This thesis defines morals and ethics, emphasizes their importance, usage, and influence on the lives of individuals and societies at large, as well as their relevance in modern business practices. Business ethics, as a form of practical and applied ethics, assumes that individuals in business environment work according to general moral codes. As such, it should be an integral part of every business practice focused on long term successful and sustained business conduct. In this thesis, I analyzed ethical questions and dilemmas linked to business practices and outlined approaches to resolving them. Thesis also gives examples of ethics codes that could be used as guidelines for all ethically inclined management and their subordinates to adopt. Further on, the thesis covers contemporary business conditions, from globalization that influences the formation of a single global market through the eradication of national borders, to the development of new technologies helping the fast and unobstructed flow of information and communications. Through that prism we analyze the focus of contemporary management on the factors of social responsibility in business practices. In the end, I focus on business ethics in contemporary business practice, especially depicting the areas where it is greatly needed. I also put emphasis on business ethics in the case of Croatian business practice, its ethical and unethical examples, including the always important question of corruption, which points us to the lack of considering ethics in the actions of both individuals and organizations.