Text 3. Business ethics

Ethics is the system of moral principles, rules of conduct, and morality of choices that individuals make..

Business ethics is the application of morale standards to business situations. Business ethics has become a matter of public concern.

All business people face ethical issues daily, and they stem from a variety of sources. Although some types of issues arise infrequently, others occur regularly. Let’s take a closer look at several ethical issues.

1. Fairness and Honesty. Fairness and honesty in business are two important ethical concerns. Besides obeying all laws and regulations, business people should refrain from deceiving, misrepresenting or intimidating others.

2. Organizational Relationships. A business person may be temped to place his or her personal welfare above the welfare of the organization. Relationships with customers and coworkers often create ethical problems – since confidential information should be secret and all obligations should be honoured. Unethical behaviour in these areas includes not meeting one’s obligations in a mutual agreement, and pressing others to behave unethically.

3. Conflict of interest. Conflict of interest results when a business person takes advantage of a situation for his /her own personal interest rather than for the employer’s or organization’s interest. Such conflict may occur when payments and gifts make their way into business deals. A wise rule to remember is that anything given to a person that might unfairly influence that person’s business decision is a bribe, and all bribes are unethical.

4. Communication. Business communications, especially advertising, can present ethical questions. False and misleading advertising is illegal and unethical, and it can infuriate customers.

5. Relationships. Business ethics involves relationships between a firm and its investors, customers, employees, creditors and competitors. Each group has specific concerns, and each exerts some type of pressure on management.

Investors want managementto make financial decisions that will boost sales, profits and returns on their investments.

Customers expect a firm’s products to be safe, reliable and reasonably priced.

Employees want to be treated fairly in hiring, promotion and compensation.

Competitors expect the firm’s marketing activities to portray its products truthfully.

All these expectations are relatively easy for management to respond in ethical manner when the business is good and profit is high. However, under the pressure of circumstances ethical behaviour may be compromised.

What affects a person’s inclination to make either ethical or unethical decisions is not entirely clear. Three general sets of factors influence the ethics of decision making.

First, an individual’s values, attitudes, experiences, and knowledge influence decision making.

Second, the absence of an employer’s official code of ethics may indirectly encourage unethical decisions.

Third, the behaviours and values of others, such as coworkers, supervisors and company officials, affect the ethics of a person.

If you are a manager you should stick to the following rules in our everyday activities.

- Don’t order, ask and be polite.

- Remember that people work with you, not for you. They like to be related as associates, not slaves.

- Keep your promises, both important and less important promises.

- Criticize, if you must, only in private – and do it objectively. Never criticize anyone in public or in anger.

- You should say “Good morning” when you came in and “Please” and “Thank you” at every opportunity.

 

Text 4.  Business ethics and corporate culture nowadays.

Today people understand the business ethics as the integral part of their daily work, and managers should serve as role models preferring the key elements of ethical behaviour; they should act in supporting their corporate culture. As for the firms, they should not be obstacles for that activity in local and international market. Remember: the more bureaucratic a firm is, the greater the danger would be for unethical staff behaviour within it.

People at work must apply the socially acceptable, tension reducing behaviour: they must be capable of keeping their instincts under a relatively tight control and maintain the favourable social environment; they must prevent irritability and arousal in communication and focus on systematic decline of any conflicts. The English proverb says: people are lonely because they build walls instead of bridges. There is the rub.

The rules of the game, what behavior is ethical and accepted, the mood of the organization, and the enthusiasm of employees are all contained in the culture. So, culture can be a powerful, hidden asset or it can be a liability - a time bomb waiting to go off. If your leadership team has not actively created a corporate culture to support the company’s purpose, then chances are that the culture is a hidden liability. This is the foundation for all actions and decisions within a team, department, or organization.

Visible Manifestations of Culture

Dress Code

Work Environment

Benefits

Perks

Conversations

Work/Life Balance

Titles & Job Description

Organizational Structure