Fundamental Meaning of Ethics in Business - Assignment Example

Business Ethics End of term essay  Essay question 2: Are there some ethical values or principles that you believe are relative to one’s own culture, religion or personal opinion? Are there some that you believe are not? What makes them different? Reflect on how your values and perceptions have changed since coming to BSL. Introduction Ethics is fundamental in business because every business people must exactly do what is right. Doing what is good is an integral component of the subject in ethics (Singer 286). Ethical considerations are necessary in business because the proper thing should be implemented. Once the correct or exact thing is executed, profit will come in and the business itself will be able to obtain competitive advantage and even long-term existence. Every business is created to perform what is morally sound and ethical. A manufacturer for instance needs to substantially create a high quality standard for his product or service offerings because that is considered to be the appropriate thing it should do. A marketing firm needs to substantially investigate the feedbacks of its clients because that is supposed to be the essential thing to do to improve the value for customers. Product producers need to understand the level of demand or needs of what they created for their target customers or consumers because this is suitable in order to maintain their business. However, every organization deals with human resource. Thus, doing what is right to every employee is just the necessary thing to do for every employer. Conversely, every employer should apply what is demanded by the law to be fit, exact and good for his or her employees because this simply is ethical. However, the correct thing to do may vary at some point or become subjective due to the fact that each individual’s experiences differ from one culture to another. This is the reason why there are things that seem to be unethical from the point of view of other culture but substantially good in other cultures. In this paper, the proponent points out some ethical values or principles that are relative and not to one’s own culture, religion or personal opinion. Locating morality based on various ethical principles Given a certain situation or act, what is ethical can be defined using consequentialist and categorical point of views of moral principle. The consequentialist moral principle locates morality in the consequences of an act (Jacobs 80). On the other hand, it is on certain duties and rights that categorical moral principle locates morality (Louden 13). The differences between these two principles can be clearly depicted how individuals produce reason on certain acts, events or situations. Consequentialist moral principle: retaining the employee, right or wrong? For instance, a company found that one of its managers is doing what is absolutely detestable based on their policies and core values. Such offense is subject to termination of employment. However, the company is also aware of the fact that such manager is a great asset to them especially on the achievement of their profit. In fact, their stockholders are sticking to them for over a long period of time because of their great financial performance. The said manager was able to contribute greatly to the achievement of their financial performance. In other words, such manager is a potential instrument for the company’s survival or future success. The CEO decided to investigate on the said matter and in the end chose to retain the manager to his position for future mission in the company. This decision may be subjective depending on someone’s perspectives and reasons. Before the CEO decided, he asked substantial opinions from trusted sources and their opinions vary, but he was able to stick to what he thought was right for the company in general. The manager’s act from cultural point of view However, some Japanese may have different stand on the above issue. They are people known to have strong adherence to values, so they substantially stick to the rule and when one disobeys or fail to carry on it, they would never hesitate to apply what is viewed to be appropriate. This is an integral part of their cultural background and orientation. Therefore, their stand on the above issue should be highly cultural in nature. The manager’s act from employee’s point of view Other employees found this morally wrong because the company set a specific policy and procedure for the entire organization to be followed especially on concerns with the human resource. However, the CEO justified his decision on the board meeting by pointing out that if the said manager should be terminated, at least 50 percent of their profit will be reduced to nothing and the company was projected to suffer for at least two consecutive quarters in a year. This is something that the CEO could not allow to happen. The CEO would have to terminate other employees as well due to poor financial performance and there would be no assurance how soon they could recover from their lost just because of firing a potential employee. Utilitarian view: maximizing happiness In the above illustration, the CEO was sticking to consequentialist moral principle, as there was a strong consideration of the welfare of the majority. Thus, the utilitarian principle is highly applicable in this case. The utilitarian principle suggests that the just thing to do is to maximize overall happiness (MacKinnon 36). Jeremy Bentham, a utilitarian principle advocate points that humans like pleasure and not pain (Gaus 48). In the above illustration, the consequence of firing the manager who is an asset of the company would basically result to more number of people to loose their jobs and even possible closure of the company. Thus, the best thing to do then is to maximize pleasure and avoid any level or amount of discomfort. For that matter, the best thing to do then is not to fire the said manager from the point of view of the CEO. However, this principle seems do not make sense to many especially among employees who are sticking to the rule, policies and procedures and those who have high sense of value and beliefs that the rule is rule. Deontological approach on the CEO’s stand Another way of viewing morality is through the deontological theory. The CEO knows the right thing to do for his company, as he follows rules and regulations. His goals are to ensure productivity, profitability and long-term survival. He has the decisions to make or break the company. Due to these certain duties and rights, the CEO may potentially justify everything that he has done to be morally good based on the company’s objectives. Therefore, there is actually a strong relationship between what is viewed to be moral with a person’s duties and rights. Even if there are things that remarkably against the prevailing company’s standard operating procedures, the said CEO still has the control of everything since he has the potential to exercise his duties and rights. Everyone therefore has specific rights to everything else. Paying taxes: right or wrong? This is agreed by John Locke, who believed that individuals have natural or unalienable rights to life, liberty and property (Parry 12). This is basically the law of nature. Locke believes that this is originally the absolute law created by God for humans. Thus, it is something that should not be contested. As time goes by, an individual entered into a social contract in order to protect his right to life, liberty and property through a tacit consent, maybe personal or through a representative. This is the reason why governments are created and the power of the majority has become legal over the minority for as long as no arbitrary government is involved and even fair procedure is conducted in the process. That is the reason why company’s core values, governing policies and procedures are emancipated and should be followed by employees: it seeks the protection of the unalienable rights of both employees and employers. This principle or belief therefore is something that is not relative to one’s own culture, religion or customs because it involves the natural law. It is a universal law because humans in nature strive to protect their lives, liberty and properties. All organizations or companies in the world created fair policies and procedures in order to respectively protect not only the interest of the human resource, but above all their interests because this remarkably is explained by the law of nature – specifying in great detail that man has natural unalienable rights. However, because of understanding this right, paying taxes for instance has become widely debatable in a huge or wide context. Is paying tax the right thing to do or not? Most businesspersons may vary in their opinion regarding this matter. Some would say it is not right to do so because of that natural right, the right to property for instance. It would also minimize their achievement of great pleasure, which is their profit from the standpoint of utilitarian principle. However, some would contest that it is just the right thing to do because an individual who enters into a society should be bound by the social contract, whose bottom line is to harmonize and ease relationships within a society. The government to be allocated to national calamity funds, public education, health and other social welfare, for instance uses taxes. Culture as an experience Culture is a matter of experience (Lindeman 1). Experience would teach an individual from the standpoint of learning theories, but above all it is about the interconnection of an individual with his or her immediate environment. From psychological perspective, the environment has specific influence on the individual through his or her experience (Feldman 17). Considering that experiences vary from one individual to another, different learning or understanding of things may vary as well. Varying experiences constitute a significant input for cultural identity; shaping one’s own perceptions and values. The case of American individualism and the Japanese collectivism In Japan, it is not right to compete with each other because Hofstede’s cultural dimension theory states that this country is rich with high level approach of unity and teamwork, unlike in the United States which has strong individualistic approach (Yamakawa 13). This is the reason why the United States is fond of achieving competitive advantage, the very thing mostly observed in various organizations and in the entire culture of the country. The above illustration specifically points the fact that culture, as an experience, is another contributing factor why individual’s opinion or ethical considerations may vary. Individuals substantially develop various perspectives, points of view and behaviors which are related to their past experiences. For instance, let’s compare the two different countries state above. Historically, the United States have been the first to implement ethical values and codes of conduct as a proactive response to instances of past scandals such as the ones from Enron or WorldCom. For that matter, we can say that these former incidents have constituted an input in shaping the US business world approach to ethics. The predominance of the law in the American culture makes it difficult for some leaders to think about ethics outside of legislative terms. Ethics is a formal legal way to hold harmless the company in case of any employee’s illegal action. Thus, The United States’ approach to ethics seeks to eliminate unethical behavior by declaring them outlaws: Ethics is not intended to serve as an ideal, it is simply a way for a particular purpose. The purpose is to seek a better image and greater profitability for the company. On the other hand, we can compare this western approach to ethics with an eastern one. Heavily influenced by movements of thoughts such as Confucianism, Buddhism and Shintoism, the Japanese culture is truly anchored with its ancient history and thus experience. These three movements have contributed to the worldview and values ​​that are unique to the Japanese people. As a result, formalizing ethics in Japanese companies can be described as an instrument of social identification (belonging to a group) and internalization (incorporating values ​​of the group in its own value system). For that matter, ethics within this specific society establishes an atmosphere of community, employees represent an entity regulated by and following commonly shared rules and principles, seen as a foundation for success. It is thus interesting to observe how the concept of ethics can vary according to a given society characteristics, in this case the American individualism and the Japanese collectivism. Conclusion: On values and perceptions since coming to BSL The proponent specifically discusses various theories regarding ethical and moral principles. These principles could serve as guides in understanding the complexity and high level of diversity or similarity of values or principles that are relative or not to one’s own culture, religion or personal opinion. I found that the reason why the law is highly integrated with the business world is simply because it is a clear indication that the entire business process should have underlying principles on what is the right thing to do. Coming to BSL has been a great opportunity because it strengthened my stand on how should business be conducted with strong moral values and principles. Indeed, as I am coming from Morocco, the ethical principles and concepts are still abstract and regarding the Kantian approach of right actions according to given rules, I consider as my duty to promote socially responsible business practices within my own country. Moreover, the autocratic model of management is commonly applied within the Moroccan business world. The lack of employees’ empowerment may have a negative effect on their motivation and involvement in achieving the company’s core mission. I personally think that a motivated workforce, evolving within healthy and safe environment as well as understanding its responsibilities and tasks will positively affect the workplaces. The concepts studied during my courses emphasized the fact that a successful business comes automatically with implementing an effective ethical policy. These ethical principles could not only increase profit or productivity of a certain business, but including a wide range of understanding of an individual responsibility to take good care of others’ needs, life, rights, liberty and property. References Feldman, Robert. Essentials of Understanding Psychology. 4th ed. New York: NY: McGraw-Hill, 2003. Gaus, Gerald. Social philosophy. Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, 1999. Jacobs, Jonathan. Dimensions of moral theory: an introduction to metaethics and moral psychology. Oxford: John Wiley & Sons, 2002. Lindeman, Eduard. Wealth & culture: a study of one hundred foundations and community trusts and their operations during the decade 1921-1930. Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 1936. Locke, John. John Locke. London: Routledge, 2003. Louden, Robert. Kants Impure Ethics: From Rational Beings to Human Beings. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2002. MacKinnon, Barbara. Ethics: Theory and Contemporary Issues - Concise Edition. 7th ed. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2010. Singer, Peter. Practical Ethics. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2011. Yamakawa, Hiroshi. Cross-cultural web design: A comparison between the United States and Japan. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2007. http://mipms.cnam.fr/servlet/com.univ.collaboratif.utils.LectureFichiergw?ID_FICHIER=1295877018125 Read More