# Business Ethics **Domain:** Ethics / Enterprise **Doc Type:** Concept Node **Maturity:** Developed ## Definition **Business Ethics** is the application of integrity, care, restraint, fairness, and responsibility to how an enterprise creates value, treats people, and distributes consequences. ## Mechanism and Practice Ethical enterprise considers customers, workers, suppliers, communities, and future effects alongside revenue. Long-term trust grows when a business refuses gains that require deception, needless harm, exploitative design, or the transfer of hidden costs to others. ## Relationships - **Related concepts:** [[wiki/Trust|Trust]] · [[wiki/Product Stewardship|Product Stewardship]] · [[wiki/Human Dignity|Human Dignity]] ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > “Value at every step of a supply chain gives a product legs. When manufacturers, sourcing communities, distributors, local shops, and customers all benefit, the whole system becomes stronger and more sustainable. Designing for shared benefit is smart business and good ethics.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Community, Product Stewardship, and the Ethics of a New Venture - Livestream (Sep 2017)* [[reminders/Product Stewardship/Shared Benefit Strengthens the Whole Supply Chain by Bryant McGill|Shared Benefit Strengthens the Whole Supply Chain by Bryant McGill]] > “Outer wealth is difficult to build on inner chaos. A person who is reactive, quick to judge, and interested only in taking will struggle to create lasting prosperity, because real prosperity grows from a value proposition that genuinely enriches other people: serving needs that are real, never selling people what they do not need, and treating customers the way you would treat your own family.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *All Is Well Within When Pain Becomes a Seed of Change - Livestream (Oct 2015)* [[reminders/Business Ethics/Real Prosperity Enriches Other People by Bryant McGill|Real Prosperity Enriches Other People by Bryant McGill]] > “Long-range planning allows a venture to run more like a mission. When the goal is to fund operations, support employees, and stay on the road, maximum profit becomes secondary. Purpose-driven businesses can afford patience that profit-driven ones cannot.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Community, Product Stewardship, and the Ethics of a New Venture - Livestream (Sep 2017)* [[reminders/Entrepreneurship/Purpose-Driven Businesses Can Afford Patience by Bryant McGill|Purpose-Driven Businesses Can Afford Patience by Bryant McGill]] > “Profit and public good can diverge. Choosing restraint when quick revenue would harm the wider community builds trust. Long-term integrity outweighs short-term gain.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Open-Source Thought Leadership and the Power of a Sentence - Livestream (Oct 2018)* [[reminders/Business Ethics/Long-Term Integrity Outweighs Short-Term Gain by Bryant McGill|Long-Term Integrity Outweighs Short-Term Gain by Bryant McGill]] > “Turning down money that would harm the audience protects a legacy. Large offers to promote unhealthy products can be refused in favor of long-term trust, because making money is easier than making a difference. Values-driven choices about sponsors keep the work aligned with its purpose.” > **— Bryant McGill**, *Authentic Video, Community Standards, and the Courage to Tell Your Story - Livestream (Jan 2016)* [[reminders/Business Ethics/Making a Difference Matters More Than Making Money by Bryant McGill|Making a Difference Matters More Than Making Money by Bryant McGill]]