Workplace Ethical Situation - Essay Example

Workplace Ethical Situation By Workplace Ethical Situation The following is a of a workplace ethical situation. The ethical situation described below is the case of employees conducting business on Company time and Company resources; the workplace ethical situation is based on my personal experiences of workplace ethical situations. Conducting Personal Business on Company Time and Resources Some employees who work in demanding jobs that require a lot of time are often tempted to conduct personal business on Company time and resources (Rafner, n.d.). In my experiences in life, I have realized that some of the common ways in which employees conduct personal businesses on Company time and resources include the following ways; first, many employees are tempted to set up personal appointments on Company’s phone lines; for instance, many employees set up doctor’s appointment or counsellor’s appointment on Company’s phone lines without the knowledge of the management of the Company. Secondly, many employees are tempted to make vacation reservations using their employer’s computers and internet connection. Thirdly, many employees use Company’s time and resources to make calls about personal business, without the knowledge of the management of the Company. A critical analysis at the forms of behaviour that we have outlined above in light of the deontic theory of ethics shows that such behaviours are clearly unethical. This is because it is against the ethical principles of many business organizations to conduct personal business on the Company’s time and resources. But although at cursory glance such behaviour may seem clearly unethical, there are some situations in which it is not easy to tell whether or not use of Company’s time and resources to conduct personal business is morally right or not. Imagine a situation, for instance, where one is called by his/her spouse informing them that their child is critically ill and one is required to schedule a doctor’s appointment immediately; is it morally justifiable in such a situation to schedule doctor’s appointment on Company time and resources, i.e. to schedule doctor’s appointment using a Company’s phone lines or making the appointment using Company’s Computers and internet connection? In resolving this workplace moral dilemma, there are a number of ethical positions that one can take depending on the ethical theory that one is guided by in making decision in such a situation. This paper applies Kantian deontological ethical theory in analysing this situation and in finding out whether or not it is morally permissible to conduct personal, business in some circumstances, on Company’s time and resources. Before I apply Kantian deontological approach to ethics in this ethical dilemma in workplace, it is important to first look at the main tenets of Kantian deontological theory of ethics. The following is a brief description of Kantian deontic theory of ethics. Kantian deontological approach to ethics is summarized in his famous categorical imperative. Kantian categorical imperative has two tenets that are different, but closely related (Kant, 2002). In the first tenet of categorical imperative, Emmanuel Kant asserted that in moral dilemma, one should take action that he/she would wish to be made into a universal law applicable to all such cases. In other words, Immanuel Kant meant that in making moral decisions, one should make a decision that he/she would wish to be made a universal law applicable to all such cases, without exception, under the same circumstances. In the second tenet of categorical imperative, Immanuel Kant asserted that in dealing with human beings, we should always treat human beings as ends in themselves, but never as means to some ends ( Rickaby, part 11, chapter 1). By this assertion Kant meant that human beings have intrinsic value and dignity and this means that they should always be treated as such, i.e. as ends and not as means to some ends. Having briefly explained Kantian categorical imperative, let me now apply the Kantian deontic approach to ethics in the workplace ethical situation case that I am looking at in this paper. In applying the Kantian deontic approach to ethics in the case workplace case that I am evaluating in this paper, I will look at whether or not conducting personal business on Company’s time and resources is morally justifiable in light of the Kantian deontic approach to ethics. To find out whether or not conducting personal business on Company’s time and resources is justifiable in light of Kantian deontic approach to ethics, I will first look at whether or not such behaviour is in line with the two tenets of Kantian categorical imperative. To begin with, let me look at whether conducting personal business on Company’s time and resources is in line with the categorical imperative tenet that demands that, in making moral decisions, one should always decide in a manner that he/she would his/her decision to be made into a universal law applicable to all the same situation and the same circumstances. The question now is, would one wish conducting personal business on Company’s time and resources, in circumstances like in the one I have looked at in our case, i.e. where one is required to immediately schedule doctor’s appointment for his/her ill child, to be made into a universal law such that all employees faced with similar situation would just use Company’s time and resources to make such appointment? A critical look at the ethical situation case that I am analysing shows that one can indeed wish using Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment in a situation where one’s children are ill, to be made into a universal law applicable in all similar situations. This is because, given the gravity and the seriousness of the situation that one is faced with in a situation where one’s children are ill and there is no other mean of scheduling doctor’s appointment, other than using Company’s time and resources, it is indeed rationally justifiable to use Company’s resources and time in making such an appointment. This is because refusing to use the Company’s resources and time to make such appointment can lead to the death of the sick children. Applying the same tenet of Kantian categorical imperative to the opposite decision, i.e. declining to use Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment, no one in his/her right minds would wish such a decision to be made into a universal law. This is because, although, of course, Company’s time and resources are important, the lives of the sick children, however, is more important than the Company’s time and resources. For this reason, therefore, in light of the first tenet of Kantian Categorical imperative, it is indeed morally justifiable for one to use Company’s resources and time in scheduling a doctor’s appointment in a situation where one’s children are ill and there is no other available mean to make such an appointment. If, however, there are available alternatives for one to make such an appointment, it is morally wrong in light of the first tenet of categorical imperative for one to use Company’s resources and time for personal business. Having applied the first tenet of Kantian imperative to our workplace ethical situation, let me now apply the second tenet of Kantian categorical imperative to this ethical situation so as to find out whether or not using Company’s time and resources under the given circumstances is morally justifiable. As we have already seen, the second tenet of Kantian categorical imperative demands that we should always treat human beings as ends in themselves, but never as means to some ends. In applying this tenet of Kantian categorical imperative to our workplace ethical situation, we should ask ourselves the following question: is using Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment for one’s critically ill children, who urgently need medical care, treating human beings as ends in themselves or is it treating human beings as means to some ends? As we have already seen, the second tenet of Kantian categorical imperative is based on the view that human beings have inherent value, worth, and dignity. For that reason, therefore, the second tenet of Kantian categorical imperative demands that we should always treat human beings as beings with inherent worth and dignity. A critical look at our workplace ethical situation shows that by using Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment for one’s sick children, one will be treating human beings as ends in themselves, but not as means to some ends. This is because, since, in view of the second tenet of Kantian categorical imperative, human beings have inherent value, human needs for medical care are more important than Company’s time and resources. For that reason, therefore, to treat human beings as ends in themselves but not as means to some ends, one should use the Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment for one’s sick children under the given circumstance. Failure to use the Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment under the given circumstances in our workplace ethical situation would mean that we treat human beings as means for some ends, but not as ends in themselves. For that reason, therefore, using Company’s resources and time to schedule doctor’s appointment under the given circumstances is morally justifiable in light of the second tenet of Kantian categorical imperative. This fact shows that, in general, it is morally permissible, in light of Kantian deontic approach to ethics, to use Company’s time and resources, in some circumstances, to conduct personal business. Reference Kant, I. (2002). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals. (Wood, A. trans.).London: Yale University Press. Rafner, D. “Common Workplace Dillemas”. Chron.com. Web. Read More