Ethics Culture and Leadership - Coursework Example

 1. What is the relationship between personal, organizational and global business ethics? How can you use the ACHE Self- Assessment in preparation for this course? Ethics, culture and leadership Individuals do not live in a context separate from anything else. As part of a larger context, individuals are part of a larger whole—a larger group, a society, a world. Because of this, individuals being the foundation of this larger whole, the larger whole and the individual certainly do have a connection.

An individual that is part of any larger group has its personal ethical principles and values. These sets of ethical principles and values are the basis of an individual when dealing with situations and coming up with decisions and actions in his life. How an individual makes certain decisions affect his immediate environment, which includes larger groups such as an organization. Aside from the effects of his decision within the organization, his influence within organization may contribute to formation of the culture of the organization—collective principles and values on how to deal with situations.

This culture of an organization—usually, but not limited to the values of founders and top management determines how an organization approaches certain situations and make decisions. Because an organization is part of a larger context—the society, whatever an organization decides to do affects the immediate environment which it operates in, therefore as a great force affects the society. Therefore, an organization that operates on a global scale is a citizen in each of the country it operates in.

Therefore, its culture will determine how it acts according to the acceptable ethical principles in each country. The organization’s culture—which is a collective set of principles and values founded on a certain individual, or a number of individuals within the organization, will determine how it will act on a global scale as a citizen responsible for its global operations. The alignment between acceptable ethical practices on a global scale and the ethics of an organization which operates on a global scale will certainly have an impact on an organization’s operations in the long term.

Personal, organizational and global ethics are very much interrelated especially in the context of business. The personal ethics precedes the ethical guidelines for decision-making in the organizational-level, in the same way that the organizational ethics precedes global ethics. One is a foundation of another, as an individual is the foundation of any society it lives in. ACHE Self-assessment and the course ACHE self-assessment helps an individual to prepare for this course in the same way that strategic planning helps an organization.

With ACHE self-assessment determining my ethical strengths and weaknesses, I can use the assessment for self-reflection in order to address those weaknesses, and pay more attention to the wisdom the course gives as I address those weaknesses as I prepare to use the ethical guidelines in my managerial practice in real life. In the same manner, when I am aware of my strengths I can reinforce them by putting them into practice as the course progresses in order to prepare and hone me for more real-life situations. 2. What are your ethical strengths and weaknesses based upon an honest review of the results of the ACHE Self- Assessment?

What are your plans to improve the weaker areas of your personal ethics? The results of ACHE Self-Assessment give me a clearer picture of my strengths and weaknesses. My ethical red flags, to qualify them into a certain category would mostly comprise those instances that involve resolution and discussion of conflicts and problems. According to my ethical strengths I ALWAYS do care for the society’s and different stakeholders’ welfare as a whole. However, when problems arise and resolutions and discussions of conflicts are involved, it is only USUALLY that I incorporate these stakeholders in the decision-making.

Not that I do not incorporate them, but I am not CONSCIOUSLY aware of including them by utilizing an ethical decision-making framework in every situation that I have faced before. My plan to improve the weaker areas of my personal ethics is mainly to adopt a shift in perspective—namely to look at conflict resolutions and discussions through an ethical framework for decision-making. In coming up with decisions, I should CONSCIOUSLY involve each of the stakeholder of the decision. I think the major shift in perspective--for all the situations that I will be facing in the future will be analyzed with an ethical decision-making framework--will make me practice more the ethical guidelines in real life in order to adopt them in the long run.

This shift in perspective will make me realize too that when coming up with a decision, even if it involves only myself, will certainly have consequences too on people around me, my immediate environment and the larger context where I belong. This should make me a better citizen in the process. Reference List ACHE.org (2008). About ACHE. Ethics Self-Assessment. Retrieved August 23, 2008, from http://www.ache.org/newclub/CAREER/ethself.cfm. Bartol, K., Martin, D., Tein, M., & Matthews, G. (2001).

Management: A Pacific Rim Focus. Australia: McGraw Hill Company. Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., Ferrell, L. (2008). Business Ethics; Ethical Decision Making And Cases, 7th ed. Houghton-Mifflin. Robbins, S. (2005). Organizational Behavior. Philippines: McGraw-Hill.