What Does Business Ethics Mean?

Maria started her delivery business a year ago and has been doing very well. About a month ago, she was asked by her best friend to make an urgent delivery to someone. They agreed that the delivery will take place the following day. Later that day Maria got a call from a large company. This company wanted to contract her for the next two weeks. The money was good and Maria was very excited. But what about the urgent delivery to her best friend? She could not do both deliveries. She had already given her word to her friend that she will do the job the following day.
Clearly, the best business decision would be to take on the two week contract. But what about the ethical decision? If her business did poorly or Mary couldn't provide enough support, the business would suffer. As a result, her family would suffer. Money was already tight, what with two boys in school. And yet she knew her best friend depended on her delivery the next day.

Obviously, Maria had a problem - an ethical problem. Should she do the delivery to her friend (to whom she'd already given her word) or should she take the two week contract? Questions like these touch on our deepest values. Depending on who you would ask, you would get strong arguments for both decisions. This is what we mean when we talk about "grey area". So what is the answer?

This story illustrates the question of ethics. Business ethics are a hot topic these days. With everything from fraud to employee theft on the rise, it is no wonder that businesses are beginning to focus on the impact of ethical leadership. But along with this new focus comes a lot of "grey area". Many times, managers are forced to decide on issues where there are arguments on both sides - a problem that makes ethical decision-making very difficult.