Question

What are the differences between ethics (being ethical) and the law, (following the law)? Provide examples. This is a business/management course so lets keep our discussions and examples centered on them.

Answer 1

Being ethical means doing things in a way which is appropriate according to one's own values, conscience, and moral judgments. An ethical company conducts its businesses according to its values, principals, and ethical codes. Following law means doing things in a way which is appropriate according to the law of the land. So while the following law, a company never conducts businesses in a way which is illegal.

Being ethical and following law may or may not coincide. For example, American firms can legally outsource their work to many developing countries like China and Bangladesh. However, labor exploitation may be rampant in these countries, because of which outsourcing works to these countries may not be ethical for American firms. So, in this case, outsourcing may be legal but may not be ethical.