ABSTRACT
Business ethics is a growing field. Events such as the Enron, Ahold, Parmalat, and World Com scandals have attracted attention to abuses of power and authority in the business world and created a demand for more ethical businesspeople. This in turn has created a greater emphasis on the formal study of business ethics. In this chapter we define business ethics and explain its importance to business and society. We then explain ethics from three different perspectives-that of business researchers, business decision makers, and participants in business research. We conclude the chapter with a discussion of gaining access to participants and convincing them to participate in research studies. The ethical issues of gaining cooperation and participation from respondents are discussed as well.
