"It's Just Business"....should our behavior in "business" be considered

[Dover]

a separate thing with a separate set of ethics rules and morality, than our everyday lives?

I've seen this rationale emerging as a lesson in business ethics from most Reality T.V. shows where competition and winning exist in a vacuum and apparently supersede "normal" and acceptable behavior.
It seems to be saying that the goals justify the means.

What do you think?

[SayitAintSo]

1. I agree - it's more than business - it is personal

How you treat people is one of the most important aspects of leadership. And it's personal... As a mid level IT manager in a large Fortune 5 corporation for 15+ years, I've seen it all.

The Trump model is good theater - it's not what works in the real world. IMO ....

[Dover]

2. Glad to hear it....although I think Bushco operates under these "rules"

and the reality shows seem to be rubbing off on kids..."it's just business" can be heard often now in school yards. So the theatre of t.v. is rubbing off on undeveloped young folks. Hopefully they get a different lesson in the home.

[unblock]

3. trump is a rotten manager.

his fortune was not remotely based on being a good manager. in fact, most trust fund baby brats who never worked for anyone other than daddy are rotten managers.

worse, in trump's case, much of his success has come from creating a personal image and leveraging off that mystique. this works for trump himself, and maybe a few other celebrities, but does not make for a great learning experience for his underlings because it doesn't translate.

mrs. unblock says i should try out for the apprentice. why should i? the grand prize is i have to work for that jerk?

[unblock]

4. for the most part i agree, but not entirely

agree that "it's just business" for the most part is almost as dubious as an excuse as blaming the alcohol for what you did when you were drunk.

however, there are certain norms in business that one might not tolerate in personal relations that one feels tremendous pressure to conform to, lest the company fail, since, after all, the competition is doing the same.

case in point is the definition of "lying" in sales. a certain level of selective information presentation and self-promotion is expected in sales and marketing. there is a standard ethical line in sales beyond which you're just plain lying. but that line in sales if rather more aggressive than the "lying" line is in friendship relationships. consequently, people often do things in the name of sales that they would not do in the name of friendship.

i think this is fine. but one must accept, then, that when you do this, you might be creating a customer, but you are not creating a friend.

but hey, that's just business.

[Vitruvius]

5. "It's just business" leads to "I was only following orders."

The amount of criminality in big business is amazing.

And Adolf Eichmann thought of himself as quite a decent guy -- outside of his job -- which was unspeakable, and for which he was justly hanged.