To me, ethics seems to be the overarching set of principles that guides a person’s conduct. It is almost synonymous with one’s values, expect it is the application of those values in situations. I’ve always thought of ethics as the situational library from which you pull out how you should act according to your values.
Integrity is the consistency of applying your set of ethics. It is whether a person always implements a proper set of ethics or not. This includes situations where a person may not necessarily be ‘caught’, but their moral conscience prevents them from acting out of turn. According to Oxford dictionaries, “integrity is the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles; moral uprightness.” Being honest with one’s moral principles means applying them fairly and consistently.
Ethics and integrity are very important in business. Not only are they good in and of themselves, they also have a market value. From a biblical perspective, being ethical and having integrity talks to your moral character and your likeness to Christ. It is important to always be an ambassador for Christ in anything a Christian does. Likewise, the business also has interest in the moral character of its employees. Business theft is a huge problem and can financially burden a company to the extent of bankruptcy. People with integrity in the workplace are more reliable and more pleasant to be around.
It is important for me to demonstrate integrity. I want to come off to others as trustworthy and provide a good example as to what being a servant of Christ is. I was also brought up in a family where we valued integrity and honesty. If people respect those around them, they naturally will want to do right by them and part of that is being consistent with your ethical approach to situations.