subject: Introduction to Business Ethics [print this page] Introduction to Business Ethics Introduction to Business Ethics
Is it doable for a personal with strong moral values to make ethically questionable selections during a business setting? What affects an individual's inclination to make either moral or unethical choices in a very business organization? Though the answers to that query aren't entirely clear, there seem to be 3 general sets of factors that influence the standards of behavior in a company; individual factors, social factors and opportunity.
Several individual factors influence the extent of moral behavior in an organization. A private's information level concerning an issue will facilitate to determine moral behavior. A decision maker with a bigger amount of information relating to an object or scenario might take steps to avoid moral issues, whereas a less-informed person may unknowingly take action that leads to an ethical conflict.
One's moral values and central, price-connected attitudes clearly influence his or her business behavior. Most individuals be a part of organizations to accomplish personal goals. The varieties of personal goals a personal aspires to and the way in which these goals are pursued have significant impact on that individual's behavior in an organization.
A person's behavior in the workplace is, to some degree, determined by cultural norms, and these social factors vary from one culture to another. For instance, in some countries it is acceptable and ethical for customs agents to receive gratuities for performing standard, legal tasks that are a half of jobs, whereas in different countries these practices would be viewed as unethical and maybe illegal.
The actions and decisions of coworkers is another social factor believed to form someone's sense of business ethics. For example, if your coworkers build long-distance telephone calls on company time and at company expense, you may view that behavior as acceptable and moral as a result of everyone will it. Important others are persons to whom somebody is emotionally hooked up-spouses, friends, and relatives, for instance. Their ethical values and attitudes can conjointly have an effect on an employee's perception of what's moral and unethical in the workplace.
Opportunity refers to the number of freedom a corporation offers an employee to behave ethically if he or she makes that choice. In some organizations, sure company policies and procedures cut back the opportunity to be unethical. For example, at some quick-food restaurants, one person takes your order and receives your payment and another person fills the order. This procedure reduces the opportunity to be unethical as a result of the person handling the cash is not dispensing the product, and the person giving out the merchandise isn't handling the money.
The existence of an moral code and the importance management places on this code are different determinants of opportunity. The degree of enforcement of company policies, procedures, and moral codes could be a major force affecting opportunity. When violations are controlled consistently and firmly, the opportunity to be unethical is reduced.
