Ethics_and_Responsibility

Ethics and Responsibility David E. De Jesus STR/581 January 30, 2011 Claude Toland Ethics and Responsibility In order for a business to succeed and maintain a strong, beneficial staff, the business must have a strong foundation in ethical awareness and a solid ground of social responsibility. Having a phenomenal social commitment not just to its employees but also to the community will stabilize a business, create a following of consumers and maximize the possible profits for the business. The Role of Ethics in Strategic Planning Ethics is very important when it involves the strategic planning of the business. By being in an ethical company, this enforces the company’s mission and vision statements. This also helps in giving a direction to the company and a solid base foundation for the organization, the employees and the management staff. When a company develops a strategic planning, this is supposed to be done to the best interest of the business. This is why ethics is very crucial to a business on the daily, weekly, monthly and yearly operations. In order for us to truly under ethics, we need to define it. According to Velasquez (2010), ethics has several definitions: "Ethics has to do with what my feelings tell me is right or wrong."
"Ethics has to do with my religious beliefs."
"Being ethical is doing what the law requires."
"Ethics consists of the standards of behavior our society accepts" (para.). Ethics is also very important to the stakeholders of the business. These individuals need to know how their money is going to be used. Also, the managers need to assure the stakeholders that they are doing what is in the best interest of the business and the stakeholders. By adhering to these ethical standards, it ensures that the company is making sure that they are on top of their game. There are 8 ways a company can make sure that the ethical practices are followed: 1. “Understand the benefits of ethical conduct 2. Focus on ethical conduct 3. Develop a code of ethical conduct 4. Promote process 5. Link ethics to other management practices 6. Demonstrate ethical practices 7. Allocate roles and responsibilities Identify and model industry benchmarks”(Flanagan, 2009). Ethics and Social Responsibility According to World Press (2009), “if you don’t have honesty and integrity, you won’t be able to develop effective relationships with any of your stakeholders” (para.). Being honest to the stakeholders is very important to a business. Without the stakeholders, there would be no money invested into the business. In order for managers to make money for its stakeholders, there has to be a strong social responsibility to not just the stakeholders but to the general community. The community is important because they are ultimately the individuals who make the company money thus keeping the stakeholders happy. My View Throughout my MBA, my view has changed tremendously on the similarities of ethics and how it is directly involved in the strategic perspective of an organization. Ethics in itself is something that should be practiced by all businesses for the sake of the stakeholders for a particular organization. Ethics is very important in the daily operations of any business, as it will give the proper motivation, integrity and honesty that a business needs to succeed. I have further learned how to blend both aspects of the ethical and strategic part and create one unified mission and vision in any future ventures that I may seek. References World Press. (2009). Total Quality Management. Retrieved from http://totalqualitymanagement.wordpress.com/2009/03/12/stakeholders-and-corporate-social-responsibility/ Flanagan, N. (2009). How to Manage Ethics in the Workplace. Ezine @rticles. Retrieved from http://ezinearticles.com/'How-to-Manage-Ethics-in-the-Workplace&id=2698390 Velasquez, M. (2010). What is Ethics'. Santa Clara University. Retrieved from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/practicing/decision/whatisethics.html