The ethics of organisation brands as moral strongholds.

Until recently, ethics was defined by religion and religious teachings, whether that be the Quran, the Bible, the Torah or any other religious book. Our notions of good and bad were directly governed by what we learned in these books. However, with the rise of enlightenment and an increased understanding of the world through science, our societies have also seen a rise in atheism. Therefore, individuals and organizations nowadays make their own decision about what is good, and what is bad. Making your own decisions implies the freedom to do so... Are we really as free as we think we are? After all: Freedom - and the ability to decide - comes with great responsibility. Welcome to the field of ethics...

In recent years, new values have been emerging, values that seemed to have been forgotten in the last couple of decades. Increasingly, society cares about diversity, equality, sustainability, inclusion, fairness, ending discrimination and old power structures…. These are important on an individual level, with the rise of movement such as the #MeToo, Black Lives Matter, Fridays for Future and the list goes on. But they are also becoming highly relevant for businesses, as we can see with the growing number of B Corps around the world and a desire to improve companies’ corporate social responsibility.