Importance of Considering Ethical Issues that Happen to be raised within/by Organizations - Essay Example

Regardless of just how small or large an organization happens to be, it is critically important for its management to ensure that they critically consider all the ethical issues that may happen to be raised within/by the organization. Ethics are essentially the values and principles that are used by an individual in governing his decisions and activities. However, in organizations, ethics are commonly used to infer to the code of ethics or principles that are used in guiding the organization in its policies, programs and decisions. An organization’s ethical philosophy can critically affect its productivity, reputation and the business organization’s eventual bottom-line (Parker, 2008). The recent economic crisis and the relatively high competition in global markets, most organizations have taken to ignoring their basic ethics with the sole objective of attempting to ensure that they are able to effectively compete and stay well ahead of the ever stiffening competition. However, this is seen to be a worrying trend and it is important for organizations to understand the importance of ethical considerations as well as learn how they can be able to effectively maintain or use their current ethical standards and still remain quite competitive in the respective markets. Ethical considerations within an organization can be seen to affect different aspects of the business enterprise and are essentially categorized into a number of categories that are seen to variously include: Employee Ethics: Proper ethical behavior among an organization’s employees serves to ensure that an organization’s employees are able to perform their work with integrity and honesty. Employees that are motivated to use ethics as a basic guide to their word behavior are seen to usually adhere to the organization’s employee rules and policies while constantly striving to try and meet the goals that have been laid out by the organization. They are also seen to meet the set quality standards in their work a factor that results in the overall enhancement of the organizations’ reputation for quality service and products (Kelchner, 2013). Leadership Ethics: The ethics that an organization’s leaders use in management is seen to have an effect on the loyalty and morale of its workers. It is also seen to determine the acceptable behavior and discipline procedures in the organization. In the event that leaders strive to attain high ethical standards, this is seen to subsequently encourage the workers in the organization to try and meet the same high standards. Ethical leadership is also seen to ensure that that the company’s reputation in the community and financial market is greatly enhanced in addition to also greatly improving the company’s business as a result of promoting the company as having a solid reputation for both integrity and ethics (Kelchner, 2013). Ethical Organizational Culture: An ethical organizational culture is seen to primarily be created by the adherence to a given code of ethics by an organization’s employees and leaders. To this end the leaders within the given organizations may strive to exhibit the behavior that they would prefer to see being exhibited by their employees, the organization can also undertake to reward employees that exhibit the integrity and values that happen to coincide with its code of ethics while disciplining those that are seen to make wrong choices (Kelchner, 2013). Ethical considerations are important in companies such as McDonald’s who according to Blasio (2008), were named among the world’s most ethical companies. McDonald’s company size and its respected position as an industry leader is seen to cause the company to become an easy target should it venture to try and step outside the acceptable social boundaries. As an industry leader, McDonald’s is ethically tasked with the responsibility of trying to positively influence the conditions that are currently associated with the raising and slaughtering of farm animals for sale. Animal welfare which is the general application of humane and ethical norms of care, protection and responsibility of non-human species has quickly emerged as a frequent topic of debate in the fast food industry a factor that saw McDonald’s announce in late 2004 that it was considering the adoption of various humane poultry slaughter processes that had already been adopted in Europe and were viewed as being PETA friendly. Inhumane treatment of animals caused People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), to urge a boycott of KFC products and restaurants because of the company’s alleged cruelty to animals. The unethical treatment of animals is seen to have caused McDonald’s to gain a critical edge over KFC which happens to be one of its competitors as KFC was urged to embrace the ethical practices that were being observed by all of McDonald’s suppliers in addition to demands for the company to consider alternative slaughtering processes (Blasio, 2008). Failure by an organization to attend to proper ethical and social responsibility requirements from the various stakeholders is seen to often result in the impairment of an organization’s image and it is in the interest of the organization to ensure that it affords importance to matters pertaining to ethics and CSR. Good ethics in an organization have often been equated to good business and it is often seen that companies that attempt to try and do the right thing generally tend to do better as a result (McElhaney, 2008). While several decades ago it was considered to be almost fashionable for an organization to muddle through its operations without ethics, the value of ethics in business can be seen to be increasing at an unprecedented rapidity in the twenty-first century; and in the wake of the global recession that spawned systematic collapses in ethics, now more than ever the notion of an organization operating without any ethical values is considered to be quite quaint. In this regard, companies such as McDonald’s have launched a myriad of social responsibility projects and consistently release social responsibility reports detailing the ethical measures and achievements (McDonald's, 2013). McDonald’s reports have been seen to focus on some key areas such as environmental responsibility, improving the organization’s employment experience, nutrition and well-being, community interests, governance and ethics as well as sustainable supply chain. Another key aspect of ethical considerations within a business organization is gender inequality. It is important for an organization to ensure that it discourages any gender inequality if it is to be considered as being an ethical organization. Gender inequality within an organization is seen to involve a scenario where one gender is dominated by the opposite gender with the dominating gender attempting to use this inequality to try and exert some form of power and control over the opposite gender. In most cases it is found that the male gender is the one responsible for dominating and subjugating the female gender and thus causing gender inequality to exist in an organization’s operations (Jackson, 1998). Organizations and companies such as McDonald’s are seen to strive to ensure that they afford equal opportunities to all their employees regardless of their respective gender (Davis, 2000). This practice has seen McDonald’s win a number of awards in employment sensitivity as the company ensures that there is no inequality in the various regions where the organization has expanded. Gender equality is also seen to be further enhanced within McDonald’s corporation as the organization provides equal and quality training to all its various employees while ensuring that its employment policy is not in any way biased against one kind of gender. Importance of Gender Theories in Organizations, Resistance and Sexuality in the Workplace, and Feminist Theories of Organizations as Pertains to Ethical Considerations in Organizations According to Buzzanell (2000), ethical considerations within a business organization can be approached from a feminist perspective to aid the organizations in effectively addressing the organization’s primary ethical concerns in relation to its stakeholders. This can variously include functions such as the implementation of ethical procedures that can be used in the identification of which stakeholders have legitimate values as well as identifying the character of these values. Feminist theories can also be used in the implementation of ethical procedures designed to ensure that stakeholder values, once identified, are adequately represented in the business organization’s internal decision-making processes. Theories of gender which are also commonly referred to as gender studies are seen to attempt to try and explore the various traditional disciplines via the use of an interdisciplinary perspective that attempts to try and focus on the importance of both gender and the various gender roles as well as the consequences of using gender as a social construct. Acker (1990), points out that organization structures are fundamentally gendered and inadvertently produce gender differences as no institution can be considered to be gender-free. Acker is also of the view that organizational hierarchies are primarily based on men’s sexuality, bodies and relation to procreation and that the continuous masking of this gendered nature of organization is a form of stringent control in the increasingly industrial capitalist society (1990). This position is seen to be further supported by Ackroyd and Thompson (1999), who point out that even in the supposedly desexualized organizations, the rules are still primarily being made by men and women, including women managers are forced to constantly manage their behavior and appearance so as to be able to achieve a somewhat credible fit. Ackroyd and Thompson (1999), are also keen to emphasize that while most of the male power in organizations and business is generally unspoken, it can however be identified in sexually saturated business language. This is exemplified by the use of some common terms such as: market penetration, outcomes of competitive struggles and policies thrust. However, with the proper application, theories of gender can serve to greatly aid an organization’s ethical considerations as they are seen to generally advocate for the equal representation of both men and women in all the different aspects of an organization. Although gender theories by organizations are seen to advocate for ethical equality between men and women, companies should be careful their utilization of these theories as they have faced increasing criticism from different authors and individuals such as Pope Benedict XVI (BBC, 2008). The theories have been accused of often tending to contradict each other as well as not being logically consistent. While views of female sexuality are usually found to not always be accurate and particularly so around female suppression and male dominance, female sexuality and resistance at the workplace is nevertheless an important consideration for any organization that is intent on maintaining high ethical levels. If an organization fails to ensure that the ethics surrounding female sexuality and resistance are not carefully adhered to, cases of sexual harassment can potentially begin to increase and affect the organization’s operation. According to Barrett and Davidson (2006), sexual harassment essentially communicates a general lack of respect for not only the integrity but also for both the gender and sexual integrity of the person that has been violated. It is also seen to communicate sexist, heterosexist undertones, in addition to a myriad of oppressive attitudes, practices and values. In light of the significance of matters pertaining to female sexuality and resistance, it is important for organizations to ensure that female sexuality and resistance ethical considerations are included in its ethical code of conduct to ensure that all its employees comply with these vital ethical considerations. Conclusion In recent times, the debates surrounding business ethics have attracted considerable attention from various quarters most notably from pressure and consumer groups that have increasingly been demanding that firms try to seek out and establish what are considered to be more ethical and ecological ways of conducting business. Companies that neglect maintaining business ethics are seen to face considerable backlash from consumers as the media keenly highlights any unethical practices. Companies are increasingly recognizing that ethical practices are actually good for business, a factor that has resulted in more firms undertaking to develop ethical codes of conduct for their employees. With the adoption of proper organizational ethics, organizations are found to be well equipped to tackle challenges and compete effectively in the modern market. Bibliography Acker, J. (1991) 'Hierarchies, Jobs, Bodies: A Theory of Gendered Organizations', in J. L. Lorber and S. A. Farrell (eds) The Social Construction of Gender, Newbury Park, CA: Sage. Ackroyd, S. and Thompson, P. (1999) Organizational Misbehaviour, London: Sage Barrett, M., and Davidson, M. J. (2006) Gender and Communication at Work, Aldershot: Ashgate. BBC. 2008. Pope attacks blurring of gender. BBC News. Available at Blasio, G. Gregory. 2008. Understanding McDonald’s Among the “World’s Most Ethical Companies“. Electronic Journal of Business Ethics and Organization Studies. Vol. 13, No. 1 (2008) Buzzanell, P.M. (ed.) (2000) Rethinking Organisation and Managerial Communication from Feminist Perspectives, Thousand Oaks, CA and London: Sage. Davis, S. D. 2000.The consumer revolution in urban China. Berkeley [u.a.] : Univ. of California Press, c. Jackson, M. Robert. 1998. Destined for equality : the inevitable rise of woman's status. Cambridge, Mass. [u.a.] : Harvard Univ. Press. Kelchner, L. 2013. The Importance of Ethics in Organizations. Houston Chronicle. Available at McDonald's. 2013. Sustainability. McDonald's Corporation. Accessed from http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/sustainability.html McElhaney, A. K. 2008. A Just good business : the strategic guide to aligning corporate responsibility and brand. San Francisco : Berrett-Koehler Publishers. Parker, M. (ed.) (1998) Ethics and Organizations, London: Sage. Read More