Ethics as a core competency has two main applications. Firstly, when a business analyst behaves ethically it means that they are respected by stakeholders and they demonstrate fairness, consideration, and moral behavior in their work effort.

The second application of this core competency is concerned with the ethical impacts on others that the business analyst might discover during requirements analysis activities. They may find that certain aspects of requirements have an ethical consideration that must be presented to the business for resolution. This could be a case where stakeholders may be affected in an unfair way by a change that will be introduced by the business, or perhaps safeguarding the organization against unjust criticism. It is also the role of the business analyst to bring solutions to the business for any identified ethical dilemmas.