For the most part, many have the misconception that ethics concepts and morality are technically synonymous, however in my opinion, they seem mutually exclusive. Business ethics shouldn’t be confused with what might be considered Christian ethics. According to Webster’s dictionary, ethics is defined as; “the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation.” (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2003) Additionally, Webster’s defines morality as; “conformity to ideals of right human conduct.” (Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, 2003) Although ethical theory centers primarily on reasoning behind moral perspective or procedure, morality is generally concerned with individual decisions or right and wrong.

If we enter ethics and the legal system into the equation when attempting to determine what constitutes wrong from right things become muddled at best. For the most part society categorizes proper behavior mostly on what is legal in comparison to what is legal from a legislative perspective. Technically, because somebody doesn’t break the law, theoretically doesn’t mean they are considering human condition during right or wrong determination. Basically stated, this new environment perpetuates the question, is the law abiding person an ethical one?

The Boston Globe’s writer Alison Bass reported on empirical studies that examined; “who lies and why?” Within the article, Ms. Bass documents psychologists now debate; “all lies are not equal” and “every society possesses complicated rules that govern which lies are permissible and which are not.” Albert Carr once argued many years ago, business bluffing is not unethical. For those not familiar with the term bluffing, it’s defined as deliberate false statement intended to deceive. Mr. Carr additionally argued that business is very similar to a poker game which possesses rules that are complicated and rather different from those sets used within private home or morality. (American Scientific Affiliation, 1999)