The relationship between business ethics and law: limits and possibilities

Abstract

The moral values that form the company’s identity should remain one of the most important aspects in business, often exceeding legal regulation. At all times, the relationship between business ethics and law has balanced between the line to choose for economic benefits, the interests of the company and shareholders, employees, or consumers, whether the company can behave unethically within the limits of the law. This question has become particularly relevant since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, which has fundamentally forced various corporations to re-examine their beliefs and values, asking whether a law-abiding business can be righteous in war. The purpose of business ethics is to form standards of morally correct behaviour in business, to promote reliability, respect and accountability in organizations. It is business ethics that help enforce the law by specifying acceptable behaviour that no one can control, but which is necessary to make sense of the letter of the law. This article reviews business ethics violations in peacetime and legal regulatory issues and presents aspects of business ethics violations in wartime that are shaping new business limits and opportunities in the future.