Business ethics practices and programs in Bangladesh: an empirical analysis

Abstract

The issue of business ethics in Bangladesh is becoming important and not widely studied before. The study aims to evaluate ethical practices and programs today and for the next ten years with survey questionnaire applying non-probability purposive sampling. The study includes 43 business organizations from two largest cities, Dhaka and Chittagong. The results indicate that protecting reputation is the prime reason for ethical business while corporate scandals and rules and regulations are the influential business and external environmental factors of ethical practices. The code of conduct is the main internal ethical aspect for Board of Directors. In addition, the ethics survey and audits are the most important effectiveness measures of ethical programs. Finally, the findings draw implications for Ministry of Legal Affairs, regulatory bodies, management and policy makers to adapt multi-faceted, multi-targeted, and multi-tiered approaches to formulate effective programs in order to build a truly ethical enterprise.