Ethics at Work
Today's society is governed through the implications of rules, legal restrictions that tell you if something is considered, in the eyes of society, to be right or wrong. All of these rules were created to uphold and maintain a ridged idea of ethical and moral values. For example the "10 commandments" which are thousands of years old, were created to teach ethical values, the difference between right and wrong. But who determines what is considered ethical? And what affects ones decision to act ethical or unethical? The answers to these questions will be discussed later.
Webster's new world dictionary defines ethics as "the study and standards of conduct and moral judgment" and "the system of morals of a particular religion, group, etc" (1). The understanding of human standards and moral judgment has greatly influenced modern business. Most modern Business' pay careful attention to ethical values and follow an ethical code of conduct. However these ethical values were not always acknowledged, slavery is a good example of this. With the emergence of the industrial revolution, new ideas about management and ethical practices came into effect, eventually resulting in major benefits to employers and employees.
In the early 1800's, the industrial revolution well under way, managers of industrial factories cared little about the well being of their workers. There main concern was with achieving the greatest amount of productivity. Managers accomplished this by matching workers skills with job related skills. For example, for a job that required allot of heavy lifting would go to an individual who is physically fit (2). This act of matching skills is referred to as the "scientific management movement" it provides goo...
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...ority of people would see as acceptable. If they were in the same situation what would they do, or want to be done. This method of determining what is ethical is the most democratic. Putting your self in others shoes may aid in finding an adequate solution. Most employees if asked about their beliefs would see firing someone for stealing staples to strong of a punishment, a stern lecture may be sufficient.
Now that the three ethical theories of determining if an action is ethical or not are understood, it is clear that what is ethical to one person may not be to another. Modern business will use there existing knowledge about human relations to deal with ever changing ethical views. While the understanding of ethics has changed allot since the beginning of civilization, it will continue to change as new cultural norms are developed.
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Situations like feeling it is acceptable to take office items from the workplace, such as office supplies, even thought they would never steal from a store like Office Depot. By doing these things people are separating their personal and professional ethics, having one set of standards for work and one for the rest of your life. This mistake is then putting you at risk to become unethical and allowing you to use the excuse that you were just following your professional code of ethics. If everyone had a different code of ethics in the workplace then there is no telling how people would treat each other or their workplace. Whether we are in the workplace or at home, we all need to live a life under the same set of values that will guild our actions no matter where we are. Ethically, you can 't justify lying in the workplace for the "greater good" while never doing that at
Ethics is the standard that are set by a person or organizations based from their beliefs, the values they hold, moral rules they have that helps them make the right or wrong decision, how to act when confronted with a moral dilemma. Setting an ethical standard and a set of rules is critical to having healthy employees, customers, and ultimately a healthy organization.
When running a business ethics plays an important role in the success of the business. “Ethics is the study of those values that relate to our moral conduct, including questions of good and evil, right and wrong, and moral responsibility” (pg. 2). Every individual will have a different set of moral codes. Moral codes are shaped by your personality, environment and religion. In this scenario and throughout this paper you will come to understand how our moral code of ethics plays a role in our daily decisions.
Ethical behavior is behavior that a person considers appropriate. A person’s moral principles are shaped from birth, and developed over time throughout the person’s life. There are many factors that can influence what a person believes 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.
In Module 1, Kindred Todd faced quite a few ethical dilemmas that included her values and technical ineptness. The first predicament was tested her personal morals and ethics. According to, Cumming and Worley, OD practitioners are dealing more and more with value conflicts with powerful outside groups (Cummings & Worley, 2008). Kindred was immediately faced with the issue of knowing what was ethically correct but being told the unethical approach was the best in order to benefit the client and her job security. Although compromising is one of the many skills of organization developers there are still morals that should be followed on each assignment. Kindred, know that deceiving the clients was unethical, took the first step to working on behalf of the client and immediately involved her superior, Larry, to resolve a potential conflict In the project. While her actions went in vain when she told her boss to remove her from the project and provide the client with a more qualified resource, Kindred did what she thought to be the best approach.
By definition, ethics refers to "a set of principles of right conduct." It is also defined as "the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession," (www.thefreedictionary.com) and in business may be considered the standards governing the conduct of people in the business environment. Business ethics is the behavior that a business adheres to in its daily dealings with the world. It relies on values as a way of guiding behaviour in business.
Ethical standards that evolved over the history of Western civilization deal with interpersonal relationships. What is right or wrong? What one should do and not do when dealing with other people. Ethical behavior in a business environment has not been as clearly defined. When businesses were small and the property of a few individuals, traditional ethical standards were applied to meet different situations. However, as businesses became larger, the interpersonal ethical relations did not provide any clear behavioral guidelines. Likewise, the principles of ethical relationships were even less pertinent to the corporate environments.
Ethics in business is a highly important concept, as it can affect a company’s profits, salaries paid to employees and CEOs, and public opinion, among many other aspects of a business. Ethics can be enforced by company policies and guidelines, set a precedent when a company is faced with an important decision, and are also evolving thanks to new technology and situations that arise due to technology usage. Businesses have a duty to maintain their ethical responsibilities and also to help their employees enforce these responsibilities in and out of the workplace. However, ethics and the foundation for them are not always black and white. There are many different ethical theories, however Utilitarianism, Kant’s Deontological ethics, and Virtue ethics are three of the most well known theories in existence. Each theory is distinct in that it has a different quality used to determine ethicality and allows for a person to choose which system of ethics works best with both the situation and his or her personal ethical preferences.
Ethics in the Workplace "Ethics are personal and, at the same time, a very public display of your attitudes and beliefs. It is because of ethical beliefs that we humans may act differently in different situations" (University of Phoenix, 2007). Poor ethical choices in the workplace can truly hurt people. Poor ethics can damage their career, happiness, and quality of life. Not only can these actions hurt the individual who has made the bad choices, but also most often it hurts the innocent.
Ethical theories are a way of finding solutions to ethical dilemmas using moral reasoning or moral character. The overall classification of ethical theories involves finding a resolution to ethical problems that are not necessarily answered by laws or principles already in place but that achieve justice and allow for individual rights. There are many different ethical theories and each takes a different approach as to the process in which they find a resolution. Ethical actions are those that increase prosperity, but ethics in business is not only focused on actions, it can also involve consequences of actions and a person’s own moral character.
In the business world there are many fundamental aspects and situations that can lead to several issues. In order to find an optimal and professional solution, business decision makers need to apply moral and ethical standards. And it is at that moment in which business ethics perform its role. Business ethics, which is in charge of examine how companies and individuals should act in business situations, is very essential in order to reach a common agreement and to work within the laws of business and solve an arisen dilemma. Working of the hand of ethical business companies, employees, investors, directors, and even individual officers can be beneficiated and obtain most favorable outcomes.
In the past, managers considered workers as machinery that could be bought and sold easily. To increase production, workers were subjected to long hours, miserable wages and undesirable working conditions. The welfare of the workers and their need were disregarded. The early twentieth century brought about a change in management and scientific management was introduced. This sort of management, started by Frederick Winslow Taylor, emphasised that the best way to increase the volume of output was to have workers specializing in specific tasks just like how a certain machine would perform a particular function. His implementation of this theory brought about tremendous criticism by the masses arguing that the fundamentals of Scientific Management were to exploit employees rather than to benefit them (Mullins, 2005)
Ethics in the workplace is a very important thing to have. Without a sense of ethicality in the workplace there are many things that could go wrong. You could even end up losing a job because of a lack of ethics, or other consequences could be felt due to a lack of caring or morality. The workplace is a place that you should show respect and dignity, and a deeper sense of ethics is very important in order to uphold these senses of morality. Workplace ethics, which include such things as behavior, integrity, commitment, teamwork, and other things, are important, if not required, in most workplaces and can help to improve performance and morale for workers and employers.
When I think of ethics, I think of the angel on my left shoulder telling me to do the “right” thing, and the devil on my right, tempting me to join the dark side. This scenario deals with what is “right” or what is “wrong” and where my morals will lie in the end. But who is to say what is right and wrong? Ethics is such a trivial word because every person, company, and culture has a different idea of what is considered ethical or what is considered unethical. Throughout this paper, I will address my personal view on ethics, and how I believe it effects the workplace and today’s society.
Ethics are moral principles or values that govern the conduct of an individual or a group.It is not a burden to bear, but a prudent and effective guide which furthers life and success. Ethics are important not only in business but in academics and society as well because it is an essential part of the foundation on which a civilized society is built.