Identification and Reduction of Unethical Behaviors in the Workplace
Unethical Behavior in the Workplace:
Causes and Corrections
Lisa Witzel
University of Central Oklahoma
Ethics and Organizations
Ethics
As the lines between what is moral and ethical and what is not becomes more blurred, it is important more than ever to desire and maintain an ethical work culture. In the past few decades, the fast pace of technology, the moral disintegration of values in the general population and the blatant disregard for ethical behavior among CEO’s, public officials and celebrities further erodes an individual’s sense of right and wrong.
The recognition of unethical behavior in the workplace is often three-fold and consists of identifying exactly what unethical behavior consists of, why it occurs, and what can be done to correct it.
In business as in society, general unethical behavior is on the rise. This is evident in the myriad of news reports regarding unethical conduct by both large corporations and self- employed business owners that are a daily news occurrence. “In the last ten years, approximately two-thirds of America’s 500 largest corporations have been involved in illegal activity”. (Crossen, 1993 p.228) Unethical behavior can take down a company and the best way to cut down on unethical behavior is to manage unethical employees
The best way to know what unethical behavior entails, we first need to define what it is to be ethical. Webster’s dictionary defines ethics as: “The discipline dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty and obligation”.(Merriam-Websters 2008 p.429)
Unethical behavior isn’t just one action it takes many forms in the workplace. “The U.S. Industry loses about $400 billion annually to unethical or criminal behavior”.(McClenahen, 1999, p.13). There are many different types of unethical behavior.
The most prevalent is employee theft. A staggering amount of employee theft is found in a majority of businesses and causes a huge financial
Causes and Corrections
Lisa Witzel
University of Central Oklahoma
Ethics and Organizations
Ethics
As the lines between what is moral and ethical and what is not becomes more blurred, it is important more than ever to desire and maintain an ethical work culture. In the past few decades, the fast pace of technology, the moral disintegration of values in the general population and the blatant disregard for ethical behavior among CEO’s, public officials and celebrities further erodes an individual’s sense of right and wrong.
The recognition of unethical behavior in the workplace is often three-fold and consists of identifying exactly what unethical behavior consists of, why it occurs, and what can be done to correct it.
In business as in society, general unethical behavior is on the rise. This is evident in the myriad of news reports regarding unethical conduct by both large corporations and self- employed business owners that are a daily news occurrence. “In the last ten years, approximately two-thirds of America’s 500 largest corporations have been involved in illegal activity”. (Crossen, 1993 p.228) Unethical behavior can take down a company and the best way to cut down on unethical behavior is to manage unethical employees
The best way to know what unethical behavior entails, we first need to define what it is to be ethical. Webster’s dictionary defines ethics as: “The discipline dealing with what is good and bad, and with moral duty and obligation”.(Merriam-Websters 2008 p.429)
Unethical behavior isn’t just one action it takes many forms in the workplace. “The U.S. Industry loses about $400 billion annually to unethical or criminal behavior”.(McClenahen, 1999, p.13). There are many different types of unethical behavior.
The most prevalent is employee theft. A staggering amount of employee theft is found in a majority of businesses and causes a huge financial
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