Inflation of Expenses - Morality in Organization - Coursework Example

Surname: Presented to Institution Name, Location Date Inflation of expenses Introduction With the economy not favoring many people in the employment sector, many cannot avoid complying with the temptation of using a few dollars here and there that may not be noticed. The main reasons why employees of any business participate in the act of inflating of accounts is that they think that they will not be caught in the action, the other reason is that they believe that the benefits of the action outweighs the risks that are involved. An example of business that has rampant acts of account inflation is travelling entities, whether an employee cashing in full-fare for an air ticket and on the other part he/she takes cheaper flights or just grabbing some few extra taxicabs, the middle income earner who virtually spends most of his time travelling can always find ways of saving up to $5,000 or even $10,000 in a year. According to experts on fraud examination it always hard to always do the right thing especially when in hiding and nobody is concerned, it is, therefore, equally the same challenging when one is facing peer pressure from friends and workmates. If my friends and colleagues were putting pressure on me to inflate some of my expenses, the most influential factors would include my personal faith and character, what my friends and colleagues thought of me and my economic standards and the cultural values of the business. The decision to either inflates or not would become quite difficult if doing it would certainly raise attention on the inflation to my colleagues (Brinkmann, 2003). The only determining factor on making this particular decision would be my faith and character. The moral development that I have received from my religious background would guide me through such times. It is usually tempting to inflate the expenses, when one has to weigh the value of the action and the risk that is involved, for example, if my family is going through difficult financial times and taking the money would help in sorting out some of the problematic financial issues, then the temptation to take the risk very high. When such situations arise, it is only the moral and ethical standards of an individual that will determine whether to act negatively or not (J. Scott Armstrong, 2008). According to the employee surveys that have been conducted in many big companies and organizations, shows that, at workplaces, many people fail to foster the company’s culture of integrity. Many of the misconduct acts that are done within these companies are never reported; hence the risk of being caught is always not feared (Harvey, 2008). Most of the employees that observe this misconduct belief that reporting are not helpful as nobody is concerned with taking any corrective measures. The fear of retaliation by both the management and colleagues is another factor that makes people avoids reporting, it becomes an individual choice to either inflate the expenses or do the moral part of it (Brinkmann, 2003). The ethical challenges that arise within the companies at all levels of work mainly involve the multifaceted association between the different character and the companies’ social influences (J. Scott Armstrong, 2008). The factors that would determine whether an individual in my position would either take an ethical action or not include moral awareness, decision making process basing on morals, moral actions and the moral intention. My ability to recognize and make an analysis of the moral issues and the priority that I place the moral values determines my decision. Most people have varied views concerning morality, the capacity of individuals for moral behavior differ the same way as the capabilities to cope with the frustrations and making of perfect decisions on their commitments. The cultural values of the company have very little impact compared to that of the moral standards of individuals in my state (Brinkmann, 2003). The cognitive biases are a problem to the moral capacities. When given good leadership positions, person within the company will develop a culture that gives them a higher degree of confidence on the personal judgment (J. Scott Armstrong, 2008). This usually leads to high levels of arrogance and the level of responsibility to making the right decisions will escalate, these way managers and employees within an organization will make decisions that are wrong factually or morally. With time people will start ignoring and suppressing dissent, then they eventually overestimate their abilities to make wrong doings and cover their sins. This culture can develop and be part of the business, although this will always remain within the business and the public might never get to know the truth (Brinkmann, 2003). The organizational cultures and structures are usually some of the factors that affect the moral reasoning of individuals. The perception of the employees concerning the reward system and the structures of compensation are some of the reason the organizational culture is tainted. The leaders’ lack of responsibility toward the ethical and moral development within an organization is the reason the subordinates do immoral acts such as inflation of expenses (Harvey, 2008). With all these knowledge, it is important to understand that although the culture of the company may allow me to take the inflated expenses, I will have lowered my personal moral standards and if caught the results will always be on me as an individual and not the entire company (Brinkmann, 2003). Some of the situational pressures like being encouraged and influenced to undertake the inflation of expenses as I am determining whether I will be able to forgo my morality or uphold it. When the power is coming from the excellent leaders, it is usually hard not to comply (J. Scott Armstrong, 2008). It takes people with strong ethics and moral standards to ignore and not obey an instruction or encouragement from a colleague in a more powerful position. Many employees usually think that their sin will always be covered with the superior authority but when this turn out not to be the case it is an individual character and dignity that is destroyed. Must before undertaking an illegal and immoral thing as inflation of expenses one should consider thinking about the issues and the indignity that the law will have on you (Baseman, 2000). The chances of project in an ethical action when working in a group of peers is usually very high, peers will always encourage one another on doing the wrong things. When a group is confronted by circumstances that would give them batter payoffs, then going against the rules will always be easy. The members of the group will be pressured to put their personal moral convictions aside (J. Scott Armstrong, 2008). This usually happens when the companies put more emphasis on the loyalty of employees and give a great offer on the significant rewards mainly to the team players. A good example is if it is a frequent practice for the employees of a charity organization to inflate the expense reports then all other employees will always follow suit or simply suspend their judgments. When personal fall into the pressure from the situations then the cost of morality reduces significantly, this way as an individual if not use personal character development and dignity protection then it is possible to get used to the action and finally slide into more serious misconducts (Baseman, 2000). Many large companies always face more complex issues that usually undermine the moral judgments by always fragmenting the small information into many departments and individuals. In many ethical scandals, all the professionals including accountants, board members, financial analysts, and lawyers need important facts, therefore raising concerns on the legal and moral parts (J. Scott Armstrong, 2008). Work within the business may be allocated to individuals within the company without taking into consideration the ways that can prevent proper decision making. The full picture of the entire contract is blurred and no one can easily make an analysis or a follow up. The channels that are used to express concerns by individuals are usually inadequately making it easy for the offenders to escape (Brinkmann, 2003). The ideology of moral blinding happens when people need the accountability mainly for collective decision making. This is often seen in companies board of directors, where the member’s personal reputation is protected and the insurance against their sins is insulated from personal liability. This hides the need for companies to be socially responsible towards the community (Brinkmann, 2003). Morality blinding make the educational system of the business totally corrupt hence personal responsibility and morality can be easily compromised. It is often not the group that did the wrong things, every person in the group made a decision to accept the malice and there in case this is uncovered, then each and every person will be liable for his or her sins (Baseman, 2000). Conclusion The meaning of morality that an organization provides to the employees in the workplace regulations and practices greatly influences the moral climate of the business. If the morality is taken lightly within the workplace of an organization one will find those workers will develop some sluggish performance towards morality. This cannot be the main reason for me to inflate my expenses. This culture which is primarily developed due to other people’s lack of seriousness in dealing morality makes me a puppet that just follows what others instruct me and this will undermine my dignity as a person of faith. Must when confronted with such as decisions that challenge your integrity don’t take advices from a group or the culture of the organization rather think of the consequences that will affect you as an individual. References Bazerman, D. M. (2000). “Ethical Leadership and the Psychology of Decision Making," MIT Sloan Management Review, 37(2), 76-95. Brinkmann, R. R. (2003). “Enron Ethics (Or Culture Matters More Than Codes)," Journal of Business Ethics, 45(3), 243-252. Harvey, P. B. (2008). Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy, New York: Bloomberg Press. J. Scott Armstrong. (2008). “Social Irresponsibility in Management," Journal of Business Research, 5, 185-213. Melissa S. Baucus and Caryn L. Beck-Dudley. (2005). “Designing Ethical Organizations: Avoiding the Long-Term Negative Effects of Rewards and Punishments," Journal of Business Ethics, 56(4), 355-799. Read More