Ethics in the Workplace

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.

According to Johnson (2012) leaders are powerful role models, and policies will have a little effect if leaders do not follow the rules they set. In Enron case, corruption and ethical misconduct were deeply embedded in their business culture where profitability was more important than ethics. In this paper, I will address the factors that had led to the development of the culture of profit before principle at Enron. Also, I will create my personal code of ethics that will guide me in my professional and personal decision making and doing the right thing when faced with ethical challenges.

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.

(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.

It is only during moral lapses and corporate scandals that interest groups and the broader public ask themselves the fundamental ethical questions, who are the managers of the organization and were they acting with the ethical guidelines. For a long time, the issue of ethics was largely ignored, with organizations focusing on profit maximization. However, this has changed, and much attention is now focused on ethics management by researchers and leaders. The issue of ethics has arisen at a time when public trust on corporate governance is low, and the legitimacy of leadership is being questioned. Leaders are expected to be the source of moral development and ethical guidance to their employees.

Stating this new position, I was bright eyed and bushy tailed, I was not prepared for this at all. This make me wonder when people are facing an ethical dilemma, do we need to have crucial conversations? For example, what would you do if or what lines should never be cross in business. What is their thought process? Did the go into ethical dilemma with the intent to cover things up and deal with the consequences as it arrive? For instance, Volkswagen deliberately deceived consumers with its "Clean Diesel" campaign and decided to pay. Not one person involved went to jail. It makes me wonder, did anyone had any remorse. This is my third time bringing up the ethical dilemma, I was a part of, and I still cry about it. I'm not the same person;

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.

In the corporate world today, businesses that are enormous and those that are less enormous, must follow some ethical principles. An organization’s ethics matters significantly because standards lean toward the organization’s reputation regarding trust, respect, equality, and fairness” (Society for Human Resource Management, 2015, p. 119). To just put it, having ethical principles in place that are good for the business matter and sometimes they don’t. For example, even though Wall Street had ethical principles in place, it did not matter for some because the organizational behavior led to people losing homes, all their saving and for some their lives. This renowned organization collapsed because of unethical practices in the workplace which affected the community, customers, and the team itself. The consequences were a catastrophe mess. Some of the employees at the top fail to meet their responsibility in regards to making decent choices. They were driven by greed and the ignorance of the public policy. They violated their ethical charge to influence business for their profit and special interest groups. If an organization look at its ethics and values and ignore something that is wrong, it just might end up out of business. I firmly believe that people who manage currency should have a high degree of integrity. As I begin to reflect on the question, what are some of the ethical principles that our organization operates under? What

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

It is the responsibility of everyone in the workplace to make decisions on how they treat others in the workplace. In all these decisions, the relationship between the employees, the employees and their employers, and the employees and the organization have to be well maintained. When ethical decisions are made in the workplace, then employees can guarantee that the returns produced for their shareholders are both high and long-term. Factors such as concern and care for employees, and fairness at work all ensure that employees are highly committed to their work (Vickers, 2010). The employer should therefore strive to ensure that all these factors are incorporated in the workplace by creating an ethical work environment.

Leadership is by all means a special talent that not all people possess. A leader must also have ethics to be effective for the long term in the corporate world. These leaders generally implement ethical programs in order to influence an organizations climate (Yukl, 2010). I will evaluate the importance of ethical leadership and the role it plays into today’s organizations. In addition, I will discuss the repercussions a company may have when its leadership allows and even rewards unethical business practices. Lastly, I will apply my personal leadership perspective. My perspective will include the path-goal theory and ethical practices that I find important to

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

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

Ethical Lessons Learned from Corporate Scandals Ethics is about behavior and in the face of dilemma; it is about doing the right thing. Ideally, managerial leaders and their people will act ethically as a result of their internalized virtuous core values. The Enron scandal is the most significant corporate collapse in the United States and it demonstrates the need for significant reforms in accounting and corporate governance in the United States. It is also a call for a close look at the ethical quality of the culture of business generally and of business corporations (Lessons from the Enron Scandal).