...Ethics in the workplace: Is business Ethics an Oxymoron? If the main purpose of a company is to maximize returns to its shareholders, then should deviating from this path be considered unethical? Ethics has several different rolls with in the workplace and an organization. While the most essential rules of conduct are handed down from the state, having an ethical way of doing business provides long term sustainable returns by reducing risk-taking and in many instances actually increasing business. In essence a corporation is never a single autonomous entity but a hive of people, each with the ability to act in either morally upright or corrupt fashion. A culture of morally duplicitous behavior attracts others who share the same conduct. A company is therefore defending itself and its future wellbeing by investing time and effort in the present. The best understanding of the full scope of ethical dilemmas in the workplace is best analyzed by first determining the ethically judged. While many organizations have codes of ethics, it is also true that individual employees also must maintain their own ethical agenda. It is therefore impetrative to analyze all parties involved and work to discover their motives. The values in being perceived as ethically minded are numerous, research shows that those judged more ethical are also perceived to be better candidates for senior leadership within an organization. It is also clear however that ethics is far from a flawless science. Ultimately...
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...Ashley Stotts Strategic Plan Part 3 April 26, 2015 I am an employee at the Cleveland Municipal School district. My career is highly interactive with inner city children. Every day I am excited to go to work because these children bring something new to my attention on a daily basis. My co-workers and I follow certain regulations that our bosses think will make a decent and ethical work environment. Getting this hands on experience everyday leads me to believe that there are more standards that should be considered relevant to encourage ethical behavior at our school. The first I suggest to the administrators do is to help the entire staff develop a more detailed understanding of the cultures we are surrounded by. I think this is very important when communication with children we are working for. As a school staff I feel like somewhat of a public servant, therefore I am working for the community. As teachers and school staff it is important for us to have a clear understanding of who we are dealing with for communication purposes. Throughout my years of working with children I have been introduced to many ways of life that didn’t realize even existed. Being interactive with these children I feel a sense of how they feel by using empathy. The down side is that every person on the staff doesn’t have the same level of compassion for people they cannot identify with. If every person on the staff endured more extensive training into the backgrounds and lifestyles of inner city...
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...“Business ethics in the workplace is about prioritizing workplace moral values and ensuring that employees align their behavior with these values - its values of management. Yet there are many myths abound about business ethics and the majority of these come from a general confusion about the concept of ethics, while other myths come about from constricted or one-dimensional views of ethical predicaments”. (McNamara, n.d.). The first myth of business ethics says that it is more of a focus on religion than effective management. “Altering people’s values or souls is not the aim of an organization ethics program however managing values and conflict among them is…” (Kirrane, 1990). Business ethics should be about conflict resolution and value management. Certain other segments of people in management believe that business ethics equals corporate social responsibility. That however is not the case. In fact corporate social responsibility is only a small part of the concept of business ethics. Corporate social responsibility concerns itself with business management and society interfacing and not at all with ethics in the workplace, even though both concepts fall under the field of business ethics. “Business ethics is an application of ethics in the corporate community and also a way to determine business responsibilities. It identifies important business and social issues along with business critique”. (McNamara, n.d.). Management of practical matters of ethics in the workplace such...
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...thing I would’ve wondered was why she would disclose this information. There are several moral issues that Carla should consider. It is unethical and illegal to ask an employee about their health condition, however, it is also important to ensure the other employees are safe. Carla was afraid that her business would suffer if the general public found out an employee had AIDS. She aware that AIDS could not be transmitted through casual contact, but most patrons are didn’t. Tom deserves the right to be treated fair, and with respect regardless of his condition. The Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits employers from discriminating against individuals disabilities such as AIDS. Carla clearly didn’t have “just cause” to terminate Tom, since she was about to give him a promotion the following month. If Carla fired Tom and found out afterwards that he didn’t have AIDS, she would be using her “Better Bagels” money to fight a lawsuit. From the case study, decide how you would have handled the situation. Explain your rationale. I would have handled the situation a bit different. I would have first informed the ex-wife that Tom’s personal business is none of my business. If he wanted to disclose any information about his health concerns, he was able to do so. Educating myself on the illness would be extremely important to ensure I am fair to Tom and any other employee who may be suffering from an illness. Implementing a...
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...The Effectiveness of Business Ethics in Education and Today’s Workplace October 13th, 2012 Introduction What do Bernard Madoff, Kenneth Lay and Rob Blagojevich all have in common? They all operated with no apparent ethical behavior even though each had received educational backgrounds in which ethical business practices were taught. As L. Zingales states, “While every firm can have its bad apples, when these apples are at the top, it suggests that a company has either a corrupt culture or a defective selection process, or both.” (Zingales, Jul 16, 2012). In Madoffs case, the Ponzi scheme had been going on since the early 1990’s (Morrissey, Aug 11, 2009). Under the direction of Kenneth Lay, Enron- once one of the largest companies in America- collapsed in bankruptcy and ruined the lives of thousands of people (McLean & Elkind, May 18, 2006). The Chicago Tribune reported that the Illinois House of Representatives was sending to the Illinois Senate a “13 point article of impeachment-a political form of indictment-alleging Blagojevich has abused the power if his office” (Pearson & Long, Jan 9, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to gauge the Effectiveness of Business Ethics in Education and Today’s Workplace. As business students they graduate from the university setting and enter the business environment they study the ethics in their workplace culture and often find that educational ethics training does not have any value in the work world. “Studies...
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...Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace James E. Gleason BUS 275-H01 Calhoun Community College Abstract Business leaders struggle to balance the desire for profit and maximum shareholder return with corporate ethics and social responsibility. Unfortunately, short-term financial bottom line has taken the place of maintaining strong moral character in today’s business practices. In the United States alone, about two-thirds of the top corporations have been guilty of some type of corporate malfeasance. In the face of both damaging and publicly embarrassing litigation, business leaders now recognize the need for sound, straightforward ethics management programs in their companies that makes ethical business practices a top priority at all times. Top executives must lead by example and actively and willingly encourage ethical behavior in their peers as well as employees. The need for stronger ethics in business has prompted business schools to critically examine their business curricula and place greater teaching emphasis on ethics and social responsibility to ensure future generations of new business graduates enter the workforce with the highest moral standards. Keywords: ethics, social responsibility, malfeasance, business schools, business curricula Managing Ethical Decision Making in the Workplace Introduction Ensuring that the necessary steps are taken to create and foster a high level of ethics in the business practices of the workplace is critically important regardless...
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...2011 Subject: Business Ethics in the Workplace This is an informative memo about “ethics in the workplace”. By Sharpe, F and Roe, A. The articles address the similarity of workplace ethics and their differences. Both articles examine how to adequately incorporate ethics in workplace. Both articles views on ethics in the workplace are similar as far as training program for all employees. Practicing positive workplace ethics within their organization was key issues in both articles. Both agreed not only should written policies be put into place but reinforce through ethical training programs and recommending ways to create a business culture of acceptable practices in the workplace by creating ethical business policies and guidelines. Both articles agreed on training programs to build a strong ethical workplace environment. In contrast Sharpe found that ethical practices improved business among employees relationship through honesty and respect which starts with management than staff. Sharpe focus was more social responsibility in business ethics, conducting workshops through the company style. Roe focus was more ethical practicing made mandatory through training to ensure that employees behave. I agreed with both articles but I lean more on the side of Sharpe because workplace ethics is a style. A style created through management which defines how and what employees do whether acceptable or not. I’ve identify with the honesty part of work ethic and how it applies...
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...Business Ethics: The Responsibilities of Employees and Employers Debra J. Scott Columbia Southern University Business Ethics: The Responsibilities of Employees and Employers Ethics are an extremely important aspect of every successful business; they are crucial on the end of the employer as well as every employee. Employees and executives need a clear definition of business ethics and a clear explanation of the significance of ethics in relation to the position and to the business as well. It is shown to be beneficial to employees and executives to use a decision making process in the development of making important decisions; there are many approaches as well as many consequences to making ethical decisions. Good ethics start with the employer and how they handle and execute their ethics and provide a good working example for their employees. There are many viewpoints on what ethics are, especially in relation to business, “Ethical obligations are a set of “ought to” standards that define a moral course of action and draw a line between right and wrong” (Lohrey). Business ethics can be comprised of written and formal guidelines in relation to an organization’s morals. Many businesses use their code of conduct or credo as their guidelines to communicating their organizational ethics, “Business ethics manifests both as written and unwritten codes of moral standards that are critical to the current activities and future aspirations of a business organization. They can differ...
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...Managing Ethics in the Workplace Trinidad,Loudine T. BSE-4C Marketing Prof. Rose Marie Ramos Managing Ethics in the Workplace Managing workplace ethics promotes shared values that result in better cohesion of the workforce, and play a crucial role in the success of any organization Workplace ethics are the application of morality, or concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong, justice and virtue to all activities of the business. It closely relates to corporate social responsibility, but is much wider in scope. The scope of business ethics lies in two dimensions: 1. Workplace behavior ethics, or the illegal and questionable practices of individual managers, such as wrongful use of resources, mismanagement of contracts and agreements for personal gain, conflict of interests, and the like. 2. Business ethics issues, such as ethical dilemmas when making decisions, dealing with stakeholders, and the like. The primary requirement for managing ethics in the workplace is an understanding that workplace ethics is a continuous and on-going process ingrained to management practices, and not a deliverable defined project. It influences the way the organization functions, and remains independent of profits or product range. • Ethics Policy Irrespective of the dimension of business ethics, the basic requirement for managing ethics in the workplace is to have a strong ethics policy in place that makes the company’s ethics policy transparent...
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...CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, ETHICS, AND VALUES GSGM 7253 WORKPLACE ETHICS: ISSUES AND CHALLENGES (Term Paper) by: ANWAR REDHWAN BIN LOKMAN HAKIM MD1409MD0088 (redhwan_ocean@yahoo.com) LECTURER: PN SALBIAH BINTI ABD RAHMAN (salbiah710@yahoo.com) TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE Abstract 3 1.0 Introduction 3 2.0 Literature Review 4 2.1.1 Why Ethics in Workplace is Importance 4 2.1.2 Ethic’s Issues In Workplace 5 2.1.3 Ethic’s Challenges in Workplace 7 2.1.3.1 Fair Treatment 7 2.1.3.2 Trust 7 2.1.3.3 Resources 8 2.1.3.4 Harassment 8 3.0 Case Study Based on Enron Scandal 8 3.1.1 Misleading 8 3.1.2 Embezzlement of Enron 9 4.0 Recommendation – Implementing Ethics in The Workplace 9 4.1.1 Identify and Reform Value Company 9 4.1.2 Welcome Commitment Can See From Senior Manager 10 4.1.3 Involving the Board 10 4.1.4 Developing a Code of Ethic or Code of Business Ethic 10 4.1.5 To Build Ethics Mission and Vision...
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...paper, I will discuss how social responsibility and ethics interacts with the business world. I will discuss different styles to management ethics, the benefits companies will find from acting ethical and socially responsibly and some examples of unethical behavior in the workplace. I will also look at social responsibly and its benefits, as well as give my opinion on both topics. Businesses have always been known to shoot for maximum profits in order to please both those inside and outside their company. However, the concept of business ethics and social responsibility has put principled boundaries on organizations so that they cannot achieve their profit goals in any way they please. In order for a company to function within today’s global business society, they must be able to take a strong stance ethically on how they are going to sell their products and conduct their everyday work activities. Alongside being ethical, companies must also take on social responsibility; showing their community that they are involved, alert and willing to be philanthropists even in tough times. Corporate ethics and social responsible, if overlooked, can be detrimental to an organizations outward appearance and customer base. It is not only the right thing to do, but it has always been seen as good business. Both business ethics and social responsibly, although different, play fundamental roles in an organization’s successes. Ethics can be defined as the study of standards of behavior...
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...[Type the company name] | Creating an Ethical Organization | | Business Ethics | Saurabh | How to Create an Ethical Workplace? Ethics in the workplace are vital, even to small business owners. No company wants to be known as unethical, and employees are more apt to display higher morale and more productivity when they know they are working for a morally sound company. It is important to create a conscientious workplace that is transparent, both to employees as well as the general public. Small business owners should never tolerate inappropriate behavior in an employee and employees should be properly trained on what is considered unethical and ethical. * Set an example for your workforce. In order for employees to behave in an ethical manner, they need to know that they are working for a moral boss. They will be much less likely to display signs of unethical behavior if they know that this type of behavior will not be tolerated or ignored. * Create a policy dealing with ethics. This company policy should state your expectations for your employees as well as outline what is and is not considered acceptable. Having a clearly written policy will help you take action should an employee act unethically. * Allow employees to report unethical behavior in a safe environment. No one enjoys ratting out a fellow employee, particularly if it will be made known who turned the person in. Give your employees a safe and anonymous way to air their complaints so...
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...Research Quarterly Published by the Society for Human Resource Management Business Ethics: The Role of Culture and Values for an Ethical Workplace FOURTH QUARTER–2009 Whether in domestic or global companies, ultimately, the commitment to business ethics and the foundation is built through organizational culture, with ethical values reflected in the workplace. Business Ethics: The Role of Culture and Values for an Ethical Workplace Abstract An ethical workplace is established through an organization’s culture, values and leadership. To promote ethical behavior, human resource professionals, people managers and senior management need to be knowledgeable about business ethics—from leadership, codes of conduct and related legislation to compliance training, ethical decisionmaking, and cultural and generational differences around ethics. Transparency, fairness and communication are key for establishing and maintaining an ethical workplace. Introduction In the business world today, issues of trust, respect, fairness, equity and transparency are gaining more attention. Business ethics includes organizational values, guidelines and codes, legal compliance, risk management, and individual and group behavior within the workplace. Effective leadership, with open dialogue and thoughtful deliberation, develops the foundation of an ethical workplace, is woven into the fabric of the organizational culture and is mirrored in ethical decision-making. Toward this end, all organizational...
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...Business Research Report Title Presented to: Assessment Code: RWT1 Student Name: Name Student ID: xxxxxxxxx Date: 10/03/2012 Mentor Name: Dayna Haydon Table of Contents Executive Summary 3 Introduction 4 Research Findings 4 Finding Number 1 4 Finding Number 2 5 Finding Number 3 5 Recommendations 5 Conclusion 6 References 7 Executive Summary The main objectives of this report were to evaluate and determine if business ethics and corporate citizenship initiatives would increase employee efficiency within the workplace, the impact of these programs on the reputation of the organization and their effect on the organization’s relationship with employees, investors, and customers. A variety of relevant books and modern journal articles were used to research on this subject. The review of these articles and books revealed that corporate social responsibility initiatives play a fundamental role in building the image of the company as well as strengthening the organization’s relationship with its customers. Ethical programs on the other hand guide employee actions and in effect minimize any points of conflict that may arise within the workplace thereby increasing workplace efficiency and overall employee productivity. Ethical programs also ensure that financial reporting abides by the stipulated standards. This ensures that the information contained in financial reports is reliable and therefore increases...
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...Managing Ethics in the Workplace Managing workplace ethics promotes shared values that result in better cohesion of the workforce, and play a crucial role in the success of any organization Workplace ethics are the application of morality, or concepts such as good and bad, right and wrong, justice and virtue to all activities of the business. It closely relates to corporate social responsibility, but is much wider in scope. The scope of business ethics lies in two dimensions: 1. Workplace behavior ethics, or the illegal and questionable practices of individual managers, such as wrongful use of resources, mismanagement of contracts and agreements for personal gain, conflict of interests, and the like. 2. Business ethics issues, such as ethical dilemmas when making decisions, dealing with stakeholders, and the like. The primary requirement for managing ethics in the workplace is an understanding that workplace ethics is a continuous and on-going process ingrained to management practices, and not a deliverable defined project. It influences the way the organization functions, and remains independent of profits or product range. • Ethics Policy Irrespective of the dimension of business ethics, the basic requirement for managing ethics in the workplace is to have a strong ethics policy in place that makes the company’s ethics policy transparent and objective. Such as, ethics policies need to highlight the organization’s underlying values, code of conduct for the workforce...
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