Ethical dilemmas in Workplace - Assignment Example

Ethical Dilemma Ethical dilemma An ethical dilemma comprises of a difficult situation involving a moral conflict between moral imperatives, where if you obey one it could lead to the transgressing of the other. In order for an act to qualify as an ethical dilemma, there are three conditions that should be present. The first scenario occurs when an individual must make a decision concerning the best action to be taken. Uncomfortable situations that require no choice do not amount to ethical dilemma. For instance, students who are in internship are required to be under the supervision of a qualified instructor. Therefore, since there is no choice in the matter, there is no breach of confidentiality or ethical violation when a student discusses a case with a supervisor. The second condition for an ethical dilemma is that there should be an alternative course of action to choose from. The third condition is that no matter the choice of action, some ethical principles should be compromised i.e. there is no proper solution (Cheryl R. Lehman, 2010). In order to determine what constitutes an ethical dilemma, it is important to make necessary distinction between ethics, morals, values, laws and policies. Ethics comprises of propositional statements used by members of certain profession or a group to determine what is right and wrong in a given situation. Ethics rely on rational and logical criteria during the decision making process. On the other hand, values describe the ideas that we value the most. To value something means to hold it dearly and feel a sense of worthiness in it. Morals describe a certain code of behavior that an individual ascribes and used to negotiate and strengthen our relationship. Ethical dilemmas in workplace Since employees take most of their time during the weekday in the office, they are tempted to carry out their own businesses in the company’s time. This may comprise of such instances like setting up an appointment with a doctor using the company’s phone lines, use of the company’s computers to make vacation reservations or even making freelance calls during office working hours. At the first instance, this ethical dilemma is quite clear: it is time and other abuse of employer’s time and resources to do personal business especially during the official working hours. But here are some shades of gray. Suppose your spouse calls to inform you that your children are sick? Is it right to look for a doctor’s appointment? It is very essential for an employee to check with his supervisor or manager so as to clarify what amounts to an actionable offense in the entire organization. In most of the cases, employees work in teams so as to develop new products, create marketing campaigns or fine-tune services, although not everybody in the group equally contributes to the final end product. If three members within a team of five people did all the work alone, do they demand to get proper credit while accusing the other two of not pulling their weight? This is a difficult question. If workers single-out their fellow colleagues negatively, it could stir up resentment. However, the same thing could happen if all the workers accept praise despite the fact that few of them did the real work. The best way to resolving this ethical dilemma is never to allow it to happen in the first instance. Group members should ensure that every employee should take part in the specific task so as to finish the assigned task on time (Jennings, 2014). Most of the employees are not aware on what to do when they see one of their colleagues being harassed by another employee, either sexually, mentally, or physically. Employees worry about their jobs in case they attempt to report a superior for any harassment. They fear that they will be regarded as trouble markers if they report fellow colleagues who depict unsuitable behavior towards other workers Causes of ethical dilemmas in business environment In a completely perfect environment, business organizations and their employees would do the right thing. Regrettably, in the real world, there lots of occurrences of ethical dilemma in the place of work. As mention earlier, dilemmas are situations where an individual has to make some difficult choices; where an ethical dilemma is a difficulty where one has to make a choice between a moral and immoral act. Therefore, employees must deal with pressure help and make the company to succeed as well as personal temptations to always have an easy way out. At the end of it all, employees will most likely face lots of dilemmas in their careers; thus the companies should offer adequate training and access of information to aid them in making right decisions. Every company has its own unique culture, but most of them emphasizes on profits and results more than anything else. In this kind of environment, management may not be sensitive to ethical breaches if an employee delivers results, given this mentality the organization that the end justifies the means. Whistle-blowers fear to be regarded as untrustworthy people thus keeping quiet. Therefore, there is an ethical dilemma when people are pressurized to act immorally so as to please their bosses or when they feel they can’t point out the bad behaviors depicted by their superiors or their coworkers (Roy, 2009). Employees may be undergoing financial pressure or yearns for recognition. If they cannot achieve the rewards they are seeking through proper channels, they may end up doing some unethical behaviors like taking someone’s credit to get ahead or falsify the numbers. Although diversity is an important element in business, others may not be very comfortable with people from diverse backgrounds and may not treat them fairly. This discrimination behavior may not only be unethical, but also remains illegal and still dominates. Although these factors create ethical dilemmas for workers within their own organizations, trading with other firms also provides opportunities for breaches. Pressure to win a good deal or price from another business may cause some workers to lie in order to win a concession or negotiate in a bad faith. On the other hand, negotiators may try to bribe so as to win a good deal. Although this is regarded as illegal in most of the countries, it is still common and can put negotiators in compromising situations. All these ethical dilemmas can be challenging for workers to struggle with, especially in situations where they don’t know the company’s official guidelines. As a result, it is the sole duty of every organization to offer ethical training to its employees and provide them with necessary tools that will assist them identify and deal with unethical behavior. Every organization should have ethical policy that gives a guide and also spells out penalties for any breach. Furthermore, Sampford et al (2003) argues that the top management should lead by example, showing that the company is committed to ethical behavior and anybody who violates will be punished according to the laid down policies, including suspension from work or even termination Solution to ethical dilemma at the place of work Employees make decisions at various levels within the organization, whether at the top level, middle level or anywhere within the organizational structure. At some point, every employee is faced with ethical dilemma, and some decisions can be more challenging to understand than others. Knowing how to resolve ethical dilemmas in the place of work increases your effectiveness in decision making and keeps you and your organization at the right side of the law and public criticism (Jones, 1991). The following are some of the ways of solving ethical dilemmas in the place: Step 1 The company’s code of ethics should be consulted for necessary guidance. This consultation will solve the available dilemma immediately depending on the comprehensiveness of the company’s ethics statement. The company’s ethic statement will provide a backdrop where pros and cons of business decisions are weighed, thus providing a clear picture of which decisions are congruent to the company’s ethical commitments Step 2 Share the dilemma with the immediate supervisor so as to utilize his/her experience. Front-line employees are faced with various ethical dilemmas in their daily jobs, for instance deciding whether to issue a refund that does not adhere to the policies of the organization or whether to report of suspicions of internal fraud that cannot be substantiated. Taking all the ethical questions to immediate supervisor or a manager can keep employees out of problems as well as resolves arising conflicts Step 3 If at all you are at the top management level, discuss your ethical dilemma with the executives. The top management and the owners of the company make decisions that affect the organization, putting more challenges to ethical dilemmas. As a manager, it is paramount to show your competence at the way you solve your own problems, but it is also good seek assistance from other executives from time to time. Other top managers should appreciate your commitment to making the right choices so as to offer distinctive insights into your problems (Mitchell, 1997).  Step 4 Speak with colleagues and peers from other organizations if possible without revealing out your company secrets. If incase you are a sole proprietor without any one to consult, try to look out for somebody whom you can trust from any business networking group, former employer or former college mate so as to get some insight from them. Consider consulting a friend who has different cultural background experience so as to gain wider range of information Step 5 Read various articles concerning other organizations that have been faced with the same ethical dilemma. Establish how others have dealt with the same dilemma before and note how they came up with solutions. News articles like covering some large company decisions, like laying off their employees, bending accounting rules and endorsing political candidates, which can have some ethical consequences in the society. Getting enough information about what happened to others after making decisions provides a hint on what is to happen if the same decision is made. References Cheryl R. Lehman, T. T. (20010). Ethics, Equity, and Regulation. Emerald Group Publishing. Cohen, M. (2003). 101 Ethical Dilemmas. Psychology Press, . Garber, P. R. (2008). The Ethical Dilemma. Human Resource Developmen Jones (1991). Moral intensity Cengage Learnin Jennings, M. ( 2014). Business Ethics: Case Studies and Selected Readings. Cengage Learning Mitchell, (1997). Moral reasoning, stakeholder salience Roy, C. (2009). The Impact of Moral Intensity and Ethical Climate on the Decision-making. Walden University. Sampford, C. J. (2003). Business, Ethics, and the Law. Federation Press. Read More