Ethical Discernment: The Adelphia Scandal

Ethics can have a big influence on decision-making in the workplace. Ethical behavior in the workplace is behavior that is accepted as morally "right," rather than "wrong." (Organizational Behavior). Unethical behavior can be considered illegal, or merely against the norms of society. Employees encounter ethical decisions every day in the workplace, whether they realize it or not. The stock boy must make a decision on whether it is right to steal merchandise. The auto mechanic must make a decision on what is a fair price to charge a gullible customer. The CEO must decide how to use all the power he or she possesses. There are many different thinking about ethical behavior, and different people

Ethical issues are becoming very essential and critical topic for examining the organization’s performance. According to Chang, (2011) nowadays, every organization has realized the vitality that ethical functionality gives to a business and need of attention to this emerging responsibility of organizations.

The issue of ethical decision making has become more important in recent years for a variety of reasons. An understanding of ethical decision making in organizations is more significant to the development of organizational science. Managers engage in decision-making behavior affecting the lives and well-being of others. The individual responds to an ethical dilemma with cognitions determined by his or her cognitive moral development stage.

Both key elements have an interactive relationship that helps in building profitable businesses, as well as a well-rounded community. Ethics refers to set of beliefs about right and wrong, good and bad. Therefore, Good ethical practice help build our business, as well as help our staff members to make ethical decisions. The decision of each official can affect the entire organization. Whereas, most people come from different background and culture which also plays a vital role in shaping their ethics. Business ethics involves the application of the issues in the workplace. While much unethical behavior is illegal, one important role of business ethics is to manage behavior that cannot be covered by government laws. The universal ethical standards, which involve respect, responsibility, and citizenship, are rules that apply to people and should be held high within the workplace. Social responsibility is the obligation of a business to contribute to society. The cheesecake restaurant social responsibility affects the environment, customers, investors, and our employees. (Bruning, 2014)

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

Effects of products/services and in relationships with stakeholders. That attention to business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change -- times much like those faced now by businesses, both nonprofit and for-profit. In times of fundamental change, values that were previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values are no longer followed. Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Attention to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they should act. Perhaps most important, attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that

Everything in life has a trade off. "Ethics is defined as the moral principles that govern a persons behavior." Ethics is constructed by society, and personal values, the purpose of code of ethics is that it gears all organizational conclusions, creating a groundwork in which all conclusions are drawn. This can benefit to build a sense of barriers through the organization. A well thought out code of ethics can assure a companies standing. Looking at the world of business and ethics, it is clear to see that there are many possible tradeoffs. One can be loyal to the company, and not have the best success, or one can be deceiving and manipulating in order to become rich and successful. The motivation for researching this topic is to see how the

This paper primarily consists of a personal response to a few questions about ethics in business. Describing the meaning of ethics sets the criteria for evaluating if actions are ethical. Looking at current and future career work, the concept of ethics is applied to predict ethical challenges. Based on this coursework, and outside research, resources will be identified that may be beneficial when business ethical challenges arise. The coursework on ethics covered law, conflict of interest, accounting, environment, finance, marketing, management, reputation, and corporate social responsibility. All of these topics are corporate concerns. Some topics may present dilemmas during the course of business. The responses in this paper

Ethics in the world today help generation from generation, even unborn generation to know what is wrong and what is right. It helps everybody in the world to behave in a cultured manner. Ethics use in an organization have effect on the morale and loyalty of the workers especially when the management has good ethical standards. When workers morale are boosted and loyalty level increases, there will be increase in productivity level, thereby increasing the economy in the world.

In a business setting especially, good decision making is an essential skill for career success. People can learn to make timely and well considered decisions, unlike the many unethical or quickly selected options talked about earlier. Learning these appropriate guides early will often lead a business team to success much faster. Obviously, when making poor decisions, a business risks failure. All in all, a dedicated commitment to ethical behavior is the right thing to do, is good business, and promoting ethical excellence

Ethics are extremely important in the workplace to maintain order, ensuring that a company runs properly and efficiently. According to authors Colquitt, LePine, & Wesson, ethics is noted as, “The degree to which the behaviors of an authority are in accordance with generally accepted moral norms” (Colquitt, LePine, & Wesson). The decisions that individuals make on a daily basis have a great deal morality within. Characteristics that aid in the ethical decision making process include dedication, integrity, conduct, and many more. Every company makes its values and ethics known immediately after hiring an employee, or specifically, during the interview process. In many businesses, no matter how well an employee performs, workplace values and ethics are

The role of the individuals that are associated to the business play a vital role as to the moral behaviour of the business For example if the business is run by people who unethical the business may be regarded as unethical whereas if the business is run in an ethical manner by ethical people it may contribute to the business in the long run. Responsibility, reliability and trustworthiness affect and play a major role to a business’s success and profitability. An individual who is unethical in his/her practises may lower the success in his/her business and reduce the success of its profitability, relations with its employees and create an bad working environment that may evoke poor service and a decrease in productivity and result in a damaged image for the business.

(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.

While an organization is often confronted with the numerous issues in need of effective decision-making processes, their ability to utilize their code of ethics is proving more vital to their success in today’s society (The only way is ethics. 2015). Furthermore, an organization’s willingness and ability to sacrifice possible profits in order to ensure the well-being of their stakeholders, signifies both their type of ethics and the degree in which it influences their business transactions. Therefore, an ethical decision can be classified as a decision that is intended to either maintain or improve the reputation and/or welfare of an organization and their participants, as well as their prospective growth. Despite the fact that ethical decision-making

An ethical organization can focus greater attention on improvement and growth. When a company has an ethical basis, there is an established pattern for the way work gets done and issues are handled. It is incredibly freeing to know you can count on your coworkers and be valued by your employer. Practiced ethics in the workplace can make the difference between having a job you hate and having a rewarding career you look forward to each day. Employees who care about their work are considerably more productive and more likely to meet the goals of the company.