Ethics

Some people feel that ethics only has to do with the individual who does wrongdoing and has nothing to do with the organization beliefs of a company as a whole. This has been found to be completely false and these ethical wrongdoings reflect the core values of an organization and can be influenced strongly by management.

Two specific examples of corporate wrongdoings involve Sears automotive and Beach-nut Nutrition. In both cases, the companies lacked a system that encouraged honesty and fair dealings. Management at these companies encouraged their employees to ignore their own moral attitudes and to adopt the attitudes the firm felt would best help their bottom line. This is why it is important not to place the blame on one person's actions but to focus on the company's philosophies of what is right and wrong. Sears, and Beach-Nut are just two examples of companies that instilled the values of unfair dealing in their employees but this is really a widespread problem in a very competitive capitalistic society.

I have worked part-time in restaurants through college and I can reflect first hand why employees are often trained to do what is in the interest of the company and not necessarily to do what they believe would be best for the customer. The primary function of any business is to make money; this is the motivating force that drives many decisions.

For example, if a cook drops a piece of filet mignon on the floor and continues to cook it and then serve it, he is not doing this because he feels it is fair to the customer. He is doing this because he knows that it is the profitable thing to do. Even though