Ethics concepts and applications

Ethics

In business there will often be times that the organizational goals will come into conflict, with the personal values of the individual. The key to managing this conflict is being able to create a happy medium between: reaching the objectives of the business and ensuring that the personal values of the individual are respected. To achieve this goal requires examining how this balance can be realized. To determine this, we will look at different techniques that can be used to create stability between the two. Once this occurs, it will highlight how executives can be able to manage the changing nature of business more effectively. (Farrrel, 2008, pp. 172 -- 200)

Communication is the Key

When you have a conflict between: the ethics of taking a possible action and the goals of the business, it is imperative to communicate these views immediately. The reason why is because any kind of action, should always be scrutinized for various ethical conflicts that could exist. To communicate these different ideas, you would want to express them to various supervisors in writing and then verbally. The written notifications will help to establish a pattern, as to when you believed that an ethical conflict exists. In most situations, the consistent expression of such views will cause a business to step back and revaluate their approach.

If this strategy does not work, then you must continue expressing your belief that a conflict exists between: your values and the objectives of the organization. At which point, you would want to inform the other party that if this situation is not addressed, you may have to recuse yourself from engaging such actions. This is important, because it is establishing how the conflict that exists must be addressed. At the same time, it is telling your employer that the issue is serious enough, that you may not engage in such activities. This will normally cause an organization that has overlooked previous warnings, to closely examine the potential ethical conflict that could be occurring.

If your employer ignores these views and encourages others to engage in such actions, you may have to look into the legality of what could be occurring. Where, the organization could be placing their own objective over everything else (including: following various laws and regulations). When this occurs, you have a duty to report such improprieties to the authorities. A good example of how to wrestle with this type of moral and business dilemma can be seen with Sharon Watkins of Enron. During the spring and fall of 2001, she would distribute a series of memos encouraging top management to disclose the off the books limited partnerships (that the company was involved in). This is where they were hiding their losses, to inflate the earnings of the company. After not receiving any kind of favorable responses from management, Watkins reported what she knew to the Securities and Exchange Commission. This would help spark the investigation and eventual downfall of the company. (Ackman, 2002) This is significant, because it shows how various ethical conflicts, must be communicated to the different managers and supervisors immediately. Otherwise, silence on these kinds of issues, will allow the situation to spiral out of control.