Ethical Considerations in the Current Business Environment - Case Study Example

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN THE CURRENT BUSINESS ENVIRONMENT goes here] [Your goes here] [Due the paper] Outline of the Paper Introduction This part includes an overview of the importance of ethics for businesses. Some examples of ethical considerations are mentioned along with the objective of the paper. Selected Organization The name and a brief overview of the selected organization are included in this section of the paper. Ethical Considerations in the Current Business Environment In this section, two major ethical considerations are mentioned that the organization has included in the code of ethics regarding use of a new technology. The Impact of Ethical Considerations on Human Resource Management This section includes a discussion on the impact of new ethical considerations on human resource practices which include hiring employees, retaining employees, and responsibilities of current employees in regards with the use of new technology. Conclusion This section sums up the overall discussion and presents a short review of the importance of ethics in the success of a business. Introduction The importance of business ethics can never be denied because they are imperative for the success of individuals and businesses. According to Patil (2012), business ethics is a behavior that shapes individual behaviors, as well as consumers’ perception about a company. As Frederick (2002) states, “business ethics, like most areas of ethics, often tends to focus on principles of actions, on the action itself and its consequences” (p. 30). If employees of a company do not behave ethically regarding any particular business matter, various destructive effects occur as a result. Companies set practical business ethics codes that help them in making their business activities legal, as well as in maintaining their public image (Frenz, n.d.). Some examples of ethical considerations or ethical codes that companies promote at the workplace include truthfulness, respect towards others, equality, demonstration of corporate social responsibility, adherence to laws and social values. In this paper, we will discuss the impact of some ethical considerations on the human resource management activities of a company. For this purpose, an organization will be selected and its ethical considerations in the current business environment will be reviewed to know the effects of implemented ethical considerations on HR practices. Selected Organization The organization selected for review is University Hospitals Case Medical Center (UHCMC) located in Ohio. UHCMC is a private hospital which specializes in cancer and orthopedic treatments. The aim of the hospital’s management is to bring continuous improvement in patient care and other activities related to patients’ treatment processes. Let us discuss two major ethical considerations that the management of the hospital has implemented recently related to the use of hospital management information system. Ethical Considerations in the Current Business Environment The ethical considerations that the management of the hospital has added recently to the code of ethics include ensuring confidentiality of medical records and improving patient care using new technology. The hospital has started using Management Information System (MIS) to computerize all information. The MIS will help healthcare professionals in recording patients’ updates in the hospital’s database and retrieving it when required. The system will also generate accurate and relevant reports based on the information stored in the database. The information to be stored includes all details about a patient’s medical history, present medical condition, and ongoing treatment. As every employee of the hospital will be using the system for different information related purposes, so there exists a need to ensure improved confidentiality of patients’ private information stored in the system. Moreover, the management of the hospital has also made it necessary for the employees to make a fair use of the new technology for bringing improvement in patient care processes. Let us now discuss the impact of these ethical considerations on the human resource processes of the hospital. The Impact of Ethical Considerations on Human Resource Management The above-mentioned ethical considerations had a considerable impact on the human resource activities of the hospital. The management tailored its policies regarding employee management in accordance with the needs and requirements of the new information management system. As most of the processes have become computerized due to implementation of the management information system, the management changed its employees hiring and retention policies to match the requirements of the new system. Effects on Hiring and Retention Human resource department is one of those departments of a company on which the effects of changes occur more rapidly than they occur on other departments. The reason is that the HR department has to deal with the recruitment and selection of such employees who are able to adapt themselves successfully to ongoing changes in the internal and external business environments. Therefore, the management of the above-mentioned hospital has started to hire such professionals who have command on the use of new information technologies. Earlier, the management used to hire such individuals who only had expertise in their respective medical fields because there was no need of having computer skills at that time. However, now the situation has changed due to implementation of the information system to manage key healthcare processes. Now, hospital needs such staff which should know how to store information in the database. The staff should also know the way to process stored information appropriately and generate reports based on that information. This is the reason why the management of the hospital has altered the employee hiring policy and has added computer skills as one of the main job requirements. Moreover, the employees should also be able to keep private information of all patients confidential. Privacy of medical records in the information system is one of the major concerns regarding use of such systems in healthcare facilities. Therefore, the management of the hospital has made it essential for every employee to keep the medical histories of patients highly confidential. For this purpose, the hospital has implemented authentication system to allow access to the information system only to some particular health professionals. The management of the hospital has also made it necessary for every employee to provide a proper healing environment to patients. To do this, employees not only need to show more care and empathy to patients but also need to make an effective use of the information system to obtain relevant information for treatment in a timely manner. The management has added a new rule in the policy according to which employees have to adhere to the privacy and improved care code of conduct. However, such changes in the policy affect employees’ motivation level because employees feel scared of losing their jobs upon falling short of expectations. To offset such thoughts and retain key employees of the hospital, the management has launched training programs which are aimed towards bringing improvements in existing employees’ computer skills and care provision skills using the new information system. It has become mandatory for all existing employees to participate in the training programs to improve their professional skills, as well as to remain a productive part of the hospital for a long time. Responsibilities of Current Employees The job responsibilities of current employees of the hospital have also changed a little due to changes in the ethical considerations. For example, now employees need to ensure improved confidentiality of medical records of patients as compared to before. Earlier, only four employees from the information department of the hospital were responsible for ensuring privacy of the important information. However, now every employee who has some sort of access to the information system needs to ensure complete privacy of private files and histories. Moreover, now medical professionals need to make use of the management information system to store all information about care plans, medical records, treatment processes in the information system in order to retrieve it in an organized and timely manner when required. Therefore, now employees need to be proficient in the use of new IT technologies to contribute significantly in the mission of providing best medical treatment to patients, as well as in creating a pure healing environment in the hospital. Conclusion Summing it up, ethical behavior is the key to success in today’s business world. It not only reduces workplace conflicts and promotes a healthy working relationship between employees but also builds a positive image of the company in the minds of customers. Some of the main examples of ethical considerations that companies promote at the workplace include respect towards others, honesty, unbiased decisions, and adherence to laws and social values. Changes in ethical considerations have a considerable impact on the human resource activities of a company. The HR department needs to tailor its policies regarding employee management in accordance with the changes in ethical code of conduct in order to implement the changes appropriately. References Frederick, R. (2002). A Companion to Business Ethics. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers Ltd. Frenz, R. (n.d.). Business and Ethical Considerations. Retrieved from http://www.ehow.com/info_7759527_business-ethical-considerations.html Patil, S. (2012). Ethical Issues in Business. Retrieved from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ethical-issues-in-business.html Read More