• Define ethics.
Ethics is defined as the moral principles and standards that guide the behavior of an individual or group, while business ethics refers to said behavior in the work environment. Great leaders demonstrate and practice this both personally and professionally.
With today’s constant media coverage of unethical decisions and their violators, it can be easy for many to people to assume that ethics codes are “just for show”. A prime example of the unethical culture that exists in business today, is the recent Wells Fargo Bank scandal. The company was fined $185 billion dollars, for allegedly opening more than 2 million bank and credit card accounts to unknowing customers who did not grant permission1. Employees, clients, and stakeholders alike, were committed fraud by the company that was contractually obligated to have their best interest in mind.
However, along with these scandalous situations, there a number of truly worthy and ethical endeavors are often overlooked for a ratings defining story. Having personal experience, as many family members have worked in the oil and gas industry, there have been significant socially responsible programs implemented within organizations that have decreased environmental pollution and employee workplace related accidents.
From an individual perspective, no organization can every fully prevent all unethical behavior, as human resources present the most variable outcomes of situations through personal morals and
1. The Mayor of a large city was given a free membership in an exclusive golf club by people who have received several city contracts. He also accepted gifts from organizations that have not done business with the City but might in the future. The gifts ranged from $200 tickets to professional sports events to designer watches and jewelry.
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers to be appropriate. A person’s moral principals are shaped from birth, and developed overtime throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes whats is right, or what is wrong. Some factors are a person’s family, religious beliefs, culture, and experiences. In business it is of great importance for an employee to understand how to act ethically to prevent a company from being sued, and receiving criticism from the public while bringing in profits for the company. (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers, & Langvardt, 2010) Business ethics is when ethical behavior is applied in an business environment, or by a business. There are many
As recently as a decade ago, many peoples,companies or organizations viewed ethics,social responsibility,business ethics only in terms of administrative compliance with legal standards and adherence to internal rules and regulations. Today the situation is different. Attention to them is on the rise across the world and many companies or organizations realize that in order to succeed, they must earn the respect and confidence of their customers. Like never before, corporatons are being asked, encouraged and prodded to improve their business practices to emphasize legal and ethical behavior. Companies, professional firms and individuals alike are being held increasingly accountable for their actions, as demand
Every organization also has a profession responsibility to conduct business honestly and ethically. Our readings reported, “Experts estimated that U.S. companies lose about $600 billion a year from unethical and criminal behavior” Kinicki and Kreitner (2009). The organization could avoid having ethical issues by meeting the
The purpose of this paper is to analyze best principles for implementing and support ethical behavior in an organization and diversity management. The researcher will recommend policies for ethics and diversity management. Furthermore, the researcher will identify policies for monitoring unethical behavior and injustice in an organization. Finally, the researcher will provide the rationale for selected policies.
Morals, values and ethics define who we are and what we believe. Culture, religion, and many other things affect our beliefs. One uses various types off ethics when surrounded by different groups. Knowing between right and wrong is a good foundation to practicing good ethics and morals. These things make morals, ethics, and values important in society.
According to the New Oxford American Dictionary, ethics is defined as “moral principles that govern a person’s or group’s behavior.” Therefore, in an ideal world, ethics should play the ultimate role when making a decision. If ethics are the principles which guides one’s behavior then, ideally, all decisions should be made entirely based on ethics. Unfortunately, such is not always the case.
Every year in the United States there are many business’s that shut down due to unethical practice. There are many people who run a small business or even a multimillion business that don’t know exactly what ethics are. Ethics are rules which I will go into detail later. There are many reasons why we should follow those rules, how it effects the reputation of the company, what are the outcomes of ethical actions, and what are the outcomes of unethical actions.
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.
Our case study discusses the rise and fall of one of the largest telecommunications corporations in the world, Nortel Networks Corporation. Nortel was one of the many early 21st century telecommunications companies that failed due to upper echelon management, a dysfunctional board of directors, inflated costs and earnings, and a smoke and mirrors illusion of stability. There were many avenues that could have been taken that would have prevented the demise and fall of the organization, but those roads were not traveled. Many argue that government intervention could have prevented the backlash and whitewater effect of Nortel’s bankruptcy, but due to corporate ties within the government and the Securities and Exchange Commission the many
Since the dawn of time, ethical behavior has been a recurring thought that is a constant throughout the decision making process by many businesses. However, ignored more times than one care to admit. In addition, in recent years the ethical dilemmas continue to plague organizations and their leadership. Organizations and their leaders make decisions daily that can ultimately lead to embarrassing outcome. The subject of ethics is never meet easy, nor is it straightforward in any context. Ethics is a forever-evolving phenomenon that expands throughout organizations as well as your personal lives (Cheney & Frenette, 1993; Fielder, 1964; Jennings, 2012).
A code of ethics is a set of written principles regarding conduct and behavior created by the organization to serve as a guide. The purpose of ethical codes is to give its employees, management, and any interested party a reference point that adheres to company policy, standards, and ethical beliefs. The code is made visible to the public to ensure professional integrity, quality, and to prevent misguided conduct. Regardless of the organization or governing body a code serves as a go-to guide because ethical issues can stem from anywhere at any given time. The Code of Ethics for Nurses is so dynamic because as technology changes, so does the code to ensure that updated knowledge is provided to healthcare workers as they address new ethical
The word “ethics” comes from Greek ethikas meaning character. Today, we use ethics to describe the normative standard of behavior. The history of philosophical ethics has been broken up into five rational methods: Virtue, Traditional, Modern, and Post-Modern Ethics. Within these periods, the philosophy of ethics changed along with the changes being made within society.
In today's world, individuals can make a single decision that can have a profoundly positive or negative effect on their family, their employer, coworkers, a nation, and even on the entire world. The life we lead reflects the strength of a single trait: our personal character. Personal ethics are different for each person but for the most part, people want to be known as a good person, someone who can be trusted, and he or she are concerned about his or her relationships and personal reputations. As we go through this paper, we will focus on answering what are ethics, what are your ethics, where do your ethics come from, and how do you manifest your ethics?
The overwhelming facts point to a shady underworld of self-dealing and opportunistic exploitation of the poor and working class, which was until recently, well hidden from the commoner. The executives of WorldCom and Enron provide real world examples of unethical business practices, where the desire to make money for their shareholders transcended into an addiction to greed and self-dealing that were displayed by their, “excessive pay, perks, and golden parachutes”(Carson 392) at the expense of all stakeholders. All is not lost, there are corporations that pride themselves in their sound business model and commitment to ethical business practices. Such companies as Eaton Corporation, and Weyerhaeuser, who according to Ethisphere.com, a business ethics watchdog, are among the “2010 World`s most ethical companies.” (Ethisphere)