premise: Well-regulated, ethical practices should always be an area of primary concern for any business. In an environment where multinational conglomerates predominate, owners of small businesses may feel anonymous enough to become flexible about their code of ethics. However, the increasingly inescapable attention of the media allows an unprecedented number of individuals to access news and information with greater speed than ever before unethical practices can become a matter of public knowledge overnight, with devastating consequences. Codes of ethical practice should apply not only to clients, but to employees, who are just as able to draw inappropriate behaviour on the part of their employers to the public's attention. In today's society, businesses of any size must be able to demonstrate transparency and accountability in their dealings with employees, clients, and the public alike.
hypothesis: Employees of a company should be subject to ethical codes of practice.