B. The Impact of Societal Norms

All businesses function within and serves a society during any given time in history. Since as early as Aristotle, and even earlier, ethical codes and standards have dictated not only business, but also society as a whole. Aristotle's concept of "the good life" provided a starting point for ethical codes during Ancient Greek times and afterwards. The first articulated codes of ethics were then created to apply to society as whole rather than just to business. With the development of business practices, such codes of ethics also became necessary in this sector, and were intertwined with the ethics of conduct for society.

A business that serves society must have standards of conduct that relate to that society and are acceptable within the social context. This is even so if the business does not particularly focus on social or humanitarian services. Two common ethical standards...
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