The purpose of this paper is to analyse the importance of ethics in today's business. The concept of business ethics, which has been debated since the beginnings of trade, seems to be an oxymoron and the attention this controversial topic drew increased strongly in the last years. The changing relationships between the legislative role of governments and the regulations by businesses emphasize the important role of enterprises in the global economy. In this paper, the change in business ethics and their main impacts will be discussed as well as the influence of codes of ethics as an instrument of business ethics.

Anna Mika, born 1983 in Berlin, studied Business Administration at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Recht in Berlin-Schöneberg, graduating with her Bachelor of Arts. In 2009 and 2010, she conducted her Master studies in International Business at the Hochschule für Wirtschaft und Technik in Berlin-Karlshorst. Early during her studies, Anna Mika began to be fascinated by the application of ethical principals in economical processes and by the area of Corporate Social Responsibility. Her great interest and intensive work in the field of ethics and morality in economy led to the present publication.