IntroductionOver the past decade, concerns about corporate ethical responsibility have continued to grow. Consumers are increasingly looking to support and purchase from companies that make ethical decisions. The government has also created new legislation that requires a certain level of ethics and encourages businesses to go so far as to create ethics programs. The idea of ​​“business ethics” is not new, but the pressure is greater than ever on businesses to prove they are making honest efforts to be ethical. This additional pressure on businesses can be largely attributed to a shift in the neoclassical view that a business should only look after the interests of shareholders by creating profits (Wines & Hamilton III, 2009). Today, people view the organization as a complex unit made up of many different groups that must be considered. This new definition of “ethical business” requires not only compliance with the law, but also consideration of the ethical implications of all actions (Epstein and Hanson, 2006; Thornton, 2009). “Ethics is a system of moral principles and behavioral standards intended to express and support a set of underlying values” (Post, Lee, & Sachs, 2002). Following the meanings given by several professional sources, business ethics is defined as the study of moral standards in the context of all business situations (Columbia University, 2008; Knapp, 2001; Crane & Matten, 2007). Due to this shift in consumer and regulator concerns, a business can only survive if it cares and strives to respect the interests of all its stakeholders by applying ethical standards to its actions (Post, Lee and Sachs, 2002). , a company must be responsible beyond the "basic guidelines" middle of paper ......009). Optimize your code of conduct. Federal Ethics Report, 16 (6), 6. Stout, N. (2009). Staples' secret weapon. Age of chain stores, 85 (8), 21-22. Botwinick Prize for Ethics. (nd). Retrieved March 23, 2010, from the Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. Center for Leadership and Ethics at Columbia Business School: http://www4.gsb.columbia.edu/leadership/speakerseries/botwinickThornton, LF (September 2009). Leadership Ethics Training: Why is it so difficult to get it right? Training + Development, 60-61.Vallabhaneni, SR (2008). Best practices in business management, governance and ethics. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. Vogel, David. (2008), CSR does not pay. Forbes MagazineWines, WA and Hamilton III, JB (2009). On changing organizational cultures by injecting new ideologies: the power of stories. Journal of Business Ethics , 89 (3), 433-435.