... Topic 1: Business codes are the most effective instrument for preventing unethical behavior in the workplace. Business codes are widely used globally to prevent unethical means in the organization, an increasing number of companies have adopted business code ethics, 52.5% of Fortune Global 200 companies in 2004 (Kaptein, 2004) compared to 87% of Fortune Global 200 companies in 2008 (KPMG, 2008). Business codes are a set of official document disclosed by and for a business firm to guide the behavior of managers and employees (Kaptein and Schwartz, 2008). The business code prescribed are related to matters such as human rights, labor conditions, ecological environment, confidential information, conflict of interests, fraud, corruption, product quality, profits, sexual harassment and competitions (Kaptein, 2011). Business codes ethic (BCE) are the fundamentals for corporate social responsibility (CSR) which are used to appraise companies for ethical performances and citizenship. Organizations with excellent CSR are rewarded with fame and reputations (Patick M., 2011), thus leading to better sales and company’s stock price (Ron Robins, 2011). However, business code and CSR appraisal can only prevent unethical behavior in the organization to a certain extent. For example, 15% of Ernst & Young’s executives were prepared to commit unethical conducts to win businesses even though the company implemented business codes (Christopher M., 2012). In this context, business codes without...
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...Business Research Ethics The individual assignment for this week asked the students to find an article within the University Library that discusses unethical business research conduct that has resulted in individuals or firm being convicted, or at least tried. I have found and read a newspaper journal titled "Unethical workers and illegal acts," which is a study of workers, managers, and executives, where 48% of them admitted to unethical or illegal acts since year 1996. What unethical research behavior is involved? Out for the 1,324 people surveyed, 48% of them admitted to committing unethical or illegal acts from a list of 25 actions. These actions include, cheating on an expense account, paying or accepting kickbacks, discriminating against co-workers, trading sex for sales, secretly forging signatures, and looking the other way when environmental laws are being violated. From the list of 25 actions, these were shockingly the most common mentioned. Who were the parties involved? When one thinks about unethical business research or performance, his or her mind tends to automatically think that the violators are at the lower to entry level of the company's organizational hierarchy, but according to this study, I was amazed at the amount of upper management employees mentioned. From entry-level employees, to long time workers, managers, and even upper level executives, they all have admitted to unethical business research conduct. As I read along I learned that the...
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...Trident University International Module 1 Case Assignment ETH 501: Business Ethics Dr. Mark Friske 24 November 2013 Introduction Adelphia Communications, one of the largest cable companies is the country at the time, is defunct as of 2006 due to multiple unethical decisions by the Rigas family. Any business, if subjected to unethical decision making to this extent, would be destined for failure and Adelphia Communications is no exception. The two main unethical actions that are highlighted are lying and stealing. Were these actions justified, deontologically speaking? How does Immanuel Kant’s categorical imperative apply to these two unethical actions in a business scenario? The Scandal Adelphia was a cable television company formed in 1952 by John Rigas and two other partners. John Rigas eventually bought out the partners of the company and grew the business with his brother and sons making it a family business. In 1986 the company became publically listed and eventually became the fifth largest cable company in the United States before it filed for bankruptcy in 2002 due to internal corruption. One example of the internal corruption at Adelphia was the accounting techniques that were used by the Rigas family. Billions of dollars in debt and liabilities were hidden from the public and off of the financial reports to make the company appear in better shape than it actually was. The former cable television company also would alter the amount...
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...and concerns for every individual organization, multinational organizational conduct their operations under ethical code of conduct to confine the issues faced by unethical conducts. Many organizations such as pharmaceutical firms, technological firms and financial firms pay more attentions to ethical behavior to ensure the sales to consumers have been impeccably ethical. However managers pay attention to behavioral ethical conducts that ensure the professional attitude of sales force towards consumers/customers (Chen & Tang, 2006, 69). Recent unethical conducts by Enron and WorldCom highlighted the attention for sales and ethical behavior, because unethical conduct and sales ethics can ruin the whole organization wide reputation (McDevitt et al, 2007, 73). Business ethics is counter stone for doing business in industry that however considered by every single organization, which eventually encourages every single business entity to develop the organization’s processes based on ethical conducts. Business ethics and sales ethics both entails the same meaning because ultimately salesperson engages in the business activity to generate profits for business, but on contrary “business ethics” and “sales ethics” have no contradiction in associations. Sales ethics on the other hand have some stereotype meaning because business and sales people are not always ethical; leaving us with a dilemma that indicates the sales ethics is an oxymoron. Sales ethics might not be always ethical because...
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...HIRING AND COMMUNICATION 1 By Trina Braxton, Yolanda Martin James Johnson and Mary Dampeer Belhaven University October 3, 2013 HIRING AND COMMUNICATION 2 Introduction It is unfortunate that our employees do, however conduct themselves in an unethical behavior in the workplace. Several organizations will occasionally encounter some employees who take part in unethical behaviors. This unscrupulous behavior includes a number of conflicting activities. Some of the most common unethical business behaviors of our employees are making inappropriate use of phone calls on business lines as well as using the organizations software applications for their own personal use. Occasionally, workers will also falsify the number of hours they’ve worked in order to stretch their lunch breaks or even have their co-workers clock in and out for them when they are not there. On a more serious note, there are those employees who will even go as far as to embezzle money from the company by falsifying business records or stealing petty cash funds thinking that no one will notice and try to replace the funds later. This is very serious issue that could lead to the employee being suspended without pay or terminated. Once an employee presumes that another employee is engaging in something that they know is unethical by the organizations values and rules, then their own sense of what is right and wrong should immediately come into question. Hiring Process In the hiring process...
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...Ethics in Business Communications Crystal Poindexter COM/295 September 15, 2014 John Quesnel Ethics in Business Communications This week we learned about various and effect way to communicate in business, we also learned about communications that are ethical and unethical. Ethical communications are a set of principles we live by and expect others to do the same. In a business it is slightly different, there are several dilemmas facing business communicator, some are cosmetic half-truths, which is “buying time until a more favorable action is possible (Management Communication Chapter 7). Another communication dilemma in this next case is the Harmful or potentially harmful actions by a company. This breaks down to the company wanting to save money and increase their profits knowingly cuts corner and produce a defective or subpar product. (Management Communication Chapter7) In 1990’s and 2000’s a serious of internal memos for employees about the quality of the product being subpar, and potential life threatening fell on deaf ears. From 1990’s to 2000’s a series of problems ranging form gas tank explosions to an ignition switch, failure has plague the automotive company. General Motors had full knowledge of its faulty products and...
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...John Rolph EST1: Ethical Situations in Business Task 2 Standards and Procedures 1.) Information Confidentiality: As an employee, you will be exposed to client-sensitive as well as company-sensitive information that is to be viewed only by those who have the authority or permission to do so. Such information to be considered “confidential” includes business contracts, financial information, internal correspondence, and any and all documentation (electronic or paper-based) that is not authorized to be disclosed to the public. Disclosure of sensitive information will lead to immediate termination and possible charges/fines (depending on the severity of the violation) as is legal under state and federal law. Employees should not take advantage of privileged information and share it with our competitors. By leaking confidential information you are threatening the well-being of the company as well as that of our clients. If left unsure of what information is considered confidential, please consult with your direct supervisor, HR Department, or Legal Team for further guidance. 2.) Proper Communication: Company X’s public communications are to be properly constructed and delivered in a clear, accurate and informative manner. All direct communications with the public should be factually correct and not misleading in any manner. Such public communications include, but are not limited to speeches, press releases, and quarterly earnings reports or other public financial sharing...
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...NaShawn Branch “A man without ethics is a wild beast loosed upon this world.” - Albert Camus Nobel Peace prizewinner, Albert Camus compared the actions of an unethical man equal to that of a beast. Following Mr. Camus’s assumptions leads one to question, are business leaders who act in an unethical manner considered beastly? How have unethical business leaders changed the way in which companies do business? All businesspersons that act in an unethical manner, regardless on the time era, eventually fail and the ramifications always affect society in the long-term. The socially irresponsible and illegal behavior by these organizations and their leaders cause hardship for thousands of people, damage the loosely woven fabric of civil society, and contribute in creating a moral climate of distrust and cynicism. (Berry & Workman, 2007) Consequently, the lack of integrity degrades the public perceptions and therefore companies become financially bankrupt. The purpose of this paper is to outline unethical violations using World Com as an example. This paper examines the cultural context, the adverse change in business practices, and new research on ethics in the communications industry. Cultural context in the WorldCom Before MCI acquired WorldCom, this was the ‘goliath’ of the communications industry. WorldCom was one of the largest telecommunications companies with nearly $160 billion in assets. In 2002, the entire globe was rocked by the WorldCom accounting...
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...Ethical Communication in the Workplace Name Course Instructor Date Introduction Communication is a concept that is controversial, especially with the dynamics of the information age. There is confusion on what is right and wrong in communication, creating a never ending debate. Ethics help in providing guidelines for appropriate actions and decisions. Ethical communication allows for one to communicate to the audience the intended message in the right way, without bias. It encompasses honesty, confidentiality where necessary and openness. Adhering to ethical and moral principles when communicating ensures minimal negative consequences, hence, positive action and reaction from the audience. This makes it a crucial aspect of leadership. It is important to note that effective and ethical communication is different. For instance, a charismatic leader such as a politician has the ability to appeal to the emotions of the masses, but if the truth is exaggerated or hidden, this cannot be referred to as ethical communication. It is only effective. Ethical communication includes what is said as well as what is not said, hence the need to act as one preaches and correction of false impressions. Throughout human history, unethical communication has been portrayed as a powerful weapon of destruction. It has ruined interpersonal relationships, been used to support greed, corruption, oppression and tyranny within institutions as well as starting and fuelling economic injustice, violence...
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...Whistleblowing and ethics helplines in the 1Modes of Managing Morality Model Leon J van Vuuren Department of Human Resource Management University of Johannesburg Abstract The Modes of Managing Morality (MMM) model provides a heuristic device to assist business ethics scholars and practitioners to make sense of the differences that exist in the ways in which different organisations manage their ethics. Although it is difficult to demonstrate a clear distinction between ethics advice and whistleblowing, these activities are often fused in organisations and the seeking of ethics advice may of necessity sometimes spill over to a need for whistleblowing. The extent and ways organisations are tolerant to and utilise ethics communication in each of these modes were illustrated in this paper. In particular, the varied prominence of whistleblowing and ethics advice facilities in each of the reactive (some whistleblowing), compliance (ethics advice supplementary to whistleblowing) and integrity (whistleblowing supplementary to ethics advice) modes were indicated. The seamless integration of ethics talk and ethics advice in the TAO-mode makes whistleblowing superfluous in this mode. The necessity for leaders and managers to acquire an ethics management competence that would, among others, allow them to actively engage in and encourage ethics talk, was emphasised. Keywords: Ethics, ethics talk, hotlines, help lines, help desk, whistleblowing, Modes of Managing Morality Model, compliance...
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...Credibility in Business Communications Anya K Taylor COM/295 August 20, 2015 When conducting research on the unethical practices of doctors, research was found that physician leaders in hospitals were very concerned about the unethical violations and the business practices that was effecting U.S health services. “Ultimately the American College of Physician Executives (ACPE), conducted a survey and found high percentages of physician leaders are either "very concerned" or "moderately concerned" about : Physicians refusing to accept calls on patients who don't have Insurance (79%) , Influence exerted by medical device manufacturers (79%), Over-treating patients to boost income (78%), Influence by pharmaceutical companies (76%), Board members with conflicts of interest (66%) and Non-physician executive leaders with conflicts of interest (66%).” (ACPE 2015) What was gathered from the research their ethical obligation is to uphold trust with their patients and be able to accept all that need help and be professional in their practices. This study points out the flaws for example, in the study they found that there was a high percentage of Physicians that would not help those in need if they did not have insurance. I believe in my opinion that this is wrong on so many levels, I believe that no matter if a person has insurance or not they should receive the necessary health benefits and services. The evidence of the unethical behaviors and business code of conduct...
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...should be home taking care of their children and doing housework once they are married or have children. The Japanese, especially when it comes to advertising and marketing gives high regards to their women and may not agree to the way women are exposed in America in regards to advertisements marketing their products or services. Religion is a major factor in the Japanese culture and it places great emphasis on the establishment of business ethics. The Japanese have totally different beliefs are completely different. During meetings and negotiations Company A should be mindful of Japan’s business etiquette and what their gestures mean or represent. Japanese have an effective manner of taking care of business matters, so it will also be great if Company A gathers information about how they operate businesses and what their marketing principles are. Product, promotions, pricing and place are the four P’s that affect cross-cultural communication. One prime example of how product and promotion can cause an effect of cross-cultural communication is because...
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...Introduction What’s ethical and unethical in business? In business, we think about the actions that are being taken, for example. Let’s differentiate between what’s ethical and unethical first, ethical in basic terms is basically honesty, following the rights and not disapproval of any case , unethical being the opposite lacking basic morals that allows them to not conduct to rules. In business terminology, ethics can be taken very seriously. An individual at work might take their tasks and do them well conducted by following all the right rules given, yet for an unethical individual they will lead a business to its end most probably by simply being disapproval of the terms and rules given to follow a task, There are many ways that businesses engage in unethical conduct, for example by exploiting their workers, their customers, and even the public at large outside their business work space. By exploiting, some of the ways that they do this are arguably unethical and some are blatantly illegal. They may pay their workers low wages. It causes behavior changes within the work atmosphere, an ethical employee attends meetings, and manages to consume their time properly, providing employee safety making other employees learn to work efficiently too and have good communication within the circle. Each employee works together or individually in a well-mannered way, each with the right set of behavior. Yet with an unethical employee a deliberate hypocrisy will be caused, and violation...
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...the corporate world we all have seen a few companies that have really disregarded ethics to which it has caused a trickle down destructive effect on the organization. One may try to figure out why such corporate professional, hardworking, and savvy men and women act so unethically. We all know that running a business requires a great deal of ethics and without ethics a business may fail before it really gets off the ground. Social Responsibility sometimes can become a thorn in a business because of the way the consumer or society feels about how that business deals with social responsibility. This can go either way where a the consumer may feel as though the organization should make the responsible decision and on the other hand the organization feels as though it is not their responsibility it is the responsibility of the consumer. This is and has been a battle that goes back and forth for a long time and to current today it still goes back and forth between the consumer, the courts, and the organization. Business ethics can be defined as a form of professional or applied ethics that looks at ethical morale, principles, and problems that may come about in a business environment. Here are just a few expert opinions on ethics and social responsibility. This will give the consumers and idea on how the corporate shareholders and upper management feels and think on the subject of social responsibility and ethics. When managers considers new and different strategies then make...
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...Unethical Conduct Michael Roberson RES/351 April 17, 2014 Deborah Levin Unethical Conduct The ability to report unethical conduct has flourished in the business research community. In Marketing, salespeople among groups demonstrated the lack of personal ethical judgment when unethical conduct was linked to personal, ethical perspectives. The purpose of this essay is to discuss unethical behavior as it affects a salesperson. Individuals have a different approach to marketing because of its blinding effect on the points of levels. The personal, ethical perspective of a salesperson is philosophical. In an organization, unethical behavior is a rule that is administered by the organization for the purpose of communicating marketing strategies. This rule applies under a code of ethics that involved taking surveys from the organization, the individual, and society. The survey is designed to simulate the unethical behavior situations that grow over the amount of sales a salesperson receives from merchandise discounted without management approval. The importance of the survey identifies the salesperson in the organization, but in an organization, society portrays each as a component. The salesperson encounters the decision that stems from unethical behavior. Ethical pressure is mostly the work group that becomes the next level. The unethical behavior could be avoided by not following the organization's rules (Ferrell, Johnston, & Ferrell, 2007)...
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