Ethics Paper MGT498 Ethics Paper One of the biggest things that big named organizations sometimes tend to forget is that when difficult decisions must be made, they affect everyone within that organization. Whether it be budget cuts leading to loss of hours or layoffs, lower stocks percentages for the shareholders or it can even change things positively, and require more production of hiring. Either way, when issues come up and things change, it is important to keep everyone involved well informed and made in the best interest of those directly affected. In the business world, corporations have a responsibility to the employees as well as the stakeholders to be ethical in their decision making by staying true to their beliefs and behavior to society. When unethical decisions are made, everyone involved in the corporation and its well being are affected in a negative way and will jeopardize the well being of the business.
Credit crunch and recession are great examples of external factors influencing the business. If the people are suffering from recession, they will not have money to spend money and this is how it affects the businesses. The current instability in Iraq is a good example of what may happen to businesses. In business it’s very important to understand, monitor and adapt to the political environment, because it crucially affects every business. Some of the very important factors are: Government stability effects businesses in a great range by competing with businesses to lower their costs, transparency is another important factor where anything the business does is revealed to the government and the government know exactly what they are up to.
Assignment 4: Legal and Ethical Considerations in Marketing, Product Safety, and Joel Chagadama December 4, 2014 LEG 500 Professor Augustine Weekley Abstract The relationship between legal and ethics has long been strained and confusing to understand. Ethics is concerned with what is right or wrong, good or bad, fair or unfair, responsible or irresponsible, obligatory or permissible, praiseworthy or blameworthy. It is associated with guilt, shame, indignation, resentment, empathy, compassion, and care. It is interested in character as well as conduct. Many in business use these life values to make decisions that have been passed down from family, educational and religious institutions.
There were also unethical issues involving the entity that was supposed to secure and watch over those that are investing our money. That entity, known as the Securities and Exchange Commission, failed to properly investigate certain claims that were made against Madoff long before this scheme broke wide open. The SEC was warned numerous times about the inconsistent information from Bernie Madoff. Ethical misconduct within this case has made more investors aware of what is needed besides forking over large sums of money and charitable contributions to someone who claims they are doing the work of the people. Investors now know that it is also their job to challenge and be more “in tune” to what their money is doing and how their money is working.
According to Robert Solomon, “Good Ethics is Good Business” and “unethical conduct hurts business as a whole”. I agree with his point of view because in the business world, we have witnessed big companies fail and fall down due to their unethical practice. I also agree that being aware of the 3C’s, which are Compliance, Contributions, and Consequences, is the best tool to define Good Ethics in Business. Solomon used Break Breaker Inc. case to prove that unethical business strategy will lead to the quick failure of business. Break Breaker Inc. to some extent obey with some legal rules, but failed to comply with principles of morality and community, contribute to the society by producing honest high quality services, and account the consequence of damaging their reputation.
The ethical Behavior of Bernard Madoff and Enron Corp Enron and Madoff investment corporation downfall resulted from their failure to observe the business code of ethics. Their greed, improper transactions, lack of transparency and integrity, bankrupted and exposed their criminal activity. They lost the confidence of the public and their employees. Business men are expected to conduct themselves in ethically acceptable rules that follow social values. They are required to follow regulations and laws that are passed in order to protect the society.
The conflicts that are found in the everyday world is in need of open minded, diverse people. Obligation is indeed an efficient ethical perspective with strong ties to doing the fair and just thing. There are times when your obligation to the law might override your obligation to your partners or fellow officers. You have to be willing to abide by the code of ethics set before you which are true and just. In order to work with a diverse group of people you must be able to conform to the moment and the situation being flexible in your actions but conforming to your obligations.
When corruption occurs it damages the reputation of the employees and the business. Society relied upon this firm to assist in making them money but the firm was more concerned with their bottom line. Many of the individuals doing business with these firms lost their life savings and destroyed some of the trust that investors have with the Wall Street firms. It makes people have second thoughts about investing in the stock market. Another effect this unethical behavior had on these organizations been they agreed to pay a penalty of over $1.43 billion dollars as compensation to the victims.
The problem with having different job descriptions and having the same title is very big. It effects every aspect of the business and in this case the bank because one employee has a totally different viewpoint on the job then the other person and it can cause inflict of interest especially towards the clients. In order to organize the bank again and enure that the restudied job information was correct I would do some job analysis procedures as a consultant to show CPIB how to prevent the employees from changing their job descriptions. I would use certain job analysis that we discussed in chapter 8 such that would rate the employees and evaluate them and that way they can train the people that needed to understand their job descriptions better. I would use the 360-degree performance appraisal and have some assessment centers.
Employment assurance wavered due to the negligence of the organization failing to adhere to policy and procedures which resulted in employees and volunteers practicing deceitful and unethical things. Investor loyalty was severely damaged by inside personnel stealing donated funds and financial misconduct of company records. Customer fulfillment was depleted based on the untimely actions of the American Red Cross along with the consumer fraud, and the organization attempting to deceive the donor’s for their own personal gain. Today’s business world needs leaders who can make ethical decision while making sure the action can have a lasting effect on the organization as a