Many of the items she sold as part of her trade were counterfeit, including movies, music videos, clothing accessories, and handbags. But even if her business was legal, she was still stealing company time. Individuals felt freer, because of her openly excused behavior to make more personal phone calls, surf the web at work for personal reasons, and simply to stand around and chat rather than complete their assigned projects. Because her purveyance was well-known, and her goods were, alas, of high quality and excellent facsimiles of the 'real thing,' many of her coworkers and even, yes, our boss were further inclined to look the other way, because, when hard pressed for an inexpensive yet apparently high quality gift, they could easily make use of her business. It became an office joke, to the point I was leery of saying anything negative, not wishing to hurt company morale by speaking against a coworker. Also, as my immediate superior was not only close to this individual personally, but also had made use of her illegal goods, I was afraid of getting my supervisor in trouble for what might be misread as self-interested reason. I tried to look the other way, pretending that this was 'none of my business' and tried to convince myself that what this individual did on her own time, was her own matter.

The environment at work began to spiral out of control -- even though everyone seemed to be having a good time. Until, one of the corporate Vice Presidents, the second in command, of the organization, called...

The Vice President criticized the entire work environment, and I was particularly sad to note that the twenty affected employees were not even the most egregious offenders of time theft and lax ethics.
True, our "inspiring entrepreneur" was not alone responsible for putting the company in the red. However, over a four-year period this individual had helped to create a corporate environment that was self-interested rather than selfless, and lax rather than laborious. The result was that all of us as employees were harmed.

Morally all were at fault! Many took advantage of this individual's unscrupulous talent for personal gain. And even I, who did not, suffered for my silence. An Ethics Codes of Business must uphold standards not simply for the individual, but the relationships one has with other individuals and set a corporate motto and morale for the whole, rather than the single employee. In an age where more and more individuals cry out for corporations to put teeth into corporate ethics, one must assign the same rigorous scrutiny to one's own workplace. (Stone, 2004)

Works Cited

Stone, Amey. (February 19, 2004). "Putting Teeth into Corporate Ethics Codes. "Business Week. Retrieved 24 Dec 2004 at http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/feb2004/nf20040219_5613_db035.htm