The ethics of work and success:
The meaning of work to individuals has important influences on their behavior in organizations. They derive their basic values and beliefs about work from society at large, the family, their educational experiences, and many other sources.
The Puritans, who were Calvinists by religious faith, brought what is known as the work ethic to the United States. The work ethic, sometimes called the Protestant Ethic because of its origin in religion, holds that labor is good in itself and good for the person’s soul; the person helps both himself and others by the act of working. This ethic thrived during the country’s industrial growth and the expansion of its frontiers. It flourished under successive waves of immigrants in search of security and the good life. The Great Depression reinforced the work ethic through the security of available work; wars made work a patriotic duty.
Today work has lost much of its religious significance, and labor is seldom regarded as good in itself. Yet the work ethic remains, in a different form. Drudgery and menial work are widely rejected, as are monotonous, routine, and meaningless tasks. Whereas work was formerly the avenue to financial success and higher social status, it is more and more valued today for its intrinsic worth to a problem-burdened society, and for the extent to which it corresponds to newer ideals that transcend material affluence as the measure of success. Work to attain wealth is no longer the motivation it was when the Puritan work ethic was more dominant. Young people today question their parent’s pursuit of money through work. Leisure, and even hedonism, are important values, even though these are made possible mainly by wealth produced by our busi...
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... pollution, urban decay, and poverty. Crimes like bribery, corruption, embezzlement, and theft are dealt with by laws, but the processes of legal action are slow and often uncertain. More difficult are problems, in which the corporation itself must be regulated, controlled, or punished. Standards of proper conduct of business firms are hard to set, but these too are being rapidly codified into regulatory and other laws.
Although some people think that ethics do not exist in present business world and it is impossible for an ethical company, to become profitable too. But it is not true; it is actually a distortion based on the cynical views of those frustrated by the newer attitudes toward work. There are several ethical and yet profitable companies to prove that ethics do exist in business, and rather business and ethics runs hand in hand in the present scenario.
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.
A Discussion and Analysis Of some of his Contributions As Well as their Social, Political and Economic Impacts Since the Thirteen Colonies first united, the United States has had one of the strongest economies in the world. Over the years, many theorists have had varying opinions concerning the reason for this nation's strong economic standing. One reason that has often been overlooked is that a great many of this nation's workers have been influenced by the Protestant work ethic. The philosophy behind this work ethic has driven many workers to attain as much as possible at their jobs during their lifetimes. If one man were to be given credit for the development of the Protestant work ethic it would have to be Martin Luther. In the course of the next several pages this researcher will examine the ethic that has had such a great impact on the United State's economy and on the economies of other nations. It has been suggested by such writers as Weber and Smith that the Protestant work ethic first developed around the word "calling." Basically, this term has a religious connotation which is a task set by God. However, gradually this term was expanded to the point where it covered many of man's activities. During the Protestant Reformation, the term "calling" started to take on a new meaning. Fulfilling one's duty in worldly affairs became a task of extreme importance. gradually, fulfilling one's duty was not only important but it became the moral obligation of every individual (the highest form of moral activity). Before the Reformation, the Catholic Church did not believe that everyday world activities had a religious significance. As a result of Luther these world activities were quite important in adhering to God's wishes. Rather than devote one's life to worshipping God through prayer, and instead of sacrificing all worldly goods to follow Christ, the Protestants believed that the task of every person is to fulfill (to the best of his/her ability) their tasks on earth. This unique conception of the word "calling" was developed by Luther during his first active decade as a reformer. At first he believed, like many other theologians, that everyday world activities were activities of the flesh. Although these activities were willed by God, they were nonetheless morally neutral. However, gradually Luther began to protest against ...
Ethics as an invisible rule exists in our society, and it help us to examine what the right or wrong is. Ethics is not a law, but it seem like an invisible law to control everyone whose behavior. Business ethics always applies into trading or some competitors behaviors. According to the case, I have been catch up five points of ethical dilemmas for business ethics：
To give my personal philosophy of success I would first have to define “success”. Success is the accomplishment of an aim or purpose. My success philosophy that I plan on implementing from now on is accepting personal responsibility for the good and bad choices I make. There will be time when I need to focus on school and worry less about my free time. If I have a test to take I have to study for that test to get a good grade and continuous good grades will help me pass the course. I can’t depend on anyone else to do my work for me I’m personally responsible for completing my assignments and turning them in on time. When the weekend comes around and all I do is procrastinate by telling myself I’ll study later. The smart thing to do about this situation would be to think wise and use my time-management strategies. I’ll always have time for myself, so sacrificing some free time now is well worth it. This helps me to be a creator and not the victim about things and keeping up with the self-management strategy. The success strategies that I will use will help my learning style, self-management and self-responsibility. Most people believe success is just having lots of money, cars, and women but I believe success is an individual sport and I have to be ready to play because the outcome of my performance is based on the work I put into it.
In an organisation ethics are supposed to set standards as to what is the right thing to do in conduct and decision making however this is not always the case. Over the years different scandals have occurred which have shown that companies and in particular the people that run them are not at all ethical and only seek to maximize profits. Economical analysts throughout the years have suggested that the way to avoid such incidents is by either having a code of ethics along with ethics training or through strong ethical leadership.
As legal scholar and philosopher David Luban explains, “You can’t teach good judgment through general rules, because you already need judgment to know how rules apply. Judgment is therefore always and irredeemably particular” which means, ethics are not alone enough to make a legal organization. Though ethics are morally influences us lot it is needed. Ethics in business is very important because it affect not only to the employees and employers of the organizations but also to the whole society is affected by it. Though ethical organization can attract and keep investors it is not the only benefit of it. Investors can invest their valuable money peacefully with confident of their money is save. Employees know that they are not allowed with unethical behaviors and finally customers can buy products which are worth to the money they spend. Ultimately, one of the most difficult assets of the company, reputation, can be built through ethics very easily without wasting extra money on unnecessary promotional
There are many different industries in today’s corporate world. Perhaps, the most vital component in the corporate structure is its Codes of Ethics. Business Ethic or can be known as the Code of Ethics is a form of codes within the corporate world which it uses the Ethics and applies it to the entire philosophies of this corporate structure. In today’s day and age, most corporate structures use the Code of Ethics applies to the social atmosphere rather than the financial side.
In this paper I will discuss the idea that Alasdair MacIntyre put forth in his article “The Irrelevance of Ethics”; namely that business people cannot be ethical people because their trade prohibits it. Furthermore, being ethical would place them in a position of insurmountable disadvantage if they were to act ethically (Alasdair). Next I will discuss the Edward Romar’s position in his article “Virtue is Good Business: Confucianism as a Practical Business Ethic” which is that strong business use ethics and strong core values to grow their businesses (Romar). According to Romar strong ethics and a healthy benevolence isn’t optional; but completely necessary for a successful business. Lastly, I will discuss my own personal view and opinions
The concept of business ethics has tried to change the way businesses operate over the years. Business ethics is a form of ethics that governs the actions of businesses to circumvent the affects business has on every day society. But some question its effectiveness in the application of capitalism. Several case studies have shown that this is the case; many companies place the pursuit of money in front of the pursuit of virtue. Although, the majority of companies are not in the spotlight of acting unethically, can we conclude that they follow the ethical norms? It is natural for normal human beings to act ethical but businesses are on a completely different playing field. But could business ethics be clearly possible in capitalism?
“Living to Work”, by Dorothy L. Sayers examines two classifications of people and their work. One group looks to work as a dreaded necessity, while the other group looks at their work as an opportunity for enjoyment and self-fulfillment. Altogether, their values, interests, and hard work all come down to money. For many, a “successful” worker is one who makes the most income and achieves the most fame. When it comes to interviews, the main questions are wages and hours. These people often fail to consider if the work is their actual passion--to do something they love. Partial blame goes out to our capitalist system and industrial machinery. We forget why we wake up each morning lose focus of what work really should be. But overall, the fact is that we must arrange our ideas where everybody has an opportunity to work hard and find happiness in doing well the work that needs to be done.
To recapitulate, business that incorporates ethics in their business strategy will ultimately achieve business success due to their long term commitment to their consumers, nay business environment.
...ndistinguishable from work satisfaction or simply attitudes to work. The work ethic is that people who demonstrate high values on these characteristics are somehow more effective or productive and consequently more valuable as employees and managers (Frank & S. Antonio, 1995). The efficient and constructive use of time is consistent with a strong work ethic and it has been long understood that improved performance is inexorably linked to efficient use of time (Raymond, Kimberly, Cheryl & Charles, 2010).
Business ethics is part of today’s society whether you like it or not. There are many things happening in today’s corporate world that needs to be opinioned.
It is said that in the workforce the struggle of control plays a major role, this is solely on the basis of work ethnic in one’s opinion. Many principles govern the organisation of work. Before elaborating further on this topic, it is important a clear explanation of work is given. As stated before work is now done on the basis of receiving an income only but of a broad nature. “Work is divided into two aspects, the first one being of a task-based activity and secondly on the notion of receiving an income”, (Watson 2008:2-3). In any workplace, work the organisation of work differs. Work organisation is determine by factors such as qualification, working conditions, type of work etc. but getting back to the topic on hand which is the problems of control of work in the workplace.
To begin with, business ethics is a topic that has made headlines all over the country. Scandals such what occurred with Enron or the bailout of major corporations have brought the concept of business ethics to the attention of the entire country. The problem is clearly defining business ethics. In reality the purpose of a business is to create profits for the business owner. The problem becomes finding the balance between earning the maximum profit possible while attempting not to violate the moral code of society. Sometimes this can be difficult as some see the drive to earn profit as greed. (Ethical Responsibilities of Business,