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Ethics and culture in business essay. Entrepreneurial ethics and culture

Entrepreneurial ethics is one of the complex problems of forming a culture of civilized entrepreneurship, since ethics in general is the doctrine and practice of behavior of individuals (citizens) in accordance with ideas about what is proper, about good and evil in the form of ideals, moral principles and norms of behavior. This is a teaching about the purpose of man, about the meaning of his life. This is a system of moral and ethical standards, including generally binding rules of human behavior.

Entrepreneurial activity, like any economic, economic, professional activity of capable citizens, has legal and ethical criteria, norms, rules of conduct, deviation from which threatens business entities with negative consequences. Legal norms of behavior for entrepreneurs and organizations are established by laws and other regulations, failure to comply with which threatens with serious penalties, including bankruptcy and imprisonment. Therefore, a very important condition for the development of civilized entrepreneurship is not only the adoption of laws regulating business activities, but also the formation of a legal culture. However, at times, what is done legally is not always ethical. But what should society do? It is necessary to make proposals to change laws, for example tax legislation, since the number of taxes and tax rates are a brake on the development of entrepreneurship.

Ethical standards in entrepreneurship are a set of characteristics of the behavior of citizens engaged in business activities in various spheres of the economy, aimed at meeting the needs of the market, specific consumers, society and the state. Entrepreneurial ethics is based on general ethical norms and rules of behavior that have developed in the country, in the world, as well as on professional ethics manifested in a particular field of activity. In connection with the general ethical norms of behavior of citizens, business ethics is inextricably linked with such concepts as honesty, conscience, authority, nobility, politeness, ambition, pride, shamelessness, hypocrisy, gloating, slander, revenge, deceit, rudeness, etc. As can be seen, some concepts are associated with positive (positive) principles and behavioral traits, while others are associated with negative (negative) ones. Only an incomplete listing of the characteristic features of the behavior of individual entrepreneurs indicates a complex concept of entrepreneurial ethics, which, as a rule, should be based on universal, universal principles, on the general principles of risky, innovative, innovative, competent, legal, honest entrepreneurship, as opposed to routine, illegal, incompetent business.

The formation of entrepreneurial ethics is influenced by forms of social consciousness (mentality) and social relations aimed at establishing the self-worth of a citizen as an entrepreneur, the manifestation of his best human qualities, economic freedom, his responsibility to consumers and society. Entrepreneurial ethics is based on moral principles related to the morals, character, mindset, and aspirations of entrepreneurs, and therefore is inextricably linked with their motives and motivations.

Ethical problems of entrepreneurs constantly arise and are resolved, primarily with consumers, and therefore the state protects the interests of consumers. The ethical relations of entrepreneurs as business owners are connected with employees. These relationships have a particular impact on the level of entrepreneurial success. Of particular importance in the development of civilized entrepreneurship are relationships with partners, competitors, and society.

Entrepreneurial ethics is manifested in such categories as loyalty to a given word, an assumed obligation, moral responsibility for failure to fulfill obligations established by legal norms. Researchers in entrepreneurial ethics have formed general ethical standards for a civilized entrepreneur, which can be summarized as follows: ethical culture entrepreneurship

he is convinced of the usefulness of his activities not only (and not so much) for himself, but also for others, for society;

proceeds from the fact that the people around him want and know how to work, strive to realize themselves together with the entrepreneur;

believes in his business, regards it as attractive creativity, treats business as art;

recognizes the need for competition, but also understands the need for cooperation;

respects himself as a person, and any person as himself;

respects any property, state power, social movements, social order, laws;

trusts not only himself, but also others, respects professionalism and competence;

values education, science and technology, culture, complies with environmental standards;

strives to introduce innovations;

does not shift responsibility for making the necessary decisions to subordinates;

tolerant of other people's shortcomings;

aligns its goals with the personal goals of employees;

does not humiliate anyone.

An entrepreneur must create his own image and observe etiquette. He must clearly understand that such behavioral traits as politeness, tact, and delicacy are absolutely necessary not only for “the ability to behave in society,” but also for an ordinary life position. We must not forget about the culture of communication, a sense of proportion, goodwill, you need to completely control your emotions. It is necessary to have your own civilized style of behavior, your own noble image, that same image of an entrepreneur that guarantees not only half the success, but also constant satisfaction from your activities.

To master the skills of correct behavior, you need to observe:

rules of introduction and acquaintance;

rules for conducting business contacts;

rules of conduct in negotiations;

requirements for appearance, manners, business attire;

speech requirements;

culture of official documents and other elements of business etiquette, which is an integral part of business ethics.

Business etiquette is a set of rules of conduct for an entrepreneur that regulate his external manifestations with the outside world, with other entrepreneurs, competitors, employees, with all individuals with whom the entrepreneur comes into contact not only when carrying out his business, but in any life situation.

– a system of norms of moral behavior and responsibilities of people towards each other and society as a whole.

Ethics in business relations is a system of universal and specific moral requirements and standards of behavior implemented in professional activities. It includes:

Ethical assessment of the internal and external policies of the organization;

Moral principles of organization members;

Moral climate in the organization;

Business etiquette standards.

Each company has a certain system of generally recognized moral procedures (norms, values, knowledge) that are mandatory for all participants in business activities. The core of corporate ethics is formed by the founders of the organization and is directly related to their life experiences and worldview. The reputation and authority of the leader, the effectiveness of his work is perceived by his subordinates as a given, and they, to one degree or another, begin to imitate him. Any person who decides to become an entrepreneur, that is, to start his own business, to enter the world of business, is an extraordinary person for this reason alone. And the qualities of this personality begin to be realized and projected onto the entrepreneurial organization he creates. It is in human interaction that corporate ethical values are formed.

The ethics of national economics are formed through joint efforts in the sphere of the state, business circles, trade unions, civil society and the church.

Culture - this is a set of production, social and spiritual needs of people, or a high level of something, high development, skill. There are many more definitions, but in essence, they boil down to the fact that culture is a concept that integrates various aspects of life, activity, behavior of people, their associations, society as a whole at a certain historical stage of its development.

Any culture, including entrepreneurial culture, contains two main aspects: values and procedures. Values are ethical ideals, qualities that are the highest moral categories. A procedure is an officially recorded and unwritten rule of behavior based on specified values.

Currently, the terms “culture of entrepreneurship”, “culture of an enterprise (company)”, “economic culture”, “corporate culture”, “organizational culture” are used. All these are identical concepts, which mean the spiritual life of people in a business environment, in an organization, their ideological moral state, feelings, thinking and actions.

Economic culture – it is like a projection of the economy onto the sphere of culture; The opposite statement is also true, according to which it is a projection of culture onto the economic sphere. In other words, the cultural component of economic activity (economic culture) is inseparable from this activity itself, is its necessary prerequisite and is capable of actively influencing it, enhancing or slowing down the development of the economy. In the same way, it can be argued that the economic component of culture (economic culture) affects the entire cultural environment of a given society (including science, art, religion), and directly, directly affects those areas of culture that are most closely related to the economic one (such as legal and political culture).

In relation to economic activity, the cultural environment is divided into external and internal.

External the cultural environment is an integral part of the macroenvironment, which influences the behavior of economic entities.

Internal The cultural environment refers to the microenvironment of a business entity and relates both to the company itself and to the partners with whom interaction is carried out.

The composition of the cultural environment is characterized by a combination of factors, which include politics, technology, education, art, values and relationships, religion, language, law, social status (Fig. 2.4).

Policy is a well-known category, but not all entrepreneurs take into account the possibilities of this cultural factor in organizing entrepreneurship. Studying policy can help understand the potential for a country's social contribution to a firm's business climate. The stability of the political climate, the characteristics of groups, parties that support foreign business or hinder it, the degree of influence of each of these groups are the factors that allow us to assess the degree of business risk in political terms.

Technology - it is the field of precise concepts, methods, measurements and knowledge. Studying the technical level of the business environment can provide information about the level of development and potential of the market, the degree of development of its infrastructure, the degree of urbanization and development of “industrial values”, as well as identify attitudes towards science and innovation, establish scientific potential, the possibility of conducting scientific research. research.

Education And art, their level and profile are rarely taken into account in the organization of business activities. Comparative analysis of these cultural factors can assist in the study of literacy and its impact on technical and vocational training, as well as on the effectiveness of market relations and entrepreneurial relations. The educational level also forms an attitude towards values, which is advisable to determine during the formation and development of entrepreneurial activity.

Religion has a major impact on economic activity. All major religions - Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, etc. - have several varieties and confessions (for example, Catholicism and Protestantism in Christianity). A unique view of the world and true values, the practice of religious rites can stimulate or hinder the desire for change and the use of new methods in entrepreneurship. To successfully carry out business activities, it is necessary to take into account the development, role and characteristics of religion in each country where it is planned to organize a business.

Language is the basis and means of any communication, including entrepreneurial communication. There are about 100 official languages on the globe and at least 3,000 independent dialects. Business activities – both in national and international markets – require knowledge of several languages. English is the dominant language; at least 2/3 of business correspondence in the world is carried out in this language. There are countries where they tend to use only their own language, for example in France. This should be taken into account when organizing business communications for entrepreneurs, businessmen, and business people.

Jurisprudence – knowledge of the laws of your country, which reflect the norms and rules of relations to values, property, and personal protection; this knowledge should not be perceived by entrepreneurs as a secondary element of culture. Comparing different legal systems helps to understand business traditions in different countries. This can help avoid conflicts and, if necessary, contact legal authorities.

Social status population, social features of the organization of society and its first unit - the family, in entrepreneurship are of the same importance as other factors of the cultural environment. The entrepreneur in this context must know whether his business partners are family firms or whether he will be dealing with professional partners. Equally important is the study of the social stratification of the population to establish whether there is a noticeable difference between the upper, middle and lower classes and what their attitude towards entrepreneurship is. Research and knowledge of the social characteristics of public organizations make it possible to determine whether they will promote or oppose success in the activities of an entrepreneur in specific social conditions.

In addition, economic culture always exists in certain spatial and specific historical conditions. Therefore, it is also influenced by spatial factors (quantitative and qualitative) - climate characteristics, landscape, location of the country, the presence of water and other means of communication, the size of its general and agricultural territories, their quality (minerals, soil fertility, etc.). etc.), and from temporary factors (a particular period of historical development of a given economic crop, the stage of influence of other crops on it).

Thus, in the history of Russia, the presence of vast undeveloped spaces caused the dominance of the extensive type of economy over the intensive one; the relatively harsh climate, combined with large space, predetermined the need for collective rather than individual farming. This is largely due to the extraordinary persistence in Russia of such an economic form as the community, which survived here until the 20th century (even after the revolution of 1917, individual communal elements were partially preserved in collective farms). In this regard, it can be argued: having arisen under the influence of geographical and other factors, an economic form can, having strengthened, have a significant impact both on the structural components of economic, legal and political cultures, and on religion, science, art and other specialized areas of culture. We see this in the example of the Russian community.

As already noted, an essential aspect of the content of economic culture is the value attitude towards work, wealth, accumulation, and economic activity in general. It is not at all accidental, say, the fact of the emergence and establishment of capitalism precisely on the basis of the Protestant ethic, which interprets labor as the highest virtue, and wealth as a blessing from God, which at the same time imposes responsibility on its owner before God. This relationship was most systematically expressed by M. Weber in his classic work “The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism” (1905), where the problems of “economic ethics” were first formulated.

Famous Russian thinker S.N. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Bulgakov drew attention to the well-known fact of the close connection of Russian entrepreneurship with the Old Believers, from which representatives of a number of the largest Russian entrepreneurs emerged. From his point of view, it would be “particularly interesting” to isolate and analyze the “economic potential of Orthodoxy,” which is fundamentally different from Protestantism. Orthodoxy, argued S.N. Bulgakov, has powerful means of educating the individual, developing in her a sense of responsibility and duty, so necessary for entrepreneurial activity. “You need to understand that economic activity can also be a public service and the fulfillment of a moral duty, and only with such an attitude towards it and by educating society in such an understanding of it, the most beneficial atmosphere is created both for the development of production and for reforms in the field of distribution, for economic and social progress."

In modern conditions, in the conditions of post-industrial development, the importance of cultural, value-motivational factors of economic activity increases sharply. They largely determine economic growth today, both at the level individual business entities, and in relation to the national economic whole. In this regard, it is important to note the following.

Until the first half of the 20th century, the reproduction of the cultural environment occurred mainly spontaneously and culture as a whole acted as a “free resource.” And the formation of the value environment, if it was consciously regulated, was only in spheres remote from the economic sphere itself - in ideology, science, art (only in the sphere of education did the regulation of the value environment, close to economic needs, partially take place). However, already in the 60s and 70s. (in the 80s this process intensified) the influence of the state and business on economic culture acquires a planned, coordinated character; it turns into a national strategy and even becomes entrenched in the sphere of political culture. Japanese firms have become pioneers in the management of economic culture within corporations. Their example of a fundamentally new attitude to culture, embodied in huge profits, forced both American and Western European companies to abandon their inherent “technocratic” approach. In the mid-80s. More than half of the largest American corporations have switched to managing their economic and organizational culture. Among highly profitable companies, 88% had special departments responsible for organizing the implementation of “highest values”, 65% had special programs for linking these values with measures to increase labor productivity, 58% had relevant targeted courses for staff.

In principle, the management of work ethics and economic-organizational culture was known in the Middle Ages. Guilds of merchants, workshops of artisans, along with the technological secrets of craftsmanship, had certain “codes of honor”, codes of work ethics, which were passed on from fathers to sons. With the transition to the bourgeois system, to industrialism, a special specialized sphere of economic culture finally crystallized, relating to the entire society, and not just its individual subsystems. Economic culture is universalized, national cultures acquire features characteristic of the industrial stage of development. Japanese firms largely revived these feudal-guild features in their internal relations, but relied mainly on collectivism and unity of the company's employees, while American firms tried to stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurial activity. Nowadays there is, as it were, a counter-movement of the economic entrepreneurial cultures of the East and the West: the West strives to develop in its corporations the principles of collectivism and the value identification of each employee with the goals and organizational and economic culture of the company, and the East is trying to use active individual entrepreneurial motivations within the corporation, without which a modern innovative and entrepreneurial culture is impossible.

To summarize, we can say that the purely “technocratic” understanding of economic growth, which does not take into account the huge role of the cultural component of the economy, has now been overcome both in the developed countries of the West and in the developing countries of the East. This is natural, because the management of economic culture as a whole and its most important component - value motivation for work, as well as stereotypes of economic behavior of subjects - is an objective urgent need both for powerful industrial powers and for developing states trying to mobilize the specific traditionalist values contained in their culture. factors for the purposes of economic development and modernization.

However, the levels and scope of economic crop management in countries with developed market economies and in countries with transitional economies are, of course, very different. In relation to the former, the state of this type of management is dictated by the height of “post-industrial development”, which requires not just a qualified performer built into the hierarchical bureaucratic structure of the corporation, but an active, energetic entrepreneur who has a certain freedom and responsibility within the corporation, not alienated from it, but personally merged with it .

The formation of this kind of innovative and entrepreneurial culture is now being analyzed both theoretically and in organizational and applied terms, and applied research is often ahead of actual scientific developments in this area. As a result, “corporate ethics” is assessed as “the main asset of a company.”

The new type of personality being formed in a corporation is a type of leader who carries an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit, capable of providing company employees with examples of socially significant behavior in various situations, creating new ones and consolidating already established cultural and economic traditions (promotion of this kind of leaders to the center of innovative activity This is also due to the fact that any innovation, breaking the established order, causes quite strong opposition).

Speaking about the active development of economic culture, primarily in large corporations, it should be noted that the highest level of formation of economic culture is national, national. With the transition to this level, the cultural environment itself and its capabilities expand. The state defines national goals, pursues a “national policy,” and also carries out the socialization of the economy. The objectives of the national strategy today include supporting and disseminating an innovative culture, often on the basis of the revival of traditional cultural values (the Japanese idea of a return to tradition, R. Reagan’s motto “family, work, good neighborliness,” etc.). At the same time, the figure of the innovative entrepreneur is promoted as a role model, entrepreneurial activity is ennobled in every possible way; There are attempts to revive on a new basis the old economic ethics that helped the formation of capitalism. The introduction of guidelines on the value of entrepreneurship at the state level occurs in almost all countries with developed market economies. It is interesting that this process is more successful the higher the consolidation of society.

The economic culture of a society as a special specialized sphere of culture is always associated with activities for the production of life (life support) and is embodied in its carriers such as technology, customs, and legal norms; it is crystallized in certain institutional structures. First of all, economic culture is represented in the institutional system of social division of labor.

The activities of people to support their livelihoods outside of this institutional system are associated with ordinary economic culture(this is, for example, farming). Historically, on the basis of corresponding spontaneously developing patterns of management and relationships, a special, institutionalized and consolidated, reflected specialized economic crop, having its own specific subjects.

The subjects of specialized economic culture in modern industrial (“post-industrial”) society are, on the one hand, entrepreneurs-managers, on the other, scientists (economists, sociologists, lawyers, cultural experts, etc.). The first indicated group of subjects creates innovations in economic culture by their very activities. The second one reflects the results of this activity, identifies the general field of relevant research activity, identifies trends and development prospects specialized sphere of culture, entrepreneurial culture, corporate culture– outlines programs for strengthening the dynamic element in it, etc.

Considering the ways of modernization of leading European countries that are already at the “post-industrial” stage of development, it is not difficult to highlight three main models of economic culture development.

First - Anglo-American model of modernization. It assumes, in particular, the development of farming and the availability of free labor for the needs of industry. Differences in the forms of farming (in England the predominant type was the tenant farmer, and in the USA - the free farmer) do not change the generality of the type of modernization.

The second model characteristic of southern and central European countries, including France and Germany, is distinguished by a historically established large class of small peasants. It is characterized by a slow pace of modernization. Just as in France only after the Second World War the urban population became predominant in relation to the rural one; despite the fact that the French industrial revolution unfolded only half a century later than the English one, the country for a long time could not turn into an industrial power and remained agrarian-industrial.

Germany embarked on the path of the industrial revolution a century later than England; When the English and French manufacturing industries were already taking shape, medieval handicraft production dominated in Germany. However, later industrialization also had its advantages. If in France the industrial revolution was based on the supply of English machines, in Germany it was carried out on the basis of its own mechanical engineering: the largest enterprises in this industry for its time were immediately created here. Having gained advantages over the outdated machine park of English industry, German industry began to develop at a pace unprecedented for the 19th century.

Third model characteristic of developing countries of the “third world”, which embarked on the path of modernization almost a century later than the main European states. This type of modernization unites countries with different economic cultures. And of course, the cultural and economic originality leaves its unique imprint on the type of modernization within this type, although the common feature remains the “secondary” (“follow-up”) nature of modernization, an attempt to quickly transition fundamentally traditional societies to the path of industrial development. One of these types is represented by the countries of Latin America, which have their own specific features of modernization and properties of economic culture. Particular attention should also be given to the new southeastern “dragons” (for example, South Korea), the modernization of which was coupled with wide access to modern American technology and large investments of American capital.

The domestic model of modernization is that although primary industrialization (the industrial revolution and the development of capitalism) was carried out in Russia mainly according to the second model of modernization (European: much like the German one), and in some parameters similar to the French one, further Russian economic development was interrupted world war and revolution, it took a special path that has no analogues in history.

The transitional state of the Russian economy predetermines the interconnection of specific symbiotically interacting and contradictory elements of the system of economic relations. There are still components of the old administrative-command system with its inherent features and a special structure of social consciousness. The formation of market economy institutions and the initial accumulation of capital take place in fundamentally different conditions, when capital is formed not in the process of long evolution through the capitalization of income, but mainly through the division of state property and on the basis of the principle “those who are closer to state power receive more,” and not during the period of the birth and formation of a new social system, where small-scale production predominates, but in the industrial era, when the concentration of capital reached unprecedented proportions, and the free competition market gave way to monopolistic competition in its various forms of manifestation; in the context of the historical stage of rapid development of scientific and technological progress and the increasing role of the human factor, the complication of business practice and the emergence of new patterns in the trends of its development.

Entrepreneurship as a special sphere of social activity with its own norms, values, rules, traditions, prejudices, etc. forms and reproduces its own special subculture - entrepreneurial. Entrepreneurial culture has its own ethics and etiquette, its own language, its own principles of identification, inclusion and exclusion.

Under business ethics It is customary to understand a set of certain moral criteria, norms, moral parameters in the behavior of an entrepreneur, requirements imposed by the cultural community on the style of his work, the nature of communication with people, and social appearance.

Russian entrepreneurship, which grew up on the basis of power, does not associate the acquisition of competitive advantages with the implementation of an innovative function; entrepreneurial success is seen, first of all, in the implementation of available administrative resources. The entrepreneur associates the achievement of his goals with interactions that are based not on rational action, but on the presence of personal connections and personalized trust. At the same time, the determining factor in the formation of competitive sustainability is not the rationalization of activities, but the strengthening of a monopoly position by obtaining exclusive rights, privileges and benefits. It is not surprising, therefore, that for Russian firms, when hiring senior managers, the determining factor is not qualifications, but the candidates’ personal connections among market participants and government agencies.

Entrepreneurial culture differs from other status-professional subcultures, for example, journalistic, officer or professional culture of civil servants, etc.

Entrepreneurial culture often has an ethnic connotation (for example, the Russian “honest merchant word”). Entrepreneurial culture has its own core - entrepreneurial values associated with the desire for profit, willingness to take risks, innovation, independence and responsibility based on fairness.

True, in domestic practice the opposite happened - the adaptation of the very conditions of management to the needs of the organization. In this case, a corresponding culture of entrepreneurship has formed, based not on rational behavior, but on personal connections and bureaucratic mechanisms, where the main instrument of competition is the ability to realize administrative resources.

This once again confirms the fact that the conditions in which entrepreneurial activity is carried out directly affect entrepreneurial culture.

It should be especially noted that entrepreneurial culture should be based on such an important principle as fairness. Business activity must be not only effective, but also fair. In this case, entrepreneurial activity helps support the lives of those who themselves cannot produce material values, and those who do not have to produce such values due to the nature of their activity, which is no less important for society and the state than work aimed at producing material goods .

Entrepreneurial culture preserves, supports and develops innovative culture, that part of the culture of society that is most developed among entrepreneurs. It should be noted, the innovative type of entrepreneurial culture is not due to the internal evolution of the organization, but is a reaction to changes in the external environment - market conditions for entrepreneurial activity; willingness to take risks, need for innovation and active search for it– all these necessary elements of entrepreneurial activity turn out to be part of universal human culture.

Aristotle defined the concept of “ethics” as “the virtues or virtues manifested in human behavior” and believed that ethics “helps to know what should be done and what should be abstained from.”

VII World Russian People's Council, held in 2002

Ethics is a system of norms of moral behavior and responsibilities of people towards each other and society as a whole.

Ethics in business relations is a system of universal and specific moral requirements and standards of behavior implemented in professional activities. It includes:

· ethical assessment of the organization’s internal and external policies;
· moral principles of organization members;
· moral climate in the organization;
· norms of business etiquette.

Each company has a certain system of generally recognized moral procedures (norms, values, knowledge) that are mandatory for all participants in business activities. The core of corporate ethics is formed by the founders of the organization and is directly related to their life experiences and worldview. The reputation and authority of the leader, the effectiveness of his work is perceived by his subordinates as a given, and they, to one degree or another, begin to imitate him. Any person who decides to become an entrepreneur, that is, to start his own business, to enter the world of business, is an extraordinary person for this reason alone. And the qualities of this personality begin to be realized and projected onto the entrepreneurial organization he creates. It is in human interaction that corporate ethical values are formed.

The ethics of national economics are formed through joint efforts in the sphere of the state, business circles, trade unions, civil society and the church.

Culture is a set of production, social and spiritual needs of people, or a high level of something, high development, skill. There are many more definitions, but in essence, they boil down to the fact that culture is a concept that integrates various aspects of life, activity, behavior of people, their associations, and society as a whole at a certain historical stage of its development.

Economic culture is like a projection of the economy onto the sphere of culture; The opposite statement is also true, according to which it is a projection of culture onto the economic sphere. In other words, the cultural component of economic activity (economic culture) is inseparable from this activity itself, is its necessary prerequisite and is capable of actively influencing it, enhancing or slowing down the development of the economy. In relation to economic activity, the cultural environment is divided into external and internal.

The external cultural environment is an integral part of the macroenvironment, which influences the behavior of economic entities.

The internal cultural environment refers to the microenvironment of a business entity and relates both to the company itself and to the partners with whom interaction is carried out.

Culture, ethics, that is, values developed and recognized by society, social norms, attitudes, patterns of behavior, rituals that force a person to behave one way and not another.

These phenomena are complex, they are not just “control tools”. In living, real economic and social systems, they all almost always coexist. We are talking only about what is given priority, what is the main focus. This determines the essence, the appearance of the economic organization of society.

Our country has had an administrative-command system for a long time. Its root was hierarchy, the most powerful tool of management. But at the same time, there was also a “hard” ethics of Soviet society, when traditions and social norms of society had a great influence on people in the management process. Ideology and party membership successfully helped to govern. Today, when the administrative-command system is gone, the ethics of relationships, including business relationships, are also gone along with it. Ethics in business is a reflection of ethical standards in society. In Russia in the 1990s, a new group of the population appeared - entrepreneurs, and the problem of regulating their activities not only from regulatory, but also from moral and ethical aspects arose. How to manage affairs in the new system of economic relations? Most likely, over time, the current situation will change and, along with the “market” management tool, the “ethical” one will gain more weight; their ratio will be balanced, as in all civilized countries.

During the times of “wild capitalism” (in the 1990s), certain anti-market behavioral attitudes and stereotypes of thinking developed in the country. In the priorities expressed in the morality of that time “Profit at any cost”, “Money has no smell”, “Everything is permitted in commerce”, “If you don’t cheat, you won’t sell”, almost everything was given to obtaining short-term economic benefits by any means, when business was built on the basis “covering up” illegal operations, when the vices of a nascent business are somehow derived from the general state of public morality.

Only in recent years have they tried to bring problems of morality, ethics, and business culture to a new level, built on the integrity of a businessman, increased demands on himself and others, and a sense of duty expressed in the principle: “Profit is above all, but honor is above profit.” This direction has become widespread among foreign authors: Meskon M. X., Albert M., Khedouri F., Grayson J. K., O'Dell K., etc. Despite the fact that modern ethics and business culture have become more recent years (10-15 years), this direction is developing dynamically in the works of domestic authors, such as Vikhansky O.S., Naumov A.I., Kibanov A.Ya., Krasovsky Yu.D. The idea that should form the basis of business ethics of an entrepreneur and manager.

Thus, in society and the business (entrepreneurial) environment, it is ripe problem giving business relations new moral and ethical guidelines, the implementation of which would be characterized by a high level of culture and ethics of the participants and the manager and staff of the company or organization.

The relevance of research. Many authors recognize the huge role of culture and ethics in the activities of the manager and staff of the company. At the same time, management theory does not have common points of view on this problem. But all researchers agree on the importance of ethical and cultural guidelines for business. Possessing a high culture, a leader can influence his subordinates, attract them to work, and involve them in his circle of interests.

Object of study: culture and ethics in business.

Subject of research: economic efficiency of culture and ethics in business.

The purpose of the study: to reveal the essence of business culture and ethics, to characterize the principles and conditions for their formation in an organization (firm) and to determine their economic efficiency.

Research objectives:

1. Based on an analysis of the literature, reveal the essence of the basic concepts on the research topic and structure them.

2. Characterize the principles and conditions for the formation of business culture and ethics in an organization (firm).

3. Study the factors influencing the formation of modern Russian culture.

4. Determine the qualitative differences between Russian and Western models of corporate cultures.

5. Provide an economic analysis of the influence of corporate culture on business development.

Research base: culture and business ethics of firms and organizations in Samara (about 100 firms). Information was obtained from senior and middle managers.

Research methods:

Theoretical analysis of literary sources;

Modeling;

Questionnaire and interviewing;

Mathematical analysis of the obtained results.

CHAPTER 1. THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF CULTURE
AND BUSINESS ETHICS

1.1 The essence of entrepreneurial culture

The concepts of “culture” and “ethics” are general philosophical.

Ethics is one of the oldest theoretical disciplines; the object of its study is morality. The term “ethics” was introduced by Aristotle to denote the doctrine of morality. Aristotle thoughtfully noted that ethics “helps to know what should be done and what should be abstained from.” Ethics generalizes and systematizes moral principles and norms.

Ethics in society is, first of all, a branch of knowledge, a special science that allows us to consider and evaluate human relations, as well as people’s behavior from the point of view of their compliance with certain reasonable, generally accepted norms. By ethics we also understand the practical implementation of these norms, defining people's behavior as either ethical or unethical. Hence it is useful to distinguish between ethics as an ideal and ethics as action. An entrepreneur should be interested in both, but within the framework of professional ethics.

There is so-called “professional ethics”, and in particular, “business ethics”. We are talking about the norms of behavior of an entrepreneur, about the requirements imposed by a cultural society on his style of work, the nature of communication with people, and his social appearance.

Business ethics is the process by which an entrepreneur, government official, or manager defines ethical standards regarding issues that arise in the organization, independently analyzes these standards, and bears personal, professional responsibility for the decisions made.

In this definition, two points can be distinguished:

− A process that allows them to be reproduced.

Ethics of entrepreneurship Trosheva I.V. includes 4 components:

1) Values: beliefs, opinions, attitudes of people, society as a whole towards such concepts as freedom, justice, honesty, loyalty, neutrality and responsibility, tolerance.

2) Standards and norms: principles that determine the actions of people and serve to guide and control their behavior (laws, codes).

3) External environment: the conditions in which people’s activities take place: political, social, cultural, etc.

4) Human behavior: forms of human activity focused on the values of a given society within the framework of certain standards and norms.

Ethics answers the following questions:

1) What is good and evil.

2) What is wrong and what is right in the behavior of people in business.

3) What are their motives and conditions for their ethical behavior.

4) What needs to be done to form moral principles.

In order for business behavior to meet certain norms and standards, three components are necessary:

1) Internal control (moral principles and consciousness of the person himself).

2) External control (ethical laws, ethical codes, ethical principles)

3) A mechanism for resolving ethical dilemmas. Ethical training.

The culture of entrepreneurship is an integral element of organizing business activities. It is based on general concepts of culture and is inextricably linked with it.

Culture is the totality of production, social and spiritual needs of people. This is how the essence of this concept is defined in the Russian language dictionary by S.I. Ozhegova. Further, the dictionary gives another definition of this complex concept: culture is a high level of something, high development, skill.

In other scientific sources, culture is understood as a historically certain level of development of society, creative powers and abilities of a person, expressed in the types and forms of organization of people’s lives and activities, as well as in the material and spiritual values they create. Translated from Latin, culture is understood as cultivation, upbringing, education, development, veneration. Consequently, in the universal human understanding, culture is a multifaceted, complex concept that characterizes various aspects of life, activity, behavior of people, their associations (groups), society as a whole at a certain historical stage of its development.

Ethics"- a system of norms of behavior and responsibilities of people towards each other and society as a whole. Ethics in business relations is a system of universal and specific moral requirements and standards of behavior implemented in professional activities. It includes:

- ethical assessment of the internal and external policies of a commercial organization;
- moral principles of members of a commercial organization;
- moral climate in a commercial organization;
- norms of business etiquette.

Business ethics is based on honesty, openness, loyalty to one's word, and the ability to function effectively in the market in accordance with current legislation, established rules and traditions.

An entrepreneur is a person who is constantly ready to take risks, energetic, persistent, able to overcome difficulties and obstacles on the way to the intended goal, a person with unconventional thinking, capable of making management decisions. Business ethics helps not only to increase profits, but also to retain customers. According to experts, retaining old partners is five times cheaper than winning the favor of new ones. An entrepreneur always focuses on the consumer. For these purposes, before investing in fixed assets, it is necessary to spend a lot of money, time and effort on developing the ethics, culture of the company and the appropriate training of its employees.

There is a rule in entrepreneurship: always take care of your customers and employees, and the market will take care of you.

Managerial ethics- a set of rules and forms of business communication with people, allowing them to express respect, promoting the establishment of mutual understanding between the manager and subordinates.

A manager is, first of all, a leader who is able to influence people and teams and encourage them to work effectively to achieve their goals. His success depends on his excellent leadership qualities and style. The manager has power over his subordinates because he decides such important issues as the level of remuneration, the nature of the work performed, the degree of workload of the employee, his promotion, etc. However, absolute power does not exist, just as there are no universal ways of influencing people . The manager must be competent in the affairs of the company, feel the mood of people, and not abuse his power so as not to cause a negative reaction from his subordinates. An important factor in a manager’s influence is the ability to highlight the main thing in the company’s affairs. It creates a situation where each employee is dependent on the results of the common cause. The most effective management system is one based on incentives. Conscientious, proactive execution of management orders and intensive creative work are rewarded. At the same time, incentives should be significant for the performer and feasible for the organization.

It is important for a leader to become a full member of the team and live in its interests. Practice has shown that a good leader is one who is able to ensure high productivity of his subordinates in his absence. To do this you need to have the necessary authority. Authority is public recognition of the leader’s personality, a positive assessment by the team of his business and ethical qualities.

A leader can work in an existing team, or he can create a new team. In the first case, the leader should become his own person in a team that has established traditions and habits. To do this, it is important to get acquainted with the traditions and support the most progressive of them. Having expressed approval of everything good that exists in the team, you can begin to fight against outdated traditions.

In the second option, the leader himself becomes the initiator of the formation of progressive traditions in the team. First of all, it is necessary to develop transparency, maintain a balance between material and moral incentives, and not build relationships with subordinates only on the basis of material incentives. In the absence of a moral factor, employees may move to another manager.

There are different forms of psychological influence on subordinates, for example, persuasion. The leader does not just order, but provides subordinates with certain information, justifying it, appeals to the reason and common sense of people in order to achieve their agreement with the expressed point of view. The method of persuasion is most effective when working with people who have a high intellectual and educational level. It will not help when communicating with those whose intellectual and professional level is much lower. It also does not work where it is necessary to urgently make a decision.

An equally important point is suggestion, when messages are accepted without any evidence, on faith. Messages of a suggestive nature will be accepted if the leader has authority, is popular, and is respected. It is advisable to use suggestion in stressful situations, with a strict time limit. The method of suggestion is successful in communicating with emotional people prone to submission, and is ineffective in communicating with the intellectual elite, people with pronounced leadership abilities.

A leader can also act as a role model. Subordinates almost always adopt his work style and even behavior. Hence, it is important to constantly monitor your behavior and appearance, overcome shortcomings, develop and consolidate positive qualities.

The coercion method is based on the leader’s use of his power and is expressed in orders and instructions. In management, this method is effective in cases of violations of labor discipline, failure to complete tasks, etc. However, an unreasonably strict administrative management style can cause conflict in the team, an indifferent attitude towards work, and lead to staff turnover.

Ethical principles for doing business were developed by the World Business Roundtable, founded in 1986 by businessmen from the USA, Europe and Japan. The Round Table created a set of rules based on the ideology of Japanese corporations "kyosei" (literally translated: "live and work together").

Principle No. 1. Companies have obligations not only to shareholders, but also to everyone who is directly or indirectly involved in the business. The value of business for society is that it provides material well-being and employment for the population, and also provides high-quality goods and services at reasonable prices.

Businesses have a role to play in improving the living conditions of their customers, employees, partners, and investors by giving them a share of the wealth they have created through their joint efforts. Suppliers and competitors also have the right to expect to be treated fairly and fairly. As conscious members of society, businessmen bear a share of responsibility for how regions, countries and the whole world will look in the future.

Principle No. 2. Companies must contribute to the social progress of the countries in which they operate by operating efficiently and helping to improve the well-being of their people. Businesses must contribute to economic and social development through the wise use of resources, free and fair competition, and improvements in technology, production methods, etc. Businesses must have a positive impact on education, human rights, and the general health of the countries in which they operate.

Principle No. 3. Trade secrets have a right to exist, but a businessman must understand that sincerity, goodwill, honesty, keeping his word and openness not only contribute to strengthening reputation and stability, but also ensure the clarity and efficiency of transactions, especially at the international level.

Principle No. 4. To avoid friction and to ensure free trade, as well as creating equal opportunities for competition, fair treatment of all business participants, a businessman must respect the laws. In addition, he must recognize that some actions, even legal ones, may have undesirable consequences.

Principle No. 5. Companies must join forces to ensure progressive and legal trade liberalization, easing local restrictions that inhibit trade overall, while respecting each country's political goals.

Principle No. 6. Companies must protect and, where possible, improve the environment and prevent wasteful use of natural resources.

Principle No. 7. Companies must not engage in activities that condone bribery, money laundering or other acts associated with corruption. Trade in weapons and other materials for terrorist activities, drugs, as well as participation in other types of organized crime are unacceptable.

The ethics of national economics are formed through the joint efforts of the state, business circles, the trade union movement, civil society and the church.

Culture- this is a set of production, social and spiritual needs of people or a high level of something, high development, skill." There are many more definitions, but they all boil down to the fact that culture is a concept that integrates various aspects of life, activity, and behavior of people , their associations and society as a whole at a certain historical stage of development.

Culture, including corporate culture, should be viewed in two aspects: values and procedures. Values are ethical ideals, qualities that are the highest moral categories. Procedures are formal and unwritten rules of behavior based on specified values.

Currently, the terms “culture of entrepreneurship”, “economic culture”, “corporate culture”, “organizational culture” are used, which mean the spiritual life of people in an entrepreneurial environment, in an organization, their moral state, feelings, thinking and actions.

The cultural component of economic activity (economic culture) is inseparable from this activity itself and can actively influence it, enhancing or slowing down the development of the economy.

In relation to economic activity, the cultural environment is divided into external and internal.

The external cultural environment is an integral part of the macroenvironment; it influences the behavior of economic entities.

The cultural environment is characterized by a combination of factors (Fig. 3.4).

Rice. 3.4.

The internal cultural environment refers to the microenvironment of a business entity and relates both to the company itself and to the partners with whom it interacts.

Policy. Studying politics helps understand the potential for a country's social contribution to a firm's business climate. The stability of the political climate, the characteristics of groups, parties that support or hinder foreign business, the degree of influence of each of these groups are the factors that allow us to assess the degree of business risk in political terms.

Technology. Studying the technical level of the business environment can provide information about the level of development and potential of the market, the development of its infrastructure, the degree of urbanization and the development of “industrial values”, as well as identify attitudes towards science and innovation, determine scientific potential, and the possibilities of conducting scientific research.

Education and art. A comparative analysis of these cultural factors can assist in the study of literacy and its impact on technical and vocational training, as well as on the effectiveness of market relations and economic relations. In addition, the educational level shapes the attitude towards values, which is advisable to take into account when developing economic activities.

Religion. A unique view of the world and true values, the practice of religious rites can stimulate or hinder the desire for change and the use of new methods in entrepreneurship. To successfully carry out economic activity, it is necessary to take into account the development, role and characteristics of religion in the country where it is planned to organize a business.

Language is the basis and means of all communications, including economic ones. Economic activity (both in national and international markets) requires knowledge of several languages. English is the dominant language and at least Uz business correspondence in the world. However, there are countries where they tend to use only their own language, for example France. This should be taken into account by entrepreneurs, businessmen, and business people when organizing business communications.

Jurisprudence- knowledge of the laws of your country, which reflect the norms and rules of attitude towards values, property, and personal protection. Comparing different legal systems helps to understand business traditions in different countries, helps to avoid conflicts, and, if necessary, contact legal authorities.

Social organization of society and its features are as important as other factors in the cultural environment. The manager must know whether his business partners represent family businesses or whether he will be dealing with managers representing corporate enterprise. It is equally important to examine the social stratification of the population to determine whether there is a noticeable difference between the upper, middle and lower classes and what their attitudes towards entrepreneurship are. Knowledge of the social characteristics of public organizations allows us to determine whether they will contribute to or oppose the success of a leader in specific social conditions.

Value - this category in entrepreneurship is used as a characteristic of an object, denoting recognition of its significance (material values and spiritual values are distinguished, the concept of “eternal values” is known), and as a synonym for the concept of “use value”, that is, the significance and usefulness of an object for the consumer. Depending on the significance of the main criteria of value, relationships in the team develop.

In addition, economic culture always exists in certain spatial and specific historical conditions. Therefore, it is influenced by spatial factors, which include climate, landscape, location of the country, the presence of water and other means of communication, the size of general and agricultural territories, their quality (minerals, soil fertility, etc.), as well as temporary factors (this or that period of historical development of a given economic crop, the stage of influence of other crops on it).

Managing work ethic and organizational culture has been known since the Middle Ages. Merchant guilds and artisan workshops, along with the technological secrets of craftsmanship, had certain “codes of honor” that were passed down from fathers to sons. With the transition to the bourgeois system, a special sphere of economic culture was finally formed, affecting the entire society.

Japanese companies, in their internal relations, largely revived feudal-guild features, but relied on collectivism and unity of company employees, while American companies tried to stimulate the spirit of entrepreneurial activity. Today, there is a kind of counter-movement between the economic entrepreneurial cultures of the East and the West: the West strives to develop in its corporations the principles of collectivism and the value identification of each employee with the goals and organizational and economic culture of the company, and the East is trying to use active individual entrepreneurial motivations within the company, without which it is impossible modern innovative culture.

In modern conditions, cultural, value-motivational factors of economic activity largely determine economic growth both at the level of individual economic entities and in relation to the national economy as a whole.

Until the first half of the 20th century, the reproduction of the cultural environment occurred mainly spontaneously. The formation of a value environment was consciously regulated only in the spheres of ideology, science, and art.

Only in the sphere of education did some regulation of the value environment take place, close to economic needs. However, already in the 1960-1970s, the influence of the state and business on economic culture acquired a planned, coordinated character. Japanese companies have become pioneers in the management of economic culture within corporations. Their example of a fundamentally new attitude to culture forced American and Western European companies to abandon the technocratic approach. In the mid-1980s, more than half of the largest American corporations moved toward managing business and organizational culture. Among highly profitable companies, 88% had special departments responsible for organizing the implementation of “highest values”, 65% had special programs for linking these values with measures to increase labor productivity, 58% had relevant targeted courses for staff.

The purely technocratic understanding of economic growth without taking into account the important role of the cultural component of the economy has now been overcome both in the developed countries of the West and in the developing countries of the East.

Entrepreneurship as a special sphere of social activity with its own norms, values, rules, traditions, prejudices forms and reproduces its own special subculture - entrepreneurial. This culture has its own ethics and etiquette, its own language, its own principles of identification, inclusion and exclusion.

Under business ethics It is customary to understand a set of certain moral criteria, moral norms in the behavior of an entrepreneur, requirements imposed by the cultural community on the style of his work, the nature of communication with people, and social appearance.

Entrepreneurial culture has an ethnic connotation (remember, for example, the Russian “honest merchant word”), as well as its own core - entrepreneurial values associated with the desire for profit, willingness to take risks, innovation, independence and responsibility based on justice.

True, in domestic practice, on the contrary, there has been an adaptation of business conditions to the needs of a commercial organization. Russian entrepreneurship, which grew up on the basis of power, does not link the acquisition of competitive advantages with the implementation of an innovative function; entrepreneurial success is seen primarily in the implementation of administrative resources. The entrepreneur associates the achievement of his goals not with rational actions, but with the presence of “connections” and personalized trust, and ensuring competitive stability with the strengthening of a monopoly position by obtaining exclusive rights, privileges and benefits. When hiring senior managers, the determining factor is the candidates’ “connections” among market participants and government agencies, and not their qualifications. Thus, the conditions in which entrepreneurial activity is carried out directly affect entrepreneurial culture.

It should be especially noted that entrepreneurial culture should be based on such an important principle as fairness. It should help support the lives of those who cannot produce material values, and those who are not obliged to produce them due to the nature of their activity, which is no less important for society and the state than work aimed at producing material goods.

word) stated that the development of national economic ethics based on Orthodox values is the most important task for modern Russia.
Ozhegov S.I. Dictionary of the Russian language. M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1972.

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