Business ethics essay

Business ethics essay

Abstract

Modern management practices Human Resource Management (HRM) is perceived to be a department that plays a significant role in the success of an organization. Companies are investing significantly in the human resource department since it is the core driving force of the organization. It is evident from the policies and practices that they have put in place in order for them to have a competitive advantage over its competitor.

The ethical culture of any organization tells much when it comes to company values. The ethics code is an avenue used in expressing the real benefits to achieve the set goals. In the recent debates on business, ethics have been mainly centered on the ecological and social responsibility of the organization. In modern enterprises, ethics continues to be an internal concern for organizations. Most organizations have prioritized the interests of the stakeholders at the expense of the workers who are tasked with ensuring the organization’s goals are attained. The human resource department continues to play a pivotal role in the daily running of the organization. In any form of organization or business, the employers usually have the upper hand over other people in the organization since they are the ones who govern the connection between the employees and themselves.

Business ethics are a set of principles or rules that governs an organization. In business, it is a set of code of conduct that is to be adhered to while doing any form of marketing. Ethics help in setting standards for an organization and helps in differentiating between right or wrong. Ethics is always influenced by situation, time, and place. In any business, there is a need for balancing the desire to make a profit and stakeholders’ needs. Business ethics takes into consideration the following factors:

• A company should have a level playing ground for everyone.
• For proper implementation of ethics in an organization, the conduct of conduct should cover everyone irrespective of their position in the organization. In case of violation, there is a need to have a reward or punishment attached.
• Any violation of the code of conduct should be detected at the earliest stage, and the necessary measures are taken to curb the situation.
• Organizations have their code of conduct based on the perception of what is right.

Every organization has its sources of business ethics, with the majority drawing their code of conduct from culture, religion, and law.  The human resource manager needs to be well conversant with values that come from those sources.

Religion

Religion forms the oldest foundation of ethical inspiration. There are numerous religions in the world, but all of them are in agreement on certain principles. They do dictate to businesses what is right or wrong. Most religions emphasize an orderly society that understands its social responsibilities, and by doing so, the church would have created their code of conduct.

Culture

Culture is a shared belief by a particular group of individuals. Culture is mainly composed of preferences, ideas, values, the concept of morality, code of conduct, and perception.  Culture helps employees to prioritize organizational goals over individual interests. It acts as a mechanism of shaping attitudes and behavior of employees. Culture helps in instilling business ethics on the employees.

Law

The laws in place usually have impacts on human behaviors.  The code of conduct set by the laws is binding, and it is the role of the organization to abide by those set laws. Despite their social responsibility to comply with those laws, some business enterprise ends up breaking the set laws. Business enterprises may violate the law through tax evasion, pollution of the environment, poor quality, and overpricing of goods and services.

Importance of business ethics

Most employees prefer working in an organization that they can be proud of and respect since they prescribe to their code of conduct. Employees love to work in an organization that takes care of its social responsibilities. The human resource managers have the responsibility of ensuring that they create such an environment. Good business ethics helps to win public trust. The society has the tendency of subscribing to products from organizations that they deem, to be honest, and they get value for their money. An active code of conduct will help in winning the trust of the employees. The code of conduct creates a common language, goals, and values which are crucial for any organization.

A good business ethic will not guarantee profitability for any organization. Organizations with good ethical background tend to lose money in the short term but gain success and profitability with time. An ethical organization will always come to the aid of any society where the government has failed to honor its responsibilities.

Top management of any organization usually has an influence on ethics since they are the people tasked with formulating, adoption, and communication of the code of conduct. Regardless of what the employee does or says, most people believe it is a clear manifestation of their beliefs on a certain issue. They are to ensure that communication reaches all the employees in the organization for better implementation of the policies. The manager regularly reviews the company handbook whenever there is a new training of the employees. The communication can be done through staff or company meetings. In most organizations, human resource managers usually report to the top management whenever there is a rogue employee in the company, and it is that level of management that will determine the kind of punishment. It is expected of them through the conviction that they will be able to the organization’s standards. Failure to have any form of punishment might lead to employee’s adopting the trend.

Employee evaluation, reward, and promotion provide an open opportunity for managers to impact ethics. After a successful recruitment process by the relevant people, the decision to hire usually lies in the top management. In order to maintain their integrity, it is the responsibility of them to ensure that the best candidate is given the jo opportunity. There are organizations that permit the managers to give incentives or rewards in the form of gifts or small cash to the performing employees. Rogue managers would favor their loyal friends in the company, thereby compromising their integrity. Unfair treatment of employees might lead to division amongst the employees and, therefore, jeopardizing the operations of the organization.

Human resource management entails employee management, planning, and other employee activities in any organization. It is a department in an organization where ethics normally plays a fundamental role since they deal with industrial relations, safety, health, compensation, and development issues. Ethical issues have proven to be the most difficult to deal with since they cover a vast area. Below are some of the issues that the department usually has to grapple with during its operation.

Race, disability, and gender

There are organizations that treated their employees differently depending on race, origin, gender, and disability. The same applies when it comes to promotion or giving rewards to top-performing employees. However, this is qualifications that have been passed by time, and most employers seek qualified personnel in terms of performance.

Cash and compensation plans

There are ethical issues associated with the employee’s salary, compensations, and annual incentives. Normally, there is an increasing pressure on human resource management to increase incentives for the top management and provide justification for that action. Rogue managers would champion their individual interests at the expense of the employees who are tasked with doing most of the works.

Employment issues

The human resource department plays a pivotal role in the recruitment and retention of staff. They normally find themselves in a dilemma by trying to balance all factors for them to get the best workforce for the organization. They are always under pressure to hire someone recommended by the top executive or a friend or someone very close to them.  During the recruitment process, they find themselves giving the job to qualified personnel, but upon realization, some may have fake documents.  Human resource managers need to maintain a high level of integrity, but some do fail the test by succumbing to the pressure.

Privacy issues

Most employees love some of their information provided during the recruitment process to be kept a secret. The company can protect that information both directly or indirectly, and the whole responsibility usually lies in the human resource department.

Advantages of ethics in an organization

There are rules and regulations that organizations adhere to while conducting their daily operations. Those laws form part of the code of conduct, and having an ethically responsible leader helps in abiding of the organization to the local, federal, and state laws.  Abiding of the laws help in creating a safe environment for business. Ethically responsible leaders will make careful, thorough, and vigilant during the decision making process. Such leaders are usually result orientated and will pull all the necessary resources for them to attain their goals. Ethics helps in creating inclusivity at the workplace. A good leader would encourage the employees to voice their concerns, and it is upon the management to take up that matter seriously. It is the duty of the management that they understand all their employees since it will help in managing problems that might arise in the course of doing work.

Ethics helps in creating accountability in the organization. Ethics creates a culture of taking up and owning their action. Management normally leads by example, and they are responsible for creating standards that the junior workers can follow. Ethics helps in reducing harm at the workplace. Workers need to be given fair hearing whenever there is a problem. Consistency is another advantage that comes with adhering to the code of conduct. Lack of consistency in the organization might lead to some of the set laws being undermined, and these will lead to problems with authorities. A strong code of conduct will help to ease the process of problem-solving in the organization. It creates an avenue where workers can access top management whenever they have an issue that requires their attention.

Disadvantages of ethics in an organization

A good code of conduct needs to be comprehensive for it to be effective. Whenever a member of the leadership goes rogue, it creates a situation in the organizations that might be hard to handle. The problem might trickle down to the employees if he or she commanded the good following in the organization.  Such a scenario demands constant reviews of the code of conduct since changes in the organization. Businesses have gone the extra mile of hiring ethical officers to manage ethics within the organization. This will have a financial implication on the organization. Most organizations have aligned their code of conduct with its profitability, thereby putting a lot of pressure on the workers.

Changing the code of conduct might bring a lot of problems in the organization if it is not well handled. Communication is paramount in such a situation will help in a better understanding of the changes. The human resource department needs to come with a strategy that will make the employees the changes and the reason as to why they were initiated. The responsibility of implementing the code of conduct is usually bestowed on one individual or certain department to initiate them. It is not a guarantee that the changes will be fully implemented since the responsibility might land in the hands of a rogue manager.

Some of the code of conduct have failed to fully resolve certain issues such as religion due to the divergent views. The management needs to remind the employees of their social responsibilities constantly. Implementation of the code of conduct highly depends on the relationship between the managers and the employees. A rogue manager with greater influence on the employees might bring down the organization whenever there is a disagreement between them and the top management.

Recommendation

It is important for organizations to ensure that they align their visions with the current market demands. It will help to channel the limited resources for the right purpose, and the human resource department plays a role in ensuring that employees of the company understand the projected vision. The management needs to involve every member of the organization irrespective of the position they hold in the decision making process. It will be easy for the employees to implement something that they were part of creating. The management needs to focus much on improving communication between the management and employees. Changes before being effected need to be given a period for the employees to digest them before fully being implemented. There is a need for regular team-building exercises, which all the members can partake. Through the team building activities, the management and employees get to know each other better away from the workplace.

In conclusion, human resource management is the core department in any organization being the people tasked with the recruitment, training, and retention of staff. Employees play a key role in the implementation of the goals of the organization. The management is responsible for coming up with a code of conduct that is binding for every employee of the organization. A successful business or organization usually has a sound code of conduct that guides them in daily operations. It is responsible for implementing ethics in the organization lies each individual who is part of that organization. Joint responsibility helps whenever there is a crisis in the organization.