So you've just enrolled in a management course. Ahead of you, there are two, three, four, maybe six blistering years of lectures and books and role plays and groups. And at the end of your course, and possibly during your course, you will work in a market place that is increasingly complex, stressful and characterised by ethical dilemmas, corporate solidarity and social dysfunction. Your management education will provide you with many tools and techniques for your corporate career. However, one of the most critical pieces of management knowledge you need for functioning in today's corporate environment is managerial ethics.
Businesses operate in a competitive world where performance is everything.
The opportunity for unethical behaviour is high. The concept of corporate governance has developed in line with the deontological view that duties and principles should be followed as a matter of process. The concept of being ethical is much wider than that. They tend to focus on profitability and these days the only important groups of people associated with corporations are shareholders. In other words, employees and customers are a means to an end, not an end in themselves.