How Personal Can Ethics Get - Essay Example

For this very reason, it has become matter-of-factly for executives to trade in what is moral for what is lucrative. Decision-making is an integral process of everyday life. In a nutshell, it governs everything that we do from the moment we gain consciousness everyday. We decide what time to wake up, what breakfast to eat, what clothes to wear, etc. The same goes in a business environment. Every decision that must be made affects the entire company. But more than this, it also affects the community and is not delineated to only those belonging to the company.

When one looks at every decision process in this context, then greed shall not govern the action of corporate honchos that run businesses which in turn affects everyone’s lives. “There is a natural principle of benevolence in human beings which, to some extent, has the same relation to society that self-love has to the individual” (Borchart & Stewart, 1986). Culture, from the origin of the word itself means cultivate. It is an aspect which can be formed and molded according to the necessities of the time and the will of those forming it.

It may be for the better or for the worse depending on the vision of the leader who oversees the group. The same goes for an organization and how it may develop its culture. When it is focused on short-term goals of profit generation without regard for the welfare of other people, and when this is done time and again, then it becomes a part of that company’s culture and its own identity. Once this happens it becomes difficult to break away from and willpower is necessary to steer it into its right track.

But when an organization builds from within itself a culture of excellence with concern for other members of the community, then this emanates and the growth of the organization becomes evident as all members have the common goal and the common missions that they must adhere to. Whole Foods Market presents an example for a company that strives to change the perception of a business venture and make it an overall experience for its customers. Founded by John Mackey in 1980, the small company has grown into a large corporation with 170 stores.

Driven by the idea to make grocery shopping a whole new experience, Mackey launched the company which incorporated a wide array of choices and interactive experience with its courteous and informed employees. Steve Demos of White Wave says, “Wall Street – that’s where the fun begins. They only measure one thing, the bottom line. My goal is to demonstate that the principle-based business model is more profitable than its counterpart, and when we do, Wall Street will chase us instead of the other way around” (Slocum & Hellriegel, 2007).

Like Demos, Mackey ardently believes in not sticking by the rules laid out in Wall Street whhere big and fast profit is the name of the game. He argues that a steady growth directed at a long-term goal is the way to go rather than relying on quarterly figures to determine the next steps of the company. Whole Foods even went so far as to release a ‘Declaration of Interdependence’ affirming their motto: “Whole Foods, Whole People, Whole Planet.” Corporate greed had always been regarded as an acceptable reality in our society.

Big busineeses always had been denoted as having attained their status based on shady transactions and corporate manipulations that CEOs must