¶ … ethical decisions in business is great. There are many instances where ethical decisions are necessary in business operations, and corporations can get themselves into trouble even when they are trying to be ethical if they do not have a strong and effective procedural structure to guide employees in making such decisions. One aspect of ethical decision making comes under the heading of crisis management as corporations are faced with some huge problem that may involve liability and legal issues but that certainly involves questions of public image. A second aspect is the day-to-day decisions that have not yet reached the point of crisis but which could if ethical decisions are not made. Even without any external threat to a company, an ongoing process of ethical decision-making crates an atmosphere in a company that is beneficial, that contributes more to society, and that helps create an environment in which employees may flourish and do their best.
Developing such an ethical-decision making process may be no more difficult than adapting the idea of the Golden Rule to the business organization, an idea that will be explored in this report. That rule is well-known -- "Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you." We all understand what this means when talking of personal matters, but many of us fail to see how important it is to apply the same standard in our business dealings, our relationship with the workplace, and our interactions with bosses, clients, and coworkers. After exploring this idea, this report will consider applications, examine a number of business crises and show how application of this rule could have prevented or alleviated the crisis, and consider how to adapt the rule for all companies and organizations in the future. Business ethics and personal ethics should be better coordinated around a simple rule, and the Golden Rule will serve this purpose well. If a rule is good, it will be applicable by every employee to a wide variety of situations that may not have existed when the rule was adopted, and this is what is needed to solve problems before they turn into crises.
