Ethics

Just what are ethics exactly? What is the difference between personal ethics, and professional ethics? Better yet why are they so important in a workplace environment? This is what will be discussed throughout this paper. If questioned, most people would say that ethics is the ability to know right from wrong, good from bad and moral from immoral. Unfortunately, although right the definition of ethics varies greatly depending on whom you question regarding the matter. There are many different shades in-between black and white, just as there are many opinions of right and wrong.

Personal ethics are a set of values, based on religious or moral teaching. It is a standard of conduct by which an individual guides his or her actions and judges others. People use ethics to help make everyday decisions; referred to as ones ethical motivation which is the reasoning behind ones intentions. Ethics are morals and beliefs that are learned and formed from childhood throughout adulthood, and will continue to change throughout our life times. Humans beings, often adjust their values and morals to fit each situation, bending rules to obtain the outcome they desire. People often compromise and adapt the rules to fit more immediate needs not realizing that it jeopardizes their integrity.

Professional ethics are the principles and standards that define one's responsibilities and conduct in a particular field of expertise. Professional ethics often vary, depending on person, profession, or institution. It is likely wherever one works or attends school that establishment will have there own definition of ethics and moral decision making. One may choose to adopt these ethics as their own or not, these rules are often the ones that an employee is asked to hold themselves to if nothing else for fear of termination. Ethics is very important in a workplace because all the work done has to be honest and factual. A company relies on its employees to provide it with factual information so that work can be done correctly as well as timely. The manner in which an employee conducts his or herself in the workplace it ultimately reflective of how a company is perceived, if an employee does not chooses conduct themselves in an ethical manner the success of the company can be greatly affected.

Included are two case studies, one being an example of a situation in which a team member witnessed or experienced an ethical dilemma that was resolved using positive ethical principles; and a second ethical dilemma that was not handled well.

Case study 1 discusses the ethical dilemma when an employee is made aware of proprietary or confidential information. A very large distributor of Aerospace Hardware received a Request for Quote (RFQ) from one their largest Airline customers. In order to complete the bid, they requested a list of parts and quantities that were required. The customer sent the parts list over to the representative that was working the bid. During a review of the file, the employee noticed that the customer had not only provided a list of parts, but their current costs. Although tempted to use the information to gain an advantage on the proposal, the employee notified a manager of the situation. The Manager phoned the customer, advising them of the mistake. The file was returned to the customer and deleted from the distributors system. The Customer appreciated the honesty and expressed his appreciation more than once. It seems that the individual who had put the file together for the airline was new to the company and while embarrassed he was grateful that the information was returned. In the end, the gesture helped to establish a level a trust.

If the decision was made to proceed with the quote using the original information provided by the client, would the writer not be acting ethically? One may suggest that it is the responsibility of the client to ensure that the information provided to the vendor is carefully reviewed prior to sending.

In this scenario, the writer opted to inform her manager of the client's error who subsequently alerted the client to resend the information. One may say that the writer displayed good ethics in this situation by informing the client of their writer. As one source states, ethical standard do change based on the situation with which a person is faced in conjunction with their personal experiences and beliefs.

Conclusively, it can be determined that the writer made a decision that was rights based. She thought the customer would have been disadvantaged and her company may have been successful as a result of an unfair practice. This can be categorized as "good" ethics.

Case study two is a dilemma between a part time co-worker named IF, the office lead, and two full time workers, self-included. IF had the reputation of being an instigator, and made it known, she could not stand her job. IF and the office lead are good friends in and out of the office. Part timer's duties appear clearly in the employee handbook, which clearly states they are to take payments, and post office payments during their scheduled hours. Included in this handbook are the privacy act responsibilities. She was always on the internet chatting with her friends, arguing with her ex-husbands new girlfriend via email, which she got off the company database, and sending inappropriate photos to us all. In addition to the photos she is constantly playing internet games; a no-no in the code of conducts, yet she made her usage obvious.

In order for the office production to balance out between the three employees, every employee must do their part, whether part or full time. Complaints regarding the conduct of IF went unrecognized. Under normal circumstances, the lead is supposed to notify the supervisor immediately. In this case, the lead brushed it off, and told us we will not be getting any more emails from her. IF flaunted the fact she got off easy, and that it was good to have friends. As employees, we sign a document, stating we will not share, or misuse company property, which includes the office computer.

There is no doubt that the case in CS2 represents a common, unfortunate but nevertheless unacceptable study of very negative and unethical conduct in the workplace. The conduct of IF and the office lead presents the writer with a dilemma, which I suppose would concern what should be the appropriate response on the personal and official levels, by the writer and other staff, to such conduct by a fellow staff and one's boss.

In the article, "What is workplace ethics?" Cornelius von Baeyer observed that "ethics codes generally deal with corporate values and guiding principles, and codes of conduct generally deal with actual behavior that is favored or prohibited." He opined that "the focus