Being ethical and portraying our values is something
that we should not only strive to do in our personal lives, but also in our
professional lives. A company that does not have an ethical code could quickly
become a former company. On a large scale, look at Enron and Worldcom.
Unethical actions started to spread through the company like wildfire
eventually leading to costly outcomes for the companies. So, how do companies
avoid unethical behaviors and what behaviors are considered unethical?
I had the pleasure
of viewing two brief but powerful videos relating to ethics this week. The
first video featured Bruce Weinstein aka the ethics guy. Weinstein focused on
the importance of ethical intelligence. According to Weinstein (2012),
emotional intelligence is not only knowing the right thing to do but also
having the courage to do the right thing. One topic that every office or
organization must deal with is sickness. If you wake up one morning and are
very sick what do you do? Weinstein (2012) questioned the audience about going
to work with the flu. Though most of us know that the right thing to do is stay
home to not get others sick, we still may go to work with the flu. I tend to do
this sometimes. I do not go to work sick to be unethical, but an argument could
be made that I am being unethical by going to work.
Dr. Weinstein (2007) stated five principles to
living an ethical life including be compassionate, make things better, respect
others, be fair, and do no harm. Though I believe that these principles are
important to an ethical life, I tend not to commit to each of them at all
times. I must strive to be better about living by Dr. Weinstein’s principles.
The final thing I found interesting about Dr. Weinstein’s (2012) video was when
he asked two people who felt unappreciated to come on stage. He had the
audience give them a standing ovation and the demeanor of not only the two
individuals, but the entire room changed, proving that doing the ethical thing
is good because it is the right thing to do and because it will make you and
others feel better.
The second video featured Chuck Gallagher, who had
an interesting approach to ethics. He began his speech in an orange jumpsuit
and handcuffs, which I thought was very eye opening and direct. LaFollette (2007)
discussed slippery slopes and how they could lead to unethical actions.
Gallagher (2013) agreed with this concept and argued that an act that seems
innocent and possibly ethical could lead to something that is not only
unethical, but illegal. Gallagher (2013) gave three examples of actions that
some of us may do at work that may not seem unethical including overselling a
customer a product they do not necessarily need, utilizing company resources
for personal use, and being dishonest with expense accounts. The first two
examples do not seem too bad and are most likely not seen as unethical to most
individuals while the third is beginning to step over the line. These examples
are taken further stating that they could to actions such as information sharing
or harassment to something that is illegal such as embezzlement. No one will
argue that selling an older lady a phone that she does not need will
automatically take you stealing company funds. Gallagher (2013) simply warns
that the choices you make are not erased as soon as you make them and can have
a lasting effect on your life. Gallagher mentioned that he spent five years in
jail for illegal activity, so he knows how quickly innocent acts can go awry.
I sometimes think that business ethics is an
oxymoron. Though we are taught what is right and wrong and how to treat people
in the business environment we do not always abide by the meaning of ethics.
Not that everyone acts unethically all of the time but there is most likely at
least a shade of value breaking in each of us. I have worked at my organization
for a little over nine and we are taught the do’s and don’ts of ethics ad
nauseam. We have training seminars each summer to brush us up on ethics. Each
department has a framed mission/ethical statement hanging on the wall. But,
unfortunately, knowing what to do and doing it are two different animals.
Looking back on the last nine years, there have been
many instances of unethical behavior. I will not go into detail for most of
them but an organization of 1100 people will produce actions that are not very
ethical. One dilemma I will discuss is the financial pickle our former
President, CFO, and Controller created several years ago. The organization
decided to team up with a Foundation that desired to bring a concert to Daytona
Beach. The Foundation promised some of the hottest acts in music and my
organization ended up investing some 2 million dollars to this concert. Long
story short, the Foundation did not book most of the acts that were promised
and the concert was a huge failure. This caused the organization to owe vendors
all over central Florida with no collateral. The main issue was that they did
not run this by the Board of Trustees and it did not end well once the story
hit the papers. I cannot speak for the former President, CFO, and Controller,
but I believe they thought they would make money for the organization, so it
was nothing to concern the board with. Weinstein (2007) stated that doing no
harm and making things better were two principles to living ethically. The
concert situation definitely did not make things better and harmed the college
for years to come because of public opinion and declining enrollment.
I understand the previous example was a large scale
extremely unethical act that costs three jobs, but according to Gallagher
(2013) some of us act unethically at work periodically on a smaller scale. How
many of us have gone to our neighbors office and talked for 20 or 30 minutes
while on the clock? I know I am guilty. One of the other things that I am bad
about is what Gallagher (2013) described as using company resources for
personal use. While in graduate school I have printed assignments or reading
material on countless occasions. I have never thought about it as unethical but
will now be more aware and try to reduce my school printing.
I am not attempting to talk badly about my company
with the examples of unethical behavior, because most of the time ethics is
followed at the organization. Gallagher (2013) mentioned that just because you
make a huge mistake does not mean you are a mistake. I once made a pretty bad
mistake due to some accounting policies that had been put into place. I will
not bore you with the details, but long story short, the accounting manager had
created some new policies that were very difficult to follow and served no
need. This caused some mistakes to be made that had to be taken to the CFO.
Eventually, we were able to devise a plan to fix the mistakes while revising
the policies. There was an individual who was very irate and wanted both me and
my supervisor (the accounting manager) to be written up. The CFO showed
compassion and admitted that the policies were bound to fail eventually. She
said that this mistake does not warrant punishment. This action was one that
shaped how I view professional ethics and try to remember that the ethical
thing is not always the answer others may want to hear.
References
Gallagher, C. (2013.). Business Ethics
Keynote Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - shares Straight Talk about Ethics! -
YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved . from
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE
LaFollette, H. (2007). The Practice of Ethics. Malden, MA; Blackwell.
Weinstein, B. (2012). Keynote Speech
Excerpts from The Ethics Guy - YouTube. YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxbHBpilJQ
Weinstein, B. (2007). Five Easy Principles?
Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2007-01-10/five-easy-principles-businessweek-business-news-stock-market-and-financial-advice
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