Recently in our company, unethical behaviors that can result in major business errors are much higher than before. That means that people lack enough knowledge on how to conduct themselves ethically and the importance of this. Our vision is to create a business environment where people are morally upright and where integrity, honesty, and respect are upheld. Most people have confused ethics with acting according to religious beliefs, social norms, and legally, failing to treat ethics as a concept that stands on its own. Ethics are moral principles that guide the behavior of a person and how they conduct each of their activities (De Bakker et al., 2019). For any company to be successful, members must maintain business ethics in their day-to-day lives. Business ethics are written and unwritten codes of principles and morals that guide the actions and decisions within a firm. According to the Cambridge Dictionary of Philosophy, the word “ethics” is often interchanged with the word “morality” (De Bakker et al., 2019). Sometimes, it is utilized to mean the moral tenets of a particular tradition, individuals, and groups. If we can behave ethically, our company will have a good brand reputation, good public perception, and overall profitability. Also, an ethical workplace is more financially successful and has motivated and productive employees.
For these reasons, it is in the best interest of our company to implement key ethical guidelines, including; understanding that being ethical means acting based on well-founded standards of right and wrong, which prescribe what humans should do, in terms of fairness, societal benefits, and certain virtues like honesty and integrity (Ferrell et al., 2019). These standards include refraining from rape, stealing, and fraud. They also encompass compassion and loyalty, standards related to rights such as the right to life, right to privacy, and freedom from injuries.
Why Ethics is Important to Me
For me, ethics is essential because most people tend to deviate from it when they focus on interpreting their feelings, social norms, and laws as ethical, which deviates from ethical standards. Personally, it is vital to assess my standards to ensure they remain reasonable and well-founded since all cultures differ in terms of social norms and rules. I strive to make continuous efforts to asses my own moral beliefs and my moral conduct, to ensure that I help shape my behavior around people who come from distinct diversities, to help shape each institution I associate myself with, and to maintain solid and reasonable standards with a good understanding of right, wrong and moral (Ferrell et al., 2019). Whenever I want to make a decision, I ensure that my decisions are ethical. Ethical decisions result in the demonstration of respect, generation, and sustainability of trust, caring, responsibility and fairness. These aspects are consistent with good individuality and better citizenship, and they offer a basis for making excellent decisions. They set good foundations for good rules for my behavior in the workplace, at home, and around my peers.
News and Reports on The Negative Impact on Stakeholders as A Result of Unethical Behaviours
There have been many reports and news about the adverse impacts of unethical behaviors in some companies. Some news has reported employees presenting false product claims, including using misleading language to target buyers. Others have reported unethical accounting that encompasses mismanaging accounts to make a company look more profitable than that it is (Ferell et al., 2019). These have hurt investors who come all the way to purchase shares only to learn of their loss later. Other news has reported companies with sexual harassment, poor working conditions, defamation, and bribery. Example of companies where there were adverse impacts as a result of unethical behavior include Enron and Uber.
In the Enron company, analysts questioned the company’s accounts in the previous and annual reports (Mohd Ali, 2020). The company utilized irregular account procedures, and it wasn’t easy to know how the company made money. When the company was investigated, it was discovered that the company hid billions of dollars in liabilities through other companies it controlled, making it look profitable when it was losing a lot of money. The company’s share price fell, and it reported a huge bankruptcy. The management had lied to investors, and employees had nothing to look forward to. The issue went to court with Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skiing facing conspiracy charges and being forced to pay the debts. Mohd (2020) suggests that they were tried for fraud and conspiracy charges and imprisonment that would last for 45 years.
Another example of a company that reported unethical behavior is Uber. Uber has encountered various accusations of sexual harassment and using illegal technology to avoid law enforcement, spy on users, and poach drivers from their competitors. Uber was most affected by the “bro” culture accusation where the CEO, Travis Kalanick, resigned in 2017 (Hoffman et al., 2021). There were allegations that senior staff members made sexist jokes and also visited a brothel in Seoul. These claims, although not proven, resulted in the company losing its shares that were traded privately.
From these scandals, it is clear that any unethical behavior can result in huge consequences, including losing a company and the top management facing serious court charges. Whenever a company has a bad reputation, a lot of customers are lost to their immediate competitors. It becomes hard to revive a company to its initial profitable state, especially after issues of fraud and sexual harassment. It is therefore important to avoid any unethical behavior at all costs.
Avoiding Unethical Behaviours
A lot can be done to avoid scandals based on unethical behaviors. One step is to understand the impact a person’s action could have on the company’s bottom line and brand equity. The company can establish proper straightforward ethical guidelines, promote knowledge of these guidelines and foster ethical behavior. The management should provide a leading example in establishing transparency in the workplace at all levels of the organization. Also, it should show appreciation of the efforts of employees to prevent them from compromising ethics to meet deadlines, show good performance and be more productive. When a crisis occurs, a company should take time off the market to assess the scandal and develop the best strategy to convince their buyers of their relevance and change procedures within the company.
References
De Bakker, F. G., Rasche, A., & Ponte, S. (2019). Multi-stakeholder initiatives on sustainability: A cross-disciplinary review and research agenda for business ethics. Business Ethics Quarterly, 29(3), 343-383. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Andreas-Rasche/publication/333103455_Multi-Stakeholder_Initiatives_On_Sustainability_A_Cross-Disciplinary_Review_And_Research_Agenda_For_Business_Ethics/links/5cdba8ce92851c4eaba060f2/Multi-Stakeholder-Initiatives-On-Sustainability-A-Cross-Disciplinary-Review-And-Research-Agenda-For-Business-Ethics.pdf
Ferrell, O. C., Harrison, D. E., Ferrell, L., & Hair, J. F. (2019). Business ethics, corporate social responsibility, and brand attitudes: An exploratory study. Journal of Business Research, 95, 491-501. https://harbert.auburn.edu/binaries/documents/center-for-ethical-organizational-cultures/business-ethics.pdf
Hoffman, D. L., Radojevich-Kelley, N., & Gilliard, D. J. (2021). UBER: A Great Disrupter or Not?. Journal of Marketing Development & Competitiveness, 15(2). https://web.p.ebscohost.com/abstract?direct=true&profile=ehost&scope=site&authtype=crawler&jrnl=21552843&AN=151463423&h=q%2fSjx7vFxX9IpgL7ykTdQgaPDixCJW3WSVcGBuvbaDuTxz2i584Nxaac6LHUPGa6yYAalAfY1yxhBR3gMVEwLQ%3d%3d&crl=c&resultNs=AdminWebAuth&resultLocal=ErrCrlNotAuth&crlhashurl=login.aspx%3fdirect%3dtrue%26profile%3dehost%26scope%3dsite%26authtype%3dcrawler%26jrnl%3d21552843%26AN%3d151463423
Mohd Ali, B. (2020). Reviewing Enron Scandal. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3697549
