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Top risks and costs of unethical behavior in business conduct
admin//May 13, 2013//
Listen to this articleOne does not have to look very far in today’s world to see numerous examples of an absolute erosion of ethics and basic core values and guiding principles of what is right and what is wrong in how business is being conducted.
A quick scan of the business environment reveals that unethical business conduct has risen to the point where trust in our businesses and institutions, as well as the very systems that make our society work, are in a position of significant risk. One could make the case that at no time during the last 20 or 30 years have business ethics been of such paramount importance to the well-being of our business and government entities and our way of life in this country.
Just think about how the business world has been shocked and rocked by major corporate scandals involving unethical behavior. Some of the real “poster” companies of ethics violations include Enron, Tyco International, WorldCom, HealthSouth, BP Oil and Union Carbide. Each of these would no doubt make the top 10 list of biggest corporate scandals.
The risks and costs associated with these examples of unethical behavior are astronomical in dollars, but also extremely high in other nonquantified costs and risks.
The 10 most significant risks and costs from unethical behavior:
(1) Increased risk of doing business and the possibility of bankruptcy and severely damaged company brand and image.
(2) Decreased productivity.
(3) Increased misconduct and conflict internally.
(4) Decreased performance levels of employees.
(5) Increased employee turnover and more challenging employee recruitment.
