ABSTRACT
All too frequently, the issue of business ethics is addressed in a negative way. Usually, we are told what not to do, what not to use to undergird business actions. This is frequently expressed metaphorically in terms of Pope Gregory the Great’s seven deadly sins (lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, sloth, envy and pride) or their equivalents, before we are barraged with rules of what amounts to good business behaviour. The transition from condemning the unethical to advocating the ethical is usually made without a logical explanation of why unethical procedures should not be followed. Often, there is no explanation of what is in it for the business person who decides to act ethically. Accordingly, mostly it suffices in argument for ethical and legal behaviours to coincide.
