Organisations Need Ethics Quality example essay topic

Ethics is a body of principles or standards of human conduct that given the behaviour of individuals and groups. Ethics is much more than just a collection of values. Values are almost always oversimplifications, which rarely can be applied uniformly. Ethics Quality occurs when two conditions are met: when a repeatable reasoning process is followed; and when the outputs of this reasoning result in the intents, means, and ends all being "good". When the conditions for ethics quality are met the organisation becomes capable of preventing ethical failure, not just catching and punishing it. Without a means of prevention organizations have no means for controlling its ethics quality.

Organisations need ethics quality not only to prevent unhealthy behaviour but to inspire superior reasoning and performance. It is only through human nature, and ethics, that we can inspire greater levels of innovation, teamwork, and process breakthroughs that result in sustainable competitive advantages. When managers understand how ethics makes them better, their role as a manager changes forever. Once ethics is learned we all acquire the ability to see what we often could not see before. We see that using ethics - the reasoning science - to improve individual and group performance is what real ethics - and real management - are all about. Over the years many organisations have said that their people are their most valuable assets but their organisational culture, values and principles have not necessarily borne that out in practice.

Ethics and values can go hand in hand with sound business practice if there is the goal of creating a more stable and healthy society. This has been the argument that many use in seeking to get organisations not only to understand the need for equality, bearing in mind areas of social and economic disadvantage in society, but also pointing to the clear business benefits. Once an organisation begins to take ethical (and equality) issues seriously, then it needs to audit all its' business practices: needs to look at its's stakeholders; needs to look at organisational culture and at all the people management issues in an organisation. Trying to integrate social, economic and trade policy is not easy. But public concern about child labour, sweatshop conditions and exploitation of workers in many countries, has forced organisations to take stock, and it has also forced governments to look at their policies and practices. There are different ways to tackle these constraints and so help integrate policies into an organisation.

Clear and consistent dissemination of the policy approach from the top is obviously important, and many organisations do circulate policy messages and guidance to their staff. It is also important to make sure that there is a means for monitoring performance and that people know what will be monitored and how to report against it. The action of reporting is itself important, quite apart from the information it generates, because it can help train staff and mainstream issues throughout an organisation. It is also crucial to involve staff at all levels in the development of responsible business policies and for lessons and best practice to be shared throughout the organisation, particularly so that central policies can be improved.

Sometimes people simply need practical guidance. Often, this can be done internally, case by case. Corporate ethics may be broadly understood as the application of ethics to corporate affairs. By this we mean that the corporate mission, objectives, strategies, programmes and all its operations are undertaken within the realms of ethics. In other words, every decision, judgement or action is only performed when it is ethical to do so. The question of whether it is ethical or not will depend on the beliefs we have, the values we uphold and the judgements we make about them.

It is the beliefs and values that the corporation uphold that will determine whether the decisions and judgements are ethical or not. The beliefs and values the corporations uphold will have to be consistent with those of the society in which the corporations operate. Otherwise, there will be contradictions and conflicts at various levels. When such contradictions and conflicts arise, it will not be possible for the corporation to maintain its beliefs or values. Generally, there are four levels of issues in business ethics. The fist level may be called "societal", relates to issues of basic institutions in society.

An example inclues, should we tolerate gross income inequalities in society? Corporate leaders, by virtue of their wealth, influence and power should be able to shape debates of societal-level issues. The second level may be called that of stakeholders. These include the owners, shareholders, suppliers, customers etc. At this level, issues raised are those pertaining to how a corporation should handle the external groups who are either directly or indirectly affected by its decisions and how the stakeholders should deal with the organisation. Example, insider trading.

These questions relate to policy matters and decisions on them are made daily. The third issue relates to "internal policy", particularly those concerning the employer-employee relationships. Example, what is a fair contract? These questions provide opportunities for the organisation to be socially responsive to its employees. Finally, we have the "personal level" issues on morality. The questions here relate to the way the people treat one another in the organisation and deal with the day-to-day issues of life in any organisation.

What is business ethics? The concept has come to mean various things to various people, but generally it's coming to know what is right or wrong in the workplace and doing what's right. This is in regard to effects of products / services and in relationships with stakeholders. Attention to business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change. In times of change, values that were previously taken for granted are now strongly questioned. Many of these values are no longer followed.

Consequently, there is no clear moral compass to guide managers through complex dilemmas about what is right or wrong. Attention to ethics in the workplaces helps ensure that when managers are struggling in times of crises and confusion, they retain a strong moral compass. Business ethics in the workplace is about prioritising moral values for the workplace and ensuring behaviours are aligned with those values, its values management. Many people are used to reading of the moral benefits of attention to business ethics. However, there are other types of benefits, as well. The following list describes various types of benefits from managing ethics in the workplace: 1.

Attention to business ethics has substantially improved society. 2. Ethics programs help maintain a moral course in turbulent times. 3. Ethics programs cultivate strong teamwork and productivity.

4. Ethics programs support employee growth and meaning 5. Ethics programs are an insurance policy - they help ensure that policies are legal 6. Ethics programs help to avoid criminal acts "of omission" and can lower fines. 7. Ethics programs help manage values with quality management, strategic planning and diversity management 8.

Ethics programs promote a strong public image Two main factors can explain for the rise of global social pressure groups in the last decade. Firstly, since 1990, cold war allegiances have fallen away and there has been a massive rise in democratically elected governments. Secondly, the development of technology change and development. Historically, business integrity has just meant embracing honest ethical practices. Now, globalisation has forced companies to anticipate and respond to the demands of globalised public opinion, rather than waiting for government intervention, mediation and regulation to cajole them to act (Blackett: 2001). Another new force is that of privatisation together with globalisation.

Until recently, it was taken for granted that the government would provide certain basic services and protests were largely confined to the ballot box. In Australia, good examples exist of what public pressure can mean. The launch of the "No Sweatshop" clothing label indicates a growing level of concern for the working conditions of garment makers at home and overseas, as does the Australian support for the Nike campaigns. Most recently, many questions have been raised about corporate regulation in Australia following the collapse of HIH. Finally, the future is not one in which fantastic innovation, an excellent product, efficient production and brilliant marketing will be enough.

If organisations want to excel in the long run they need to ensure that technology, business and profits are based on sound ethics and acceptable views. This means, ensuring that what they do considers social expectations and is acceptable to civil society in its many forms. Unlike Australian icons, Messrs Bond and S kase, we need to continually ask at each stage and with every decision, if the need really justifies the means. The most pertinent change resulting from technological advancement is of course the future roles to be played by information technology (IT). Advancement in IT will bring far-reaching implications. Firstly, there will be change in the types of workers required.

The blue-collar workers will be needed less and less, while knowledge workers will be required more and more. Secondly, as a consequence of the first implication, savings from cheap labour may not be sufficient to compensate the rising transportation of costs. This realisation has encouraged transnationals to establish plants were the markets are rather than where the labour and other materials are. Thirdly, there will be a tremendous change in the structure of organisations. The functions of the executives and managers will be different because we will not expect so many levels of hierarchy, since most of the analytical and technicalities would be taken over by the computer specialists.