Preview

Ethical Behavior in Organizations

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
815 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethical Behavior in Organizations
Ethical Behavior In Organizations

Ethical Behavior in Organizations
In today’s economy, managing ethical behavior is one of the tough and complex problems that business organizations are facing. Employees ' decisions to behave ethically or unethically are influenced by the individual and situational factors. Examples of those factors are background, personality, decision history, managerial philosophy, and reinforcement, which had been identified by researchers that affect employees ' behavior when faced with ethical dilemmas. The relation to ethical behavior is reviewed in this paper. Furthermore, I will mention an example of ethical issue that happened to be addressed by the organization.
Why are ethical issues a major concern in organizations?
Ethics in general involve moral issues and choices and deals with right or wrong behavior. Ethics can affect the well-being of employees and their performances. When employees are affected with ethical issues, the organization takes a slow production of products and decrease in the product 's quality (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). In contrast, “if they’re happy, satisfied, dedicated, and energetic, they’ll take very good care of the customers. Customers are happy, they come back, and that makes the shareholders happy” (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009). In a bigger picture, it affects the company’s monetary standing. In particular, the current social problems dealing with organizational participants concerning sexual harassment, discrimination in pay and promotion, and the right to privacy is especially relevant to employees (Kinicki & Kreitner, 2009).
What individual influences impact ethical behavior?
I just now learned that not only individuals and groups but also a number of relevant factors from the cultural, organizational, and external environment determine ethical cultural influences on ethical behavior come from family, friends, neighbors, education, religion, and the media (Luthans, 2002).
How can organizations


References: Kinicki, Angelo & Kreitner, Robert. Organizational Behavior. (2009). New York: McGraw-Hill Compnanies. Luthans, Fred. Organizational Behavior 9th edition. (2002). New York: McGraw-Hill Companies. Bowen, Shannon A. (Nov 2002). Elite executives in issues management: The role of ethical paradigms in decision making. Journal of Public Affairs. Retrieved from http://search. Ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=ip,cpid&custid=s8856897&db=aph&AN=8685712&site=ehost-live The Wall Street Journal. (Producer). (2010). AM Report: Did H-P 's Board Make the Right Move? (video). Available from http://europe.wsj.com/video/am-report-did-hps-board-make-the-right-move/9DCC526A-480A-433D-8121-9F9DC0B928AC.html ?KEYWORDS=ethical+issue+with+hp
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Bus 520 Individual Ethics Paper
    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Bus 520 Individual Ethics Paper

    Every organization has a standard or code of ethics every employee is expected to adhere to. Not everyone within an organization share the same moral values or principles, this is due to cultural differences and understanding ethics competency. Ethics competency is described as the knowledge, skills and abilities to incorporate values and principals that distinguish right from wrong when making decisions and choosing behaviors ( Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011p.10). How one determines right from wrong is based on their personal beliefs but behavior and conduct within an organization should be universal, in order for an organization to be effective. Ethical issues within an organization is common because of personal differences , these ethical issues influence the decisions employees make daily (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Lawrence Kohlberg’s model of moral development suggests there are stages through which individuals evolve, ranging from the lowest stage obedience and punishment orientation, to the highest stage; universal ethical principles (Hellriegel &…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Analytical Model For Ethical Decision-Making In Accounting
    • 2730 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Analytical Model For Ethical Decision-Making In Accounting

    To improve ethical decision making in business, one must first understand how individuals make ethical decisions in an organizational environment. Too often it is assumed that individuals in organizations make ethical decisions in the same way that they make ethical decisions at home, in their families, or in their personal lives. The ethical decision process…

    • 2730 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Does diversity affect ethical decisions
    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Does diversity affect ethical decisions

    Ethical thinking involves the intricate process used to consider the impact of our actions on the individuals or institution we serve. While most decisions are routine, we can unexpectedly face an ethical dilemma when unusual situations occur suddenly for which an immediate response is needed. The foundation of ethical decision-making involves choice and balance, it is a guide to discard bad choices in favor of good ones. No matter the size of a company, unethical behavior can cripple the company's ability to attract customers, be approved for credit or maintain business partnerships. Different organizations and jobs may have different ethical issues arise and require a set standard of ethics.…

    • 1271 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    One Person's Response
    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages

    One Person's Response

    The author explains ethical or unethical behavior in different scenarios relative to management in the corporate world.…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics and Organization
    • 2228 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Ethics and Organization

    The organization of Young Teen Moms is new to the community and wants to reach out and provide a safe place for young moms. I take my new position as the director of the organization very seriously and want to share my input and values of what I think the organization can benefit from. I also would appreciate receiving feedback from every employee on new policies and how to reach out to the community.…

    • 2228 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Employees’ Personal Differences and Preferences and the Impact on Ethics in the Workplace: How Personal Can Ethics Get?
    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Employees’ Personal Differences and Preferences and the Impact on Ethics in the Workplace: How Personal Can Ethics Get?

    Organizational ethics depends on the culture of the company or organization and the extent of the importance of codes of ethics within the company. Organizational ethics is the company’s codes and procedures that manage the actions and decisions of its employees and leadership. Personal difference and preference can impact this, however. There are occasions when organizational ethics and personal ethics are not in line with one another. A lot of times employees do not know how to balance the personal side with the business side. In businesses there are…

    • 1593 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Business and Ethical Reasoning
    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Business and Ethical Reasoning

    In today’s society most people that work in a corporation often come across and have to deal with on the job ethical issues. “Ethics is a conception of right and wrong conduct. Ethical business behavior is demanded by business stakeholders, enhances business performance, complies with legal requirements, prevents or minimizes harm, and promotes personal morality” (Lawrence and Weber 2011). Ethic issues occur in all areas of business and at all levels of business management. I believe that ethical problems occur for certain reasons one being the selfishness of others. To help prevent unethical issues management must be able to recognize and help solve ethical dilemmas in the workplace. “Managers are key to whether a company and its employees will act ethically or unethically (Lawrence and Weber 2011). In some cases, managers and employees exhibit poor ethical behavior because the company doesn’t offer a clear model of ethics. Some businesses have no formal ethical policy documents and offer no guidance at all. Others have policies that are unclear, vague, inconsistent or not consistently enforced.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ethics paper
    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages

    ethics paper

    Many organizations in the world today want and expect to turn a profit just as well of having a successful business; with this they have to have ethics. A company that trades nationwide has several ways of earning revenue, but the company has the duty of the profits for their worker, stakeholders, and customers. However, not only ethics control the whole aspect of the organization, social ramifications plays apart in the business as well. If the company produces poor ethics it will reflect on other aspects of the organization. .…

    • 615 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Best Essays

    Business Ethics
    • 3443 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Business Ethics

    Ethical decision making in an organization is based on the moral judgment about right or wrong is often influenced by its own culture. When the decision is ethical or moral, employees act for the right course of action accordingly. Business ethics or the code of ethics has now days became the part of implementing organizational strategy and it development since it emphases on stopping business malpractices, business survival, protecting employees and its shareholders, better relation with both internal and external customers, HR function, smooth functioning and health competition to competitors. Unethical business behavior will definitely damage organization’s reputation that will have negative impact in the market which in turn will discourage the investors. This kind of consequence will result in low profit. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to emphasize on the ethical issues, perspective, ethics in workplace relationship and objectives of business.…

    • 3443 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Ethical Issues in Business
    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ethical Issues in Business

    Ethical issues such as abusive or intimidating behavior, bribery, and discrimination affect the employees more times than not. Abusive behavior can cover anything from annoying co-workers to bullies in the workplace. Bribery can come in two forms, those being bribed are committing the act or those doing the bribing have committed the act. Both usually involve employees in a company and other company shareholders. Discrimination not only affects current organizational employees (through pay raise and promotions) but also what might have been future…

    • 432 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    entreprenuel leadership
    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages

    entreprenuel leadership

    Business or corporate ethics are a set of norms, rules and principles of what peoplegenerally consider right in a workplace environment. It can also be referred to as a guideline of what actions are considered ethical and moral in a business environment. All businesses shouldapply business ethics principles in the workplace not only to promote a healthy and professionalenvironment but also to improve and sustain a better image of the company in general public. Acompany or business must consider several factors to ensure ethical practices are applied in allaspects of the business. Ethics is referred to the phenomenon or action which people normallyconsider right and moral and one which does not have any immoral or deceiving impacts on thestakeholders of a company and social environment a company operates in (Ferrell, Fraedrich, &Ferrell, 2000 pp. 2-25). If a business does not implement effective ethical practices it may facevarious risks such as fines, image deterioration and loss of business. Some unethical issues arealso considered unlawful which may subsequently result in major losses for the company andheavy penalties, fines and punishments being levied by regulatory bodies or government. The people working in organizations also face several problems while fulfilling their jobrequirements. In most cases people get confused about what decisions to make which areacceptable and ethical to all entities and individuals affected by the decision. Several companieshave faced ethical issues in the context of doing business and most of these companies wereinvolved in unethical accounting and business practices and one of the biggest examples of corporate scandals involving unethical issues was the case of Enron. In this case several keyemployees of the company and external auditors of the company were involved in unethical practices in business which eventually resulted in huge losses for shareholders and…

    • 301 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethical Business Behavior
    • 1876 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Ethical Business Behavior

    For this paper I will be discussing Business Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) using Anglo-American and Primark case studies as examples. First, I will discuss what is meant by ethical business behavior. Second, I will discuss how Anglo-American and Primark apply ethics into their business practices. Third, I will discuss what the costs and benefits are to an organization when they behave ethically. Finally, I will choose one component from Svennson & Woods’ model from “A Model of Business Ethics”, and discuss how it is relevant for Anglo-American.…

    • 1876 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    How Ethics Influence Behavior in Organizations
    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages

    How Ethics Influence Behavior in Organizations

    In reality, there are some specific regulations governing our lives. However, regulations do not restrain everything. In some aspects, ethics play a much more important role than regulations. Ethics is “the code of moral values or principles that governs the behaviors of a person or group with respect to what is right or wrong” (Daft & Armstrong, 2012, p.369). Unethical behavior is very common in organizations. When people need to make a decision, unethical behavior may appear, especially when decision choices conflict with one’s self-interests.…

    • 1025 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Ethical Issues in Business
    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Ethical Issues in Business

    The issue of ethical behavior is one of the top challenges facing organizations today. A good definition of ethics includes the thought of doing what is morally acceptable or what is “good” and “right” as opposed to doing what is “bad” or “wrong” (Sims, 1992). But why are these issues a concern for organizations? What can they do to promote ethical behavior from their employees? Organizations should be concerned with ethical behavior for many reasons. Even though ethical decisions are not always black and white, ethical behavior is important to the organization because ethical behavior enhances the corporate reputation, helps attract talented employees, and enhances the corporate image.…

    • 975 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics in Our Everyday Lives
    • 2043 Words
    • 9 Pages

    Ethics in Our Everyday Lives

    This paper will discuss how ethics relate in our everyday lives and more specifically how ethics are used in our workplace also how ethics are used by companies. This paper will also cover how businesses have implemented ethical procedures, standards and how these businesses flourished because of the effective use of ethical standards.…

    • 2043 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More

Related Topics