In some cases, the ground rules may have to be much more complex, being derived within from the goals or values distinctive to the decision. In this case, the ground rules become very important, and a considerable amount of time should be committed to making the ground rules as precise and unambiguous as possible.
By definition, an ethical decision should be made to promote the moral good of a group, and ideally all of humanity, without intentional or foreseeable harm or detriment coming to any other individuals or groups in the process. In many cases, corporations will take an ethical stance and make decisions that promote humanitarian organizations through their fiscal or political power. A good example of this is the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation ® created by Microsoft ® founder Bill Gates for the promotion of improved health and treatment of diseases throughout the world. The creation of this foundation is a good ethical decision due to the good it strives to bring to humanity without any obvious intention of bringing profit to a company or individual. Josephson goes on to describe the basic elements of ethics to be the ability to eschew those things that you have the power to due. Explaining that "An act isn't proper simply because it is permissible or you can get away with it- gives light to the fact that an ethical person or corporation will think of the common good before making decisions that would benefit only that person or corporation. Ethical decisions will also adhere to the idea that the laws and beliefs of a society should not be pushed to their limits for an individuals benefit at the expense of the common good. Stretching the boundaries of what is good to justify a decision based on a self-serving attitude would be considered unethical.
Because an ethical decision is based on a set of ethics set out in the ground rules regarding that decision, the implications for the decision vary from those of a decision made without an ethical mandate.