Ethical Challenges Within The Workplace

Jerry Mason, senior vice president and general manager at Morton-Thiokol, and Morton-Thiokol were on the brink of negotiating the booster’ rocket contract renewal with NASA. Although, it is not an acceptable reason, we could see how engineers and others below the authority of Jerry could be afraid to state something contrary to what he stood by. When someone’s self-interest and pride gets in the way of engineering, it can neglect the welfare of the public, and cause them harm. This case study highlights many irresponsible, and ethical failures in a professional work environment. Jerry Mason failed to abide by the following impediments for responsible action; self-interest, ignorance, and group thinking.

Integrity – communicating clearly, openly, and honestly; being true to our word, our plans and our responsibilities

The author Robert Solomon argues that ethics has to an integral part with regard to business management. He does not believe that business management must include unethical or illegal methods to be able to succeed. Solomon preaches that business management is not as simple as obtaining revenue. “Businesses need to abide by fair policies and their owners have to be ethical in dealing with their customers” (Shaw p. 37). The author acknowledges that while illegal practices in business management could bring positive results at first, eventually the business is bound to fail. This is why Solomon recommended eight important policies that can help businesses in integrating ethics into their operations.

1. Discuss an ethical dilemma that you have had to face in the workplace. Ethical dilemmas

In the workplace as well as one’s personal life is essential for ethics to be maintained; often taking the right action is not always the most popular choice. It is important for maintaining an upstanding ethical code of conduct to be a productive individual as well as function as an employee in the workplace.

Ethical standards in business are important for every leader to know and understand. The book Ethics 101: What Every Leader Needs to Know by: John C. Maxwell discusses ethics in the world today. When people make unethical choices, the reason they do because of three main pitfalls. People do what is most convenient to them, people tend to do what they must do to win, and people rationalize their choices with relativism. In this summary, Maxwell’s definition of business ethics will be framed, examples of ethical standards and guidelines, the meaning and contrast of ethical thinking and ethical behavior, and how to avoid these major pitfalls to live an ethical life. The

Ethical dilemmas are particularly sensitive issues in the workplace because the well-being of the individuals and the organization as a whole are at stake. Employees must feel as though they are being supported and not punished, and should not feel as though they were being put on display; their dignity should always remain intact. This paper examines how, as a high school principle, I would address the issue of one of the high school teachers becoming addicted to prescription drugs.

Current curricula at most educational institutions teach students the financial implications of unethical acts, such as the risk of fines, penalties, lawsuits, and damaged reputations. It is true these actions negatively affect the firms bottom line but more importantly the students need to learn that unethical behavior can actually harm employees in tangible, nonmonetary ways. This harm can also propagate to the family and friends of the victim and other coworkers who whiteness these unethical behaviors such as bullying and discrimination. Business students are the future managers and directors of companies, therefore; it is crucial for them to recognize the physically and psychologically damage that unethical behavior in the workplace causes. Educators, have the ability, to help students to consider the financial implications of unethical acts, and the adverse effect on the profitability of the firm. Professors help students to put themselves in those workers’ shoes who are affected by bad behavior.

Although many aging adults still are continuing to work past their retirement age, working class will always have a need for them because of their stability in the workforce. However, these workforce jobs may come into conflict when baby boomers reach retirement age. Furthermore, many choose to keep working due to their economic status, college for their children, and home ownership. On the other hand, this dilemma can be avoided if as parents, we install a good work ethics, self-responsibility, and economic survival, like their parents enforced during their

Many reports and lawsuits have been registered related to ethical and other legal issues in the workplace. Sexual harassment is one of the most registered lawsuits in the courts over the past several years. The news of this ethical issue is common in multi-national companies, political institutes, schools and colleges as well as military institutes. Because of this, many bright professionals have lost their careers; a huge amount of cash has been paid in legal settlements; there have been many devastated families; and the court has been compelled on numerous occasions to make changes in legislation related to this issue. However, everything has been changed with the new legislation. Now, there are certain aspects or laws that might not be acceptable, which were accepted ten years ago (Marshall, 2005).

Ethical dilemmas are what happen when a person is faced with a decision that may press against their personal values or beliefs. At one of my previous jobs, there was a problem with employees conducting their personal business, errands, or hobbies all while on the company’s time. There were many times that people were caught shopping on company computers, playing games or accessing social networking sites, checking personal email accounts, and taking excessive breaks without the companies approval. This began to be a problem because while people are doing these things on company time, they are not doing the job that they are being paid to perform. Of course it may seem harmless

Globalization has led to reduced barriers and smudged out borders between countries. This allows more international manufacturing. As a result, sweatshops has arisen in developing countries, to serve as cheap labor for companies across the world. In many cases, it is cheaper to both produce and ship products from another country than to manufacture them nearby the business 's own location. Sweatshops are factories with unfair wages, excessive working hours , poor working conditions, and in some cases, child labor. The existence of sweatshops raises an important question: Is profit more important than morality? Whose responsibility is it to uphold standards of safety and pay? Some people argue that sweatshops are beneficial for both companies and workers. They claim that sweatshops create jobs for people who would otherwise be unemployed. Sweatshops give an opportunity for people to support their families. In this paper, I will argue that the existence of sweatshops are impermissible and unethical. To establish my position I will answer arguments that support the existence of sweatshops and explain why those reasons are unethical. Firstly, I will use Tom Morris’s book If Aristotle ran general motors to suggest a rule that we should guide our behavior after. This rule will lead me into Rawls 's theory of justice and how this idea applies to sweatshops. Secondly , I will

When working in an organization, it is usually important to establish professional ethics while following consistent ethical principles. Professional ethics are personal and corporate standards of behavior that are set by businesses, associations, and organization. It creates an institution that reflects our own values and make us feel more confident about what is an acceptable behavior and what is not. This type of ethic could vary depending on the various types of situations, professions, and personal values. Many professionals that are trusted by the public like doctors, accountants, engineers and even an information technologist all have a Code of Ethics, which sets out expectations of the member’s behavior and how they operate internally and externally.

Personal values may conflict with ethical decision making if those personal values are different than the organizational norms of the business or institution. Constructing, and maintaining personal ethics in the workplace rests with the individual, and how willing he or she is in assimilating to the evolving cultural dynamic of the corporate world. Many times a person find their personal, cultural and/or organizational ethics conflicting and must reconcile a course of action that will mitigate cognitive dissonance. In order to be a productive member of society, in small groups and globally, one must reconcile these conflicts on a daily basis and continually move forward while maintaining personal integrity and

In their personal and professional lives, people can and, unfortunately, sometimes do go against their moral and ethical standards. Ethical standards are what it means to be a good person, the social rules that govern our behavior. Ethics in business is essentially the study of what constitutes the right and wrong or the good or bad behavior in the workplace environment. A business is an organization whose objective is to provide goods or services for profit. The organization has a group of people that work together to achieve a common purpose. The moral challenges that these men and women face each day along with a whole range of problems that could occur, are why ethics plays such an important