Why do businesses choose to behave unethically?

Answer 1

Sometimes it is the greed of its owners and executives, but more often it results from declines in sales or increases in costs -- illegal and unethical activities can provide an easier way to maintain a company's profitability, and therefore the salaries of its operators.

The primary goal of any business is to provide revenue, as the profit is what enables the business to stay in operation and pay its bills and its employees. However, a company is expected to observe laws and regulations, and its customers further expect to be treated fairly.

In ideal economic conditions, a business can prosper with less difficulty, providing money to its owners and even to expand its operations. Stock companies can pay dividends to their shareholders.

But many things can work against a company, including increased competition, product obsolescence, legal costs, higher expenses, new taxes, and higher labor costs. To cover these costs, a business may find that certain shortcuts are more attractive than dealing with difficulties in a forthright manner. Some of these methods include doctoring its accounting data, overcharging or cheating its customers, failing to fund retirement plans, using cheaper labor, using inferior materials, or falsifying safety documents. These and other actions are unethical, and some are illegal. Some may cause further loss of revenue and some may present an actual danger to workers and customers.

Although there are civil and criminal laws to help prevent these abuses, many are not revealed until an incident causes harm, or until the company fails completely.

Answer 2

Generally because they think they can make more money that way.