Eth/316 Organizational Ethics Research Paper

“Organizational Ethics”
John Alvin Carter
ETH/316
April 1,
Richard Sorrentino/Facilitator
“Organizational Ethics”
Organizational Ethics are an integral part of any successful organization. Without an ethical foundation, the organization is ripe for many different types of internal issues that stem from lacking values and ethics. DART (DALLAS AREA RAPID TRANSIT) and Organizational Ethics I am currently employed in public transportation. I work for DART, the Dallas Area Rapid Transit system, which is one of the largest and considered to be one of the most efficient metropolitan transportation organizations in the nation. DART consists of Light Rail Trains and busses which shuttle Two Hundred Fifty Thousand (2012 figures, the number has increased exponentially each year with the rise
in the population in the Dallas Metropolitan area) individuals to work, the doctor and many other places.
The company, which is a hybrid organization currently, employs some 4,000 people in the various positions. Three thousand of those individuals are either drivers or customer service professionals who assist and inform the public about the services we provide, and give them the necessary information on fares and routes. There are also individuals in various departments such as Labor Relations, Legal, Human Resources, as well as a police force that is attached to it.

What role do external social pressures have in influencing organizational ethics?

Companies do and should pay attention to the voice of the public. Whether it’s a large business, small dry cleaners or other small business, or a public service company such as DART, these companies should meet the expectations of the public as well as be responsible in all areas in which they have a direct effect on the public, the environment, the economy and the public trust. How the public perceives a company goes a long way towards affecting the bottom line of all companies. Profit. When the
public perceives dishonesty or unethical behavior from a public or private entity, usually that company loses not only “goodwill” which is a integral part of any business operation, but they end up losing the faith of the consumers they serve and eventually they end up losing the consumers themselves. In public transportation where I work, many perceive the transit employee as the “face of the company” and the ethics and actions of the transit employee goes a long way towards painting an image of that transit company to the public. The issues we face in transportation are poor customer service, which, in an indirect way is an ethical issue, as well as other issues such as rude operators or customer service personnel, theft, crime, abuse of equipment which are all ethics issues. Many of these issues have much to do with how those employees perceive the company, and when an employee feels that the organization itself is unethical, which is the case at DART, then they will react accordingly and their own ethics and judgment will be affected. The public seeks honest and ethical treatment from any company or business, and when the employees fail to deliver, the company is affected. However, in many cases, the root cause for maltreatment of the consumer in a public entity is perceived or real grievances with the company by the employee. This begs the question that ethics or the lack of ethics can have a trickle down effect with regards to the consumer.

How might these issues be relevant to organizational and personal decisions?

Ethics play a large part in both organizational decisions and personal decisions. In any organization, their public image as an ethical entity is vital in continuing to succeed based upon the goodwill of the public. In the public transportation industry there are many issues, which arise that could possibly taint the public view towards that companies actions. At DART, for example, in 2008, it was discovered that some 1.1 Billion Dollars of public funds that were earmarked for rail expansion vanished and were later found to have been wrongly appropriated to another area of the company against the wording of the federal grant. The result was a drop in public confidence in DART, for several months, ridership decreased and customer complaint increased. Because of the perceived lack of ethics, the company’s public image was tarnished for almost several years. Many decisions were delayed or changed because of the drop in consumer confidence in the company, and hiring and advancement came to a halt for several years.
What is the relationship between legal and ethical issues?

Legal and ethical issues have an interesting relationship. Something can be legal, however may cross the line in business or personal ethics, and something might be considered ethical, but could be illegal. Much of the time legal and ethical issues have the same intent and purpose, and there are times when what is unethical is also illegal.

Conclusion
Ethics are a vital part of any business or even government entity. It determines how the public views that business or organization, and even how employees perceive that organization. When there is an atmosphere of wrongdoing and unethical behavior, as we saw with Enron, it can often have a contagious effect on the employees. There is a thin line between ethics, morality and the law, and at many times, these can be conflicting. Any business entity should seek to be as transparent and ethical as possible as it affects that entity in many ways.

References http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-ethical-business-practices-legal-practices-66252.html .