This morning's The WallStreet Journal has a cover article (subscription required) about the prescription drug trade, Internet marketing of said drugs, and the entrepreneurs that profit from differing laws between countries regarding prescription drug access. This post has nothing to do with that article. But it made me think.

Not a question of what is legal, but a question of what we know in our gut is right. How far would you stretch ethics to make a bigger profit?

If you could ship refurbished equipment to fulfill a purchase for new equipment, would you do it - even if the customer would never know? Would you cut short a quality control process you market as a value-add of your company in order to ship before the end of a reporting period? Would you record you worked 4 hour on a project as opposed to the three you actually worked - if your client would never possibly find out? Would you pass along the cost savings of finding a less expensive carrier than paid for to deliver a purchase to your customer?

How far would you stretch what you know is good business ethics in order to make a larger profit?