Ethical Issues and Management

According to Marcus Buckingham, a well known management consultant and author, “good managers do four things really well: hire good people, define clear expectations, recognize excellence and praise it, and finally, show their people they care” (Trevino & Nelson 2007, p 152). Managers enjoy more benefits along with greater pay and respect from their employees, but they have to have a critical eye during ethical dilemmas. In addition, they have to have a clear outline of their own moral principles, so that they are able to make decisions involving hiring, termination, diversity amongst their employees, and harassment situations. Ethical decision making does not come naturally, and it takes experience and training to become an excellent manager. This is worth it because in the end you will be a good role model to your employees, and you will be making decisions that better not only yourself but the people around you.
The topic I chose to focus on is diversity. Being an African American woman I am an example of diversity in the workplace. Diversity not only refers to race, sex, sexual orientation, and religion, but background, training, skills and personality. According to the text, “Talent and ability come in a variety of packages. When managers use anything other than those two factors to evaluate qualifications for hiring, promotions, or work assignments, they shortchange not only the individual but also their employer and their customer” (Trevino & Nelson 2007, p 157).
Federal law prohibits discrimination based on race, religion, sex, ethnic background, and age, but sometimes managers discriminate on a subconscious level (Trevino & Nelson 2007). For example, some companies hire employees who will be required to have a lot of contact with the public based on not only ability and qualifications but on personal appearance. They may not even realize they are doing it, or they may correlate the personal appearance of someone dealing with the public with the... [continues]

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