group activities and events, adopt local customs, and promote group harmony, unity and solidarity

Return favors (People)
Forgive people when they apologize, repay debts, fulfil contracts

Divide resources fairly (Values)
Divide rewards of collective activity fairly and be willing to negotiate, compromise and come to an agreement

Be brave (Values)
Put yourself at risk to help others

Respect elders and leaders (Rules)
Be respectful, loyal or obedient to those who lead

Respect other people and their property (Rules)
Do not hurt others, or steal or damage others’ property

There are seven primary ethical principles of nursing: accountability, justice, non-maleficence, autonomy, beneficence, fidelity, and veracity.

How is Moral Reasoning Effective in Decision making?

Moral reasoning refers to the logical process of determining whether an action is right or wrong. Often, one engages in moral reasoning when faced with a decision over what to do, meaning the actions have yet to occur. While some choices are a simple matter of right and wrong, difficult decisions often require more complex work and logic to reach a choice and take moral action.

People often make decisions based on personal desires or non-moral reasoning, which means unrelated to morals, but they may try to justify their choices morally. The first principle of moral reasoning states that if two cases are fundamentally the same, meaning that any differences are irrelevant to the main issue, then both cases should be treated the same.

For example, if two people of different ethnicities ask you to hold a door open and there is no difference in the circumstances other than their ethnicity, they should get the same treatment. Either you hold the door for both of them or refuse to help both of them.

The second principle of moral reasoning seeks to address cases that appear to violate the first principle. It states that if two similar cases are not treated the same, it’s the burden of the person acting in both cases to prove the situations are different, and thus, that the actor hasn’t violated any moral principle.

To use the door example from earlier in the lesson, if a person held the door for one person but not the other, they must show that there is significant justification in doing so. This could include information previously not included, such as the first person shares an office with the actor, and thus, did not need to prove that they should have access to the building. Perhaps, the second person was unknown and did not offer to show an ID badge.

What are Moral Principles?

Moral principles are guidelines that people live by to make sure they are doing the right thing. These include things like honesty, fairness, and equality. Moral principles can be different for everyone because they depend on how a person was raised and what is important to them in life.

There are two types of moral principles: absolute and relative. Absolute principles are unchanging and universal. Relative moral principles change depending on the situation.

Absolute Moral Principles

Absolute moral principles are based on universal truths about the nature of human beings. For example, murder is wrong because it goes against the natural order of things. These are also sometimes called normative moral principles, or those that are generally accepted by society. Below are some examples of absolute moral principles:

Don’t kill.
Speak the truth.
Be careful with what you say and do to others.
Respect the property of others.
Treat people in need or distress as we would want to be treated if our situation were reversed.

Relative Moral Principles

Relative moral principles are based on opinions and circumstances that may change over time or from person to person or for different situations. Relative moral principles depend on a person’s beliefs. Relativism to what people perceive as good or bad in relation to themselves. In other words, when someone says something is good, in most cases they are really saying it is good for them, or perhaps it contributes to their well-being. Below are some examples of relative moral principles

It is morally wrong to spend money on a luxury item.
It is morally right to care for our planet and preserve it for future generations.

There are various ways to develop moral principles that transcend culture, religion, and country. If you are just starting on your moral journey, you might consider exploring morals in various philosophical texts.

However, there are also many practical steps a person can take to develop good moral principles:

Think about what you would do when faced with an ethical dilemma and why you would make those decisions.
Ask yourself what you think is right or wrong and make sure that your actions are in line with those thoughts.
Watch out for double standards, like being nice to one person while not being so kind to another.
If it helps, write down a list of moral principles and post them where they’re easy to see, like on a mirror or in your workspace.
Don’t worry if you’re not perfectly adhering to your moral principles. The important thing is that you are trying your best.

What is the Most Important Business Principle?

Whether you work for a company or plan to build your own business, your knowledge and understanding of these 8 fundamental business principles can help you find success.

1. Have a Quality Product

Your business needs a quality product or service that you can stand behind with pride. Whether you are running a restaurant, selling furniture, or providing a service, you can’t build a good business without a good product.

2. Know Your Industry and Competitors

Even the best quality products will fail if no one wants what you are selling or if you can’t price it competitively. You need to understand the market and the players in it. How will what you sell stand out from all the others?

3. Promote Your Products and Services

Study the fundamentals of marketing through traditional and digital media and learn how to effectively share your company’s products and services. Getting the word out about all you do is how you will grow your business.

4. Build a Great Staff

Your employees are your most important asset. They can help you build a successful company or be the cause of your ultimate downfall. Hire and train your staff so that they represent your mission and goals and care about them almost as much as you do.

5. Understand Organizational Structure and Design

You need a basic understanding of how good businesses run effectively. From its initial structure of departments and personnel to how individual projects are managed, you need to run your business as effectively and efficiently as you can.

6. Use Capital and Cash Flow Wisely

Your business needs to start with a good financial base, but equally important will be a positive cash flow as you grow and develop. You need to have sufficient funds to pay your employees and vendors so you produce your products and sell them at a profit.

7. Understand the Fundamental Principles of Accounting and Finance

Understand and obey fundamental principles of accounting and finance, and always adhere to the regulations and laws that affect your industry. Obtain necessary permits, complete and file taxes, and pay strict attention to filing deadlines.

8. Respect Your Customers

Your customer may not always be right, but you always need to do whatever you can to make things right. Provide them with the best possible products and services you can deliver and always treat them with respect and understanding. If they become dissatisfied with your products or your services, do your best to quickly resolve the issue with patience and consideration.

What is the Most Important Principle in Creating a Business?

Starting a business is half the equation while making your business sustainable and successful is the other half, which is just as important. Here are the 10 principles for building a successful business:

Identify a Human’s Social Need: Without a human’s need to fulfill, there’s no business. Offer a service, skills or a product that truly fulfills a great need. Without a demand, you will have more difficulty selling a supply.
Be Enthused and Inspired: Find those needs you would love to have yourself as a consumer and are inspired to fill those gaps. When you can’t wait to get up in the morning and provide your service, people can’t wait to receive and use your services.
Identify what Priorities Fulfills those Needs: If you’re inspired to do things that are most important, you will increase your business. Fill the better part of your day with your highest priorities, and most productive and profitable actions.
Delegate Low Priority Items: Hire people to do what you are not inspired to do, so that you can focus on what truly inspires you the most.
Maximize Profits: Make sure you are doing what’s important both effectively and efficiently. Serving customers/clients and maximizing profits is the purpose of a business. Keep asking yourself daily: “how can I do what is most important and most profitable more efficiently and effectively.”
Build and Sustain an Adequate Liquid Savings’ Cushion: When you have a large cushion of liquidity, you will have a more stable business, will attract higher quality clients and be able to take advantage of market bargains.
Invest: Make your money work for you. Invest in progressively higher levels of risk and return. Invest or return some of your profits back into your own business and some into other businesses to hedge against industry market cycles.
Consider your Customers’ and Employees’ Highest Values: If you communicate your company’s mission, vision, primary objectives and job duties in terms of employees’ highest values, they will be more productive. Also, consider your clients’ highest values or needs regarding sales, advertising and marketing. Helping customers get what they want helps you get what you want.
Your’s and your Company’s Vision: These should be the same. Otherwise, you’ll plateau your business and your wealth. The greater and clearer your vision the greater and more sustainable your business outcome.
Conduct Research and Innovate: This way you will attract more opportunities. When you are inspired by your new products, services or ideas you will be more likely to inspire your customers.

What are the Purpose of Principles?

Essentially, your principles are meant to describe how you relate to people—whether they are customers, employees, stakeholders or the broader community. They describe how you will behave from a human perspective. And since a corporation is considered a “person” in the eyes of the law, companies should be required to define how that “person” intends to behave toward the people who work there, buy their products, and have to live in the communities directly impacted by their business.

Principles are often established, posted on the company website and forgotten. Along with vision and mission, they have become somewhat cliché. Consumers have become cynical about them, probably because companies’ principles are so often contradicted by their actual behavior.

Because principles are “soft” concepts that are impossible to quantify, companies are often uncomfortable with talking about them. This is understandable. Business tends to celebrate stereotypically masculine tropes such as competitiveness, grit, decisiveness, agility and toughness. But principles often speak to human vulnerability—and showing any kind of vulnerability is anathema to most businesses. That’s why principles tend to be so vaguely and broadly defined.

Things are changing in this regard. These days, brands are scrambling to embrace a cause. Corporations are seen by some as ruthlessly profit-driven organizations that don’t really care about “externalities”—the social and environmental costs of conducting business—because they aren’t a line item on the balance sheet. But those externalities are realities for everyone outside the organization.

There is a cost to defining and living your core principles. Here is a set of principles for one of the world’s biggest manufacturers.

Integrity: We always strive to do the right thing.
Servants’ attitude: We only exist to serve our internal and external customers, so their concerns are always at the forefront of our business.
Accountability
Continuous improvement
Teamwork
Fun

Does this sound like a company that perpetrated one of the biggest frauds in corporate history? A company whose executives gamed environmental laws by embedding a device in the exhaust system of their vehicles that would make them appear to be within legal emissions tolerances?

A company whose vehicles emitted 35 times the acceptable levels of nitrogen oxide into the air for years before it was found out? By now you know who and what we are talking about: Volkswagen, one of the world’s most trusted brands, and the Dieselgate scandal.

The cost to Volkswagen? In a matter of days, it lost a third of its market cap (about $33 billion). It faced US$18 billion in potential fines. It issued a profit warning, setting aside $7.27 billion to “cover the necessary service measures and other efforts to win back the trust of our customers,” meaning the 11 million VW owners who would experience an average US$1,500 drop in the resale value of their vehicles.

The “trust of our customers” is what branding is all about. The cost to Volkswagen for doing the complete opposite of what its principles stated was not only financial, but it also took an incalculable toll on consumers’ perception of the brand. It will be interesting to see how long it takes the company to win back the trust.

The moral of the story is that you can’t just articulate your principles: You have to live them. Every company makes decisions that sometimes contradict its principles; it’s how the company acts in response to that deviation that either destroys or builds trust. For an example of how to do it right, just look at the Tylenol scandal of the ’80s.

The other moral of the story is to be authentic. As New York Times best-selling author Patrick Lencioni said in the Harvard Business Review back in 2002, if you’re not willing to accept the pain real principles may inflict, don’t bother going to the trouble of formulating any. You’ll be better off without them.

What is the Role of Morality in Strategic Management?

Every strategic decision has a moral consequence. The main aim of business ethics is to provide people with the means for dealing with moral complications. Ethical decisions in a business have implications such as a satisfied workforce, high sales, low regulation cost, more customers and high goodwill.

Business ethics not only talk about the code of conduct at the workplace but also with the clients and associates. Companies that present factual information, respect everyone and thoroughly adhere to the rules and regulations are renowned for high ethical standards. Business ethics implies conducting business in a manner beneficial to societal as well as business interests.

Some of the ethical issues for business are the relation of employees and employers, the interaction between organization and customers, the interaction between organization and shareholders, work environment, environmental issues, bribes, employees’ rights protection, product safety etc.

Below is a list of some significant ethical principles to be followed for a successful business-

Protect the basic rights of the employees/workers.
Follow health, safety and environmental standards.
Continuously improvise the products, operations and production facilities to optimize the resource consumption
Do not replicate the packaging style so as to mislead the consumers.
Indulge in truthful and reliable advertising.
Strictly adhere to product safety standards.
Accept new ideas. Encourage feedback from both employees as well as customers.
Present factual information. Maintain accurate and true business records.
Treat everyone (employees, partners and customers) with respect and integrity.
The mission and vision of the company should be very clear to it.
Do not get engaged in business relationships that lead to conflicts of interest. Discourage black marketing, corruption and hoarding.
Meet all the commitments and obligations timely.
Encourage free and open competition. Do not ruin competitors’ image by fraudulent practices.
The policies and procedures of the Company should be updated regularly.
Maintain confidentiality of personal data and proprietary records held by the company.
Do not accept child labor, forced labor or any other human right abuses.

What are the Characteristics of Moral Principles?

The simplest answer is that morality is the human attempt to define what is right and wrong about our actions and thoughts, and what is good and bad about our being who we are. But that’s not really all that simple, is it? Philosophers have been attempting to provide answers to this question for thousands of years! Perhaps if we stand upon their shoulders and look at this question we can find some answers that will be meaningful for us.

We must begin with a foundation upon which to build our understanding of morality, so let’s begin with defining what is meant by ‘good.’ After all, that seems to be the focal point of understanding morality; understanding what it means to be good.

Lots of things are referred to as good. Food is good. Sleep is good. Playing games and hanging out with friends is good. Chocolate is good! Actually, chocolate is very good. But a list of things we personally find to be good doesn’t offer much help in understanding morality, or what it means to be good.

So, we need a baseline of fundamental ideas in order to shape our understanding of goodness. So, what is necessary for something to be considered good? Classical ideas break it down into five different elements.

Pleasure

Without pleasure, nothing can be truly enjoyable. In order for anything to be good, we must enjoy it. Now this doesn’t simply mean, ‘If it feels good do it’ kind of pleasures. We have to understand that there are long-term ramifications and that we can impact others with our pursuit of pleasures. So, what the pleasure philosophers are speaking of is the idea of higher pleasures and an effort to ensure long-term pleasures.

Perhaps you enjoy a fine brew from the local pub? That can certainly be a pleasure to some. But what happens if you enjoy too many of those brews? Well, the morning after can be very unpleasant, indeed, and pleasure goes right down the toilet, so to speak.

Happiness

We all wish to be happy. If our idea of good didn’t include getting to be happy, then why in the world would we pursue it? Happiness, like pleasure, isn’t simply for the moment but rather the search for long-term and personally meaningful happiness.

Excellence

This is a higher form of pleasure that leads to deeper satisfaction in life. Take movies, for example. We all have our favorites, but we can certainly acknowledge that there are some films that are really very good. However, there are some that stand out as excellent.

Creativity

All beings need an opportunity to create, even if that which they create is another being through procreation. Creativity is considered a necessary element within the definition of goodness.

Harmony

Finally, we must all be able to have the chance to enjoy our pursuits of pleasure, happiness, excellence, and creativity. Without harmony and peace, we have very little chance to experience any of the other elements of goodness. Imagine if you were a child in a war-torn country where each day the threat of violence was prevalent. Would you be focused on happiness? Or would you just be focused on survival? Thus to be good, to be moral, one must have the opportunity to pursue it.

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