Theories of Ethics
Write a Reflective Essay-Business Ethics.
As an overview of the total module which includes business ethics, decision making related to the ethics, perspective, moral ethics, and formation of strong characters (Garavan & McGuire, 2010). It has covered almost all the possible aspect related to the professional ethics like theories related to ethics, combination of communication with ethics, need of ethics if there is presence of corporate social responsibility, importance of ethics in the life of leaders, destructive behavior. The whole structure of the course was well designed with the fix mindset up of covering all the possible aspect of ethics.
In this course I learned many things and also it has given me some of my quires related to the ethics like earlier I was very confused that why people are taking about ethics even they have corporate social responsibility in their company in running position (Bishop, 2013). But this course has cleared my confusion that it is not only about doing good for the society but it also about the morals which we are carrying with us in our life because today is the time of growth and development in which person changes its company while looking the growth path of his/her career and the change also brings change in the value given to SCR activities (Pullen & Rhodes, 2015). It is only the ethics which will remain associated with the person for his whole life not only during its professional life. Then I came in the learning phase of theories related to ethics such as Utilitarianism which simply focus on doing utmost good for large number of people along with the ethical decision making just like other decisions. Second theory was on work of Kant which made his focus on do not care for the outcome if we have done our work with right nature or with in the boundaries of ethics. Then, Rawl`s theory which focus on balance freedom and equality among all. As we all are living in democratic culture so we should motivate people for these benefits in equal share for all members (Stansbury, 2009).
Then I learnt about business ethics and different components mentioned as part of its learning exercise. The first component was facing the shadow side of personality was important and mentioned that the shadow of the person is more likely to surface in a stressful condition. It also includes identifying personal values which are actually desirable goals which varies according to its importance (Svensson & Wood, 2011). Hard work is given importance along with the respect to be shown of the co-workers. It also included self-assessment with the help of Schwartz`s value system. The second component of business ethics was finding or discovering vocation, it was important to understand what really excites an individual in order to understand the direction of the life (Gray, 2009). It also touched the theory of developing character in which focus is on developing strong virtuous character because in today time availability of much time is less to focus on making logical decisions. It also covered the spiritual transformation and its stages. It says that person first enters in emerging stage, then evolution stage and then recaptures stage, then dark night and then dawn. As per my concern my personal values are discipline, caring, passion and remain focused towards my goal (Pullen & Rhodes, 2014). In my character ethics play very important role because it becomes very difficult for to participant in any event or work which my ethics and personal values do not support and also my strong decision making capability play strong foundation for developing my character.
Importance of Ethics in Professional and Personal Life
As world is changing very fast so now or after wards everyone has to enter in to professional world. Hence, before entering in to this world one should have knowledge about the place of ethics in this business world. It is just like game before entering in to game the person is first made aware of the rules of the game (Bruhn, 2009). From this course I learnt how to exercise ethical influence in professional business surroundings. I learnt that the power in business organization is classified into five categories such as coercive, referent, legitimate, reward and expert power, and it is advised to pick the power which helps in achieving the said goals of the organization (Lucas., Van wee & Maat, 2016). In this course I also learnt about the power politics which is being played from years and how it impacts on the work level of the person. Power politics basically acts as a barrier between the relationships of the workforce which instead of supporting each other starts finding chances to decline the level of the other member which finally impacts the overall productivity of the whole organization. In some cases politics is considered good in terms of it should be healthy which means that it should not provide benefit to only one person or a group instead of that it should be beneficial for the overall organization.
Usually an individual during its life time covers two life one is personal and other is professional. It becomes very important to balance both these life sections. As per my concern I believe that only ethical principle can balance both these section. I have always kept ethics as my principle which continuously supplies me strength and attitude towards life. I believe that every individual which has taken birth in this world deserves same respect and equality for any aspect. I believe that humanity is one of the biggest gift that god has given to every individual and it is that thing which makes us different from rest of all species (Sekerka ., Bagozzi & Charnigo, 2009). I also believe that this world is an eco-system in which whatever things we do gets reflected in the whole world and one of the important ethical principle for me is think better. In this believe if we take this world as a sign of beauty and always in a try to spread love and care for the other, same kind of action will be reflected from the side of the world. This world is all about give and take. This kind of action will definitely generate act of kindness within the human beings and finally I believe that fairness should be there in this world so that no one gets miss treated which ultimately helps in overall development of the entire mankind (Richardson, 2012).
Impact Theory of Morality
The overall learning from this course is that as a business professional the top most priority should be given to the ethics if one has to work in an organization because organization is a basically a community in which people come together form group or team for the completion of the organization goal and in this operation there is a high chance of transfer of values, believes and culture among these individuals and in this case if the individual give ultimate importance to ethics in the organization the rest of all individuals will follow up the same line for the rest of their professional life as well as personal life (Ofori, 2009)
Impact theory of morality is nothing but a relation or connection between the moral behaviors of an individual with the behavior which the individual shows in the framework of social-moral reality. In simple words we can say that this theory assumes that a fixed setup is being fixed by an individual and then incline towards holding moral beliefs in which responsibilities within structure are seen as the foundation for the theory. It has been seen that the fixed reality that an individual has setup in the formation of moral principles which totally stands on the foundation or the equal right for all human being or we can say it is a human duty base theory which believe in equality (Habermas, 2012). As per my concern my implicit theory of morality is more inclined towards responsibility based because moral principle varies from organization to organization and some time it becomes difficult to predict what is right and who is right because whatever is ethical for me may not be possible will be unethical for other related to their role and responsibilities but basic concept should be same or we can say rules should be same. I work for definitely holds a significant value in the society and the community (Derr, 2012). More so, I am a believer that the organization are always focused on doing good for the humanity, society and the world, and in order to do so, it becomes convenient for one to align themselves with the duty assigned to them by their respective organization. For example if I am employee of an organization work under a manager. The things which are ethical for managers like using manager portal will be unethical if I will use the same portal for my duties. Hence, for me it is actually the ability to evaluate individual through their action towards the social act either positive or negative (Fleming & Spicer, 2008). I believe that every organization working in this world is related to bring easiness in the life of human being or work for the development of the human being in different sections. Organization is a body which is bounded by rules, policies and procedures and there are many chances that it may not match with mine. Hence, it becomes my duty to align these rules, policies and procedures along with my duties. Impact theory creates an environment in which all the working organization works. But we should not forget that work environment changes according to the change in the external business environment and in this case of change it may be possible that our moral may not match with the current policies and procedures. Then, I have to decide what suits best for me according to my moral aspects (Farrell & Drezner, 2008).
Components of Business Ethics
Ethics are the beliefs that shape the life of a person. It is not just a philosophy but it serves as a core foundation of how we spent our life. It also forms a moral system which we accept as our principles that impact how we make our decisions. Ethics is also associated with what is good for us and our society. Ethics includes aspects like right of equality, difference between good and bad and the correct definition of wrong and right. Following are some of theories of ethics discussed in the class:-
The theory of Utilitarianism is based on the concept that action should be that it utilize the maximum output. Maximum output means that the sum of all comfort that occurs from this action may work for the best of the society along with minimizing the harmful aspects on the society. It also states that action decides the probability of becoming right decision or wrong decision (McGee, 2010). This theory is segmented in to three stages; one is find out the probability of actions, then analyze the direct and indirect impact related to this action and finally chose the best alternative which will work for giving us the maximum utilization.
The theory of deontological ethics is based on the normative ethical side which decides the morality of action on the base of set up rules. It is also defined as obligations that bind us with our responsibilities. Ethical action may stand up from external or internal forces. As per Kane, the action can be taken on any side of the line but it is the set up rules which decides that the taken action is right or wrong according to the set up rules (Greene, 2008).
The theory of Altruism is based on the aspect in which one person helps the other person without concern for reward and on the cost of self-sacrifices (Curry., Roberts & Dunbar, 2013). In simple words we can say that help which will change the overall impact of the society without thinking about self-benefit which will result in the increase of the caring nature for others and will create a society free of greed and lust for power (McCullough., Kimeldorf & Cohen, 2008)
The theory of Confucianism is based on the aspect that a society is formation of tradition, religion and humanistic values which grows with the development of an individual which happens right from the family till to the association with the society (Lam., Tsang., Corrigan ., Lee ., Angell ., Shi & Larson, 2010). It also focus on the aspect that an individual cannot live alone in the society, the individual has to form relationships with the each other. Same kind of act happens in the business organization (Tan, 2012).
Rawls justice as fairness theory focuses on the values which are based on treating every individual with same respect and equality to fulfill the balance of freedom in the formation of democratic society with corporation. It also focuses on the importance of motivating people for the equal distribution of social benefits for the development of the society (James, 2017).
The aspects of ethics which I closely relate to are formation of such a society in which every individual believes in the equal distribution of benefits along with fairness in which no one is treated as special person and must be considered with special rules. A society free of self-centric with fully open minded which gives importance to the action which will turn as a benefit for the development of the society.
As I believe that human being is a social animal and it has to live with in the society in which it has to develop feeling, relationship and care for each other. There is also a transfer of character from an individual on the society and from the society to an individual. So as an individual it is my moral duty to take the responsibility for the betterment of this society and try to give all possible help to the person who is in need and form such an environment which is full of trust and believe in which people will keep their personal benefit apart for the benefit of the society. It is also my moral duty to give every individual a sense of what is ethical and what is unethical for their personal and professional life (Tan & Chow, 2009).
This course proved to be the one of the most important learning of my life. It taught me very important aspect of life related to the priority given to the Ethics in both personal and professional life. This course provided me lot of knowledge related to the various theories related to the business ethics and principles to be followed during the formation. Earlier I was very confused that if an organization has CSR activity then what is the use of Ethics then. Now, I am clear about the concept behind the use of ethics in the organization. Ethics plays an important to balance this both personal and professional life (May., Luth ., & Schwoerer, 2014).
I also learnt importance of leadership in driving ethics in the business organization. Leadership as we all know is the practical skill encompassing the ability of the individual to lead, manage, motivate ,influence and inspire people to achieve the organizational goals and objectives. Ethics play a very important role in driving leadership, an ethical leader will always ensure that ethics are practiced in the organization and no harm is inflicted upon the customer, employees and other stakeholders (Corner, 2009). I also learnt an important lesson while diving into the course on ethics, every business is operating to maximize its profits, and their ethics therefore are guided by laws, market constraints and the level of commitment of the managers towards ethical and social responsibility. I learnt through the course that ethics are also important in combatting the destructive behavior of the employees in the organization. The manager or the leadership has an important role to play here, they can intervene the employees who are disrupting the entire environment of the business (Foote & Ruona, 2008).
Towards the end, I would like to conclude this section by saying that ethics are very personal in nature; however one should always focus on the consequences of their ethical choices in the longer and shorter run for other people. Only then, one can come to an ethical decision which would not cause any harm or injury to other people
First case is all about how the pharmaceutical company influences the medical college to promote their products by circulating lot of money in various forms like trips, meals and tickets to faculty of the institute. After finding this tie up the student association forced the medical administration to open their tie up and reduce the influence of these medical companies on colleges (Chan, 2008). I believe this case is a clear case of unethical practice.
Second case is all about Former university of Oregon football coach that earned lot of name in the field of football. After becoming star, he served various positions such as coach, director and then ESPN football commentator. It was believed that university had agreed to pay2.3 million dollar package to ex-coach without making any contract. All though no foul play was there regarding the agreement for severance package but proper procedure was not followed which means that action take was unidirectional but it did not match the rule set up as per norms. In this case thing were not unethical but procedure was not followed properly.
Third case is all about how many of the officials looted Bell, California. This case is a clear cut unethical practice happened in Bell, California in which city manager along with assistant city manager have earned lot of money by miss use their power for corruption. They have illegal raise taxes, form false meeting conduction and have intentionally written his employment contract in which hike is mentioned without consult of city council. He also earned money by steering city contracts to friends. All these culprits were able to do so because the condition of Bell was in favor of their corruption action (Kaptein, 2010).
Fourth case is all about how a clerk of credit union which was having very low self- esteem got angry with his coworker and started targeting a college student in various ways. He is not able to control his actions leaving behind the universal principle and a lot has shown disrespect towards adopting the ethics of care (Miloradova & Ishkov, 2015).
References:
Bishop, W. H. (2013). The role of ethics in 21st century organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 635-637.
Bruhn, J. G. (2009). The functionality of gray area ethics in organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 205.
Chan, G. K. Y. (2008). The relevance and value of Confucianism in contemporary business ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 77, 347-360.
Corner, P. D. (2009). Workplace spirituality and business ethics: Insights from an eastern spiritual tradition. Journal of business ethics, 85(3), 377-389.
Curry, O., Roberts, S. G., & Dunbar, R. I. (2013). Altruism in social networks: Evidence for a ‘kinship premium’. British Journal of Psychology, 104(2), 283-295.
Derr, C. L. (2012). Ethics and leadership. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 9(6), 66-71.
Farrell, H., & Drezner, D. W. (2008). The power and politics of blogs. Public choice, 134(1-2), 15.
Fleming, P., & Spicer, A. (2008). Beyond power and resistance: New approaches to organizational politics. Management Communication Quarterly, 21(3), 301-309.
Foote, M. F., & Ruona, W. E. (2008). Institutionalizing ethics: A synthesis of frameworks and the implications for HRD. Human Resource Development Review, 7(3), 292-308.
Garavan, T. N., & McGuire, D. (2010). Human resource development and society: Human resource development’s role in embedding corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and ethics in organizations. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 12(5), 487-507.
Gray, M. (2009). Moral sources and emergent ethical theories in social work. British Journal of Social Work, 40(6), 1794-1811.
Greene, J. D. (2008). The secret joke of Kant’s soul. Moral psychology, 3, 35-79.
Habermas, J. (2012). Reconciliation through the public use of reason: Remarks on John Rawls’s political liberalism. Journals of Habermas and Rawls, 5, 37-57.
James, A. (2017). Constructing justice for existing practice: Rawls and the status quo. In John Rawls, 4, 69-104.
Kaptein, M. (2010). The ethics of organizations: A longitudinal study of the US working population. Journal of Business Ethics, 92(4), 601-618.
Lam, C. S., Tsang, H. W., Corrigan, P. W., Lee, Y. T., Angell, B., Shi, K., … & Larson, J. E. (2010). Chinese lay theory and mental illness stigma: Implications for research and practices. Journal of Rehabilitation, 76(1), 35.
May, D. R., Luth, M. T., & Schwoerer, C. E. (2014). The influence of business ethics education on moral efficacy, moral meaningfulness, and moral courage: A quasi-experimental study. Journal of Business Ethics, 124(1), 67-80.
McCullough, M. E., Kimeldorf, M. B., & Cohen, A. D. (2008). An adaptation for altruism: The social causes, social effects, and social evolution of gratitude. Current directions in psychological science, 17(4), 281-285.
McGee, R. W. (2010). Analyzing insider trading from the perspectives of utilitarian ethics and rights theory. Journal of Business Ethics, 91(1), 65.
Miloradova, N., & Ishkov, A. (2015). Environmental ethics as a social, professional and personal value of the students of Civil Engineering University. Procedia Engineering, 117, 246-251.
Ofori, G. (2009). Ethical leadership: Examining the relationships with full range leadership model, employee outcomes, and organizational culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 90(4), 533.
Pullen, A., & Rhodes, C. (2014). Corporeal ethics and the politics of resistance in organizations. Organization, 21(6), 782-796.
Pullen, A., & Rhodes, C. (2015). Ethics, embodiment and organizations. Organization, 22(2), 159-165.
Richardson, W. (2012). Ethics in leadership. Journal of Applied Christian Leadership, 6(1), 10-16.
Sekerka, L. E., Bagozzi, R. P., & Charnigo, R. (2009). Facing ethical challenges in the workplace: Conceptualizing and measuring professional moral courage. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(4), 565.
Stansbury, J. (2009). Reasoned moral agreement: Applying discourse ethics within organizations. Business Ethics Quarterly, 19(1), 33-56.
Svensson, G., & Wood, G. (2011). A conceptual framework of corporate and business ethics across organizations: Structures, processes and performance. The Learning Organization, 18(1), 21-35.
Tan, C. (2012). “Our shared values” in Singapore: A Confucian perspective. Educational Theory, 62(4), 449-463.
Tan, J., & Chow, I. H. S. (2009). Isolating cultural and national influence on value and ethics: A test of competing hypotheses. Journal of Business Ethics, 88(1), 197
Order an Essay Now & Get These Features For Free:
Turnitin Report
Formatting
Title Page
Citation
Outline
