Thirukkural presents a guiding principle for ethical business practices and effective business leadership in organizations. It advocates a conscious and a spirit-centred approach to the subject of business ethics based on eternal values and moral principles, which can help in addressing the ethical issues faced by businesses in contemporary times.
Various ethical issues being faced by businesses in contemporary times are:

• Lack of fair competition: Businesses in contemporary times often prioritize profits, engage in monopolistic practices, or deceive consumers; thus engaging in unfair business practices leading to the lack of fair competition.
• Lack of environmental sustainability: When businesses derive profits by engaging in environmentally unsustainable practices leading to carbon emissions, pollution, waste generation etc., they disrupt the relationship between human beings and nature.
• Unfair labour practices: Businesses often engage in practices like exploitation of employees, inadequate wages, excessively long working hours, etc. Such practices violate the rights of workers, and create an unhealthy work environment.
• Non-compliance with norms of corporate governance: Disregard for transparency, ethics and core principles of corporate governance are major reasons behind organizational failures.
• Shareholder vs. stakeholder’s interests: Another conflict being faced is in setting the sole objective of profit making for fulfilling the aspirations of shareholders or serving the overall stakeholders including the people affected by businesses.

Considering these issues, the teachings of Thiruvalluvar in his epic Thirukkural play a key role in resolving them as highlighted below:

• It teaches that ethics is the road to wealth and goodwill as there is nothing in this world except ethics, which would bring both reputation and wealth together. Business model should be honest, truthful and should abide by law and respect others.
• It also highlights that all business models should adopt transparency and truthfulness in all business transactions as it will bring a respectable position in business.
• It mentions that businesses should not be doing health or environmental hazards, creating toxins or affecting nature and harmony and should not cause temporary or permanent problems to others.
• A business leader should follow sound ethical principles and should be honest, trustworthy with a high level of integrity. A leader ought to deliver promises to their people or subordinates.
• It is imperative for leaders to be in the companion of pure and ethical people, so while selecting business partners, managers or when forming a strategic alliance, careful considerations need to be made to ensure that they have a good record of ethical practices.

Ethical business practices are crucial to overall society’s well-being and good ethical behaviour of the leaders, as advocated by the teachings of Thirukkural. They must be encouraged and given emphasis by the business organizations for an ethical and sustainable corporate governance.