Business quality and business ethics

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the links existing between business quality and business ethics, making particular reference to the definition, in ethical terms, of the so-called ‘Quality Next Future’. Since, it has been unanimously asserted that the concept of quality is first of all a cultural value, regarding the concept of business quality in the entire system of company values around which business management is carried out, then every forecast of future quality is, in effect, a forecast of the changes in company culture. In our view, therefore, defining quality next future means defining company culture next future, this means that we have to imagine how the company's values, attitude and behaviour will evolve in the third millennium. It is essential to start by looking at the particular relationship between the business and partner-political-economical context in which it operates. It is also worth mentioning the main interrelationship created by changes in the environment and entrepreneurial behaviour. The company, being the primary agent of these changes, must relate to an external context in which progress is becoming more and more intense and, unfortunately, more difficult to predict. However, it is not our intention to outline, in a complete and persuasive way, the complex of innovative phenomena that have particularly marked the last few years and which, probably, represent only the first signs of deeper and more pervasive change. We will instead limit ourselves to a mere listing of facts that seem to have made an impression on the economy in general and on business life in particular. We will mainly be looking at economics rather than political and social matters.