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Ethical Behavior

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Introduction To Management
Sharon Toney
SUNY Empire State College Ethical Behavior

In this chapter we look at the ethical behavior when it comes to business management. Ethics is defined as the code of moral principles that sets standards of good or bad, or right or wrong, in one’s conduct. You learn how ethical dilemmas complicate the workplace and how high ethical standards can be maintained. Social responsibilities and governance plays a part in ethical behavior as well. Ethical behavior is that which is accepted as “good” or “right” as opposed to “bad” or “wrong”. For the reason an action is not illegal does not necessarily make it ethical in a given situation. Values vary, so that brings up the question, “What is ethical behavior? Honestly it can be answered in many ways by different people for the reason of different values.Values help determine individuals behavior. Terminal values are preferences about desired ends, such as the goals one strives to achieve in life. Instrumental values are preferences regarding the means for accomplishing these ends. Among the instrumental values held important by managers are honesty, ambition,courage, imagination,and self discipline. The value pattern for any one person is very enduring, but terminal and instrumental values vary from one person to the next. This variation is a reason why people respond quite differently to situations and their ethical challenges. The utilitarian, individualism, moral-rights, and justice views offer alternative ways of thinking about ethical behavior. The influence of cultural on ethics behavior is a timely topic in this time of globalization. Corporate and government leaders must master difficult challenges when operating across borders that are cultural as well as national. Cultural relativism argues that no culture is ethically superior to any

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