Why All Companies Need to Practice Corporate Ethics

It’s not surprising that so many of today’s most successful companies also strongly emphasize different forms of corporate ethics in their business model. In companies that practice strong corporate ethics, the CEOs and presidents understand who are the most important people driving their business forward.  While all large company’s end goal is to maximize profit, some go about it in a more sustainable way.

corporate ethics, southwest airlinesMore Than Just Larger Profit

Southwest Airlines is one the most widely used example of a company that puts corporate ethics to practice.  And with Southwest, this is extremely noticeable when you interact with their employees as a customer.  Southwest doesn’t just rely on a paycheck to secure amazing employees.  They emphasize a higher purpose for all employees that “connect people to what’s important in their lives through friendly, reliable, and low-cost air travel.”

Similarly, Netflix uses corporate ethics in order to “trust and empower” their employees.  Netflix has eradicated typical large corporation practices such as counting vacation days and yearly performance reviews.  It is the quality of the work that matters, not how much effort or time you put into it.  This tactic has worked greatly in their favor.  By motivating their employees to do better, while still giving them their freedom they have grown tremendously in the past decade.

While some CEOs may not see any purpose in utilizing corporate ethics, there is one important argument to make.  Corporate ethics is about more than just employee and customer satisfaction.  It is not just one optional tactic among many; it is extremely necessary to the sustainability of your company and the maximizing of future profit.

Caroline Robinson
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