Ethics in Organizations - Case Study Example

of Ethics Paper Ethics in organizations Ethics are considered to be the values and principles that are used by an individualor organizations for governing their decisions and activities. In an organization, ethics are considered to be set of values that govern its policies, programs and activities for the business. The ethical philosophy used by an organization for conducting business may affect the productivity, bottom line and reputation of the business. In the 21st century, ethics have become the priority of almost all the organizations. An effective example of commitment to ethical integrity was demonstrated by the leadership of Hewlett Packard. The management of HP stated that one of the most difficult yet important choices they have ever made was firing the people whose acts were not meeting the ethical standards of the organization. Whether it is in the form of legal or moral responsibility, ethics should be considered as their priority by the modern organization. Organizations have a lot of things going on in their minds in today’s highly competitive world. They must also be familiar with all the technological advancements, the product and services of their competitors, the effects of globalization on the operations of the firm and the threats and opportunities present within their own industry. As the priority of the organization, ethics will not only affect its decision making and culture but also its goals. In order to achieve success an organization must integrate the business ethics with its vision, mission, values, goals and strategies. Ethical values are considered to be social in nature and therefore the alignment between the processes will be concerned with the definition of the definition and relationship of relational expectations. The major goal of an organization practicing ethical values should be to work for the greater good of all. The internal relationship in the organization i.e. the one existing between the leaders and the followers and the external relationship of the organization and its clients should benefit the society at all prize. It is the responsibility of the organization’s leaders to keep an eye on the vision, values, mission, goals and strategy of the organization. However in order to compete in the markets of 21st century it is important that the organizations should make ethics their priority. Priorities are things that are considered to be most important. For an organization some things are way too important than the others. Ethical values must gain recognition as elite and most significant success factor for the modern organizations. As the result of this the people will be treated well and an ethical culture emerges from it (Brimmer, 2012). Integrating ethics in the goals of business Ethics must be integrated in the goals of the business by proclamation. Ethics should not only be part of the organization’s goals but also its long term strategies plans, public pronouncements and code of conduct. It should be the corner stone of the organization’s culture and must be integrated effectively in the strategy of the business. For incorporating ethics in its goals and strategies an organization must not be in any unethical business such as arms and ammunition, tobacco, etc. It must obey the law and the spirit of the law. An ethical business does not rely on compliance officers, ethic officers, auditors, cops, regulations, audits and manuals for incorporating ethics into their strategies. It must emphasize more on principles than on rules. An organization must be totally transparent with its operations and constituents. It needs to have a proper framework and processes for resolving ethical issues. An organization need to have a proper structure for implementing ethical values and policies. Employee’s development should be made the part of the organization’s strategy and ethics should become the part of employee development. The leaders of the organization must motivate the employees to be more demanding and challenging in their ethical domain. Ethics performance evaluation must also be considered an important part of the organization’s standard. The ethics performance evaluation must keep a check on how actually the organization behaved, including its issues regarding opportunities and transparency. The company must also evaluate that whether or not its actions in the past few years have been consistent with its values and purpose. Bioethics Bioethics on the other side is a controversial study of ethics that has been brought into light because of the advancements in the fields of medicine and biology. This type of ethics is also a moral perspicacity as it is related to the medical practice, policy and research. It is also related to the questions that results as the relationship that exists between medicine, life sciences, biotechnology, laws, politics and philosophy. Medical ethics on the other hand is considered to be the study of judgments and values that are applied to medicine. Medical ethics, as a discipline takes into account all the practical application that take place in the medical setting as well as its effects on history, theology, sociology and philosophy. Medical ethics has a narrow application when applied to professional ethics, whereas the application of bioethics is much broader taking into account issues of biotechnology and the philosophy of science. However within the organization setting these two fields often overlap and their differentiation is dependent on style than on professional consensus. The responsibility of the bioethicist is to assist the research community and health care institutes to examine the moral issue that are related to our understanding of life and death. Bioethicists are also responsible for resolving ethical dilemma in science and medicine (Mautner, 2009). Health care institutes have been emphasizing on the ethical basis of the medical practices in the recent years. Various values and principles that are stated in numerous declaration and oaths are considered to be the foundation of ethical practices in health care institutes. The Hippocratic Oath is considered to be the one of the many declaration and oaths that is recited by the newly graduate medical student. Health care professionals and physicians are usually involved with different medical organizations such as hospital, agencies and health care clinics and also with some extra professional entities that are responsible for managing health care organizations and various government programs that influence the type and the extent of medical care that is being provided. These health care entities and organizations have values and mission statements that convey their commitment towards the ethical practice and value orientation of the health care institute. The health care professional and physicians may question many of these commitments to the ethical practices and value orientation as they often feel stressed and frustrated by the bureaucratic, financial and administrative pressure. There are number of situations that might make the health care professional and the physicians question the value or ethical orientation of the health care facility or the staff. Some of these situations can be pressure of discharging a patient soon, pressure of not admitting the patients because of their insurance status or cost, provision in reduction in the quality of care to patient who do not have sufficient insurance coverage, providing minimum information to the patient regarding the procedure, failure to provide important information to the patients, avoiding less desirable patients and not scheduling sufficient time for the patients visits (Gabel, 2011). Social responsibility for the organization in the community There are a number of firms present in the society that know the importance of implementing ethical standards. Modern organizations do believe in fulfilling their responsibilities to the society. Some of the examples of organizations working to bring a change in the community are listed below: Molson Coors Canada has invested a large amount in spreading awareness regarding responsible drinking. Molson communicates with the society spreading the message related to responsible drinking. Tyson food considers social responsibility as their core mission. Tyson has committed its effort for ending childhood hunger. In the past few years it has been collaborating with the social media to carry on its operation related to the society. Tyson food launched its campaign in Austin in which it pledged to donate 100 pounds of chicken to a food bank present in Texas. Green polis has taken the responsibility of creating the awareness in the society about how it can become environmentally sound. The goal of this organization is to make people learn and act accordingly. This organization is owned by Waste Management of America. Green polis is also carrying out its operation by the help of different social networking sites. Conclusion Patients as well as health care organizations benefit from values and ethical orientation in health care institutes. Health care organizations and physicians clearly do benefit from ethical orientation but not only due to the satisfaction which they get as the result of conducting the operation in ethical manner. There are some practices that are considered unethical by nearly all the health care institutes. The health care organization must try to meet the minimum ethical standards set by the regulation authorities. It is clear that without emphasizing on ethics, a health care organization will miss its opportunity of fulfilling its responsibilities to the internal as well as the external environment. References Brimmer, S. E. (2012). The Role of Ethics in 21st Century Organizations. Retrieved April 19, 2014, from Leadership Advance: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/lao/issue_11/brimmer.htm Gabel, S. (2011). Ethics and Values in Clinical Practice: Whom Do They Help? Mayo Clinic proceedings, 421-424. Mautner, M. (2009). Life-centered ethics, and the human future in space. Bioethics, 433-440. Read More