Organization in Develop an Effective Ethics Program - Essay Example

Section A List out and explain any five pillars of character. Solution: There are six pillars of character; they are as following (NISD Six Pillars of Character Trustworthiness Respect Responsibilities Fairness Caring Citizenship a) Trustworthiness: This is the first and most important part of an individual’s character. It is important for individuals to be honest and to be reliable. Individuals need to be trusted and should never deceive or cheat or steal. It is also important to do what you say you will do and always have the courage to stand up for the truth and the right thing. It is also important to stand by family members, friends and the country and to be loyal. Together these help in building a good reputation for the individuals. b) Respect: This is the second important aspect of a good character. It is important to respect others and to be tolerant of differences. Also essential to have good manners and avoid bad language at all costs. Also, essential to understand others feelings and not to hurt or hit others but work on dealing with issues in a more respectful and peaceful manner. c) Responsibilities: To be responsible, it is important to be perseverant, and to always give in the best for everything. Also, having self control and being self disciplined along with being accountable for choices and to think before acting, with a complete consideration of all consequences. d) Fairness: It is important to work based on rules and to share with others. Also important to be open minded and should be able to listen to others. It is also essential not to take advantage of others and to be very careful before blaming anyone. e) Caring: Another pillar of the character is to be compassionate and kind and to show care and concern with gratitude. Also it is important to forgive others and also help people who need assistance. 2. Briefly explain the guidelines for an organization to develop an effective ethics program. Solution: Developing an effective ethics program for an organisation is an essential aspect of the business. It is necessary to consider the following points while developing an ethics program: a) The risks areas along with the values for the risks need to be stated. It is important that these values comply with the laws and regulations and the kept track of to ensure no serious misconduct. b) The values that address the ethical issues need to be identified. c) Provide clear and understandable codes with the assistance of examples to reflect the values. d) Provide good communication of the codes and the codes need to be provided in languages that can be easily understood by all employees. e) Conduct yearly reviews of the code based on the input from all stakeholders of the company and stay within the regulations. It is essential to also note that control systems need to be in place for effective ethics programs. Companies can use two types of control systems these include, a) Based on compliance, and b) based on values. The compliance based help in creating a more orderly behaviour and also ensures that the legal aspects are taken into account and complied with. The value based is more supported by the shared values and here the company can focus more on the company’s values rather than rules and regulations (Weston, 2010). Together with the control systems and the above mentioned points companies can build well developed ethics programs. 3. Critically analyze the various arguments for and against social responsibility. Solution: There have been a number of arguments for and against the social responsibilities. Firstly, considering the arguments for social responsibility, include, creating better environment, considering the public expectations, and the long run profits, considering the ethical obligations, and public image. Social responsibility also allows a balance between responsibility and power and helps keep up with the shareholders interest and the possession of the resources. This also permits encouraging the preventions over cure and to discourage the government regulations as well. The above mentioned points do bring put effective ways in improving the businesses and also help in improved overall behaviour of individuals and corporate (Duska, 1998). The argument clearly brings out how the companies can build their brand image and the position in the markets with the customers and all stakeholders. However, considering the against social responsibilities arguments, it is clear that they state, violation of the maximisation of profits high costs that are involved and high levels of power that relate here along with a clear dilution of the purpose and lack of skills, accountability and also broad public support. This is true and to a great extent the social responsibilities can have a negative impact on the working of companies (Pride, Hughes, & Kapoor, 2009). It is essential to note that every strategy and every plan have their own positives and negatives and it is essential to weigh both sides before taking any steps. 4. Identify and explain any five global ethical issues plaguing the world. Solution: There have been a number of global ethical issues that have been plaguing the world in the current times. A few of these are as discussed below: a) Use of addictive substances: A very common and growing global ethical issue that has been plaguing the world has been the use of addictive substances. People are largely becoming more and more addicted to unhealthy items like alcohol, drugs and tobacco. In the current times this has increased to a great extent. b) Abortions: A growing issue that has been plaguing the world is that of abortions. In the current times, there is an ethical dilemma that is being faced whether the abortions should be made legal or not. It is to be noted that UK has been seeing a rise in the number of abortions each year and the year 2008, saw a total of 195,296 abortions (DH, 2009). c) Environmentalism: This is another ethical issue that is being faced world over. There is an ethical dilemma of the obligations that are present for individuals and companies to consider towards the environment. d) Discrimination and related issues: The world has been faced with issues of discrimination and others like affirmative action. These have been argued to be major ethical issues that have been plaguing the world. e) Corruption: One of the many ethical issues that have been influencing the world is the issue of corruptions specifically in terms of the government. The ethical questions that have risen here is whether or not these issues need to be considered strongly (Blatner, 2006). 5. Briefly describe the ALL the bases of power from which a person may influence another. Solution: The influence of people on others is very high at every stage in the world. There are five basic bases of power used by people to influence others and make them work according to the desire of the individuals. These include: a) Coercive Power: This is the basic base of power. Here people force others to work according to their needs and wants (French& Raven, 1959). This is a very problematic method that is followed by people and can lead to issues and even abuse, making this an unhealthy and dissatisfying method of achieving influence over others. b) Reward Power: The second method is to give the subordinates rewards for their achievements and to increase their desire and motivation towards the work. This is a positive manner of getting a job done; however, there is a major negativity to this as well. Firstly, it similar to bribing which clearly is not ethical and secondly, once all the rewards are given out, then there is nothing to help keep the individual motivated. c) Legitimate Power: According to Bass 1990, ‘Rewarding and Punishing subordinates is generally seen as a legitimate part of the formal or appointed leadership role and most managerial positions in work organizations carry with them, some degree of expected reward and punishment’. Legitimate power is based on the position or power that a person might have. People tend to listen due to the position that the person held, however once this is lost then there is little or no chance that this power will prove to be effective. d) Referent Power: This is a very strong power and here the power holder tends to be like role models to others. The people who usually have this power tend to have a strong and well build character as well (French& Raven, 1959). These people tend to keep in line with all the six points of good character. This is a very effective working style. e) Expert Power: The last type of power is that of the knowledgeable one and one where information, technique and expertise are all in sync. When people have this form of power others tend to believe in what they stand for and support and back individuals with this power in almost all cases. This is the most effective power style that can be used to influence others (French& Raven, 1959). 6. Business professionals have responsibilities to make decisions based on ethical principles. Critically discuss the adverse impacts of corruption. Solution: The main aim of all top management and business professionals is to ensure that the company moves in the right direction and that the company moves in sync with the basic aims and objectives and mission. The main aim of the business is to ensure that all decisions that are made are ethical and are based completely on Utilitarianism, where the benefit and best of all is checked and the gain of all involved is aimed. In the case of a corrupted manager or director, this can change and there is a high chance that the aim starts becoming more focused on an individual’s needs and not of the business. The main job of the professional and the management is to ensure that all the company’s decisions are in sync with the mission and vision and focus is on the success of the company. With corruption in the picture this would turn out to be more individualistic and there will clearly be a ‘personal interest’ that will be present. Hence this is not good for the safety of the company as well as for the safety of the overall mission and vision and the society and stakeholders of the company as well. Section B 1. Identify any five stakeholders in the case and briefly explain their moral obligations Solution: The main stakeholders in the case are the employees and people mentioned in the case. The names are: a) Martin Widdup: Being the owner of the business the moral obligation is to ensure that no form of diversity or discrimination occurs within the company. Being fair and just is an essential feature for a person at this position. b) Sam Sasbe: He needs to focus on being able to work in a diverse environment and his moral obligation is to work in sync with times and not stick on to the old traditional and religious ideas, as they do cause a major hindrance to all people working with him. He can follow any religion as he likes, however should not mix work and religion together. c) Patrick: The moral obligation of Patrick here is to be just and fair and not to base the decisions on others views but to see the skills and abilities of the person and then make the decision. d) Paul: Paul here is the person in question and his moral obligation is to ensure that the company is provided with complete and true information. e) Ron: The moral obligation of Ron here is to ensure that the decisions are made ethically and to ensure that a deserving candidate is not denied a job since people, ‘assume’ he is homosexual with HIV positive. 2. Discuss the ethicality of the top management’s decision not to hire Paul from the perspective of any four major ethical theories Solution: The decision of the top management not to hire Paul is based completely against important ethical theories like Utilitarianism, Virtue Theory, the Natural Law, and Deontology. The theory of Utilitarianism is where the outcome is focused on and the united benefit of the company and most stakeholders is to be noted. Paul has the ability to do so, yet the management is against his recruitment. In terms of the virtue theory, it would be incorrect not to hire Paul on assumptions. A ‘good person’ would go ahead and hire the individual based on qualifications and skills rather than their personal sexual preferences. Also based on the nature law, it is important to take decisions based on inherent human nature. Manmade decisions and differences should not be concentrated upon. Hence the management is clearly also overlooking this theory. Finally, the management seems to over look the theory of Deontology, where the ‘right thing’ needs to be done at all times irrespective of the results. Here the ‘right thing’ is to choose the candidate and to allow the individual bring their skills into the company and work towards high profits. Clearly the decision making by the management does not take these theories into consideration and hence it is important these theories are discussed based on them decisions are made. 3. Elaborate in detail how Ron can use the SIX steps for ethical problem solving to solve the problem. Solution: Ron can follow the six steps of ethical problem solving and can work on resolving the issue by following the below mentioned steps. These will help him resolve issues in an ethical manner (NASW, 1995). Firstly, it is important to identify whether the issue is an ethical one or not. Here it is a clear case of ethical issue. The fact that the members of the meeting are assuming Paul to be homosexual is inappropriate and it is an issue that needs to be answered at the earliest. Secondly, it is important to identify if Paul is indeed homosexual and whether or not he is HIV positive. This is very confidential information and can only be gained from Paul himself. Hence if this information is being looked for then an attempt must be made by Ron to contact Paul and get the information. Thirdly, Ron would need to choose the values and ethical principles in term of the relevance to the issue. Here the top priority goes to the part where Paul has the right to not disclose his personal information and can refrain from doing so as it is legal by law. Also, another important value that needs to be focused on here is that the job is given based on the qualifications and overall abilities and not on factors like the issue of other using the same toilets or drinking out of the same water fountain, based on an assumption that the individual is positive for HIV. The next step for Ron is to speak to all the managers and the individuals at the meeting and to lay down the laws which explain, that Paul is not required to express his sexual orientation as well as the fact that the health forms that need to be filled out are not legally mandatory. Also, the list of laws that relate to ethical behaviour with the employees like the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission should be laid down by Ron to the rest of the members. Ron can explain to the members that Paul is eligible for the job and is the best suited candidate for the job and there is no aspect of him that can allow the company to legally discriminate him. Once the laws are clearly explained to all, then Ron can arrange for an interview with Paul and choose him for the job. If he is faced with any form of resistance or inappropriate behaviour from the rest of the members Ron can easily go in to sue the company as all his ideas are based on the laws and perfectly in line with the regulations that have been set down. Finally, as the last step, it is essential that Ron evaluates his moves and reflects on the outcome of the choice made. This will help ensure that he is on the right track and will in fact prove that Paul has been chosen as he deserves the job and not based on any form of differentiation or discrimination (NASW, 1995). Bibliography Bass, B. M., 1990, ‘Bass & Stogdills Handbook Of Leadership’, 3rd ed., New York: Free Press, 1990 Blatner, A., 2006, ‘Ethical Issues In Contemporary Culture’, January 2006, Accessed on 30th June 2010, Retrieved from http://www.blatner.com/adam/psyntbk/ethicissues.htm DH, 2009, ‘Abortion Statistics, England and Wales: 2008’, 21st May 2009, Department of Health, Statistical Bulletin 2009/1, p. 36, Retrieved from http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsStatistics/DH_099285 Duska, R.F., 1998, ‘Education, Leadership and Business Ethics - Essays on the Work of Clarence Walton (Issues in Business Ethics)’, 1st Edition, 31st October 1998, Springer Publications French, J. R. P., Raven, B., 1959, ‘The bases of social power’. In D. Cartwright and A. Zander (Eds.), Group dynamics. New York: Harper & Row, 1959. NASW, 1995, ‘Essential Steps for Ethical Problem-Solving’, Accessed on 30th June 2010, Retrieved from http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/oepr/steps.asp NISD, 2010, ‘The Pillars of Character’, Accessed on 29th June 2010, Retrieved from http://www.nisd.net/pdf/news/203/NorthsideStory.pdf Pride, W.M., Hughes, R.J., & Kapoor, J.R., 2009, ‘Business’, 10th Edition, 12th February 2009, South-Western College/West Weston, H, 2010, ‘Developing an Effective Ethics Program’, Chapter 8 Summary, Accessed on 29th June 2010, Retrieved from http://www.ar.cc.mn.us/gallop/S08%20Chapter%20Summaries/BUS%201122%20Chapter%208.pdf Read More