ETHICS IN BUSINESS – THE MAIN CHALLENGES OF THE 21st CENTURY

Abstract

If we understand ethics as a systematic endeavor our individual and our social moral experience are made conceived in such a way that the rules that should govern human behavior are determined, then ethics in business is in the normative sense the science of correct handling and decision-making of businessmen, entrepreneurs, managers, etc., and that ethics in business is primarily the ethics of responsibility, i.e. the goal is to act ethically responsibly. In this scientific paper it is shown that in the 21st century ethics in business is important, both for the numerous relations within the working organizations themselves, as well as in all segments of profitable operation of every company, and even as a condition without which lucrative operation is not possible. No segment of business must neglect ethical action, action, especially in the 21st century and intense changes in the business environment. One of the main challenges of business ethics in the 21st century is the need to define universal moral norms and rules of business behavior, such moral norms and ethical rules that all countries and organisations will commit to behave in this way. It is particularly significant in the conditions of global connectivity of the world in which there are great differences in economic, cultural, ecological, etc. Of course, those differences and contradictions are reflected in the business field, and thus the ethics in business. Such a universal approach is important given the fact that managers in multinational companies are most often educated in accordance with the moral values and traditions of their countries, regions, and often have a dilemma how to reconcile the opposites between their country and the one they work in, or with which they have business cooperation. The famous five basic moral norms in the 21st century should be upgraded in the context of changes in business. The first moral norm called “moral minimum” refers to that it does not intentionally inflict an immediate evil. That moral minimum must all respect it because it is valid for all and all regions, countries, states and organizations, companies. The second moral norm is in accordance with the basic rules of moral minimum in business, that multinational companies in less developed countries must have in mind the undoubted differences between the exporting country and the importing country. In doing so, the activities of multinational companies must be morally justified, i.e. must be exported to bring good to the country. The third norm applies to respect for the human rights of workers and consumers, consumers; the fourth norm applies to the advancement and development of fair background institutions inside the country, as well as internationally; and the fifth norm requires multinational corporations to respect the laws of the host country, respect their cultures and local values, provided that human rights are not violated or immoral laws are imposed.