Odumayak Okpo

This paper is an attempt to examine the most basic conflict in business that is ethics pitted against profit. Profit making is indisputably one of the reasons business enterprises are in business. Many business enterprises are in business basically to maximize profit. It is a known fact that profit is what keeps any business enterprise in business. But, when the only drive of a business enterprise is to make profit without regards to ethics, it may accelerate the attainment of its aim in the short run, but the business enterprise may lose in the long run. The aim of this paper is to show that ethics in business leads to profits and to be successful in the long run, a business enterprise needs to be driven by strong ethical values.

This paper is informed by the need for all businesspeople to forge a well-knitted collaboration against unethical business practices and immoral tendencies witnessed in the corporate world today. The scandalous revelations, of fraud, deception and other sharp practices, of many corporations all over the globe indicate that the issue of unethical business practices is pandemic in nature and should neither be localized nor treated with kid-gloves.It is a well known fact that a nation’s prosperity is entwined with the way corporate entities run their businesses. The very foundation of corporate activities should firmly rest on high ethical business practices. It is a sure way to halt the spread of this leprous disease which has eaten deep into the very fabrics of the corporate world.This paper is an attempt to show that strong ethical and moral values, as against unethical and immoral values, are the major sustainable force behind continued strategic success of business enterprise. In other words, the essence of this paper is to argue that consistent ethical business practice can serve as a key to competitive advantage in an age of fierce competition where products and services look increasingly alike, and gaining customers’ trust and loyalty more important than ever.