Ethics_Issues

Ethics Issues Kendra S. Scheidt MGT/216 August 30, 2010 Natalie Casale In today’s global economy businesses worldwide conduct business based on values that promote honesty and fair practice. To promote honesty and fair practice a business must establish an ethics policy. Business ethics is the accepted standards of conduct for business decision-making (Your Dictionary, n.d.). Business ethics set the standard for how the business is conducted (Small Business Notes, 2009). They define the value of how the owner operates in the marketplace and within the business (Small Business Notes, 2009). Businesses worldwide so all they can to conduct themselves accordingly, but unfortunately ethical issues continue to be a problem in the workplace. Some of the common issues that are addressed by business ethics are: accounting and financial standards, bribery and kickbacks, discrimination, fraud, and sexual harassment. The most common ethical issues that affect the community and organization are discrimination, fraud, and sexual harassment. Unfortunately, employers are still dealing with these ethical issues on a daily. The first ethical issue is discrimination; it is defined as differential treatment. It occurs in the workplace when an employee suffers unfavorable or unfair treatment because of his or her race, religion, national origin, disabled or veteran status, or other legally protected characteristics (All Business, 2010). Discrimination can occur in any stage of the employment process. It can happen and apply in recruitment, hiring, job evaluations, promotion policies, training, compensation, and disciplinary (Serrano, 2009). Discrimination affects both the community and organization negatively. The organization reputation is marred, and the man hours are lost because the employee hired is not qualified to do the job and cannot do it successfully. The communities trust in the corporation is eroded and unemployment may increase as a result of no minorities being hired. Fraud is another ethical issue that happens in the workplace. Fraud is defined as deception to gain by another’s loss. Some common types of fraud are: theft, embezzlement, falsifying documents, and misappropriation of funds. Fraud can be committed by any member of an organization regardless of the position held. Fraud affects the community and the organization negatively. The organization will spend a large sum of money to prevent the fraud from happening and to prosecute those that are caught. This cost will be passed on to the community because prices for services or goods will be increased. Sexual harassment is an ethical issue that happens in the workplace and both men and women are victims. Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcomed sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature that tends to create a hostile or offensive work environment. Federal law has defined two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile work environment (Trevino & Nelson, 2007). Quid pro quo means that sexual favors are a requirement or implied requirement for advancement in the workplace (Trevino & Nelson, 2007). Hostile work environment means that a worker has been made to feel uncomfortable because of unwelcomed actions or comments relating to sexuality (Trevino & Nelson, 2007). Sexual harassment affects the community and the organization in a negatively. The organization suffers from bad publicity and payouts of huge settlements. The community suffers because the business can no longer afford to operate because of the bad publicity and large settlement and fines that must be paid. Ethics start at the top. A well-defined ethics policy along with an outline of related standards of conduct provides the framework for ethical, moral behavior within the business (Small Business Notes, 2009). To be successful an ethics policy should be given the support by all members of management, explained in writing and verbally, employees should understand the policy and can do what the policy states, monitored by management and checked annually for compliance, and consequences for infractions stated clearly and enforced. References All Business (2010) Understanding Workplace Discrimination. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://www.allbusiness.com/human0resources/workplace-health-sagety-employment/1317-1.html Business Ethics (n.d.) In Business. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://www.yourdictionary.com/business/business-ethics Serrano, G. (2009) Discrimination in the Workplace. Trend Updates. Retrieved August 30, 2010, from http://trendupdates.com/discrimination-in-the-workplace/ Small Business Notes (2009) Developing Your Company’s Ethics Policy. Retrieved August 21, 2010, from http://www.smallbusinessnotes.com/operating/leadership/ethics/ethicspolicy.html Trevino, L. K. & Nelson, K. A. (2007) Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How To Do It Right (4th ed.) New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.