Overview of Reflective Journal Articles - Assignment Example

A Reflective Journal Client Inserts His/her Name Client Inserts Grade Course Client Inserts Tutor’s Name 22/05/2012 REFLECTIVE JOURNAL Week 4 This week involved looking at the various ethical values that one needs to adopt at a workplace and influences one’s behaviour in the business context. It led to a deeper understanding of what the term ‘ethics’ actually means especially in the business world and the process of ethical decision-making. What are ethics? Basically, these are standards of right and wrong that prescribes what humans ought to do, especially in terms of obligations, benefits to society, fairness, and the act of doing right (Crane & Matten 2007). Generally, ethics refers to personally-set standards of one’s behaviour that impose the reasonable obligations to refrain from rape, stealing, murder, assault and fraud and also includes other virtues like honesty. Of great importance was to realize that some ethics can be easily acquired due to some circumstances including personal and situational push factors and that there are always sound reasons for this (Crane & Matten 2007). Ethics are not only important in social life but in business as well. In the business context, one has to know how well to deal with the clients for example, because every business’ aim is to establish strong and healthy ties between the server and the client for the much needed survival of the business. The major concerns include how the business operates, its products’ quality and its culture. In a business situation, what one gives to the external world in terms of actions and image determines what one gets in return and therefore doing the right to the client all the time is a must virtue. The core values in the corporate materials like brochures and websites do not necessarily define what a company does and in what environment it operates in (Crane & Matten 2007). They define what ethics the company proposes: integrity, excellence and responsibility to mention a few. These serve as the reference point in controlling the whole company’s average behaviour in a more or less general way (Williams 2012) Mostly these values are depicted in almost every activity carried out by a particular company and in a major way guide the ethical background of a company (Crane & Matten 2007). For any company, its image to the target community and the potential markets is the prime focus of any manager in such a capacity because sustainability is the ultimatum for any business. Business sustainability involves enduring difficult situations, dealing with challenges and maintaining market relevance in the business world and this ensures that such a company will enjoy a deserving market share on a long term basis and its products will remain relevant even in a stormy business environment. There is a need to involve balancing economics, environmental and social impacts of business or company (Williams 2012). The study revealed that depending on the nature of the work place one is involved in, there are personal forces and situational forces that influence one’s behaviour. I personally learned that despite the existence of the general core values of say a company, there are those inherent personal qualities and reasoning ability that help a typical worker in adjusting to the new workplace conditions (Crane & Matten 2007). For the thriving of a particular business say a company, integration of personal discipline and adhering to the codes of conduct proposed by a particular company leads to development of a more reliable workforce. To adjust to new codes of conduct may appear difficult initially and there are always possible dilemmas (Gladwin & Kennelly 1995). Luckily, the study further introduced a way to make ethical-decision. It involves recognizing a moral issue in a particular situation, establishing personal moral judgement on the subject, determining one’s moral intent and finally engaging in moral behaviour (Williams 2012). Basing on the different kinds of personalities one has to encounter in the business practice, I reckon adjusting one’s ethical values to an average that will always help to well respond to a wider scope of characters is an important step for any person with business ambitions (Williams 2012). Week 5 This week’s study introduced the meaning of capitalism as a module of governance that as well addresses respect to human rights including rights to property ownership, liberty and freedom of association. There was much to learn especially on the ethics that are closely associated and relating to capitalism. Just like business ethics, capitalism founded on the principles of human rights. It ascertains that each person has the rights to ownership of a particular property, liberty and the freedom of association. The role of the acting government is to protect individual rights to say ownership of a business as observed in private business holdings with minimum interference on personal endeavours. Instead, the principle of free and fair trade should be upheld. However, this is not always the case. In the real business world, the main “responsibility” for corporations is to maximize profit and increase shareholder value (William et al. 2011). Other pertinent financial responsibilities including the control of the environmental issues, working conditions (in respect to the rights of workers), and ethical practices among others have become neglected and in reality, most entrepreneurs find these as liabilities (Gladwin & Kennelly 1995). I certainly suppose that excessive freedom in the capitalism window has a big stake in this. The mostly favoured profit-only thinking in most private businesses renders good intentions to the external world a forgotten story. This is an abuse on the contrary, to the currently concerned public and to the more delicate environment. That is why most governments interfere with the running of businesses by various private business owners. I think we need to embrace a new form of capitalism. Given that the world is changing so rapidly and that our economic systems cannot be left behind in response, plus the need to cater for the welfare of the ones on the effect-receiving end (consumers and the environment), definitely there is a call to go back to the drawing board and redefine capitalism and the ethics related to it. There is a need to bring meaningful and effective change to the world, yet the pursuit to generate more profits remains an important feature (William et al. 2011). Good and profit no longer need to be at opposite ends. Since we take something away from society, then we need to give back something. Successful businesses of the future will be the ones that figure out how to maximize profit as they maximize their positive impact on the world (William et al 2011). Throughout this study, I engage in thinking about what ethics should characterize practical capitalism especially in the current world and particularly in the private business practice. Whether there are restrictions by the government in question or not, corporate accountability to all the relevant stakeholders is the first docket to hit (Gladwin & Kennelly 1995). According to some historical analysis point of view, the remaining challenge is that of taming corporate capitalism and promoting more inclusive and equitable patterns of development and this requires reasserting social control over markets and big business via various forms of regulation and the reconfiguration of power relations. However, the principles of capitalism hold that privately owned properties should not be interfered with. There is thus an added challenge to counter this problem. The great thing I learnt is that most entrepreneurs do not readily embrace the ethics that translate to good practice in the favour of the end receiver of the effects of their operations. The freedom to individually control one’s behaviour and what to provide to the consumer and the environment in return is a ground on which harmful decisions are made. Thus, I find the involvement of the government in controlling capitalism ethics highly justified (Gladwin & Kennelly 1995). Week 7 During this week, the focus was on what entails sustainable development and things to conceptualize in an attempt to achieve it. Again, sustainable development is a phenomenon that requires possession of particular ethics and embankment on the principles of human rights. First, sustainable development has both senses of using some and preserving some for the future generations (William et al. 2011). A functional business world and a conscious economy are thus important approaches for the attainment of sustainable development. The striking feature of the global drive towards sustainable development is the extent to which the agenda has evolved since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janiero. The emphasis especially on undertaking of projects and/or practices that favour the environment quality has continuously gained mammoth momentum. The issues concerning the welfare of the environment in particular have not only led to development of regulatory bodies within various governments but also have led to individual thinking and sensitivity in favour of the environment. This has important implications and poses new challenges for businesses. The immediate focus for business has been on how to marry economic efficiency with environmental excellence to ensure continued economic growth, while consuming the world’s resources and protecting its environment in a way that will not compromise the needs of future generations (Campbell & Mollica 2009). Many companies are today well advanced toward eco-efficiency, and it has also become a widely accepted policy concept, endorsed by, among others, the African Union and the European Commission. Adopting eco-efficiency programs within a business is a positive move and the practice need to be upheld by virtually all businesses ranging from multinational businesses in the industrialized countries to small and medium enterprises in all sectors worldwide. Sustainable development is built on three pillars: economic growth, ecological balance and social progress. These items have always been on the sustainability agenda, but until recently, the latter has been receiving less attention. Greater emphasis is being placed now on social progress, and specifically on what business is doing to contribute to this goal, and how it is delivering its contribution (Campbell & Mollica 2009). This has opened up a raft of issues. One is globalization with a human face, as former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan described the issue. Opening up world markets has, without doubt, created unprecedented global economic growth – with the promise of even more prosperity. Unfortunately, the benefits of this have not been shared equally across the globe (Windsor 2006). This is leads to some questioning about the role and function of free markets. Clearly, businesses must operate on free and open markets, but markets must work for everyone. There should be an aim of marrying globalization and free, open markets with stable societies and a fair distribution of the benefits (Campbell & Mollica 2009). Of course, companies have long been responding to social changes and pressures (Dunphy 2000). The current difference, as the emphasis is put more on the social pillar of sustainable development, is that corporate social responsibility has become an institutionalized element in the debate about what civil society expects from business. I appreciate the role of individual, institutional, national and international programs that are aimed at achieving healthy environment and simultaneously focus on the attainment of economic development. I reckon that there is a call for all individual entrepreneurs at all levels to uphold particular ethics that favour sustainable development and conceptualize the meaning and the need for sustainable development (Campbell & Mollica 2009). Environmental sustenance, promotion of free and fair trade corridors across the globe and focusing on economic growth are a means of success in this respect. Week 10 The focus for this week was the corporate social responsibility (CSR) and its suitability in respect to the overall practice in a particular company. CRS shows a company’s level of commitment to ethics that are meant to imply a better image, quality services and sensitivity of a company to the ecological issues. The general orientation of CRS is to try to enhance a particular company with a mirror for reflecting the effects of its practice and to see to it that appropriate responses are made in case of an inevitable practice that likely causes harm to the company’s surroundings (Banerjee 2007). Today, businesses are judged on how they impact on society and the environment and not merely on their products and services. The whole issue lies on the need to direct all business ventures towards achievement of economic development and not merely economic growth (Carley & Christie 2000). Economic development means that the living standards of the public are improved in all dimensions. As indicated above, most businesses only focus on profit maximization (Banerjee 2007). This should not be the case. There is a need for involvement of all stakeholders at different levels in the overall running of a particular company (Dunphy 2000). There have to be mechanisms that facilitate a condition where complains from those in the effect-receiving end are listened to and the necessary measures taken. Who then complains on behalf of the environment? This question has been approached in a number of ways over different times and the most appropriate approach so far has been paying for the damage that is not avoidable with the current technological levels in the daily operations of a company (Campbell & Mollica 2009). Paying up even for mischief conducted is painful and this makes various companies either to increase the level of abatement of detrimental effects on the surrounding society by improving the technology or otherwise continue incurring losses from these penalties (Banerjee 2007). The ethical background of many companies is characterized by ignorance and the commitment for example to the issue of the environmental health mostly is considered because of the ruling of the relevant authority (Windsor 2006). The issues like those of carbon pricing serve to control the level of harmful emissions to the atmosphere among others. Accountability to the workers is another commitment of a company that appreciates and upholds respect to human rights (Carley & Christie 2000). Issues addressing workers’ rights require a company to have the capacity to listen to their wailings. In general, ethics are very important for business sustainability and its social responsibility (Hawken 1993). But in a global competitive village and market operating on profit motive, there occurs the dilemma between mutually attending to both abatement of the harmful effects and the matters of profit maximization (Banerjee 2007). I am fully convinced that steps like carbon pricing are on the right track to enforce responsibility to various companies. The reason for this conviction is that it is evident that if the companies are left to operate on their own, the very vital social and/ or environmental issues would not actually and properly be attended to (Dunphy 2000). In the capitalist world, corporations are owned by private owners, most decisions about production and distribution are made by the market and to some extent the owners not legislation and consequently ‘good’ and profit remain at opposite ends. The government has very little involvement if any (Dunphy 2000). Nonetheless, it can supervise. The government establishes rules, such as contract law that governs business but has little involvement in the running. A capitalist world is so unfair to the extent that some few individuals and interest groups continually petition a government for laws that bias market processes in their favour all with the rationale of maximizing on profits (Carley & Christie 2000). The operations of the capitalism should then be amended in such a way that cares for both physical and social environments are taken into account. OVERVIEW The term ethics refers to the standards of right and wrong that prescribes what humans ought to do, especially in terms of obligations, benefits to society, fairness, and the act of doing right. In a workplace and/or in the business context, there are certain ethics that the role player must possess to ensure success. The greatest issue is the fact that a typical businessman deals with many different clients who require him or her to adjust his practice to that that suits the business atmosphere and specifically one that will enhance development of strong ties between him and the client (Dunphy 2000). There are to instinctive forces that lead to this adjustment of conduct. First is the personal inherent urge act hospitably but this has a limit (Windsor 2006). The other one is the situational force and one’s behaviour in this context is controlled by external forces, for example the need to control the level of harmful emissions into the atmosphere by being penalized per emission forces a manager to heighten the level of abatement. The reactions of the consumer make a particular company to improve the quality of its products. Ethics are a domain that appear in different forms and must exist wherever governance and leadership qualities are in operation. In the capitalism world, each person has the right of ownership of property (Hawken 1993). This property may be in form of a business or a piece of land and so on. The person entitled to the ownership of such properties has all the rights to their usage and minimum external interference is expected. However, the more individuals are set free, the more they pose threat especially to the environment due to their uncontrolled malpractice. This because most entrepreneurs view the financial responsibility for the catering of the harmful impacts they cause on environment as a liability (Hawken 1993) and their intensions are mostly directed towards ignoring these effects – their main focus is profit maximization. The virtues necessary for the attainment of sustainable development revolve around the principle of personal ethics and capacity to acting responsibly towards economic development of a particular country. Sustainability suggests using a portion for the available natural resources fulfilment of the current society’s needs as well as leaving the other portion for the welfare of the future generations (Hawken 1993). The focus on the need of a particular company to adopt corporate social responsibility again calls for particular ethics the guide the company towards providing best services to the end users (consumers of products; and the environment) (Carley & Christie 2000). Sometimes it only requires the inherent personal ethics because it is not possible for direct supervision at all times especially for the case of small businesses. The whole study entailed a tour on ethics and I learned that accountability is the main theme that cuts across all operations aimed at attainment of economic development and especially a sustainable one (Carley & Christie 2000). List of References Banerjee, S., 2007. Corporate Social Responsibility: the good, the bad, and the ugly. London: Edward Elgar Publishing. Campbell, T., and Mollica, D., 2009. Introduction. In T. Campbell & D. Mollica (Eds). Sustainability. 2(1); pp3-7. Carley, M. and Christie, I., 2000. Managing sustainable development. London: Earthscan. Crane, A., and Matten, D., 2007. Business Ethics (2nd ed.) Oxford University Press: Oxford Dunphy, D., 2000. Sustainability: The corporate challenge of the 21st century. New York: allen & Unwin. Gladwin, T. N. and Kennelly, J. J. 1995. Shifting Paradigms for Sustainable Development: Implications for Management Theory and Research. Academy of Management Review, 20(4): 874-907. Hawken, P. ,1993. The ecology of commerce. New York: HarperCollins William, M., Robert, J. and Jack R., 2011. Business. New York: Cengage Learning. Williams, B., 2012. Morality: an introduction to Ethics. London: Cambrige University Press. Windsor, D., 2006. Corporate social responsibility: Three key approaches. Journal of Management Studies, 43(1), 93-114. Read More