Creating An Ethical Workplace Essay

When I was fairly young, I tended to see ethics in black-and-white terms: everything was either wrong or right. When I entered the world of business, however, I began to understand that behaving in an ethical fashion is a continual challenge, given the different obligations one is subjected to on a daily basis. For example, what if my boss, to whom I have an obligation, asks me to perform an unethical action as part of my job? What if I am asked to bend the rules for a client? A worker must have a strong sense of his or her character and personal values, and those of the larger organization as a whole, to respond effectively to these ethical challenges. I have seen examples of this phenomenon both in private, for-profit organizations, where I began my working career, and also in government service, the arena in which I have worked for fourteen years.

During the announcement of the seventh annual list of most ethical companies in the world in 2013, Alex Brigham of Ethisphere, noted that more companies find that ethical business practices increase their competitiveness in their respective industries, helping to further substantiate the notion that a culture of ethic is crucial to sustainable excellence (Smith, 2013). Researchers in the field of Organizational Behavior has found that employees are subjected to an environment of ethical dilemma constantly. During such moments employees have a choice either to pursue with ethical conduct or engage in an unethical behavior which results in harming the organization or its stakeholder (Trevino & Brown, 2004). How the employee behave greatly depends

The survey was performed in 2010 involving members of the Ethics and Compliance Officer Association (ECOA). They focused on the evolution of business ethics by analyzing six other studies over a span of two-and-a-half decades. Members of the survey were ethics manager, but members on the previous studies were regular employees and management. The results of the analysis of the previous studies showed that ethics programs in companies during a time span of the 1980’s through the 1990’s was used to show social responsibilities and not necessarily to enforce it throughout the company. It showed that ethics programs now that companies follow ethical laws and they are motivated to be ethical. Another result of the study showed that ethics training at companies has increased since the 1990’s due to the passing of Sarbanes-Oxley and other laws directed at ethics. The passing of the laws in the early 2000’s has led to ethics being a major component of everyday

An initial new hire and employee ethics training has to be develop and administered. Also on-going ethics refresher training for use throughout the employees career with Company Q will need to be incorporated in the program. Systems will be developed and put in place to monitor, audit, and report ethics violations. A time-line to re-evaluate these programs and their effectiveness towards meeting the companies social responsibility goals will be established. Based on the evaluation a revision or revamp of the program if necessary will be initiated. The ethics program needs to be reviewed and understood by all employees and expectation for compliance very clear. This can be accomplish by tying compliance in some form to employees and leadership individual performance goals. Shareholders all the way down to entry-level employees will benefit from the ethics program which will also put the company on track to being more socially responsible. Once a code of ethics is in place and training has been given, then Company Q can begin developing trust within the company and employees as well as the community. Continued education and training will enable the company to become more socially responsible.

In difficult financial times, companies face various moral issues to try to keep up with their competitors. Although these issues have a direct impact on employee decision making, businesses rarely address how employees should assess the ethics of their actions and incorporate ethics into their decisions. Often this can be alleviated by creating and maintaining a corporate culture with a focus on

A healthy and ethical environment starts with a positive leadership role-model who encourage ethical practices, teamwork, participation, and inspires staff performance that support organizational goals (Ortmeier & Meese, 2010). Organizational cultures shape the framework of employee behavior, which can inhabit a negative environment and unethical conduct consisting of a code of silence, feelings of personal loyalty, morality issues, character, and authoritative environments that reduce morale and

developing a code of ethics for its diverse workforce. A collaborative team has been established

Being able to adjust and adapt, will be the requirements for leaders to excel ethically in a diverse workplace. Although being ethical is a daunting tasks to accomplish, it is necessary and vital component for the growth of a business. Creating and sustaining an ethical diverse workplace involves fair treatment, self control, transparency, and appreciation of all people. If all else fails, money seem to be a resolution that many companies opt

According to our text, “Ethics is the moral principles and standards that guide the behavior of an individual or group” (Bateman & Snell, 2013, p. 68). Mark Hurd’s behavior was unethical to his values, character, and morals. Therefore, there were consequences that were created, to keep the company’s “ethical climate” properly shaped (Bateman & Snell, 2013, p. 76). Thus, unethical corporate behavior may be the responsibility of an unethical individual, but it often reveals a company culture that is ethically lax (Bateman & Snell, 2013, p. 76). Overall, maintaining an ethical environment can be challenging, but it is important to assess the company’s morals—to ensure that their reputation will not be in

Healthcare professionals’ perceptions are a good indicator of the ethical culture in an organization. An organization with an ethical culture is described as one in which employees appreciate the importance, recognize and freely discuss ethical concerns (Cohen, Foglia, Kivong, Pearlman & Fox, 2015, p.170). If employees do not feel

(Panza & Potthast, n.d.) Ethics is very important to a company’s success. Ethical behavior can bring benefits to a business. They can attract customers, which can lead to a boost in sales and profits. It can attract the right employees and increase productivity. It can also attract investors and keep the company’s share price high. Unethical behavior on the other hand can damage a company’s reputation and make it less appealing to stakeholders. It could also result in lower profits.

Ethics in the Lockheed Martin Corporation didn’t always have the message it has today. As I read through the book, Ethics at Work: Creating Virtue at an American Corporation, specifically chapter two, I came across some very interesting issues this corporation has had to deal with over the past few decades that go back to the 1920’s and earlier. In the following I’ll go over a few points that led to the development of Lockheed Martine’s current ethics program. Ill cover some ethics issues that were overcame on the way to a great ethics program. First let’s talk about the beginnings that started the Lockheed Martin Corporation so you can get an idea of the foundation of the company itself.

Today’s business world presents numerous ethical issues. In today’s world above board/moral ethics in organizations do not often materialize intuitively. Organization must strive to provide employees with a clear understanding of the overall company vision. This will aid employees in practicing the code of ethics, policies and procedures in the workplace. Companies must be unwavering in continuously delivering the uppermost ethics of provision in which customers, applicants and employees are entitled to under fair business practices. One major core value is to uphold responsible and fair business practices.

Companies are supposed to be able to achieve and demonstrate an ever increasing performance showing improvement on leading in their industries to acquire competitive advantages. Having a high level of performance could be greatest achieved with competent and motivated employees. The conduct of business in an organization with an ethical manner is of great importance to secure an increasing performance as well. Organizations functioning towards ethical standards should ensure unbiased applications of business and recall a sense of justice to stimulate motivation among their employees. Employees that are motivated through a positive ethical organizational climate and leadership do much better than a less motivated employee. This promotes the organizational achievement that causes

Moral and ethical integrity is a major factor that affects the success and productivity of an organization because of its impact on the functions of management and the management team. As organizational ethics has increasingly become an issue of major focus resulting in organizations to face huge dilemma, there have been several questions on who should manage ethics and integrity in the firm (Segon, n.d.). In most cases, organizations tend to delegate the ethics function to the human resource management practitioners or department. This is primarily because organizational ethics is largely related to the type of employees within an organization. Notably, the development and establishment of organizational ethics is regarded as a complex