Eth 316 The Responsibility Project

The Responsibility Project Student Name
ETH/316
April 14, 2014
Professor Name The Responsibility Project

The principals of ethics are what address an organizational issue or assist in the decision-making process. In this essay, I will discuss the principals of ethics and their impact on organizations. The Liberty Mutual website offered videos titled “The Responsibility Project”. These videos demonstrated how important the principals of ethics are in any organization. Each clip established how ethics can shape and change decision-making and impacts a business and those that work for the company. The video that I viewed for this assignment was titled “Good Vibrations”.
In the video, “Good Vibrations” the focus is on the responsibility of a community and the impact of complacency in an organization. In this animated film, we see employees gather at the windows to watch those that walk by fall due to construction near a sidewalk. As more people walk by, the crowd continues to gather to watch and laugh at the accidents. An elderly gentleman comes across this construction and pauses. After assessing the situation, he puts up a road block so others do not get hurt. When watching this animated video, it is assumed that someone who possesses morals would see those employees that are watching as lazy. It is a fail to the entire
business when employees do not accept responsibility and take preventive actions from a negative outcome. It becomes the idea that “it’s not my job”; allowing events to continue to happen.
Many Organizations are faced with these mindsets daily.
There are those employees that see behaviors they know are wrong, but do nothing about it because they don’t feel it is their business. These same employees may also not take action because they do not want to be directly involved. When a business is faced with these types of scenarios, it becomes a bigger struggle to stop and change the behaviors in addition to the outcomes. A problem is easily corrected if addressed when it first starts. When other problems begin to develop around the initial concern, it can snowball into something that has a larger negative
influence.
External social pressures are an important part in the influencing process of an organization’s ethics. Every organization has their key players, or stakeholders, that benefit from the overall success of the business. Stakeholders could be executives, consumers, employees, shareholders, or the community. Enron proves to be an example where hidden agendas were played out by key stakeholders. In 2006, false partnerships were developed which were used to hide debt and inflate stock (Trevino & Nelson, 2006). These actions kept Enron’s stockholders satisfied and attracted new investors. This unethical practice was designed to keep Enron in a positive financial light and continue to compete in a growing market. Enron proves to be an example of unethical practices when in another situation; a different company may have taken the ethical route. The more external pressure a company has, the more their practices may change. It would benefit the company to ensure that all stakeholders have the same agenda and are practicing in an ethical manner regardless of the situation.
Internal and external problems may arise in organizations. Enron was an example that pushed aside their ethical, moral, and legal responsibilities to survive. When a company goes into survival mode, some decisions are made that seem logical at the time. Unfortunately, the wrong decision will be made clear soon after. With Enron, employees were engaged in unethical and illegal manners. Other employees that knew of these behaviors chose to ignore it as to not get involved. In the video, “Good Vibrations”, we see similar types of behaviors demonstrated. Even when ignoring something that is not ethical, or illegal, we are condoning the behaviors and allowing them to continue. With Enron, the ethical perspective should have been looking past the finances and make their status public. The impact of their poor decision making allowed stockholders to lose money, and left employees without jobs.
There is a fine line between legal and ethical relationships. When a person makes an unethical decision, it could potentially be illegal. However, in the video “Good Vibrations”, we saw employees making unethical decisions by failing to warn those that were going to fall due to the construction. This behavior was not illegal. What the employees should have done differently was ensure that the safety of those outside of the building was taken care of. The law did not require employees to do anything about what was taking place outside, however being ethically responsible does warrant those actions.
“Good Vibrations” was an excellent example of what can happen if someone decided to look the other way and not step up. Being ethically responsible takes work and support from everyone. Ensuring that everyone does their part will guarantee an organization’s success. If one person fails to do their job, everyone fails. Even when facing pressures from the external world, an organization should always put their standards in place that aligns with the law and ethical practices. References
Diamond, R. (2009, October 26). RP Film | Relationships | Community | Good Vibrations | The Responsibility Project by Liberty Mutual [Video file]. Retrieved from http://responsibility-project.libertymutual.com/films/good-vibrations
Treviño, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (1995). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: J. Wiley & Sons.