Importance of Business Ethics to Organization, Contribution of Ethics Theories to Good Management - Essay Example

NORMATIVE THEORIES Name Course Professor University Date Introduction with a thesis Normative ethics suggest some principles for characteristic actions that may be both right and wrong. These principles are divided into two categories known as Consequentialist and non-Consequentialist. Consequentialist theories determine the moral value utility. It’s a supreme key to utilitarianism. It’s concerned with whether or not an action will effect with the utmost quantity of pleasure for the supreme number. A decision focused on outcome or consequences that emphasize the greatest good for the greatest number. Non consequential theories assert that right and wrong are determined by more than the probable consequences of an action. Utilitarianism has some features in an organization framework that present an apparent reasons and basics for creating and evaluating the policies, it also suggest an goal for determining divergence of self-interest and recommend a flexible, and result-oriented approach to moral decision making. Business ethics are the moral guidelines that govern good behavior in a business. They may be documented or undocumented. The employees and the managers use these codes of behavior when handling the customers and other shareholders of the organization. The business ethics defines an organization and has a great impact of how the public views the company. Excellent business ethics ensures that an organization’s image is maintained by increasing the number of clients. The enhancement of the image of the company brings other advantages including customer’s loyalty to the company. Ethical system is a structured set of principles that define what is moral. The elements are: the source of moral beliefs, core grounds from which you make judgments. Thirdly, they are beyond argument. In regard to the theories Organisational justice is a key concept that is a major determinant of job satisfaction and productivity in the workplace. As explained in this essay, this concept is important to all organisations and produces various benefits to them. Organisational justice affects several major outcomes. Employee trust is built from the belief that if current organisational decisions are fair, then future decisions will also be fair. Work performance is affected by employees’ perceptions of organisational justice, as per the equity theory. Job satisfaction and organisational commitment are positively associated with the perceptions of organisational justice such that greater perceived justice results in higher levels of job satisfaction and increased commitment to the organisation, and vice versa. Organisational citizenship behaviours are the actions taken by employees to support the organisation, which go beyond the work expectations described in their job description. Importance of these theories and its impact on organizations Most companies have moral ethics that they adhere. These morals assist the management of the business. Business ethics comprise of accountability, fairness, integrity, responsibility, professionalism, truth, honesty, transparency product reassurance among others. Each of these principles brings an benefit either to the company, employees, stakeholders or the consumers. These ethics impact differently on the company. Employees are also not supposed to discriminate, prejudice or harass anyone in the working place. They are to treat everyone equally without favor, and they should not judge people based on their skin color, race, sex or religion. Employees also act ethically by treating persons with a disability without discrimination. The employees get supposed to act ethically from the words they speak and what they write (George, 2009). Every employee is to be responsible and cautious about what he says or writes. Employees should also ensure they maintain a safe workplace for colleagues, and they should be cautious of potential hazards to avoid accidents or injuring people. And generally it's ethical for every employee to work hard and be result oriented. The individual ethics are discussed below and their importance to the company is discussed below. Importance of business ethics to organization Organizations reap various benefits from the various business ethics it applies. The importance of business ethics are explained below Product quality assurance This is the selling of the goods that the company is sure of its quality status. The company gives warranty to the product they sell. This increases the customer loyalty to the company and the customers will to buy from the company. If the products sold are not faulty, the customer’s loyalty is won and repetitive buying is enhanced. Product quality assurance boosts sales in many companies and improves the organization’s image. Products that are faulty are returned to the companies for repair or for exchange with new products. Respect Respect is the act of treating others with special or high regard. Respect is a vital ethic in a business since it determines how employees relate with one another. Clients that are treated with respect have a high chance of repetitive buying. Treating employees respectfully leads to motivation at work place. Most organizations treat all the employees with respect. The issues concerning the customers are addressed with a sense of urgency which makes customers feel appreciated. Respect towards the creditors can also help management acquire more credit and improve their relationship. Respect is a business ethic that cannot be ignored by organizations. Professionalism Professionalism is the conduct, objective or aims that are associated with a certain profession. Professionalism is a business ethic that is so important to many organizations. It helps in interpersonal relationship during work place. It protects the rights of the employees. Professionalism also protects the consumers or the clients. Professionals relate professionally to their clients. They do what they are supposed to do diligently. Organizations have professionalism in the code of conducts. Employees in organizations should relate to the customers professionally. This is important to the company since it creates a good public image. Professionalism also applies in the employees. It helps in the way juniors relate with their superiors. Professionalism helps the business environment to be conducive. Transparency This is the act of governing organizations more openly. It brings satisfaction to the shareholders and the customers. Transparency also gives the employees a sense of belonging. They feel that they are part of the company. Transparency also helps conflicts with the government. An organization that has transparency is fair in their dealings and has no corruption. This transparency makes the organization run swiftly without issues with the government. Organizations should have transparency in their dealings. They should place all the tenders on the news paper for the general public to bid. This reduces corruption chances and increases the fairness in the company Accountability Accountability is the act of being responsible and doing what is expected at the right time. It increases reliability of the company. The clients are expects more from the company when they know that issues are well handled. Accountability also makes management easy. When the employees are accountable for their duties, there is decreased supervision which may in turn increase the productivity per employee. Organizations should train its employees to be accountable for their actions. They have a clear guideline on what the employees should do. This makes it easy for the management to control the company. Punctuality Punctuality is the act of being where someone is supposed to be at the right time. It is the key to the success of many businesses. Punctuality is a determiner of how much work will be done by the employee. An employee who comes at the right time to work meets the objective of the company. The human resource department takes care of these issues. It monitors the time the workers report at work. This is important for the company since the company is able to provide reliable services to the public. The increased punctuality leads to increased output per worker. This is advantage to the business since it leads to more profits. Enhance public image Public image is the most essential tool of the business. Public image sells the business to the public. It is what the customers perceive about a certain company without basing their judgment on the products. The ethics that contributes to a good public image includes product quality assurance, respect, fairness and transparency. When the customer’s experiences certain advantages in using the goods of a certain company, they tend to develop a taste of the same good or service next time. Treating the customers with respect and at the products they have assuring them they have purchased are of high quality is one of the things to create a good public image. This helps the customers to relate to the brand easily and thus helps to become successful in the market. Ways by which these theories contribute to good management i. Humanizing business design strategy to serve both organizations and people - not efficiency at any cost ii.  Generating trust that promotes teamwork, organizational development and credibility. iii. Promoting loyalty by customer satisfaction and loyalty to the company iv. Favoring social acceptance/reduce transaction costs. This is a solid foundation for building relationships with trust and reducing costly use of unneeded resources v. Reinforcing managers moral habits; ethical and moral disposition must be practiced all the time to avoid the slippery slope of unethical behaviour vi. Encourages accountability competency and creative solutions vii. Developing ethical organizational culture this promotes core values and practices of an organization. Influences on ethical decision-making Good business ethics should be included in every business and hence avoiding unethical behaviors. Many businesses globally including most of the major brands have been seen not to have good business ethics and most of them have been fined millions for not adhering to the ethical business laws. If a business do not follow business ethics there would be charges in regard to breaking the law stipulated. Most companies have lost millions to unethical behavior. It is the community that persuades a company to follow the acceptable business moral values. Business ethics should focus on the fundamental purposes of the company, that is, if the purpose of the company is to maximize dividends paid out to its shareholders then commitment of the profits to other activities can be a violation of its fiduciary responsibility to its shareholders. On the strategic surface of a business it's imperative to implement ethical approaches that consider various responsibilities as an organization. Once a business embraces the idea of the company principles as part of the way it conducts its business it develops favorable relations transversely in all its business that are helpful to success thus making more earnings in the long run. There is no uncertainty that normative theories of ethics is a significant business focus for any entrepreneur to study but it also has a wide relevance throughout the organizations. Individual's perspective of moral behavior can be very different from another individual's perspective hence it’s very significant to set up a joint code of ethics that signify the whole organization rather than approving just a bit by bit approach. Business ethics can be implemented during creation of business strategy and at the Human Resource arena though it's vital that there are also enforcement actions within the business concerned and that principles continue up front concern in every day operations to guarantee a unified morally approach to doing business. There are three major areas that business people have been noted to concentrate on so as to guard good business ethics in view of the fact that they engage loss of funds and affect the repute of the company. Good business ethics has been proved to result because businesses that imply good morals are lucrative. For example, it’s beneficial to make safe products so as to avoid being sued for liability and damages. Good business ethics can also lead to a morally proper environment since if workers demand for solitude or customers demand for secure products then they will work or buy from their demands therefore businesses that do not meet their wants will not endure. Applicable Approaches According to the utilitarian model of ethics, the proper course of action is one that fully ensures full maximization of utility. Through this it ensures happiness while significantly reduces pain and suffering. In this case, utilitarian model advocates for results. Therefore, hiring of smokers is equally right if they eventually perform and achieve organizational objectives (Schmidt et al, 2013). The moral rights model calls for a course of action that maintains the rights and privileges of the people affected by it. Denying people employment vacancies on the basis of their smoking habits is unethical. Companies ought to implement policies that smoking is prohibited within company premise. This is also aligned to the justice model that seeks to distribute fairness and justice to all stakeholders involved. Thus, managers ought to come up with company policies aimed at regulating smoking within company premises. This is one of the ways of handling this dilemmatic situation. On ethical dilemmas, it shows the power of ethics and makes people query on moral beliefs and seek an indulgence of what goes on under the surface. They give philosophers an occasion to evaluate and proof their theories on the real-life experiences. On a negative reason: a moral standoff differs from a complex decision. In the case of a dilemma, the trouble arises from the nature of the situation one encounter with rather than the lack of ethical information or acumen. Conclusion Normative theories of ethics are aspects that influence all business inside the society; the changeable factor is the approach with which people consider. In common instances, health-care experts should compact with ethical matters. They must reflect on the well-being the public, as well as the moral code. With such situation, the synchronization of wellbeing is necessary, without concession of any aspect. A founding of a moral agency in regard to the normative theories of ethics is an affirmative pace because it sets the welfare of universal units. Reference list Pearce, J. (2013). Using Social Identity Theory To Predict Managers'empases On Ethical An Legal Values In Judging Business Issues. Journal Of Business Ethics, 497-514. Segal, L., & Leher, M. (2013). The Conflict Of Ethos And Ethics:A Sociological Theory Of Business People's. Jounal Of Business Ethics, 513-528 Fortin, M & Fellenz, M R 2008. “Hypocrisies of Fairness: Towards a More Reflexive Ethical Base in Organizational Justice Research and Practice”, Journal of Business Ethics, vol. 78, pp. 415-433 Schmidt, H., Voigt, K., and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, N. (2013). Engl J Med; 368:1369-1371 George, RT. 2009. Business Ethics. Pennsylvania: Prentice hall. Garriga, E. and Melé, D., 2013. Corporate social responsibility theories: Mapping the territory. In Citation Classics from the Journal of Business Ethics (pp. 69-96). Springer Netherlands. Hursthouse, R., 2013. Normative virtue ethics. ETHICA, p.645. Shaw, W., 2013. Business ethics: A textbook with cases. Cengage Learning. Oderberg, D.S., 2000. Moral theory: A non-consequentialist approach. Hooker, B., 2008. Rule consequentialism. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, pp.113-136. Read More