The Concept Ethics in Management - Term Paper Example

Ethics in Management Ethics in Management Ethics in life actually refers to learning to distinguish between right and wrong, and then acting out by doing the right thing. Most ethical problems in the workplace are not simple judgments such as should one employee steal from another Or should an employee lie to his or her boss (Free Management Library, 1997) Many ethicists strongly believe that there is always a right way to chose based on the morality principle while others believe the right thing to do depend on the situation at hand. Ethics are the fundamental ground rules that help us lead a good life. What is considered an ethical guideline in this generation becomes a law, regulation or rule for the next. Values which we believe guide us on how we should act and behave are said to be moral values, for example: respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility etc. if you put these values in Statements, they would be called ethical principles. (Free Management Library, 1997) The concept of Business Ethics means different things to different people, but generally it refers to being aware in an organization about what is the right or wrong step in the workplace and then doing the right thing. Ethics are all about making decisions that may or may not be to your benefit but you make them because they are the most socially acceptable solutions. In organizations, being ethical is not considered a good thing or is thought to have a negative effect. This is because the organizations are usually about doing what's best for becoming the top organization, this mean sometimes not doing the right thing. This is especially with regard to effects of products and services and with the relationship and organization has with its stakeholders. Giving importance to business ethics has become extremely critical during times of elemental change, this change in the way organizations work both profit and non-profit has come with the changing perceptions of people especially business professionals. Values and beliefs that were previously ignored and taken lightly are now strongly questioned. Many of these values that are ethical and socially acceptable are no longer given attention; as a result, there is no clear moral mentor or employee to guide future leaders through difficult problems and about what is right or wrong. When people start working and behaving ethically, they become more sensitive to their colleagues and subordinates. The best example for this would be when the leader and his or her employee maintain a strong and moral attitude during a time of crises. (Brotherton, 2003) (Free Management Library, 1997) Being ethical in an organization can have negative effects on the profitability of the organization and this may be something that the stakeholder might be unhappy with but it is very important for both the stakeholder and the organization to understand that long term goals and objectives are more important and fruitful than short term goals and by being morally sound and sensitized organization you will win the long term trust of the customers therefore be beneficial to the stakeholders indirectly. (Free Management Library, 1997) Business ethics is now being considered a management discipline, especially after the social responsibility movement in the 1960s and policies like affirmative action policies that addressed society's most sensitive moral and ethical issue, discrimination against color, caste and race. In that era, social awareness movements increased the expectations of organizations especially multinational corporations to use their strong financial and social influence to throw light on some of the major social problems such as poverty, crime, environmental protection, equal rights, and public health and literacy programs. (Brotherton, 2003) A growing amount of population emphasized on that organizations were making a profit from using our country's resources, human capital and natural; these organization had the responsibility to improve society for the welfare of the country (Jaszay, 2001). Many researchers, business schools and institutions organizational departments and managers have accepted this broader population, and in their four functions of management, planning, organizing, leading and controlling have replaced the word "stockholders" with "stakeholders," which means that they have included employees, customers, suppliers and the wider community as well. They have made it their responsibility to be socially responsible as well as be profitable for their organization, something that all businesses should consider. Organizations finally realized that they needed more guidance to ensure their business supported the common goods and services and did not harm others or the environment in any possible way and so business ethics was developed as a management principle. (Bowie & Werhane, 2004) 'Good' Corporate Citizen There are both good and bad people in the world. When we talk about business dealings, there is always a shady character of a person that comes to our minds that is being chased by a good cop. This may look like a story from a movie but such characters are there in the real world and it's due to these corrupt few people that influence the 'good' people to turn bad. A restaurant owner, who uses expired or near expiry products in the food ingredients since they are available cheaper, is a bad corporate citizen. Such a person would influence the chefs in the kitchen to use these ingredients hence distorting their beliefs and values too. When a good corporate citizen does business with others, such a person would positively affect others and improve the general moral and ethical behavior of the society in general. For this very reason people want to be employees of such a business that is owned by good corporate citizens and who caters to good corporate citizens. Implications of Ethical Management on the Hospitality Industry The ethical behaviour of the hospitality industry and the inherent ethical dilemmas faced by managers has been an area of significant debate over the past 10 years. It is up to the managers to identify unethical behaviour and take individual personal action to make ethical decisions. The influence of certain stakeholders in the organization is very high, therefore whenever a decision has to be made, the effect of the decisions on these stakeholders must be considered (Bowie & Werhane, 2004). A number of unethical practice examples can be given. In the hospitality industry, certain expenses of the business like booking for a room, hiring shuttle services, entertainment services etc. are not included in the initial registration fees. The costs of these services are paid from the rebates given from the room charges. Keeping this information under the curtains is considered unethical since the attendees don't know about it. According to the lawyers, this point should be mentioned in the contract. Also when mentioned, the rebates should go to cover the actual expense rather than getting in the pockets of few individuals. (Ligos, 1998) We have all seen the micro text written in contracts that is barely visisble to the naked eye and unreadable without a microscope. The actual terms and conditions are written in bold and big text that is understood by all people. But the following micro text that includes further exclusions or inclusions in the terms and conditions are usually skipped by people. This is another example of unethical practise as the contract makers are trying to trick the customers on purpose. Bribery is the issue of talk about in all fields. This bribery is not apparent and not in the form of cash payments to do a favour, rather in form of services. When booking properties, people are given free rooms or limo service for a hotel as incentives so that planners book meetings at their properties only. Another issue that comes to mind is the discriminatory prices charged. Many up-end restaurants have been cited for charging tourists higher prices than regular customers. (O'Brien, 1990) These tactics return a high profit only until the time they aren't found out. When someone in the organization "blows the whistle" on these wrongdoings, the image and reputation of a well reputed hotel/restaurant takes a big dive. Professional agencies are on the look out for these wrongdoings and investigations are done where irregularities are found. (Ligos, 1998) Conclusion According to W. P. Fisher (1993), "the best ethical posture for any organization or person is unswerving commitment to the truth, to progress, to service to others, and to the integrity of one's own existence". The ethical values of the organization need to be promoted and lauded through rewards. These values must be encouraged by the leader and practiced in all departments of the organization. By doing this, the organization can safeguard its interest, protect its reputation form the wrongdoers and attract good corporate citizens to take a part in the business. WORKS CITED 1. Free Management Library (1997). Retrieved on March 19, 2008 from 2. Norman Bowie & Patricia Werhane (2004). Management Ethics. Wiley-Blackwell 3. Bob Brotherton (2003). International Hospitality Industry: Structure, Characteristics and Issues. Butterworth-Heinemann 4. Ligos, M. (1998). News: Disclosure: The dispute continues [kickbacks in meetings industry] 5. Ligos, M. J. (1997). Cover story: Shady dealings: Unethical behaviour. 6. Fisher, Jim (1993) A question of ethics, part II 7. O'Brien, J. (1990). Exploring an ethical quagmire: 8. Christine Jaszay (2001). An Integrated Research Review of Ethics Articles in Hospitality Journals 1990 to 2000. Retrieved on March 19, 2008 from http://www2.nau.edu/clj5/Ethics/jaszay1.pdf Read More