Ethical People in an Organization - Essay Example

ETHICAL PEOPLE IN AN ORGANIZATION Table of Contents Ethical People in an Organization This paper presents a review of the first two chapters of the book entitled “Business Ethics: How to Design and Manage Ethical Organizations” written by Dennis Collins (2011). As the title suggests, this book deals with the ethical issues related to business organizations. The first two chapters of the book are quite interesting and have been discussed in details in this paper. The first chapter of the book has been named as “Unethical Behaviors in Organizations and Human Nature”. This chapter gives an overview of the commonly found unethical behaviors in organizations and the costs associated with such behaviors. Competitive advantages of various organizations having an ethical working environment have also been discussed in this chapter. It also explains certain theories associated with human nature and the various stages of moral development. Most of the organizations in the modern era are found to follow certain unethical behaviors in some form or the other in their business activities. According to Collins (2011), the managers of the organizations are found to misunderstand the extent and type of costs that are associated with the unethical behaviors conducted by their companies. It is interesting to know that unethical behaviors in the part of an organization can prove to be very costly to them. Collins (2011) identified various types of costs associated with unethical behaviors of an organization. They are: reputation costs, legal costs, recruitment costs, turnover costs, costs associated with abusive treatments, monitoring costs and employee theft. All these costs are associated with some unethical behaviors followed in organizations and in most cases the company managers fail to realize that. All business organizations have the primary objective of increasing its profits and have a competitive advantage in the market. It is interesting to know that ethical behaviors followed in an organization can also add to the competitive advantages for a company. As compared to unethical companies, ethical organizations have the advantages of attracting employees who are of high quality in nature, employee satisfaction is more, and the employees are found to be more committed towards their work, thereby increasing their performance efficiencies. The other part of this chapter deals with human nature and its implications to manage ethics. Explaining about the human nature, one interesting concept used in the chapter is about inherited sin. Some researchers believe that the individuals are born with inherited sin or are morally imperfect. Other researchers have argued to this fact and have mentioned that when individuals are born they are morally neutral. John Locke coined a term called “tabula rasa” meaning blank slate. It is on this blank slate where the moral rules acquired by individuals are based on their experiences in life. Whether a person is born morally imperfect, neutral or perfect, their moral judgment is influenced by their families, cultures and environments in which they grow up. This process of development of minds in children has been outlined by Jean Piaget. Lawrence Kohlberg, a psychologist from Harvard had another interesting concept regarding various stages leading to moral development of individuals. The six stages of moral development identified by him are: a) Obedience-and-Punishment orientation, b) Instrumental orientation, c) Nice Girl-Good Boy orientation, d) Law-and-Order orientation, e) Social Contract Orientation, and f) Universal Ethical Principles Orientation. The second chapter of the book is entitled as “An Historical Perspective of Business Ethics”. This chapter gives an overview of the historical development of the concept of business ethics especially in America. Various issues related to American economy and business ethics in the country have been discussed in this chapter. The United States history suggests that business ethics in the organizations have progressed through the process of increased rights of the stakeholders of a company, and development of the judiciary system and democracy of the country. Various incidents related to the development of trade and business in United States have been discussed in this chapter. One of the interesting colonial incidents mentioned in this chapter is about the Boston Tea Party. It had an impact on the business practices followed by East India Company which were characterized being monopolistic in nature. East India Company was then regarded to be the most dominant multinational company in the world, and the members of the British Parliament had a major stake in the company. The incident took place in Boston Harbor, where British cargo ships carrying tea were anchored. Some of the colonialists in the US demanded the ships to go back to England, but they did not go back. The colonialists got agitated and dumped all the tea in the sea (Furstinger, 2002, p. 28). Another interesting fact discussed in this chapter is about the ethical foundation of capitalism in the United States. After the victory against England in the Revolutionary War, the mercantilist system controlled by British government got abandoned in the United States. Then the concept of capitalism first came into existence in the country, and many of the founders of the nation like Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, etc. relied on the literature of a Scottish philosopher named as Adam Smith for his concept of liberty in the business sector. The colonialism system got implemented in the US economy which resulted in the enhancement of business ethics. Capitalism as an economic system was first formulated by Adam Smith. At the end this chapter introduces an interesting ethics model termed as “Optimal Ethics System Model”. This model is about a systematic framework related to best business practices that can be followed in an organization. This model is supposed to reduce ethical risks and help in reinforcement of ethical behaviors in an organization. In order to have a sustainable growth of an organization it is necessary for the companies to implement ethical values like trust, honesty, credibility, integrity, etc. in its organizational system. According to Collins (2011), multiple support systems that are mentioned in the Optimal Ethics Systems Model can help an organization to achieve the creation of sustainable culture in the business concern. Hence, this chapter helps us to have a better understanding of the historical economic development of United States and how ethics have evolved and developed though it as well. References Collins, D. (2011). Business Ethics: How to Design and Manage Ethical Organizations. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons. Furstinger, N., 2002. The Boston Tea Party. Minnesota: Capstone Press. Read More