What is ethics?

What is ethics? Why is ethics important to the study of international management?

In its simplest form, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people make decisions and lead their lives. Ethics deals with what is good for individuals and society and is also described as moral philosophy. The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit, character or disposition.

Most of us would agree that ethics in practice makes sense; Just having it carefully worded and reformulated in the books may not serve the purpose. It is primarily the individual, consumer, employee, or human social unit of society that benefits from ethics. In addition, ethics is important because of the satisfaction of basic human needs, the creation of credibility, the improvement of decision-making, the security of society (International Management Ethics, 2011).