Personal Ethics Awareness Inventory Paper
Personal Ethics Awareness Inventory
My Ethics Awareness Inventory indicates my ethics perspective is most likely based on obligation which means I believe that human beings have intrinsic value - we have a right to individual respect. Therefore, you cannot support social traditions and policies aimed at the best interests of society as a whole if any individual is denied the opportunities to which she/he is entitled as a human being (University of Phoenix, 2007).
SCORING SUMMARY C O R E
MOST 7 9 5 3
LEAST 5 6 10 3 COMBINED SCORE 2 3 -5 0
I often cannot support business decisions that are presented as being in the best interests of my company, especially if such policies deny individual employees the opportunities to which they are entitled as people. My approach to ethics is that I believe as long as people are acting within the limits of the law and humanity, they should be allowed to make their own decisions. Although, I do not think acting according to one's instincts is unethical, and is in fact necessary at times. I also believe encouraging people to grow as individuals and improve their lives is more important than increasing business …show more content…
profits through what I consider inhumane business practices such as traditional downsizing or reshaping. In general, I support business policies that provide equal respect and opportunities for all the employees at my company. I consider business decisions to be ethical only if they support the free choice of individuals which supports creativity. In being assessed as obligation, I think businesses should act in accordance with established standards of right and wrong the same as individuals (University of Phoenix, 2003).
Challenges Addressing Ethical Dilemmas
My ethical perspective is not without its challenges when it comes to addressing ethical dilemmas in both business and personal settings.
Often what I think is the right choice does not look like the most beneficial short-term choice for the people with whom I interact. As a result what I consider to be the right decision often hinders me (University of Phoenix, 2003). One example of this is my preparation for weekly learning team projects in my classes. In my preparation I lay out a detailed tasks and schedule list for each project, addressing specific responsibilities and deadlines for each individual on my team. Many times team members do not see the benefit of this and turn in their portions when they feel best suited which disrupts the flow of the project that inconveniences the
team.
My ethical perspective involves the view that everyone has a moral obligation to do what is right, in the past I have allowed virtually no room for compromise when I thought my ethical principles were being breached. I was often frustrated at the way others defined right and wrong which rendered me unable to resolve conflicts that came up in both personal and business settings (University of Phoenix, 2003). On a few occasions defending my ethical position has even resulted in the loss of business relationships.
Impact on Educational Experience
My ethical perspective has not changed since I started the Business Management program at the University of Phoenix. Rather I have gained a new understanding and tolerance of others ethics. I now recognize that there are shades of gray in business ethics and everything is not black and white like personal ethics.
Conclusion
I can appreciate that other businesses might have differently ordered priorities to achieve their business goals keeping themselves competitive and indirectly preserving their employees' jobs. In relation to looking at situations by obligation it has helped me to be more tolerant and less judgmental of the way others view ethics. While I still do not view ethics the way that they do, I now think that they are simply approaching ethics differently, instead of thinking they are unethical.
My Ethics Awareness Inventory indicates my ethics perspective is most likely based on obligation which means I believe that human beings have intrinsic value - we have a right to individual respect. Therefore, you cannot support social traditions and policies aimed at the best interests of society as a whole if any individual is denied the opportunities to which she/he is entitled as a human being (University of Phoenix, 2007).
SCORING SUMMARY C O R E
MOST 7 9 5 3
LEAST 5 6 10 3 COMBINED SCORE 2 3 -5 0
I often cannot support business decisions that are presented as being in the best interests of my company, especially if such policies deny individual employees the opportunities to which they are entitled as people. My approach to ethics is that I believe as long as people are acting within the limits of the law and humanity, they should be allowed to make their own decisions. Although, I do not think acting according to one's instincts is unethical, and is in fact necessary at times. I also believe encouraging people to grow as individuals and improve their lives is more important than increasing business …show more content…
profits through what I consider inhumane business practices such as traditional downsizing or reshaping. In general, I support business policies that provide equal respect and opportunities for all the employees at my company. I consider business decisions to be ethical only if they support the free choice of individuals which supports creativity. In being assessed as obligation, I think businesses should act in accordance with established standards of right and wrong the same as individuals (University of Phoenix, 2003).
Challenges Addressing Ethical Dilemmas
My ethical perspective is not without its challenges when it comes to addressing ethical dilemmas in both business and personal settings.
Often what I think is the right choice does not look like the most beneficial short-term choice for the people with whom I interact. As a result what I consider to be the right decision often hinders me (University of Phoenix, 2003). One example of this is my preparation for weekly learning team projects in my classes. In my preparation I lay out a detailed tasks and schedule list for each project, addressing specific responsibilities and deadlines for each individual on my team. Many times team members do not see the benefit of this and turn in their portions when they feel best suited which disrupts the flow of the project that inconveniences the
team.
My ethical perspective involves the view that everyone has a moral obligation to do what is right, in the past I have allowed virtually no room for compromise when I thought my ethical principles were being breached. I was often frustrated at the way others defined right and wrong which rendered me unable to resolve conflicts that came up in both personal and business settings (University of Phoenix, 2003). On a few occasions defending my ethical position has even resulted in the loss of business relationships.
Impact on Educational Experience
My ethical perspective has not changed since I started the Business Management program at the University of Phoenix. Rather I have gained a new understanding and tolerance of others ethics. I now recognize that there are shades of gray in business ethics and everything is not black and white like personal ethics.
Conclusion
I can appreciate that other businesses might have differently ordered priorities to achieve their business goals keeping themselves competitive and indirectly preserving their employees' jobs. In relation to looking at situations by obligation it has helped me to be more tolerant and less judgmental of the way others view ethics. While I still do not view ethics the way that they do, I now think that they are simply approaching ethics differently, instead of thinking they are unethical.