Ethics of successEvery American loves going to Wal-Mart, America's largest retailer, and shopping for their family on a budget. But how is it that a company can offer the lowest price on its products and at the same time be the most profitable of all retail stores? According to a documentary titled “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Prices” by Robert Greenwald, the company is acting unfairly in every way. The retail empire is known to be hostile to unions and has been repeatedly sued for sex discrimination. The annual income of a Wal-Mart employee is $14,000, which is below the US poverty line. When a Wal-Mart store opens in a town, small mom-and-pop businesses that have been around for years are forced to close; basically because they can't compete with a company that has factories in Bangladesh and pays its workers 7 cents an hour. Capitalism can justify these statistics, but there are counterexamples like Costco and Trader Joe's that prove a company can be profitable while still valuing its employees. Businesses must be socially responsible and give back their revenue to the community; although their goal is to maximize profit, as a continuous process, business ethics is beneficial to both business and society. It is claimed that a business should only focus on profit and most businesses believe that business ethics costs too much to bear. but being ethical and socially responsible is necessary for business. Business ethics is a group of moral principles in the business environment. Many factors in the business environment can cause companies to act unethically, such as competition, profit motive, and selfishness. Generating revenue is vital for businesses, it is unquestionable, but competitive...... middle of paper ......In third world countries where business ethics are ignored, the gap between the rich and the poor are growing deeper every day, and as a result, their community ties are weak. In conclusion, a business must act ethically and socially responsible in order to make our world a better place, just for its own sake. Acting in accordance with business ethics may result in more profits in the long process, but it is not ethical to be ethical for the sake of rewards, so it should not be a goal. Companies need to build a good reputation and this is possible through their social responsibility and ethical behavior. In this new era of new media, unethical corporate actions do not go unnoticed and unpunished; so they need to be more careful. Even if they can simply comply with regulations and put aside corporate social responsibility, business ethics can prove beneficial for everyone..