ABSTRACT
Ethics potentially offers a more complete form of business conduct regulation than any externally imposed set of rules, regulations or internalised norms. This is because ethics provides a set of consistent, foundational principles—including fairness, honesty, inclusiveness, integrity, responsibility, transparency and accountability—that inform decisions as to conduct, independent of circumstances. Ethics by contrast applies to every situation where a question about conduct arises, establishes the highest not the lowest standards and, through dialogic process and the underlying principles, is a source of direction and guidance towards making the right choice. There is a contention that in practical terms ethics is an insufficiently precise reference point and source of direction for corporate governance and the regulation of business conduct. The very fact that ethics operates in the normative domain enables decision-makers to anticipate and adapt to change far more quickly than if they relied on and acted exclusively according to formal rules, prescribed processes and controlled inputs.
