Preview

Ethics in Organizational Behavior

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
648 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethics in Organizational Behavior
January 8, 2012

Ethics in Organizational behavior
There are businesses that welcome employee’s opinions in order to help them run a better business and at times businesses do not prefer the opinions of their employee, but will run their business how they see fit. Either way some of these businesses can be successful and grow whether they accept the opinions of their employees. Even though Ethical behavior is not being influences, ethical issues are a major concern in organizations.
Even though Ethical behavior are not being influences, Ethical issues are a major concern in organizations because, organizations influence ethical behavior in employees, and Individual influences impact ethical behavior. Not all businesses are out just to get a buck some of them actually do have morals and beliefs and do not want to go under their standards.
First, Ethical issues are a major concern in organizations because businesses find it difficult to sum up what ethics are especially when doing business with other countries. An example would be Yahoo doing business with China. Yahoo has some issues with some of China’s standards which they felt were conflicting with their moral standards. Ethics is difficult to define according to Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2009) “The problem when discussing ethics is that there is not universal standard of ethical behavior.” (pg. 22) A person can argue with this statement but the fact of the matter each person has their own idea of ethics.
Additionally, organizations influence ethical behavior in employees. When employees see that the organizations that hire them are not ethical it tends them to be dishonest or quit. Ethics are right versus wrong and good verses bad and anything in between that has to do with solving issues in a situation. It does not help when management ignores the mission statement that tells what they stand for or are about. Management made sure that the employees read the mission statement after



References: Kinicki, A., & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational behavior: Key concepts, skills & best practices (customized 4th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin. ISBN: 9780073381411. Dean, J. (2010, January 13). Ethical Conflicts for Firms in China. The Wall Street Journal on the web. Retrieved January 9, 2012, from http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126335402591827235.html#ixzz1j1eD1FkG

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Satisfactory Essays

    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.…

    • 898 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    FIN/370 Week 2 Team

    • 1867 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Ethical behavior within a company is very important to its future and success. This type of behavior is not just important for the employees to follow, but for the entire company. In 2001, a failing company called Enron was involved in numerous unethical behaviors. For example, Enron’s Chief Financial Officer temporarily suspended their “code of ethics” not once, but twice in order to partake in personal financial gain. Enron’s actions eventually resulted in bankruptcy and assisted with the creation of a new set of guidelines for companies to follow. The so-called guidelines were called the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Titman, S., Keown, A.J., & Martin, J.D. 2011). The SOX helped institute a set of rules for companies to follow, one being the creation and compliance of a code of ethics within every company. One company that seems to do a very good job with complying with the guidelines of SOX is Starbucks Corp. They have a strong program set in place to support their mission of making ethical decisions at work. The use of their program “Business Ethics and Compliance” might just be the very reason why their SEC filings show a relatively successful business.…

    • 1867 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    All organizations that are currently operational have or ought to have a code of ethics in which is being followed. The importance of ethics in any organization helps direct in what way they will respond to internal and external stimulus. The largest organization in the world is Walmart, I work as sales manager for a CPG company and interact with Walmart every day. They deal with a great deal of external social pressures that influence their ethics. Walmart has dealt with its fair share of lawsuits as they have been in litigation 4,851 times just in the year 2000 alone Willing, R. (2001, August 13). Every time a concern rises they constantly analyze…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Organizations must deal with moral and ethical issues that can include dishonesty, theft, and employee drug use. However, companies that have ethical guidelines and train their employees in ethical behavior will have exceptional employees. Therefore, organizations that create ethical policies and provide ethical training will encourage ethical standards in the company.…

    • 788 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Ethical Behavior Quiz

    • 5293 Words
    • 22 Pages

    | The most significant influence on ethical behavior in the organization is the opportunity to engage in unethical behavior.…

    • 5293 Words
    • 22 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    According the textbook, Contemporary Business, the author, Louis Boone, states the three primary factors that influence business ethics are: personal experience, peer pressure, and organizational culture. Corporate culture that is in opposition to ethical standards may result in conflict. For example, if you believe that it is immoral to put animal in cages, you shouldn’t work for a zoo. Good business ethics and positive employee-employer relationships are developed when personal ethical standards mirror a company's ethical standards, which strengthens loyalty amongst employers and employees. This manifests itself in the way that companies work to maximize awareness of their corporate cultures. The company talks and trains people in ethics, in the hope that the ethics will be incorporated in the employee’s…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    ethics during change

    • 834 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Companies face many challenges when it comes time for change. However, ethical challenges are more difficult to figure out when it is detected. There may be many ethical issues that companies have to go through, but some are easier to focus on. One major issue can start with self-control. Even though companies have their own set of policies, rules, and other directions all ethical issues are still a problem that management has to handle. It is best that when implementing changes that the employees are still informed with the changes that will be made. Not only will change help motivate but it will also impact the employees on new knowledge within the process of change. Companies want for their employees to have self-control when it comes to making ethical decisions.…

    • 834 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethics is an important issue, be it a company or an organisation or an official body, like a government. Without ethics the core morals and values that any institution follows will be shaken. The biggest example of this would be the financial crisis that struck and shook the strongest and most ideal economy in this world, in 2008.…

    • 549 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Every organization has a standard or code of ethics every employee is expected to adhere to. Not everyone within an organization share the same moral values or principles, this is due to cultural differences and understanding ethics competency. Ethics competency is described as the knowledge, skills and abilities to incorporate values and principals that distinguish right from wrong when making decisions and choosing behaviors ( Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011p.10). How one determines right from wrong is based on their personal beliefs but behavior and conduct within an organization should be universal, in order for an organization to be effective. Ethical issues within an organization is common because of personal differences , these ethical issues influence the decisions employees make daily (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Lawrence Kohlberg’s model of moral development suggests there are stages through which individuals evolve, ranging from the lowest stage obedience and punishment orientation, to the highest stage; universal ethical principles (Hellriegel &…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics in the Workplace

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages

    As an individual you will have factors that come into play as you face ethical dilemmas. Your personal needs, your family, your culture, your religion, and your personality traits like self-esteem, self-confidence, independence, and sense of humor all play a significant role. As an organization the CEOs, and managers must communicate their personal commitment to high ethical standards and consistently drive the message down to employees through their actions.…

    • 977 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    An individual’s personal differences and preferences can impact organizational ethics by the perception of those individuals who are running things and to those who are working in the organization. All individuals have their own way of understanding things and how things work within that organization. “Ethics are the values and principles that distinguish right from wrong” (Hellriegel/Slocum, 2010). The way an individual perceives things may different from how the organization interprets things for you. Ethics are surrounded by everyone in an organization because those are things that they have set in their organization. It becomes an issue for some people because it sets the tone for whether or not one feels that what they are doing is right or is it wrong so that becomes an issue everyday. In the textbook, Organizational Development, it discusses how those “employees in an organization that have a weak ethical culture observed more misconduct than those who have a strong ethical culture”. Those individuals who are in a weak ethical organization feel more pressure to break rules. This describes the stages for moral development where an individual at the lowest stage such as obedience and punishment will do the right thing for approval versus…

    • 830 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics are the very principle foundations utilized by organizations to govern the activities and decisions of all individuals involved in and attached to an organization. The importance of these guiding principles directs the manner in which the organization conducts its business, therefore has a direct bearing on the organization’s reputation, productivity, and bottom line (Kelchner, 2015). The components of an ethical culture of any organization are comprised of leadership ethics and employee ethics. Successful organizations ensure their leaders…

    • 1783 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Organizational Ethics

    • 8003 Words
    • 33 Pages

    More often than not, discussions about ethics in organizations reflect only the "individualistic approach" to moral responsibility. According to this approach, every person in an organization is morally responsible for his or her own behavior, and any efforts to change that behavior should focus on the individual.…

    • 8003 Words
    • 33 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    In today’s society most people that work in a corporation often come across and have to deal with on the job ethical issues. “Ethics is a conception of right and wrong conduct. Ethical business behavior is demanded by business stakeholders, enhances business performance, complies with legal requirements, prevents or minimizes harm, and promotes personal morality” (Lawrence and Weber 2011). Ethic issues occur in all areas of business and at all levels of business management. I believe that ethical problems occur for certain reasons one being the selfishness of others. To help prevent unethical issues management must be able to recognize and help solve ethical dilemmas in the workplace. “Managers are key to whether a company and its employees will act ethically or unethically (Lawrence and Weber 2011). In some cases, managers and employees exhibit poor ethical behavior because the company doesn’t offer a clear model of ethics. Some businesses have no formal ethical policy documents and offer no guidance at all. Others have policies that are unclear, vague, inconsistent or not consistently enforced.…

    • 718 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    It is very important to apply ethics between the relationships of the manager and the workforce within the company because in my opinion, applying ethics would give the manager a better basis of judging the actions of the employees within the organization. When ethics is applied within the company the employees could and would be able to work harmoniously with the manager that runs their division. The relationship of the employees with the manager could make or break the company. If the employees feel that the organization that they are working for does not have proper ethical standards then they would not have proper motivation within the workplace and this could lead to a lousy performance of their designated work. This is why in my opinion the application of ethics in the workplace is a very important part of any organization that would want to operate smoothly and would not receive any complaints from the employees.…

    • 1010 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays