Moral and Ethical
Issues in Management
Companies operate and sustain
through their fair practicing policies, bringing in discipline, honesty, integrity,
loyalty and open communication, are a few examples. Managers, on the other
hand, are hired to ensure that everything goes as planned. Managers, to
practice corporate policies, face moral and ethical issues on daily bases.
Businesses face serious consequences when managers fail to incorporate these
practices. There are a number of
organizations which have been audited and turned in cases such as corporate
embezzlement, price fixing, quality cuttings, annual reports falsification, infringements
and piracy which namely are RadioShack, Red Robin Gourmet Burgers, Marsh &
McLnnan, WorldCom and the list goes on, only because managers were not
competent enough to incorporate ethical practices.(Stephen P. Robbins,
Management, 9e)
Moral and Ethical
Issues Faced By Managers
What is a moral obligation of a
manager? What ethical issues are needed to be resolved? These questions are in
everyday practice of a manager which they learn to understand first and
incorporate afterwards. Managers are the role models. Whether it is related to
the workplace environment, employee rewards or society itself, their role is vital
to perform and strongly bound up with moral and ethical responsibilities on
daily bases. A few issues are as under:
Discipline
Most crucial of all is discipline
and it is not only about the time to enter and leave the premises but also
about conducting the routine business activities religiously.
Integrity
A
manager can only be a good example and evoke subordinates for same if he discourages
mischievous and fraudulent activities. Decisions on merit, no personal use of
office property and secrecy on corporate issues are a few practical examples.
Open
Communication
In
management, one of the key successful elements is open communication. Manager
who encourages it gets the top performance from their teams.
Relationship
between Social Issues and Ethically Responsible Management Practices
At large, there are two
management views, classic and socioeconomic. Classic view is purely economic
and focuses to maximize profits only, whereas, socioeconomic view differs by
putting social responsibility as an integral part of management
responsibilities, Responsibilities, which are indeed the focus of a new age
business.
Business earns profit by performing
efficiently only when employees perform in high spirits, which cannot be done
without a moral boost not just by a better salary but also with a healthy work environment
and culture. An ethically enriched culture, which dictates principles of
honesty, integrity, discipline, open communication and team work, can only
provide the motivation and a sense of social responsibility and consequently
reduces the chances of misconducts.
Work Place
Example
Big or small, every business
organization faces the ethical issues on daily bases. Organizations were saved
if they handled such issues in appropriate manner or otherwise. But still there
are a number of companies, namely tobacco and armament industry, existence of
which is still debatable. Then there is another publically known issue of
piracy.
It is not just about the
multinational organizations but even if we move down on to a managerial level
of any other industry, such as chemical, bottling, shipping, printing, rubber
or food, they all face the same ethical dilemma in terms of pollution, toxic
waste and global warming. Hence they face the legalities in shape of penalties
and in some cases complete operations’ seizure.
Conclusion
Moral and ethics standards are hardly global. A
cigarette bud, a plastic bag and bottle, a smoking hot bullet case and piracy
are more likely to find in third world countries than the developed countries.
Interestingly, the operating companies are the franchises of international
brands who actively participate in social causes. Is it only about a new market
venture or just the lesser value of life in third world countries which
attracts the socially challenged businesses? It is a burning question which
still stands tall.
REFERENCES
Stephen
P. Robins and Mary Coulter. (2012). Management. Eleventh Edition. Pearson
Education, Inc.
Stephen
P. Robins and Timothy A. Judge. (2012). Essentials of Organizational Behaviors.
Eleventh Edition. Pearson Education, Inc.
Businessballs.com.
(2012, 11, Friday). Ethical Leadership, Decision Making and Organizations.
(2012, 11, Friday).
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