Ethical Evaluation

Discerning whether a business is ethical or not, is not determined solely on one unethical act. One must analyze a wide spectrum of behavior to understand the nature of a business. Unscrupulous business people are easy to spot if an ethicist checks their behavior with a list of possible behaviors in mind. A business engaged in fraud, for example, reveals a cluster of dishonest habits such as concealment, misrepresentation, leading the client to false expectations, bait and switch tactics and so forth. A fundamental question to ask in any evaluation "does the business do what it says it will do?" This includes all the subtleties of symbol, speech and emotion that carry an implicit promise.

Associated Concepts
Integrity
Patterns of Fraud
Patterns of Deception
Patterns of Misrepresenting Products or Services
Leading the Client to False Expectations