People make business ethics more complicated than it needs to be. Most ethical issues in business can be resolved by asking the question "Would I be comfortable for my actions in this matter to become public knowledge? Would I be proud to have what I've done widely known?"
If you would be happy for your actions or decisions to become public, then it is likely you have made the ethical decision. If you think you'd need to explain why what superficially looks bad was really the right decision, you are probably cutting corners and being less than ethical.
Run your business, or your life, such that if Mike Wallace and his "60 Minutes" camera crew shows up on your doorstep, you can honestly say "Come on in, talk to anybody you like, we are proud of everything we've done." If you can honestly say that, he will get back in his limousine and drive away without a story as you have nothing shameful to expose.
