1. Development of BE

2. The term 'business ethics' is used in a lot of different ways, and the history of business ethics will vary depending on how one conceives of the object under discussion.
The term business ethics is used in at least three different, although related, senses:
Broad Sense- “ethics in business”
Primary Sense – Academic use
Business Ethics as a movement
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3. “Ethics in Business”
In this broad sense ethics in business is simply the application of everyday moral or ethical norms to business.
Perhaps the example from religion that comes to mind most readily as a guide that is still used by many today e.g. the injunctions to truthfulness and honesty or the prohibition against theft.
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4. B.E. as an academic field
Business ethics as an academic field has a more recent history.
As a discrete, self-conscious academic discipline, business ethics is roughly four decades old.
The 1960s marked a changing attitude towards society in the United States and towards business.
The United States was becoming more and more of a dominant economic force. American-based multinational corporations were growing in size and importance.
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5. Business ethics as an academic field emerged in the 1970s.
Prior to this time there had been a handful of courses called by that name. Raymond Baumhart's (1961, 1963, 1968) groundbreaking studies in the 1960s are generally understood to be early contributions to a self-conscious academic business ethics.
The new ingredient and the catalyst that led to the field of business ethics as such was the entry of a significant number of philosophers.
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6. What the business ethicists wrote helped inform a large number of teachers who teach business ethics, and in turn has influenced a large number of students who have gone on to be practitioners.
Moreover, many of those in business have also turned to the writings of those in business ethics, or have asked them for guidance as consultants on issues or for help in writing corporate codes or designing training programs.
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7. By 1990 business ethics was well established as an academic field.
By the mid 1980s business had clearly become international in scope, and the topics covered by business ethics expanded accordingly.
By 1990 business ethics was well established as an academic field.
Although the academicians from the start had sought to develop contacts with the business community, the history of the development of business ethics as a movement in business, though related to the academic developments, can be seen to have a history of its own.
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8. Business Ethics As A Movement
Business ethics as a movement refers to the development of structures internal to the corporation that help it and its employees act ethically, as opposed to structures that provide incentives to act unethically.
The structures may include clear lines of responsibility, a corporate ethics code, an ethics training program, an ombudsman or a corporate ethics officer, a hot or help line, a means of transmitting values within the firm and maintaining a certain corporate culture, and so on.
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9. The language of social responsibility rather than explicitly ethical language is still probably the most commonly used.
Self-monitoring of adherence to a corporation's stated principles and self-adopted standards is becoming more common, and some companies have voluntarily adopted monitoring of their practices, policies and plants by independent auditors.
The notion of a Triple Bottom Line, which involves financial, social and environmental corporate reporting, has been adopted by a number of companies. Other popular reporting mechanisms include corporate environmental sustainability reports and social audits, which vary considerably in what is reported and how it is reported.
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10. Conclusion
The business ethics movement, like business ethics itself, has become firmly entrenched. The concern for ethics in business continues.
Business ethics as an academic field contributes discussion forums, research and teaching that inform both ethics in business and the business ethics movement.
The business ethics movement is responsive to the other two and in turn has interacted with them.
All three together make up the history of business ethics in its broadest sense.
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