Ethics is not so simple because it is subject to individual interpretation and is subject to enforcement or nonenforcement by management.
If everyone at the company were to do what you are contemplating, would it harm the company? If the answer is 'yes' or 'it depends', then perhaps it's not ethical behavior...even if the behavior would probably not lead to an unfavorable outcome.
I submit that ethics itself is not subject to interpretation. It is, or it isn't. If we only work on the premise that something is unethical if it hurts someone, then we can rationalize that stealing a pencil from a large corporation really does not harm (ergo, not stealing) since the corporation won't be "hurt" by it.
I'm afraid that this doesn't wash with me. If you take something that doesn't belong to you (whether it will be missed or not, whether it will hurt someone or not) it is stealing. Maybe what some are missing is that stealing may not hurt the person from whom you take, but it does (whether you know it or not) hurt you for it also steals your integrity from you.
Brown Holdings LLC Group
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