Cultural Values and Personal Ethics Paper

Cultural Values and Personal Ethics Paper

Values are “the central beliefs and purposes of an individual or society” (Values, 2006, ¶ 2). In other words, values and ethics are the right and wrong way of behaving, in the eyes of the in beholder. Individuals develop values based on lessons taught and reactions to situations. Societies as a whole create what qualifies as normal or acceptable behavior. Personal, organizational, and cultural values influence decisions and may cause ethical dilemmas that need to be resolved.

Personal Values

Personal values are those beliefs unique to individuals. Beliefs are not necessarily unique to the individuals, but how they prioritize or organize their values is. Most my personal beliefs center on what I view are human rights. I personally feel that compromising an individual’s rights for the “greater good” of others is never appropriate, unless their choice is to give it up.

Everyone deserves respect initially, regardless of the superficial opinions made about the individual. Acceptance of others values, especially when they compromise an individual’s rights, is a constant personal battle I have. I know that I would want someone to respect my values, so I attempt to do the same by treating others how I want to be treated. I often use the word “seriously” after a statement I find questionable, because I hope the comment is a joke. This is offensive and even disrespectful to some people, so I am trying to break that habit. I would not like to be offended for offering my opinion.

In the workplace, my personal values could contradict what my employer expects from me. For example, my belief never to compromise on individual rights goes against the cost-benefit test that in accounting, which I will see all too often. Defending my position could result in loss of a position. I will have to either compromise my ethics, or find a new place to work.

Organizational Values

The workplace creates organizational values for the employees. Companies usually have an employee handbook that discusses the expectations of how employees should behave on the job, consequences for breaking the rules, and what actions to take if they feel something unethical has taken place. The importance of organizational values is that they protect all the stakeholders of the company from investors to employees. Three values that help a company achieve this are accountability, honesty, and accuracy.

I base many of my decisions professionally on these values. My duty as an accountant is to give the stakeholders the accurate financial picture of the company. I must hold myself accountable for the reports and claims I make and put my name to them. In addition, I must be honest about the reports and recommendations I make. There are many people who my work will influence and I must always be cognizant of that fact.

I base many of my personal decisions on these values as well. I need to hold myself accountable for all the mistakes and decisions I make, whether or not they affect another person. I believe that honesty is the best policy, so my I base decisions on my honest opinion. My daughter is only five years old, so she asks many questions, some difficult to answer. Learning the facts about the subject is important, so instead of making up an easy answer, she and I will research.

Cultural Values

Cultural values are beliefs learned from society, religious groups, and other associations. These values are the “right” way of behaving, within that group. People fit into different groups or categories and their decisions are supposed to be the same as the rest of the group. Republicans are conservative and democrats are liberal. Same theory applies to religious groups. Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Wiccans, whatever the choice, they are all in their own opinion following the correct path with the best values. With all this diversity, can everyone or anybody be “right”?

Diversity reminds me of the need for tolerance and acceptance. Tolerance is a value I have been learning from school, specifically all the ethical training University of Phoenix requires. Although funny to say aloud, I am aware of others rights to have opinions now. My mother said I use to not allow anyone to have an opinion that varied from mine, but now I allow it. Apparently, I used to just shoot them down, call them wrong, and dismiss it as a flaw in logic. She is right; I now allow others to have opinions, ones that are so far from mine I cannot even comprehend where they received that idea. I appreciate that they choose to have an opinion, even if “wrong” in my eyes. To them, their opinion is “right” and who am I to say no? I have to accept that not everyone is going to share my