Personal Professional Ethical Code - Essay Example

Personal Professional Ethical What is ethics, particularly business and organizational ethics? What are thecore components of your ethical decision making decisions process? Ethics refers to a branch of philosophy dealing with how humans ought to live, bringing forth the idea of the good and concepts of right and wrong (Pojman & Fieser, 2008). Specifically, business ethics refers to the professional ethics which govern the moral and ethical aspects in a business environment. Also referred to a corporate ethics, these are the moral principles guiding the behaviour in business (Shaw, 2008). Similarly, any organization would have a set of shared and acceptable rules. This acceptance could be conscious or subconscious, with the aim being to hold the members together for its survival. Therefore, organizational ethics refers to the principles and standards that guide the operations and interactions in an organization. This expresses the values that an organization holds to its employees and its other entities regardless of government laws. In making my ethical decisions, the process would have six core components – problem recognition, identification of alternatives, evaluation of alternatives, decision making, decision implementation and decision evaluation. The first is problem recognition where I evaluate moral standards and analyze to identify where discrepancies exist. This indicates areas with problems. It would be followed by identifying possible alternatives. These would be options adopted to ensure observance of moral obligations. Thirdly, these alternatives would be evaluated where the strengths and weaknesses of each option would be considered. The fourth core component in this process would be decision making where the decision that needs to be made would be given a thought. The critical component of implementing the decision would then follow where the decision would be made into action. Finally, the evaluation of the decision would cap the process, determining whether the implemented decision was effective and whether there would be need to start the process all over again. 2. What is your professional code of ethics and how does it relate to the concepts/frameworks discussed in the course? What are your core values, principles, etc? My professional code of ethics regards the code of ethics observed in a plastic manufacturing firm, particularly under product management. Plastics are known to be an environmental menace if not handled properly. As such, respect for environment forms one of the basic code of ethics for my profession. This would promote efforts towards designing and manufacturing products that have minimal impact to the environment. Going by the argument by Pojman and Fieser (2008), environment is an example of intrinsic good as it is just good by nature. Through the Environment, Health and Safety policy, this profession requires an extension of this regulation to monitor its internal and external operations to exercise care for the environment. As such, the practice promotes activities deemed to be environmentally friendly with the need to avoid wastage of energy and natural resources. In this profession, compliance with the law also plays a critical role. Some of the laws governing my professional operations include intellectual property rights, health, safety and environment protection. Finally, my professional code of ethics obliges all professionals to observe and improve on workers’ safety and health. There are a set of values, principles and obligations which I observe so as to be moral and at peace with my colleagues and other stakeholders. This exhibits the influence of social contract theory which according to Pojman and Fieser (2008) attributes the universal motivation to morality to the need to reduce social chaos and further create peace. Therefore, the key values in this profession include honesty, teamwork and commitment. The principle of serving the public interest guides in ensuring that while observing the interests of shareholders, this shall not be at the cost of the public good. My obligation is to ensure that I do not attempt to injure other employees, directly or indirectly. As such, I should be ready to take personal responsibility for any consequences of my professional activities. 3. What are the strengths and limitations of your ethical code and decision making process? The strength in my ethical code is in its appreciation of the whole environment in which professional operate. As such, the need to care for the environment would promote not just the good of the professionals but also the society’s good, thus reducing chaos and ensuring peaceful co-existence in line with the social contract theory. Furthermore, by promoting the laws set by the government through obliging members to observe such laws, my ethical code becomes practical and avoids conflict with governing authorities. Considering my decision making process, it appreciates the need to evaluate the process for its effectiveness. This abides by the argument by Pojman and Fieser (2008) that examination of consequences forms a critical component of ethical assessment of situations. This therefore makes my decision making process geared towards meeting ethical expectations. Nonetheless, my code of ethics suffers the problem of creating mistrust. Because of the general nature of this code of ethics, the targeted professionals could fail to understand the moral situations and therefore fail to observe these guidelines appropriately. Furthermore, having such regulations could be interpreted as lack of trust in the professionals which could create defiance. To curb this problem of mistrust, Pojman and Fieser (2008) propose that professionals consider caring as a part of virtue theory. This would promote internalisation of the aspect of care associated with this code of ethics as is with other virtues. 4. What factors shaped your ethical code? What are the most difficult work related ethical challenges you face? The major factor that informed my ethical code is the public sensitivity to plastic materials with regard to the environment. As such, in developing my ethical code, there was need to set guidelines that would guide professionals on environmental protection. Additionally, the working conditions in a plastic manufacturing firm significantly contributed to the code of ethics. The risky environment involving high temperatures and fumes among other factors informed the need for observation of employee safety and health by the professionals. The most difficult ethical challenge has been on environmental management. Whereas we all understand the negative environmental impact associated with plastics, my work demands the production of more plastic products. Therefore, while we could have guidelines that ensure environmental protection by our professionals, some consumers could end up not observing proper disposal of waste which would then be blamed on us as plastic manufacturers. 5. What standards do the professional associations related to your field adhere to and hold out to you to follow? How do they help ensure the integrity of professionals? The various professional associations in the field of manufacturing or business in general dictate to members how they should conduct their business and interact with each other and external parties. Generally, these associations would require its members to respect the public laws governing professional activities, take responsibility for conduct during professional activities and honesty when conducting business (Shaw, 2008). The National Association of Manufacturers represents all manufacturers in the US. This association requires me to uphold employment and labour relations policies, including workplace safety and workforce development and training. It further requires the observance of legal and regulatory framework provided by the government. The emphasis on worker safety and public policy has further been supported by the Plastics Industry Trade Association, SPI, a trade association representing the plastics manufacturing industries in the US. SPI requires that manufacturers promote and continuously improve on the safety of its workers. As such, employees in the plastic manufacturing profession should be trained appropriately on occupational safety and health. Therefore, my profession is governed by a set of regulations set by various associations that cater for the professionals in my field of business. These associations play the supervisory role of ensuring that the professionals who are members observe the highest levels of integrity. To do so, these associations outline a set of ethical obligations together with disciplinary structures for those who fail to abide by such obligations. These ethical obligations conform to what Pojman and Fieser (2008) refer to as obligatory acts for which members would be required to adhere to. Going against these obligations could lead to disciplinary action being taken against the perpetrator. Additionally, regular education on these ethics and guidelines helps members of the organising associations to be informed on the expected code of conduct. References Pojman, L. P. & Fieser, J. (2009). Ethics: Discovering right and wrong (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Shaw, W. (2008). Business ethics. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth. Read More