The search for excellence begins with ethics. ?very time a person chooses between alternatives, the choice is based on assumptions that lie at the heart of a moral code. The code is grounded in values that provide the framework for principled reasoning and ethical decisions. Commerce depends for its very existence on the ethical behavior of the vast majority of participants. It requires that contracts are honored, private property is respected, and promises are kept. It relies upon the unspoken sentiments of fair play and camaraderie. In this paper I will discuss ethics values within companies and how ethics influence decision process of an employee. ?thical practices make good business sense, because ethical companies suffer less resentment, less litigation, and less regulatory oversight (3). Furthermore, ethical managers and ethical businesses tend to be more trusted and better treated by employees, suppliers, stockholders, and consumers. Organizations are a reflection of society; they are the method by which individuals unite to form a network of common interest. And each organization is a fluid enterprise. At its center are the managers and executives responsible for directing the resources of the company. Shareholders own the capital and expect a return on their investment. Workers produce the goods and expect a decent wage and safe working conditions. To have a successful enterprise, each group must be responsive to the others and balance its interest against the interests of the others. When the balance is upset or when the interests pull too hard against each other, the ethical system is damaged. For an enterprise to continually give value to human effort and to encourage creative achievements, a balance of all interests is required (5).
Administrative actions are shaped by three domains: legality, free choice, and integrity (3). The law defines and constrains the limits of potential actions, specifying the bounds of lawful behavior. What is legal is not necessarily moral; what is not prohibited by law is not necessarily ethical; and what minimally meets the law is not necessarily proper. While the law codifies customs, ideals, beliefs, and moral values of a society, it cannot possibly cover all possible human actions.
Free choice represents complete freedom of personal choice to do anything one desires. But, the right to swing your fist stops where the other person's nose begins. In other words, people have a right to do whatever they want as long as their actions do not negatively affect others. ?thical behavior is more constrained than this, however. ?thical behavior is that behavior which is the right thing to do, given the circumstances. The rightness of actions is constrained by the third domain, integrity, which is obedience to the unenforceable. This represents unwritten, often unspoken, guidelines for behavior for which no legal mandates or prohibitions exist. It is the grey area where neither law nor free choice prevail. This is the realm of integrity, the necessary foundation for ethical decision making.
?thics is different from law because it involves no formal sanctions. It is different from etiquette because it goes beyond mere social convention. It is different from religion because it makes no theological assumptions. It is different from aesthetics because it is aimed at conduct and character rather than objects. It is different from prudence because it goes beyond self-interest to include the interests of others. (2) It is different from finance and marketing and governing and parenting and carpentry, in that it does not involve a special purpose or special role as its point of departure. ?thics is both a process of inquiry and a code of conduct. ?thical inquiry consists of asking the questions of what is good and what is evil, what is right and what is wrong. As a code of conduct, it is a sort of inner eye that enables people to see the rightness or wrongness of their actions.
Being sensitive to ethical issues and incorporating them into decision making decreases the likelihood of costly mistakes. ?thical wrongdoing affects morale within the company and has the potential to damage relations with the company's major constituents, including customers, clients, shareholders, and suppliers, as well as the general public. The way executives handle sticky issues can fundamentally alter their effectiveness and credibility because their decisions reflect their personal integrity and courage, influence the trust others are willing to place in them, and communicate conviction or vacillation on issues that matter deeply to many others. (2) Some corporations create a moral environment by specifying a distinct set of values and standards to which they hold their people accountable. A corporation that is serious about maintaining high ethical standards may shut down a plant when it fails to meet internal quality standards, remove controversial products from the market, and fire individuals who cross ethical lines.
Unethical acts are usually not so much a product of greed or immorality as they are of ethical naivete. Unwitting employees may have done what they were told to do and, in the process, become scapegoats for someone else's indiscretion. A midlevel manager, pressed from above, may mistakenly believe that in business, you do whatever you have to do to survive. When upper management is not clear about standards, priorities, or limits, the manager is left to his or her assumptions about what actions to take. Or, employees hidden in the anonymity of a large organization think that their actions will remain undiscovered regardless of the rightness or wrongness of their behavior.
?mployment involves an exchange relationship between people. ?mployees exchange their time and effort not only for the job and the salary but also for all the position brings: career; self-esteem; and the quality of life defined with and by other people in terms of respect, status, recognition, admiration, and friendship. The good life is not only what money can buy, but what relationships and rewards are gained from one's daily activities.
Bibliography
1. Decision Analysis for Management Judgment, 3rd ?dition Paul Good win and George Wright ISBN: 0-470-86108-8.
2. Thomas Donaldson. ?thical Issues in Business:A Philosophical Approach 7 Book Paperback. May (2002).
3. Arrow Kenneth J., and Herve' Raynaud. "Social choice and multicriterion decision-making." Cambridge: MIT Press. (1986)
