ETHICS IN MANAGEMENT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
INTRODUCTION 3
ETHICS AND MORALITY 4
MORAL MANAGEMENT OF ETHICS 5
ETHICAL ROLE OF MANAGERS 8
ETHICAL DILEMMAS 10
DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK 12
FOSTERING ETHICS 14
CONCLUSION 16
INTRODUCTION
Ethics in the corporate environment was at the beginning of this century deemed as an oxymoron as corporates and people alike believed it was impossible to conduct and succeed in business while being ethical and morally upright. However, after observing the numerous corporate scandals enveloping the business world, it became apparent that ethics and morality had to be upheld by management and the companies as a whole in order to avert such misdemeanors. It was not until four decades ago that the concept of business ethics was formally introduced and incorporated in business practices and school curriculums.
As leaders of organizations, managers bear a great responsibility to the company and to the society to enforce and promote an environment that fosters ethical and moral conduct. The main challenge that managers are faced with is to adhere to ethical conduct and to deliver in terms of performance. Ethics not only covers the top management but also affects the conduct of the personnel in the lower levels of the organization.
Corporate bodies are concerned with ethics in management so that the values the top-management are picked-up by their subordinates and the overall conduct of the company is perceived as good and that they avoid all legal problems that come as a result of being unethical.
The most infamous ethical misconduct of our time was by Enron where the management colluded with the accountants and they presented false figures of the company’s performance. They also used them to cover their tracks as they embezzled the company’s funds. It is not only corporate bodies that get caught up in unethical behavior but also charitable organizations have their own share of wrongs. The following are examples:
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
INTRODUCTION 3
ETHICS AND MORALITY 4
MORAL MANAGEMENT OF ETHICS 5
ETHICAL ROLE OF MANAGERS 8
ETHICAL DILEMMAS 10
DECISION MAKING FRAMEWORK 12
FOSTERING ETHICS 14
CONCLUSION 16
INTRODUCTION
Ethics in the corporate environment was at the beginning of this century deemed as an oxymoron as corporates and people alike believed it was impossible to conduct and succeed in business while being ethical and morally upright. However, after observing the numerous corporate scandals enveloping the business world, it became apparent that ethics and morality had to be upheld by management and the companies as a whole in order to avert such misdemeanors. It was not until four decades ago that the concept of business ethics was formally introduced and incorporated in business practices and school curriculums.
As leaders of organizations, managers bear a great responsibility to the company and to the society to enforce and promote an environment that fosters ethical and moral conduct. The main challenge that managers are faced with is to adhere to ethical conduct and to deliver in terms of performance. Ethics not only covers the top management but also affects the conduct of the personnel in the lower levels of the organization.
Corporate bodies are concerned with ethics in management so that the values the top-management are picked-up by their subordinates and the overall conduct of the company is perceived as good and that they avoid all legal problems that come as a result of being unethical.
The most infamous ethical misconduct of our time was by Enron where the management colluded with the accountants and they presented false figures of the company’s performance. They also used them to cover their tracks as they embezzled the company’s funds. It is not only corporate bodies that get caught up in unethical behavior but also charitable organizations have their own share of wrongs. The following are examples:
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