Discrimination in the Workplace
Introduction – Ethics and the Workplace
Ethics play a very important role in the running of a business. All firms and companies will have a set of ethical standards and practices that is suitable to their culture and nature of business. Ethics address duty, obligation, fairness, justice, altruism, and moral responsibility. Business ethics can be defined as right or wrong actions taken by corporations. Firms and companies are managed by people, from the very top management to the very bottom; any ethical or unethical decisions taken by the top management will have a great impact on the company’s productivity, revenue, profit, reputation and image. For example any unethical decision may result in the loss of business opportunities such as huge contract not being awarded or renewed because of the loss of credibility and trust in the company. Unethical practices such as fraud and corruption committed especially by top management may cause big financial losses to the company. Discriminatory practices and decisions can also have an adverse impact on the company. The term discrimination describes a large number of wrongful acts in employment, housing, education, medical care, and other important area of public life. Discrimination in employment, which is our main concern here, generally arises from the decision employers make about hiring, promotion, pay, fringe benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment that directly affect the morale and economic interest of the employees. Although discrimination takes different forms, the common feature is that a person is deprived of some benefit or opportunity because of prejudice against his/her race, sex, religion, color, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, etc. The adverse impacts on discrimination are staff attrition, low morale and productivity, bad reputation and eventually loss of business and revenue for the firm or company. Work performance and efficiency are affected because the company
Ethics play a very important role in the running of a business. All firms and companies will have a set of ethical standards and practices that is suitable to their culture and nature of business. Ethics address duty, obligation, fairness, justice, altruism, and moral responsibility. Business ethics can be defined as right or wrong actions taken by corporations. Firms and companies are managed by people, from the very top management to the very bottom; any ethical or unethical decisions taken by the top management will have a great impact on the company’s productivity, revenue, profit, reputation and image. For example any unethical decision may result in the loss of business opportunities such as huge contract not being awarded or renewed because of the loss of credibility and trust in the company. Unethical practices such as fraud and corruption committed especially by top management may cause big financial losses to the company. Discriminatory practices and decisions can also have an adverse impact on the company. The term discrimination describes a large number of wrongful acts in employment, housing, education, medical care, and other important area of public life. Discrimination in employment, which is our main concern here, generally arises from the decision employers make about hiring, promotion, pay, fringe benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment that directly affect the morale and economic interest of the employees. Although discrimination takes different forms, the common feature is that a person is deprived of some benefit or opportunity because of prejudice against his/her race, sex, religion, color, national origin, age, sexual orientation, disability, etc. The adverse impacts on discrimination are staff attrition, low morale and productivity, bad reputation and eventually loss of business and revenue for the firm or company. Work performance and efficiency are affected because the company
Bibliography: • Boatright, J.R.B. (2004) Ethics and the Conduct of Business (4th edn), India, Pearson Education • ISO 9001 (International Organization for Standardization) (2000) Quality management systems – Requirements, ISO