Original version

BBC World Service Online

In the Balance

Discussion & Talk

Factual: Money

The biggest financial stories and why they matter to us all.

In The Balance

In the Balance: Do good ethics make good business?

Shaking hands

29/12/2012

Do good ethics make good business?

BBC World Service - In the Balance, Do good ethics make good business?

Do ethics fly out of the window as we chase profit? Or is an ethical code key to business?

Do ethics fly out of the window as we pursue profits? Plus as the year draws to a close, we send Colm O'Regan up to his garret to compose the definitive poem for 2012.

Most of us like to think we are principled, that our actions are guided by an ethical code.  But how ethical are we really?  And when it comes to business do ethics fly out of the window as we go off in search of profits?  In the Balance explores ethics with a multi-millionaire venture capitalist, a Harvard professor of business history, an expert on business in India, and a fund manager who advocates ethical investment.  Plus as the year draws to a close, we send Colm O'Regan up to his garret to compose the definitive poem for 2012.  Spurred on by that, Justin Rowlatt's guests, Ed Conard, Nancy Koehn, Deepak Lalwani and Gervais Williams give us their predictions for 2013.

(Image: Shaking hands, Credit: Science Photo Library)

Accessibility links

Programme Index

In the Balance

Do good ethics make good business?

Genres

Brand

BBC World Service Online

About BBC World Service