Analysis of Ethics in the Workplace

An Analysis of Ethics in the Workplace

Introduction of ethics

Ethics can be defined as “a domain unto itself, a set of concepts and principles that guide us in determining what behavior helps or harms sentient creatures” (Elder and Paul, 2003). In today’s society, it is becoming natural to question the relevance of ethics. Contestants on reality television shows are rewarded with sums as large as $1,000,000 for activities such as lying, cheating, backstabbing and otherwise playing the game. In the midst of downsizing, mergers and acquisitions, is it fair to hold corporate America to a high set of standards as they attempt to merely stay alive?

Recent ethical catastrophes such as Enron and WorldCom make it clear that, now more than ever, companies must rely on a solid foundation of ethics if they are to succeed and keep quality employees.

Employees today are being ethically challenged every day. (Thomson Gale, 2005) declares “…the pressures of business life clearly test the personal morality of all individuals, at all levels of the organization. One in five of those surveyed said they at least sometimes felt under duress from colleagues or managers to compromise the organization’s standards of ethical business conduct in order to achieve business goals.”

As an employee, we should not, however, automatically assume a questionable request is unethical. As noted by Amanda Gengler, “Almost 10% of the employees who felt they were asked to do something unethical eventually determined that their boss' request was appropriate.”(Gengler, 2006). Be sure you have all the facts before making a decision.

The concepts of ethical principles in the workplace are generally not complex. However, some ethical questions require “reasoned judgment” to determine a definitive answer. This fact is illustrated by the following quote - “Some ethical questions have definitive answers; others require reasoned judgment. When reasoning through an ethical question, we need to determine whether it is simple or complex.” (Elder and Paul, 2003).

Whether a business is considering how to treat its employees, create its products, serve its customers or participate in the community, the ethical answers all revolve around doing the "right thing" rather than what may be the most profitable or expedient in the short term. On a simple level, this means treating employees fairly, producing a quality, safe product, and striving to continuously improve customer service. Most businesses successfully apply these concepts when the ethical answer is clear-cut. We do not steal from our employees. We do not sell products that we know will be dangerous to our customers. Often, however, the answers are highly complex. It is these "gray areas" that cause the majority of ethical dilemmas.

As evidence to this fact, it has been shown that “There is no nation, no religion, and no ethnic group that openly argues for the right to cheat, deceive, exploit, abuse, harm, or steal from others. Neither is there anyone who publicly attempts to justify murder, racism, assault, rape, fraud, deceit, or intimidation. The problem, then, is not that we lack ethical principles. The problem is that we are naturally adept at hiding our own violations of them.” (Elder and Paul, 2003).

Case Study Number 1

The case study below is one example of how employees are challenged in the workplace. Nicole was a teenager working at a local McDonalds®. While on duty, she witnessed a cashier taking money out of the register of another cashier. At closing time, the second cashier’s register was short. To offset the shortage, she took money out of the first cashier’s register. The second cashier was unaware that Nicole saw her take the money. When she found out, she threatened Nicole which forced Nicole to make a very difficult decision. On one hand, she could have easily turned a blind eye to the entire situation. This would have been the easiest decision by far. However, ethically, she knew this was not the correct decision. Even though she risked physical harm, in the end, she decided turned in the employee. In this case, Nicole used sound ethical judgment instead of the easy way out. Often times, this is not an easy decision.

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