Ethics in Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Ethics in Management - Essay Example Values which we believe guide us on how we should act and behave are said to be moral values, for example: respect, honesty, fairness, responsibility etc. if you put these values in Statements, they would be called ethical principles. (Free Management Library, 1997) The concept of Business Ethics means different things to different people, but generally it refers to being aware in an organization about what is the right or wrong step in the workplace and then doing the right thing. Ethics are all about making decisions that may or may not be to your benefit but you make them because they are the most socially acceptable solutions. In organizations, being ethical is not considered a good thing or is thought to have a negative effect. This is because the organizations are usually about doing what's best for becoming the top organization, this mean sometimes not doing the right thing. This is especially with regard to effects of products and services and with the relationship and organization has with its stakeholders. Giving importance to business ethics has become extremely critical during times of elemental change, this change in the way organizations work both profit and non-profit has come with the changing perceptions of people especially bu siness professionals. Values and beliefs that were previously ignored and taken lightly are now strongly questioned. Many of these values that are ethical and socially acceptable are no longer given attention; as a result, there is no clear moral mentor or employee to guide future leaders through difficult problems and about what is right or wrong. When people start working and behaving ethically, they become more sensitive to their colleagues and subordinates. The best example for this would be when the leader and his or her employee maintain a strong and moral attitude during a time of crises. (Brotherton, 2003) (Free Management Library, 1997) Being ethical in an organization can have negative effects on the profitability of the organization and this may be something that the stakeholder might be unhappy with but it is very important for both the stakeholder and the organization to understand that long term goals and objectives are more important and fruitful than short term goals and by being morally sound and sensitized organization you will win the long term trust of the customers therefore be beneficial to the stakeholders indirectly. (Free Management Library, 1997) Business ethics is now being considered a management discipline, especially after the social responsibility movement in the 1960s and policies like affirmative action policies that addressed society's most sensitive moral and ethical issue, discrimination against color, caste and race. In that era, social awareness movements increased the expectations of organizations especially multinational corporations to use their strong financial and social influence to throw light on some of the major social problems such as poverty, crime, environmental protection, equal rights, and public health and literacy programs. (Brotherton, 2003) A growing amount of population emphasized on that organizations were making a profit from using our country's resources, human capital and natural; these organization had the responsibility to improve society for the welfare of the country (Jaszay, 2001). Many