Today, the world of business has changed in a remarkable way. It has undergone endless changes to adjust itself to the new competitive realities. The organizations must tune themselves with this changing environment in a way which is honest, ethical and accountable to the employees, customers, shareholders and stakeholders. Business ethics has become the theme of worldwide importance in the current eon. Often we hear shocking stories of corporate misconduct and wrongdoing by individual business people. It appears that somewhere a thin line of discipline with ethics is missing in most of the well-known corporates. It is difficult to imagine them giving greater importance to ethics than business, profit maximization and managerial leaders.

In the past, CEOs predominantly fo-cused on the management of business than on ethics. Jack Welch (former CEO, General Electric) in one of his letters to shareholders, says, "In the old culture, managers got their power from secret knowledge: Profit margins, market share, and all that... In the new culture, the role of the leader is to express a vision, get buy-in, and implement it." Presently, the CEO's most challenging leadership transition is not changing the job but of guiding the company onto a new path. A company to survive for long, needs focus, and has to be fair and firm. In these turbulent times, the CEO needs to be more careful and ensure reduction of debts, halt sales decline and watch the cash flow. One needs to compete not just by being big but also by being the best. The roles are blurred in unfamiliar ways but one must know how to play the game according to the rules. It is very easy to be unethical and this behavior has been the way of business in recent times, which has seen little rewards. The top management needs to have corporate transparency and respect for ideas. Though 21^st century skills requires CEOs to become opportunity-driven and also take greater calculated risks, their focus should not get deviated from ethics while perusing all this. Ethics only complements the management, it does not act as a replacement. When issues like Satyam hit the headlines, it becomes difficult to ignore business ethics.

Business ethics is all about the character and behavior, education and moral philosophy. Ethics in corporate governance means the strictures which a company sets for itself to function. Lucidity and revelation about accounts as well as other important issues have to be communicated to the stakeholders in an honest and punctual manner. These build up buoyancy and faith in the marketplace. It exemplifies the role of a CEO by pointing out the difference between what rights he has to do in the organization and what is the right thing to do. A business, which wants to stay alive long and also spawn good profits has to achieve market trustworthiness by making brand loyalty as its main goal which can only be achieved by following ethical standards. Developing ethics will not stop unethical behavior but the efforts to follow such standards will be apparent to the people. The pathway to follow such rules is vital for developing long-term associations with workforce, investors, clients, and stockholders.

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