Preview

Ethical Behaviour Policy and Practice in Organisations Essay Example

Best Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1984 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Ethical Behaviour Policy and Practice in Organisations Essay Example
1 ETHICS
1.1 Defining ethical behaviour
Ethics is a philosophical term derived from the Greek word "ethos" meaning character or custom (Sims, 1992). Ethical behaviour is behaviour that is morally accepted as good and right, as opposed to bad and wrong (Wood, Zeffane, Fromholtz & Fitzgerald, 2006). An ethical dilemma requires a person to make a choice between competing sets of principles based on how morally good and right as opposed to how bad and wrong they are (Wood et al., 2006). While striving to always do right, – with this paradigm – sound ethical conduct will likely become second nature in today’s world (Zazaian, 2006).

1.2 Ethical behaviour in the modern organisations of today
Philosopher and theologian Paul Tillich once said: “Ethics is not a subject, it’s a life put to the test in a thousand daily moments” (Lagan, 2006, pg.72). This wisdom is relevant to the modern organisations of today that are challenged in every way to uphold high ethical and moral standards which are demanded by the public for the betterment of society (Kranacher, 2006). Organisations have established codes of conduct to guide their employees regarding their ethical responsibilities while trying to minimise unethical behaviour and solve ethical dilemmas appropriately (Kranacher, 2006). Unethical behaviours such as lying to important clients and giving insufficient or inaccurate information to shareholders can result in misinformed strategic decisions and problems for organisations (Collins, 2006). One only has to look and ponder upon the fate of the large corporations HIH Insurance and One Tel, whom both suffered collapses due to their unethical decisions (Wood et al., 2006).
2 ETHICAL BEHAVIOUR POLICIES AND PRACTICES
2.1 Why ethical behaviour policies and practices are needed in an organisation
Ethical managerial behaviour in organisations conforms to the law and the broader moral code that is common to society as a whole, and yet ethical behaviour policies are especially

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Better Essays

    Chapter 1

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Ethics is the standards of behavior, developed as a result of one’s concept of right and wrong.…

    • 1013 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Employees should recognize the importance of not acting unethical. Senior leaders should incorporate ethical guidelines and ensure that everyone is in compliance. Having a code of ethics and following them will enable the organizations success. Ethical behavior is making good decisions based on those codes of ethics. This is the recipe for a successful…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics is the study of moral choices that conform to professional standards of conduct (Flight, pg. 201, 2004). The word ethic is from the Greek term ethos, which means custom usage or character. Ethics is study grounded theoretically in philosophy. Ethics is traditionally referred to as a custom of particular community and evolved to include the standards of good or bad, to question the obligation of moral duty (Flight, pg. 202 & 203, 2004). It is very important that medical providers develop their own understanding of medical ethics (Flight, pg.209, 2004).…

    • 982 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics and moral obligation are something that we all encounter at one time or another. Even in a professional setting, all persons should act in a manner that would uphold the good of society. Why is it that good, ethical and moral behavior is not always adhered to? Is it because some people do not understand ethics and what it means to be ethical? To be ethical, one has to decide between right and wrong, determine what is for the betterment of society and act accordingly. Ethics have three basic criteria that must be met – obligations, moral ideas, and consequences (Ruggiero, 2004). Businesses have their own code of ethics and the individuals within that business have to determine whether or not they will follow that code of ethics. Ethical behavior in business is consistent with the principles, norms, and standards of business practice that have been agreed upon by society (Trevino & Nelson, 2004). At times, however, an individual decides to go against the code of ethical behavior for personal gain. This was just the case in the article researched by Team A.…

    • 2854 Words
    • 12 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

    Ethics is amoral standard for right and wrong. Ethical behavior is a reflection of the influences of co-workers, friends, family, religion, and society. Our society and culture influences our ethical behavior. Ethics begins with the individual.…

    • 1807 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Business Ethics

    • 2214 Words
    • 9 Pages

    This paper will discuss ethical behavior in the business world. In particular, the question of what ethical behavior actually involves will be analyzed in depth. Ethics is a topic that can be discussed at length without reaching universal consensus, and this text will not be an exception. However, it should shed some light on the issue of ethical corporate behavior. The objectives and responsibilities of business will be covered, as well as the ethical obligations of various parties.…

    • 2214 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Hand Hygiene

    • 2503 Words
    • 11 Pages

    Good ethics is the foundation of an organization’s character. It is what distinguishes it from the conglomerate of businesses in today’s society. Ethical behavior is the glue that bonds employees and customers to the organization. It is a code of conduct that guides an individual in dealing with others. Ethical issues have are a major concern in business because they have become more complex due to international business expansion and the diversified nature of large corporations. Government regulation and legal requirements have become more stringent in the effort to stem unethical practices in corporations. Finegan (1994) affirms, “the corporate world has come under increasing pressure to behave in a socially responsible manner” (p. 747). Organizations have come to realize that more is at stake if this behavior continues to consume the workplace.…

    • 2503 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Firstly, Ethics is a philosophical term that is related to the prescription and description of moral principles that guides people’s behaviours, suggesting that there are “acceptable” and “unacceptable,” as well as “right” and “wrong” way of behaving (Stapledon 2009).…

    • 2196 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Defining Ethics

    • 1926 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Ethics are the basis for decisions about what is right or wrong. To behave in an ethical fashion means to make choices that embody right behavior rather than wrong behavior.…

    • 1926 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ethical Framework

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos. Ethics to me can be defined as always doing the right thing all the time. Everyone has their own moral principles that decide his/her behavior. Everyone is completely different in how they were raised and taught in what was right and wrong. As stated by Santa Clara University, “ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and so on” (Santa Clara University, 2010). A lot of people will get ethics confused with it being the same as their feelings. In fact, it is totally opposite. It is that way because when people generally get angry with something or someone and then they will typically follow that up with doing something bad.…

    • 746 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics is a philosophical term derived from the Greek word "ethos" meaning character or custom and can be defined as the code of moral principles that sets standards of bad or good or wrong or right in one's conduct.…

    • 1810 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It has often been suggested by some that the expression business ethics is an oxymoron – it employs contradictory terms because business seeks to optimise or maximise gains from its operations while ethics implies a very different basis for business practices. However, although the more cynically minded would seriously subscribe to this view, there has been a very dramatic upturn in an interest in ethical considerations by business leaders and professional business organisations partly as a result of the demands of societies which have had to bear the cost of spectacular corporate collapses and the unscrupulous business activities of a minority of business practitioners. In fact the subject has become an industry with several books on it being published, several courses, seminars, workshops and lectures devoted to the subject, numerous models promulgated and an ever increasing number of comments and debates in the public media. All people have some inner understanding of what constitutes ethical behaviour but when it…

    • 9933 Words
    • 40 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Ethics

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages

    Ethics, also known as moral philosophy, is a branch of philosophy that involves systematizing, defending and recommending concepts of right and wrong conduct.[1] The term comes from the Greek word ethos, which means "character".…

    • 1494 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    The term ethics originate from two Greek words, one of which means both “stable” and “living conditions” which demonstrates the fundamentally concrete, down to earth, meaning of the term. And also it finds its roots in another word which has the meaning of a way of living, a way of living in oneself in such a way as to orient one’s actions to live better, which shows us the formative force of this discipline on human thinking (Phaneuf, 2004). Ethics, according to Oxford dictionary can be understood as the moral values/standards that represent the behavioral pattern/attitude of a person (Oxford Dictionary, 2016). Ethics is the platform on which the concept and beliefs of good or evil, right or wrong are founded. It is usually formed from a religious and social platform. On the other hand, the concept of…

    • 778 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays