The history of Business has come a long way and we have learned and developed much from our past up until now. A lot is involved in running a successful Business and looking in our past shows us how a ethical business is run and how to hire the right people to help achieve our goals. Greed brings out many unethical people but with the right guidance the public can trust in the values a business has perused in providing the goods and services it first set out to fulfill. Ch. 1 taught me about how management in many organizations deals with many unethical practices due to the many flaws in human nature. We hear on the news almost every year about organizations misbehaviors and how they are going through large lawsuits filed by customers, …show more content…
When getting hired at an organization we bring many job skills with us and ethics is one of them. Ethics is the behavior we use based on the ideas of what we believe to be good or bad (Collins). Our ethical decisions can affect us or others in a positive and negative reaction without us even knowing it. Even though we have managers and people in positions that know better doesn’t mean that they are not exempted from performing unethical acts. The unethical behaviors that many people perform at work that think they are harmless can be anything from stealing, discrimination, improper hiring tactics and …show more content…
Employees feel the need to lie to avoid punishment or termination at work and do whatever they need to do to get by. Whatever it is that they do they feel that it is unintended and believe that there motives are good. Good people at work find it difficult to come forward and report unethical behaviors for a fear of being labeled. People are feared of being seen differently from them coworkers such as being a complainer, damaging relationships, blamed for the problem or retaliation from the unethical person. A theory that tries to explain this type of behavior is social exchange theory. “The theory suggest that all employees are in a social exchange relationship at work: they give and they get. (Furnham)” Lawrence Kohlberg is psychologist that’s work has answered the many questions of why we are cruel to others when put in ethical dilemmas. Kohlberg explains that people follow six stages of moral development. Those six stages are divided into 3 levels: Preconventional, Conventional, and Postconventional. Each of the levels is what a individual believes societies expectations are of them. At the Preconventional level person does not believe they are exempt to the rules. The conventional levels society rules matter extremely to the person. The Posconventional individual believes in the principles that govern
It's difficult not to be cynical about how “big business” treats the subject of ethics in today's world. In many corporations, where the only important value is the bottom line, most executives merely give lip service to living and operating their corporations ethically.
...sues with stakeholders and customers. When a major company such as Enron, was structured their approach to ethics on the outside appeared to be against ongoing modernization. The policies and ethics programs were set up to protect the company and its shareholders. According to author Berenbeim, the Enron Company had a detailed code of ethics it was not enough the organization needed to incorporate ethics and integrity throughout their corporate culture. Enron had to pay close attention to the business ethics issues inquired by the conduct of the Enron’s directors, officers, lawyers and accountants ( Berenbeim,2002).
In today’s global society, a Code of Ethics policy is used to label established, acceptable behaviors among that industry’s business associates, potential investors, and the corporation’s executive officers and employees, and most important, the consumer (Ethics Resource Center, 2003). In an attempt to promote an increased efficiency and productivity potential level, among employees and prospective clients, a corporation’s standard Code of Ethics should guide its members toward a more in-depth examination of their personal moral activity, and how these actions affect the people or acquaintances they encounter. A company should utilize this strategy as a model for the professional behaviors and responsibilities of its constituents, and proves the occupational advancement of that business. Ethics are important in every level of a corporation, but specifically in the day-to-day actions of its members, and the image the company broadcasts to its associates is fundamental in building a stable business foundation. These pledges are a vital communication tool used to covey the firm’s standards for business operations, and predominantly, its relationships with the surrounding communities (Ethics Resource Center, 2003).
Ethics in business environment is core values and standards to guide one’s decision-making. (Mintz and Morris, 2008) Maxwell (2003) introduces “Golden Rule” to decide what constitutes to be ethical by asking one “How would I like to be treated in a particular situation?” Hence, unethical behaviours include allegedly inflating earnings to meet stockholders expectation in Healthsouth Scandal in 2003.
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers to be appropriate. A person’s moral principals are shaped from birth, and developed overtime throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes whats is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in an business environment, or by a business. There are many situations that can arise in which a person is experiencing an ethical dilemma. They have to choose between standing by their own personal ethical standards or to comply with their companies ethical standards. In some instances some have to choose whether to serve their own personal interests, or the interest of the company. In this essay I will be examining the financial events surrounding Bernie Madoff, and the events surrounding Enron.
As a result, the bribery practices will be adaptive to the culture of that respective country. For some countries that active bribery would be similar to tipping a public official. It can be a gesture of saying thank you however, for countries like the United States is against the law to give a gift of monetary value when the individual was acting in their official duties. Another example of cultural differences for bribery practices is a technique known to some country as grease payments. Grease payments “are payments made specifically to increase the speed at which an official might perform a duty which he was already bound to perform.” (Davis, 2004). These are typical payments that some country deemed acceptable in order for the public official to speed up the task that they are bound by the official
I discovered how sticking to one’s morals should be the topmost priority for everyone involved in business, whether personal or professional. Regardless of what the consequences may be, the intensity of the problem, and the complexities it may bring, sacrificing one’s integrity should never be an option, as integrity goes hand-in-hand with the morals of an individual (Duggan & Woodhouse, 2011). They further go on to say that having individuals take part in building a code of ethics that supports employee integrity, they will act ethically. Also, I believe that companies should place more emphasis on the moral behavior of their employees, and clear-cut policies should be set regarding such ethical situations. Furthermore, I realized how serving justice while making decisions really helps in the long run, and that opting to go for the ideal rather than they deserved is not always the best option, and could hurt a company in more than one
Corporate governances actually illustrate that no entity or agent is immune from fraudulent practices (Arjoon, 2005 p 342-344). Therefore, it is crucial for an organization to have a stable ethically healthy corporate culture, Patagonia is "doing things right" by influencing the actions of the workforce. Through the integration of ethical conduct in an organization, employees see the complexity of making ethical choices; also, it helps the staff understand what an ethical decision entails and how to talk about hard ethical choices and taking responsibility for making moral choices carefully and
Importance of ethics in the business world is superlative and global. New trends and issues arise on a daily basis which may create an important burden to organizations and end consumers. Nowadays, the need for proper ethical behavior within
With the imagination of hyper competition need of the business ethics emerged because there is a brutal competition due to globalization. Organizations want to increase their market share and profits, they didn’t consider about the cost to others. And now a days misconducts can happen with the creative knowledge of the people. Enron case is an example for this. Once Snickers, Nike also used child labor for manufacturing process since the low cost of it. But this is not only reason to have a trend on business ethics. In past businesses were simple but today businesses has become very complex. So people within the organization have very little relationships and organizations are not giving sufficient importance for employees but only to
Frederick, R. E. (Ed.). (2008). A companion to business ethics. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
Ethical principles matter and are important in the workplace because our actions do have a significant effect on all of those around us. An ethical organization is founded not only on ethics, but also on values, morals, integrity, and character. In addition, an ethical organization will also be a lawful one. Ethical behavior establishes a professional standard for performance and is something that a society assimilates an organization as being. Due to an ethically structured business, an organization can actually improve the community around it (Sherman, 2017). Attributable to this, ethical principles in the workplace are important to help ensure organizational reputation, compliance, financial return, and to instill a working environment of
One of the major issue within the Modern Mining industry is maintaining integrity and ethically compete within the global market, which requires discrimination on any acts of bribery. The actions of Bribery defined by AAMIG president Bill Turner ‘Bribery is a payment for something to which you’re not legally en¬titled’ . Bribery comes in multiple characteristic and forms, such as the facilitation payment. Conversely, In order to remain competitive within the global mining market, every business must source an effective workforce meaning t...
Ethics are the driving force behind good business. Every ethical choice made by a professional can and will have a much different outcome than any unethical choice. Bad ethics can ruin many aspects of a business and as (Gaye-Anderson, 2007) states how quite easily the lives and professional reputation of the employees can even be severally damaged (para. 3). Everything from morale to motivation can be severely affected by poor ethical choices. Customers will take their business elsewhere. Employees will abandon ship. Other, competing businesses reap the benefits of the bad moral choices. Ultimately, the entire business can be brought down by one poor ethical choice.
When I think of ethics, I think of the angel on my left shoulder telling me to do the “right” thing, and the devil on my right, tempting me to join the dark side. This scenario deals with what is “right” or what is “wrong” and where my morals will lie in the end. But who is to say what is right and wrong? Ethics is such a trivial word because every person, company, and culture has a different idea of what is considered ethical or what is considered unethical. Throughout this paper, I will address my personal view on ethics, and how I believe it effects the workplace and today’s society.