Ethical Behavior
Abstract
Ethical behavior is an important consideration in today’s business. Deciding which behaviors are acceptable is a tough decision.
Ethical Behavior Individual characteristics should play a large part in ethical behavior. For the most part people know the difference between right and wrong, but which one they choose plays upon their individual characteristic. Do I think every person is 100% ethical in their day-to-day business decisions? Certainly not, this is where issue of intensity comes into play. Each individual business needs to determine the importance of ethical issues based on six characteristics: greatness of harm, consensus of wrong, probability of harm, immediacy of consequences, proximity of victims, and concentration of effect (Robbins & Coulter, 2009). For example, if an employee uses a company vehicle for personal business is it harming anyone? It may not be harming any individual, but more than likely the consensus would be that it is improper use of company property. In this instance, the improper use of the company vehicle was the individual’s poor and unethical decision. This one instance should have no long-term effects on the business. There should be some consequence such as a verbal or written warning, but unless it is abused, termination of employment would be excessive. On the other hand, an employee that uses company funds for their own personal gain is establishing bad moral judgment and extreme unethical behavior. Not only is this person doing wrong, but he is also harming the company’s profitability. Embezzlement may not always be felt immediately, but could still be showing harm in the profitability throughout the fiscal year. Unethical behavior of this sort should have immediate consequences enforced up to and including termination and prosecution. All in all, the deciding factors in ethical behavior can be a tough decision for a business. Ultimately, businesses that make decisions not only
Ethical behavior is an important consideration in today’s business. Deciding which behaviors are acceptable is a tough decision.
Ethical Behavior Individual characteristics should play a large part in ethical behavior. For the most part people know the difference between right and wrong, but which one they choose plays upon their individual characteristic. Do I think every person is 100% ethical in their day-to-day business decisions? Certainly not, this is where issue of intensity comes into play. Each individual business needs to determine the importance of ethical issues based on six characteristics: greatness of harm, consensus of wrong, probability of harm, immediacy of consequences, proximity of victims, and concentration of effect (Robbins & Coulter, 2009). For example, if an employee uses a company vehicle for personal business is it harming anyone? It may not be harming any individual, but more than likely the consensus would be that it is improper use of company property. In this instance, the improper use of the company vehicle was the individual’s poor and unethical decision. This one instance should have no long-term effects on the business. There should be some consequence such as a verbal or written warning, but unless it is abused, termination of employment would be excessive. On the other hand, an employee that uses company funds for their own personal gain is establishing bad moral judgment and extreme unethical behavior. Not only is this person doing wrong, but he is also harming the company’s profitability. Embezzlement may not always be felt immediately, but could still be showing harm in the profitability throughout the fiscal year. Unethical behavior of this sort should have immediate consequences enforced up to and including termination and prosecution. All in all, the deciding factors in ethical behavior can be a tough decision for a business. Ultimately, businesses that make decisions not only
References: (Patil S B 100107 Ethical issues in business)Patil, S. B. (10, January 7). Ethical issues in business. Retrieved February 20, 2011, from http://www.buzzle.com/articles/ethical-issues-in-business.html (Robbins & Coulter, 2009) (Robbins S P Coulter M 2009 Management)Robbins, S. P., & Coulter, M. (2009). Management (10th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc.