Preview

Is the formal cultural system within a firm the most important factor in creating ethical workplace? How do formal cultural systems attempt to promote ethics?

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1601 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Is the formal cultural system within a firm the most important factor in creating ethical workplace? How do formal cultural systems attempt to promote ethics?
Is the formal cultural system within a firm the most important factor in creating ethical workplace? How do formal cultural systems attempt to promote ethics?
Ethical workplace has been a controversial issue since years ago. A huge majority of the workforce often list being ethical as one of the top factors they want in a business organization or a firm. Despite having formal cultural system in a firm, there are still unethical behaviors arising within them. These people bring negative impacts to the firm and are usually known as the “bad apples”. Up till date, no one can firmly point out whether the cause for such action is due to individual personality or the environment of the work place. Nonetheless, in my point of view, I think that formal cultural system within a firm is the most important factor in creating an ethical workplace.
Formal cultural system is the interaction of the organization’s selection system, policies, rules and regulations, training programmes and standard of procedures to name a few. These act as a guide as to the behavior managers and employees should portray, which creates the ideal ethical workplace within the organization. For instance, the selection system requires applicants to meet the prerequisites set by the organization. It is important to follow the system as it has to be someone who fits in well in the organization. An example would be the criteria to be a crew of Singapore Airlines (SIA). Crew members are selected based on their personalities (cheerfulness, optimistic, team player) and confidence level. As such, applicants have to go through multiple interviews before selection. The interviews also test one’s ability to react promptly to situations, which highlight potential applicants who will be better fits for the job.
Another example would be incorporating company’s mission and vision statement as well as abiding to the company’s policies and codes. Most of the time, these general statements merely guide beliefs while

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Kaptein, M. (2009). Ethics Programs and Ethical Culture: A next step in unraveling their multifaceted relationship. Journal of Business Ethics, 89(2), 261-281. doi:10.1007/s10551-088-9998-3…

    • 2643 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Proctor & Gamble

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Ethical leadership and high moral standards are important parts of creating an ethical culture. Managers must create a culture that not only discourages bribery and corruption but also seeks to uphold the highest moral standards. Managers must create very distinct lines between right and wrong so that no employee is unclear. Furthermore, when someone is found to transgress those ethical boundaries, they must suffer the consequences.…

    • 303 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An ethical culture should be a top priority of every business, large or small. The challenge for many organizations is trying to understand what it takes to build one. From an enforceable code of conduct, to ongoing training and communications, to an anonymous reporting hotline, companies can quickly implement ethics and compliance programs and solutions that foster an ethical culture across the enterprise.…

    • 1446 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    Every organization has a standard or code of ethics every employee is expected to adhere to. Not everyone within an organization share the same moral values or principles, this is due to cultural differences and understanding ethics competency. Ethics competency is described as the knowledge, skills and abilities to incorporate values and principals that distinguish right from wrong when making decisions and choosing behaviors ( Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011p.10). How one determines right from wrong is based on their personal beliefs but behavior and conduct within an organization should be universal, in order for an organization to be effective. Ethical issues within an organization is common because of personal differences , these ethical issues influence the decisions employees make daily (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2011). Lawrence Kohlberg’s model of moral development suggests there are stages through which individuals evolve, ranging from the lowest stage obedience and punishment orientation, to the highest stage; universal ethical principles (Hellriegel &…

    • 934 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    According the textbook, Contemporary Business, the author, Louis Boone, states the three primary factors that influence business ethics are: personal experience, peer pressure, and organizational culture. Corporate culture that is in opposition to ethical standards may result in conflict. For example, if you believe that it is immoral to put animal in cages, you shouldn’t work for a zoo. Good business ethics and positive employee-employer relationships are developed when personal ethical standards mirror a company's ethical standards, which strengthens loyalty amongst employers and employees. This manifests itself in the way that companies work to maximize awareness of their corporate cultures. The company talks and trains people in ethics, in the hope that the ethics will be incorporated in the employee’s…

    • 567 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    As professionals, we have an individual opportunity and a standard of responsibility to be committed to the standards of quality of ethical and moral standards in the workplace. Employees having a high ethical standard are paramount to the success of any organization and acting in an unethical manner will almost ultimately destroy it. This essay will provide some basic ethical guidelines that apply to organizations, why unethical behavior is happening in the workplace, and finally, it will identify ways in which management and organizations can encourage ethical behavior.…

    • 1130 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Swott Analysis Paper

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages

    References: • Kerns, C. D. (2003). Creating and sustaining an ethical workplace culture. Graziadio Business…

    • 1058 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Personal ethical systems may differ from organizational ethical system, but communication with management of the organization can improve the trustworthiness of the individual and the organization. Employees should be aware of what is expected of them and what conduct is expected for a job. Everyone’s character is based on personal morals and values, organizations need to educate employees on ethical business behavior to assist in solving and preventing ethical dilemmas. Cynicism will continue to be an epidemic because organizational and personal morals and values, and the lack of, will continue to present unethical actions in…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    References: Berkley, R., & Watson, G. (2009 December). The Employer-Employee Relationship as a Building Block for Ethics and Corporate Social Responsibility. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 275-277. Betz, M., O’Connell, L., & Shepard, J.M. 1989. Gender differences in proclivity for unethical behavior. Journal of Business Ethics, 8(5), 321-324. Dawson, L.M. 1997. Ethical differences between men and women in the sales profession. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(11), 1143-1152. Kulshreshtha, P. 2005. Business ethics versus economic incentives: Contemporary Issues and dilemmas. Journal of Business Ethics, 60(4), 393-410. Nwachukwu, S.S., & Vitell Jr., S. J. 1977. The influence of corporate culture on managerial ethical judgments. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(8), 757-776. Weaver, G.R. 2001. Ethics programs in global businesses: Culture’s role in managing ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 30(1), 3-15. Wimbush, J. C., Shepard, J. M., & Markham, S. E. (1997). An empirical examination of the relationship between ethical climate and ethical behavior from multiple levels of analysis. Journal of Business Ethics, 16(16), 1705-1716. Peterson, D., Rhoads, A., & Vaught, B.C. 2001. Ethical beliefs of business professionals: A study of gender, age, and external factors. Journal of Business Ethics, 31(3), 225-232. Post, J.E., Lawrence, A. T., & Weber, J. 2002. Business and society: corporate strategy, public policy, ethics (10ed). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.…

    • 3615 Words
    • 15 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Good Essays

    Treviño and Nelson (2007), define ethics as “the principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing an individual or organization.” I was influenced the way I determine different actions or behavior in a particular situation since I was a child. Growing up with a single Catholic mother made me value different things and behave in a particular way. In addition, this made me a have a particular ethical system that influences the way I work and act as an individual. At the corporation level, ethics is important because they set the rules and regulations. In this paper, I will explain the developmental aspects of my ethics as well as my ethical system, the effects of my ethics at my workplace, and importance of ethics in an organization to achieve its goals.…

    • 874 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ethics is an extremely important aspect of the culture of a company. Ethics is a set of moral principles: a theory or system of moral values. It is vital that each company adhere to an ethical code. Often times the morale of employees decrease for a variety of reasons. This decrease or lack of morale causes employees to begin to act in an unethical manner. Unethical behavior tends to be a common practice within some companies. “Larger companies sometimes decide that breaking laws and paying the fines involves lower costs than the financial gain made from breaking those laws” (Zeiger, n.d.) Despite the fact the unethical behavior occurs with the workplace, there are still several employees that are loyal to the law, the community and society as a whole. They report knowledge of illegal acts within the workplace. This group of people is known as whistleblowers.…

    • 1292 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Best Essays

    Business Ethics

    • 3443 Words
    • 14 Pages

    Ethical decision making in an organization is based on the moral judgment about right or wrong is often influenced by its own culture. When the decision is ethical or moral, employees act for the right course of action accordingly. Business ethics or the code of ethics has now days became the part of implementing organizational strategy and it development since it emphases on stopping business malpractices, business survival, protecting employees and its shareholders, better relation with both internal and external customers, HR function, smooth functioning and health competition to competitors. Unethical business behavior will definitely damage organization’s reputation that will have negative impact in the market which in turn will discourage the investors. This kind of consequence will result in low profit. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to emphasize on the ethical issues, perspective, ethics in workplace relationship and objectives of business.…

    • 3443 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Best Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    BBA 102 ESSAY

    • 1493 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Sinclair, A. (1993). Approaches to organizational culture and ethics. Journal of Business Ethics, 12 (1), pp. 63-73…

    • 1493 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    From birth, most of us are taught what is right and wrong. Ethics is a trait that most human beings acquire, but with differences in values and perspectives, it may be hard to achieve. The problem lies in how ethics are taught to people. It is our duty as Americans and people on this Earth to train ourselves to become ethical in every thing we do. We should be practicing good ethics everywhere, at work, home, and school. Having good ethics should be part of our daily lives. This paper will discuss ethics and the importance of it in the workplace.…

    • 2182 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Benefits of Ethics

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In this today's world there have been many fraudulent activities which have led to business failure. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the benefit of ethical aspect in workplace.…

    • 430 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays

Related Topics