The Ways of Ethical and Moral Business Management - Essay Example

Deontology Deontology Deontology best reflects the basis of my ethical decision making, which is largely based upon morality. My decisions are influenced by rectitude and rightness of a behavior as opposed to focusing on the consequences of an action (Alexander and Moore, 2007). As such the main purpose behind my decisions is to do the right thing because of their rightness. At the same time, I avoid taking decisions that are wrong. The choices and decisions in my life are, thus, determined by ethics; basically, the rightness of an action or a choice. This principle extends to my personal as well as professional decisions whereby I approach issues with deontological thinking. My approach at decision making therefore applies deontology with the goal of making the right decision regardless of its consequences. Morality has deeply influenced my professional practice, and decision making in the workplace context. Throughout my term as a summer trainee at Zain Telecom, I have demonstrated ethical decision making by doing what was right in each situation. Working in the Finance Department, which was one of the most critical functional units of the firm, I was responsible for sorting records and analyzing financial statements for the company. I had full accessibility to critical company information and financial records but I carried out my duties without tinkering at the information. I did what was ethically right and expected of me given my position and responsibilities for the role. I resorted to the company policy and acted in accordance with the code of conduct while handling the information. As such I displayed full integrity and responsibility with the critical financial information I was entrusted with. Because my career focuses on accounting and finance, auditing is a key component of my work. Auditing is a domain of accounting which demands ethical integrity and accountability in professional practice. During my term as a full-time Assistant Auditor at Delloite, I was exposed to financial information from a wide array of companies and organizations. Not only did I demonstrate integrity while handling information but I also did what was right by carrying out my duties of auditing the financials truly. My conduct was geared towards ensuring accurate and reliable financial information for the various clients. During my practice as an auditor, I ensured compliance with law and the ethical code of each firm. I responsibly explored the accounting system and reported only accurate information thereby reflecting aspects of Kantian ethics which is characterized by deontology and morality, rather than the ends (Wood, 2008). Ethical decision making, as guided by rightfulness, dominated my actions as I carried out my duties as an auditor ethically. Morality was a central force in guiding my actions as it led me to perform financial audits rightfully by presenting true information. My inclination towards deontology or doing the right thing is also evident in my motivation to volunteer for corporate social responsibility programs. I volunteered with The Voice of Down’s Syndrome Society in order to raise awareness of the condition and to generate donations for the society. My motivations were purely driven by morality where I saw myself as a morally responsible individual and an agent, who was responsible for generating donations and ultimately do good for people suffering from Down’s syndrome. This is explained by the notions of responsibility in deontology where an agent acts responsibly by adopting a certain attitude in virtue of being the agent (Lippert-Rasmussen, 2005). Hence, by working on a corporate social responsibility project, I hoped to do good as it was right by principle. Coincidently, the consequences were also good in the sense that the raised funds were used for sufferers of Down’s syndrome. The ultimate goal was to do the right thing and the task was accomplished by displaying moral responsibility. Being an accounting professional, ethics has been an important part of my life. Taking the right decision has not only been limited to my professional life but has also extended to my personal decisions and behavior. However my career as an accountant or an auditor disproportionately demands morality and ethical responsibility. As an accountant trainee working in the Finance department or as an assistant auditor, I have focused on compliance, integrity, and rectitude. I have had the experience of working with different companies and each organization has varying cultures and codes of conduct. While working at each company I have remained consistent by fully complying with the rules and ethical codes of conduct (Ferrel, Fraedrich, and Ferrel, 2010). This relates to avoidance of malpractice and unethical practices, and a focus on integrity. I have consistently shown integrity while handling information staying away from botching or tinkering sensitive data. My job as an auditor also involved rightful reporting of financial data where I worked to uncover the financial information to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the data so that no overstatement or understatement was done. In this way, I applied deontology in my decision making process by analyzing the information responsibly. My decisions are driven by my desire to do right. I have always preferred to do the right thing by focusing on the rightness of taking a decision rather than considering its consequences while making the decisions. In effect this means that I live my life by a principle and a set of values that guide my decision making and set the direction for my actions. The values are essentially ethical and moral, and those that enables me to be true and rightful. The rightfulness of my decisions has been reflected in many ways including my compliance with rules, integrity while auditing financial statements, and exhibiting responsibility while handling sensitive information. In professional and personal life I have made decisions on the basis of right and wrong thereby displaying an ethical attitude towards problems and issues. As such my personal and professional decisions have remained consistent in their focus on moral righteousness rather than letting the consequences hinder the decision making process. I mostly draw inspiration from deontology while making decisions. Deontology accurately depicts my thought process when I make decisions because I focus on the moral righteousness of an action when making decisions. This approach is not justified by means of good consequences but rather my actions are justified by the fact that they are ethical and the right thing to do in a particular situation. During my experience as an accounting professional, I have fulfilled my work duties ethically throughout the term of my work as a full-time auditor as well as a summer trainee. I have ensured that my values were reflected in my professional practice. Deontology stands as an antonym of consequentialism which is also understood as utilitarianism whereby the decision is aimed at maximizing the benefit for the greatest number of people. As opposed to consequentialism, my approach has focused on taking an ethical decision which is right. As such, I have lived a principled life where rightness dominates my outlook on social matters. In personal settings I avoid doing things that are considered wrong because of the mere fact that they can be harmful. The avoidance of wrong decisions is simply because of their wrongness in principle, rather than their consequences. At work too I have involved myself in doing what was right. This shows my motivation to volunteer in a corporate social responsibility project that was aimed at raising awareness of Down’s syndrome. This is because it reflecting a good act of raising donations for patients suffering from Down’s syndrome as well as spreading awareness regarding the condition. My experience at the many organizations I worked for was also marked by an ethical conscience. During my term at the various companies I worked for, I was entrusted with and had access to critical financial information but I carried out my duties responsibly deflecting any harm or loss of integrity to the data. An auditor’s job particularly requires morality and I fulfilled my job by being moral and maintaining the integrity of the financial data and records. Auditors are often faced with the challenge of distorting information by mismanaging the information. I observed meticulousness while handling the financial data and performed deep analysis without any bias or wrong intention. Hence, I carried out my job as an auditor responsibly. To sum up, deontology describes my approach at decision making very well. This is because my decisions are motivated by a desire to do right. As such my decision making process follows deontology based on which a behavior is executed because it is right rather than being justified by the consequences it results in. Therefore, I involved myself in tasks that I felt were right in each situation. Both my personal and professional decisions demonstrated deontology in practice as I applied the principle of Kantian ethics, more specifically, moral law, in my day to day decision making. These decisions corresponded to work as well as daily trivial activities such as helping others without expecting anything in return and donating to charity. In each of my decisions, I was motivated by the rightness of the action. Hence, deontology best reflects my decision making in life. References Alexander, L., & Moore, M. (2007). Deontological Ethics. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Retrieved 29 January 2015, from http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ethics-deontological/ Ferrell, O., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2010). Business ethics. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Lippert-Rasmussen, K. (2005). Deontology, responsibility, and equality. Copenhagen: Dept. of Media, Cognition and Communication, Univ. of Copenhagen. Wood, A. (2008). Kantian ethics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Read More