Ethics for Success Every American loves to go to Wal-Mart, America's largest retailer, and shop for their family on a budget. But how come a company can offer its products at the lowest price and be the most profitable retail store at the same time? According to a documentary titled “Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” by Robert Greenwald, the company acts unfairly in every respect. The retail empire is known to be anti-union and has been repeatedly sued for sex discrimination. A Wal-Mart employee's annual income is $14,000, below the U.S. poverty line. When a Wal-Mart store opens in a city, small family businesses that have existed for years are forced to close; basically because they can't compete with a company that has factories in Bangladesh and pays workers 7 cents an hour. Capitalism may justify these statistics, but there are counterexamples like Costco and Trader Joe's that demonstrate that a company can be profitable and value its employees at the same time. Businesses should be socially responsible and return their profits to the community; although their goal is to maximize profit, in a continuous process business ethics are beneficial to both businesses and society. It is argued that a company should only focus on making profit and most companies believe that business ethics cost too much to bear, but being ethical and socially responsible is necessary for companies. 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, the desire to make profits and selfishness. Generating revenue is vital for businesses, this is indisputable, but competitive... middle of paper... In third world countries where business ethics are ignored, the gap between rich and poor is widening every day, and as a result, their community ties are weak. In conclusion, a company should act in an ethical and socially responsible manner to make our world a better place, only for the good. Acting according to business ethics may lead to greater profits in the long process, but it is unethical to be ethical for the rewards, so it should not be a goal. Businesses need to build a good reputation and this is possible through corporate social responsibility and ethical behavior. In this new era of new media, unethical acts of companies do not go unnoticed and unpunished; so they have to be more careful. Even if they can simply comply with regulations and put corporate social responsibility aside, business ethics can prove to be a win-win for everyone.