(AI45)再接再厉AI045，贴一篇我思路泉涌的文章！

Issue 45

The most effective way for a businessperson to maximize profits over a long period of time is to follow the highest standards of ethics.

正文：

In modern society, some companies or businesspeople always do whatever they want to maximize profits, even to violate some business and moral ethics. But the speaker claims that in the long run, the most effective way to maximize profits is to follow the highest ethical standards. Although the speaker’s claim is not wholly insupportable, far more compelling arguments can be made for holding business to a flexible standard  that those required by the highest standards of ethics.

To begin with, adherence to the highest standards may in many cases cast a harmful influence on the maximization of profit, no matter in the short run or beyond. For one thing, imposing highest ethical standards on businesses may harm the consumers in the extreme in the long run. To be specific, a company will have to raise the products’ sale price because the cost will be at a higher level in order to meet the high business ethics, such as the more restrict packing requirements to protect the product; or possibly, more employees will be laid off as a compensation of the products’ cost increase. For another, if every business must follow the highest ethical standards, some industrial business, such as chemistry and coal industry, will be threatened to close down, which more or less pollutes the environment. But in the long run and from the perspective of the social-well maximization, it is a far more practical and effective measure to limit the pollutants according to the relevant industry or national regulations.

In the second place, it is hard and impossible to define what kind of standards of ethics is the highest one. Different individual may hold different criteria. Some people may regard that not to cheat consumers is the highest ethical standards while some others think not to pollute the environment is highest, which means it will cast a difficulty for a company in deciding which ethical standards to follow.

In addition, to some extent, profit maximization is per se the highest ethical objective in many businesses. By maximizing profits, businesses bestow a variety of benefits to the community and to the society: they employ more people, stimulate the economy and enhance healthy competition. In short, the profit motive is the key to ensuring that the members of a free-marker society survive and thrive.

However, it is admitted that behaving ethically can benefit a business. Ethical conduct can gain a company the kind of good reputation that earns repeat business. And internally, the employees in a company with fine business ethics will show more loyalty and stronger motivation, which, in turn, usually translates into higher productivity.

In the final analysis, overburdening the business with the highest standards of ethics in many cases does not necessarily an ideal way to maximize profit. The choice to follow high ethical standards should not be made by thinking that ethical conduct is profitable. In brief, businesses might better be advised to regard the profit maximization in itself as a pursuit of high ethical standards.

楼主的作文水平了得！

汗颜~~~

我事后修改过的！！！

我掐时写得没这么高水平的!!

HALF OF THIS ARTICAL IS COPIED FROM SAMPLE ARTICAL.