The Dynamics of Business Ethics: A function of time and culture - Cases and Models

This paper examines the construct of ethics in general and of business ethics in particular and provides a conceptual discussion of the dynamics of ethics in society and the dynamics of business ethics in the marketplace. Ethics and business ethics constructs are dependent upon two principal parameters; time and culture. Eventually, ethics and business ethics are about what is perceived as acceptable or unacceptable at a specific time and in a specific cultural setting. What was ethical yesterday may not be ethical today, and what is ethical today may not be ethical tomorrow. Based on the relationship between time and culture, dynamics of ethics through them and their effects on business ethics, the conceivable gaps between ethics (from the community’s view) and business ethics (from company’s view) have been discussed and a model of business ethics dynamics through time and culture has been represented. Usually both the company’s view and the views of others may determine what is acceptable or unacceptable in business ethics. This is a social construction that may differ between the parties involved in a specific context. The discussion is supported by two brief and different cases from the automobile industry (the Ford and Volvo cases). Following the assessment of their scenarios of business ethics, some managerial remarks has been mentioned finally.