Ethical Behavior In Management And Business

Ethical Behavior in Management and Business

Ethics is the term we give to our concern for good behavior. Its human nature to not only is concerned with our own personal well being, but also that of others and of human society as a whole. Basically, treat others how you would like to be treated. Business ethics is very similar to normal every day ethics. It is related in a way that it involves being fully aware of what we're doing including the complications and consequences of our actions. Being aware of ethics in business requires us to be aware of two things. First, we have to have a need with complying with rules, such as laws, customs and expectations of the community, the principles of morality and the policies of the organization and such general concerns as the needs of others and fairness. Second, we should know how the products and services of the business, the actions of its members, could affect its employees, the community and the society as a whole, either positively or negatively (Ethics 5).

Good ethics means good business is the viewpoint of many businesses. Businesses and their managers take ethics seriously. They reason their way through ethical problems and acceptable solutions. Although there is always the reverse, where businesses give the appearance of success for long periods of time in spite of unethical practices. The news today is overloaded with stories of the fallen heroes and devastated businesses that ultimately result from deception and unethical solutions to the business's problems (5). Many managers say that they run into ethical dilemmas because they are involved in relationships with people being employees, peers, and bosses with whom they have to work with and on whom they are dependent. The problem is complicated because these people have needs that are contrary to a business's goals and competing needs. The manager is forced to either chose between the business or the person, being a peer or employee, and an unethical choice will affect the relationship of the other for years to come (Ethics 6).

Businesses themselves have several responsibilities many of them being ethical. First, they have the priority of making jobs (106). Once they create a job, it's their responsibility to see that hard work and talent are fairly rewarded. When employees feel they are being treated fairly and with respect, they return the favor back to their management by following orders and doing any task assigned to them (107). If they feel they are being treated badly, they get back at the business either ethically or unethically (Understanding 107).

Managers of a business sometimes lose their ethical perspective when making decisions that affect people (9). Perhaps they are busy, or maybe they just don't take the time to think through the consequences of their decision (9). Also, if a senior manager were to make a decision that seemed unethical, the managers would act on the decision without weighing the ethical "overtones" (Ethics 9). The same is also true when several managers with a common goal agree in an unethical situation (9). When unethical decisions are made, everyone loses in the long run, both the company and the person making the unethical decision (Ethics 9).

Managers continually chose between people when making decisions such as whom to hire, which employee to promote, or which employee to lay off or terminate (23). Managers, knowing all the employees, their history with the company, their skills, and other factors, cannot help being having a problem by his/her own conflicting personal interest and biases (23). When choosing between people, objectivity is the best way to make decisions such as who to hire, who to promote, or who to lay off. Some managers have a problem by trying to choose the person with the least personal pain possible. Managers should determine the appropriate candidates based on honest consideration (24). It's a manager's responsibility to know about who is doing their fair share of work and who is not. Not doing so will cause low morality in the work place because an employee not doing his/her fair share and another employee doing his/her job (World 146). Another issue of that strongly is merged with ethics is performance appraisals. Some managers do not feel comfortable doing them because they do not want to be the "judge and jury" with respect to their employee's career (25). Some managers believe also by giving their employee's good feedback will cause the employee's future job tasks to do down. On the other hand, negative feedback will demoralize and demean the employee and they give them a higher appraisal then they deserve (25). Failure to be honest with employees about their performance is a form of deceit that is damaging not only to the employee, but the business, and the manager (25). Managers that follow appropriate performance evaluation guidelines and feedback procedures create an environment where employees have an opportunity to correct their mistakes and grow within the business (Ethics 25).

Successful Performance Appraisers

* Managers who engage in mutual goal setting and open communication.

* Managers who establish clear, measurable expectations and provide a climate conductive to success.

* Managers who ask questions, listen carefully, and appreciate and use the ideas of others.

* Managers who publicly recognize positive performance and privately correct improper performance when it occurs.

* Managers who follow through on their commitments

Unsuccessful Performance Appraisers

* Those who establish arbitrary unilateral performance goals or standards. They may or may not communicate them to employees.

* Those who have not thought through what they expect or don't know how to measure success, thereby creating a threatening atmosphere to work.

* Those who never seek ideas of others or listen, yet have a solution for everyone else's problems.

* Those who spend too much time looking for things that are wrong and too little looking for things that are right.

* Those who accept substandard performance or misrepresent it in providing feedback.

* Those who do not take their commitments seriously.

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