Computer crimes and fraud - Essay Example

DD Month YYYY Ethics Introduction Ethics is the study of people’s values and justification of how people act.What are considered ethical are those actions that are acceptable to the community. In business, what is considered ethical, are those actions which are in the best interest of the organization and the owners of the organization. Business ethics is the study of good business practices and policies relating to sensitive issues (Jeurissen, pg 94). These issues include: bribery where companies can bribe officials in order to bet tenders and bids. It can also include: corporate social responsibilities, corporate governance, fiduciary responsibilities, and insider trading. The law normally sets a guidance that gives companies the basic framework to follow so that they can gain public acceptance. Currently, many organizations tend to gain a bad reputation because of how they conduct their businesses. Most of them are capitalists where they are more interested in making money in ways that brings their integrity into question. For organizations to be successful there is need to not only consider the traditional goal of making money but also consider ethical issues. In many cases, people in the business world are faced by ethical dilemmas, which are cases where individual are faced with decisions that may be against their personal beliefs and values. Body Ethical Dilemma Scenario One example of an ethical dilemma is seen when employees conduct their own errands, hobbies, and businesses during working hours. In many occasion, employees can be found accessing social networking sites, checking personal emails, and shopping on the organization’s computers. This may seem harmless when employees use the organization’s facilities for personal benefit after they have finished their work for the day. However, if these habits continue, the trend will be spread to more employees who will assume that it is okay to start doing this. This will deny the owner or the owners of the organization their right to make profits. When employees are being employed, they agree to work for the benefit of the organization. They are expected to use the time allocated to them to work on the tasks given to them to the best of their ability and in the timeliest manner. The employee is given the responsibility to act in the best interest of the company. When employees are doing their personal things using the resources of the organization, they are making unethical decisions as opposed to what is expected from them. This can negatively affect the performance of the organization. It is crucial for employees to act ethically because integrity forms a big part in building and maintaining relationships with employers. This also helps an individual to create a personal brand. It is also evident that investors like dealing with organizations that are seen to be ethical because they normally offer an indication that their investment is secure. They will also be confident of getting good returns from their investment in the business. Resolving the Ethical Issue In order to successfully resolve this ethical issue, it is crucial to look at the stakeholders, the dilemma, and the ethical principles which can be applied in this scenario. The stakeholders here include the directors of an organization who have been given the responsibility of overseeing the day to day activities of the company. Their performances of the directors are affected by the performance of the employees. If employees are not able to reach their targets, the directors’ targets will also be negatively affected. Shareholders and investors are also affected by the conduct of the employees because the performance of employees will affect their return on investment. In this case employees are faced with the ethical dilemma of performing their tasks in the allocated time or doing their own personal things. It is usually tempting to use the organizational resources to perform personal things. Ethical principle that needs to be considered when resolving this matter includes meeting obligation when employees need to ethical in terms of meeting their obligation. Regardless of circumstances, they are required to do what is necessary to complete the tasks given to them by the organization. Employees are also required to act in the best interest of the company. They need to put the interests of the owners first before their own personal interests. This also means that they need to avoid any conflict of interest that would negatively affect their performance (Treviño, pg. 42). Analyzing the situation In order to successfully solve this problem, it is crucial to analyze the situation. The first step is recognizing the problem which in this case is the use of productive work time for personal activities. This is likely to negatively affect the performance of the organization and in turn negatively affect the interests of the stakeholders. The next step is brainstorming on the ethical dilemma, courses of action that can be taken in the situation and any conflict of interest. In this case, the dilemma is not being able to benefit from using the organizational facilities for free. The most obvious course of action is to act fairly by doing the organizational tasks during the assigned time. The other option is to behave the same but work for overtime hours in order to compensate any time lost due to personal activities. The next step is evaluating the alternative causes of action while considering the standard business criteria such as the sustainability and cost-benefit analysis (Icheku, pg. 174). Evaluation needs to apply the ethical evaluation criteria by considering respect of the rights and dignity of stakeholders, the alternative that will produce the most good, and the alternative that will not violate the moral rule. In this case, the best alternative is doing the tasks assigned in a timely manner and refraining from conducts that will lead to a waste in productive time. This cause of action is justifiable because the employer is assured that he is getting value for money. Investors are also assured that they will get good returns from their investments (Les, pg. 8). Ethical Decision Making Chart Conclusion It is important for organizations to act ethically, this starts with the employees in the company. This is because people will judge the company based on how its employees behave. Their actions have an impact on stakeholders, for this reason, actions need to be ethical to avoid negative effects. Works Cited Icheku, Vincent. Understanding Ethics and Ethical Decision-Making: Case Studies and Discussions. Xlibris, 2011. Print. Jeurissen, Ronald, and M W. Rijst. Ethics in Business. Assen, The Netherlands: Van Gorcum, 2007. Print. Les, Livingstone. Ethical Decision Making. S.l.: Lulu Com, 2009. Print. Treviño, Linda K, and Katherine A. Nelson. Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How to Do It Right. New York: John Wiley, 2011. Print. Read More