In this video, we're going to talk about business ethics and how to apply them to make decisions that are optimal, both for your organization and the community at large. Business ethics is applying a set of moral values to business policies and practices with a goal of producing fair decisions in areas like corporate governance, insider training, discrimination, just to name a few. Ethical and legal behavior are not the same thing. Most ethical decisions follow the law, but ethics go beyond what is legal and focus on what is truly right and wrong, and also in protecting the rights of others. For instance, child labor is legal in some countries, but most people consider it unethical. Unethical issue is a situation that requires a person to choose between alternatives that are right or wrong, ethical, or unethical. This often involves balancing an antral concerns against what you consider to be appropriate conduct. Each choice has benefits and risks, and decisions are often not 100 percent clear cut. Supervisors must weigh the potential benefits of a decision against the harm it may cause others. For example, protecting workers from being fired may harm profits and cause the company to go bankrupt. Ethical issues involved a choice between two options, neither of which is fully acceptable. These are basically choice between bad or worse, not good or bad. It is not possible to protect everyone. Someone will be harmed by their choice and the trick is to decide which causes the least harm. All supervisors are faced with ethical dilemmas at some point. The pressures to deviate from their moral standards can be enormous and come from superiors, peers, employees, or even one's own family. For example, choosing to report polluting by their company that well known will likely shut it down, eliminating thousands of jobs. Not reporting is unethical because of environmental damage, but it also isn't fair for blameless employees to lose their jobs and that's dilemma. In business, there several frequently encountered ethical issues that supervisors should watch out for. Misuse of company resources, like excessive use of personal e-mail at work or using a company owned computer for personal business. Abusive and intimidating behavior such as physical or verbal threats, profanity, and insults. Conflict of interest, which happens when a person advances their personal interests over those of the business. Awarding a contract to a company in which the employee has an interest is a good example. Fairness and honesty cannot be separated from business ethics. Supervisors must follow the law and should not manipulate others through deception, intimidation, or discrimination. Truthfulness about product safety, quality, and service are essential. Unethical communications, including false and misleading advertising and deceptive sales tactics. Business relationships, which may lead to questions of ethical conduct in such areas as, keeping company secrets, meeting obligations, and pressuring others to act unethically. Considering ethics adds a new dimension to decision making. Ethical decision making involves considering ethical principles when evaluating and choosing among alternatives and ultimately selecting the most ethical alternative. Ethics should guide supervisors and making decisions that are not clear cut. Decisions should be right, both for the company and for others who are affected by them, or at least as right as possible. We suggest this nine-step process to help you make ethical decisions. Be warned, it will require you to ask some tough questions. Gather information, get as many facts as possible. Don't let your own assumptions get in the way. Define the ethical issues. Make sure you really understand the problem and focus on one issue at a time. Identify those will be affected both inside and outside the organization. Identify the potential positive and negative consequences or likelihood and their impact. Identify obligations in terms of rights and principles which are created by ethical principles or the rights of stakeholders. What terms of justice are involved? Consider your integrity. Would you feel comfortable telling your loved ones about your decision? Does it pass the CNN tests? In other words, having an announced on the news. Think creatively. Are there alternatives you haven't considered or deserve another look? Check your gut. What does intuition tell you? Last, make a decision and be ready to defend it? What arguments are most compelling to justify the action ethically? How would you respond to those who disagree? Although it is not possible to please everyone, ethical decisions are worth the effort. They generate and sustain trust, demonstrate respect, responsibility, fairness and caring, and are consistent with good citizenship. Organizations that behave ethically can expect to see many major benefits. For one, better customer relations. People tend to take pride in supporting a company that behaves ethically. This helps retain customers. Another is increased goodwill. Goodwill is the positive regard a company gains from doing the right thing. It can boost sales and help distinguish the company from less ethical competitors. Last but not least, employees feel more satisfied and empowered due to enhanced pride. The value of this to your organization cannot be overstated.
