Impact of Personal Values on Professional Ethical Position - Case Study Example

Part A Introduction People continuously encounter situations where they face conflict between personal values and professional values and choosing or adoption one becomes difficult. Organizations lay down different code of conduct and values which employees have to abide with and a dissonance between the personal and professional values at times results in impacting the overall health of the business. Cormier, Nurius & Osborn (2002) have clearly identified and stated that when personal values are in congruence with the professional values people are more likely to act genuinely and credibly with their clients. In case the professional values and personal values don’t fall in congruence with one another people generally practice their own personal values, beliefs and biases which they have learned throughout their life experience. This paper thereby looks to present a critical review on the manner in which my personal values will impact my professional ethical position and the overall impact it will be witnessed on the decision making process. This will also look towards highlighting the manner in which personal and professional work value ethics impact business decisions and the manner things gets shaped up. The paper also uses a personal narrative to present the factors which results in a conflict between personal and professional values and the manner the conflict will be resolved. This will be matched by using different theories and presenting an overall framework through which differences between personal and professional values will be reduced so that better decisions are taken and overall process of decision making improves. Situation I faced The different values which I have imbibed from my childhood is reflected in my working style as since my childhood I have witnessed that feminist theory dominates the world where women are provided a subordinate position in comparison to men. While there are different and multiple perspective which is associated with feminist theory the above mentioned premise guides all gender. It thereby leads to a creation where feminist questions and challenges the belief that men are more capable than women and believes in gender equality. This leads towards the creation of ethical business dilemma which business might face due to differences between the personal and professional values which people have. My first assignment on the job appeared perfect as it reflected all the qualities I was looking for. The work has everything as it focused on human rights, provided scope to learn program development, community organization and policy. I found it easy while working on the first project as my different learning’s were applied to it. While working on the second project my enthusiasm turned into ambivalence as I started to face confronting situation between my personal values and professional values. The second project required that I work on women issues but where the women were not supported to live life without fear and were oppressed by different section of the society to work in different ways. I was of the opinion that I will be allowed to work in a fair manner but instead I had to hide things and ensure that the society was shown in a better light and the conditions of women within the society was not shown. At that moment I didn’t realize that the clash of values would confront with my personal values and would lead towards certain changes in my value system which would finally lead towards dilemma and would make difficult to choose between the right and wrong. Ethical Tools Used The effectiveness of the decisions which I took can be easily identified and attached to the language of ethics which shaped my role where I look at listening, analyzing and then taking decisions after evaluating the different alternatives. To ensure that I take the correct decision I looked towards using the utilitarianism principle where I looked at taking decisions which benefits most. This was matched by the use of spiral flow where all the different alternatives were evaluated and based on the factors which provides the maximum possible value and ensure better ethical fulfilment I choose the one which met most aspects. This helped to ensure that the entire process also highlighted the different dimensions of ethical requirements which have to be considered and showed the manner in which effectiveness will be achieved in decision making. Banks (2001) has identified that ethical dilemmas arise in work situation where the worker is faced with two unwelcomed alternatives which would result in a conflict between the moral principles and it is not clear which option is the right one. This creates a situation of ethical dilemma where choosing between the options becomes difficult and selecting the course of action becomes difficult. Ethical dilemma is work place is generally associated with individual rights and welfare; public welfare; and inequality and oppression. It was the third dilemma which I was facing as I had ensured that I would be looking towards improving individual rights and through my second project would look at alleviating the condition of the society and would create a better environment where the decisions would be better taken. This created an ethical dilemma before me as the two alternatives which I was facing was that firstly I accepted the work and instead of highlighting the manner in which gaps was created between different gender concealed it and secondly not taking the project which would mean that I don’t look towards working for the society. The overall situation created one instance where I was unable to select the correct alternative. At this juncture my personal values dominated my professional ones and shaped my professional life as the value system which I had grown since my childhood shaped my decision making process and made me to take decisions based on it. This resulted in a complete change in outlook and looking at different things from different angles changed. The process of ethical decision making has a lot of tension which makes it imperative that people take the advice of people who will show them the correct path especially when new to the job so that the confrontation between the personal and professional values gets reduced. This will help to provide the right path to take decisions and will guide the overall process through which better effectiveness will be achieved and the decisions which will be taken will be fairer. It has been clearly identified that from out childhood experiences we start to develop our core values which determines the manner in which we judge different situation and people thereby acting as a point through which vital decisions are taken. Since, my childhood I had started to learn the manner in which the roles of men and women were decided differently. I had started to learn that girls were not allowed to carry out the same work which boys were allowed and it started to create the value that men and women need to be treated differently. My family followed the old tradition where women were expected to work at home, marry and have children whereas men were allowed to go out of the house and earn livelihood. The difference between men and women were taught to me at a very small age which influenced the manner in which I thought and created a different opinion in relation to both men and women. This values which I acquired continues to dominate me and shapes the manner in which different decisions are taken in my professional life. My personal values at this juncture controlled my virtue system and based on it I was able to take different ethical decisions. The overall process also allowed the flexibility to follow a code of conduct and helped to develop a process and momentum through which better and ethical decisions were taken within the organization. Conclusion The ethical situation which I faced created a dilemma before me a choosing between the personal values and professional values were becoming difficult. Using the language of ethics helped me to take corrective decisions as it ensured that I was able to evaluate the different alternatives and based on it was able to take corrective actions. This process also ensured that the different ethical theories were used and helped to develop a framework through which corrective or better ethical decisions were taken. Part B Personal dilemma Taking an ethical decision whether I should act in a particular manner as it reflected on the manner in which my personal values were clashing with my professional values making it difficult to take decisions The personal decisions which I have taken further reflects on the manner in which my personal values helped to dominate the professional values and has thereby reflected on the manner in which ethical decisions were taken within the organization Evidence of reflection on dilemma The ethical making situation created a dilemma as choosing between the personal and professional values was becoming difficult. This thereby made it difficult to interpret the manner in which decisions will be taken as it had an impact on the process of decision making. This further resulted in multiplying the difficulties as selecting different options and acting on those became difficult and the business was thereby faced with hurdles. Ethical theories in decision making The use of language of ethics helped me to take better decisions as the entire process looked at evaluating the different alternatives and analyzing the different options. This provided an opportunity through which the different decisions were taken in the most effective manner. Further, the process looked towards strengthening and making changes in the manner decisions were taken and brought about changes through which better planning and decisions were taken so that overall process of ethical decisions provided maximum and corrective decisions. References Banks, S. J. (2001). Ethics and Social Work Values (2nd ed.). Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, United Kingdom: Palgrave McMillan. Banks, S. J. (2006). Ethics and values in Social Work (3rd ed.). New York: Palgrave McMillan. Cormier, S., Nurius, P. S., & Osborn, C. J. (2009). Interviewing and change strategies for helpers: Fundamental skills and cognitive-behavioral interventions (6th ed.). 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The second project required that I work on women issues but where the women were not supported to live life without fear and were oppressed by different section of the society to work in different ways. I was of the opinion that I will be allowed to work in a fair manner but instead I had to hide things and ensure that the society was shown in a better light and the conditions of women within the society was not shown. At that moment I didn’t realize that the clash of values would confront with my personal values and would lead towards certain changes in my value system which would finally lead towards dilemma and would make difficult to choose between the right and wrong.

Ethical Tools Used The effectiveness of the decisions which I took can be easily identified and attached to the language of ethics which shaped my role where I look at listening, analyzing and then taking decisions after evaluating the different alternatives. To ensure that I take the correct decision I looked towards using the utilitarianism principle where I looked at taking decisions which benefits most. This was matched by the use of spiral flow where all the different alternatives were evaluated and based on the factors which provides the maximum possible value and ensure better ethical fulfilment I choose the one which met most aspects.

This helped to ensure that the entire process also highlighted the different dimensions of ethical requirements which have to be considered and showed the manner in which effectiveness will be achieved in decision making. Banks (2001) has identified that ethical dilemmas arise in work situation where the worker is faced with two unwelcomed alternatives which would result in a conflict between the moral principles and it is not clear which option is the right one. This creates a situation of ethical dilemma where choosing between the options becomes difficult and selecting the course of action becomes difficult.

Ethical dilemma is work place is generally associated with individual rights and welfare; public welfare; and inequality and oppression. It was the third dilemma which I was facing as I had ensured that I would be looking towards improving individual rights and through my second project would look at alleviating the condition of the society and would create a better environment where the decisions would be better taken. This created an ethical dilemma before me as the two alternatives which I was facing was that firstly I accepted the work and instead of highlighting the manner in which gaps was created between different gender concealed it and secondly not taking the project which would mean that I don’t look towards working for the society.

The overall situation created one instance where I was unable to select the correct alternative. At this juncture my personal values dominated my professional ones and shaped my professional life as the value system which I had grown since my childhood shaped my decision making process and made me to take decisions based on it. This resulted in a complete change in outlook and looking at different things from different angles changed. The process of ethical decision making has a lot of tension which makes it imperative that people take the advice of people who will show them the correct path especially when new to the job so that the confrontation between the personal and professional values gets reduced.

This will help to provide the right path to take decisions and will guide the overall process through which better effectiveness will be achieved and the decisions which will be taken will be fairer. It has been clearly identified that from out childhood experiences we start to develop our core values which determines the manner in which we judge different situation and people thereby acting as a point through which vital decisions are taken. Since, my childhood I had started to learn the manner in which the roles of men and women were decided differently.

I had started to learn that girls were not allowed to carry out the same work which boys were allowed and it started to create the value that men and women need to be treated differently.

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