Ethical Issues in Management - Research Paper Example

?Ethical Issues in Management Introduction Nowadays, many company scandals have taken up the front page of various newspapers all over the world. Basically, the news has been teeming with ethical issues over the past few years highlighted by the credit crunch crisis that has gripped most of the advanced economies worldwide. There has been many criticisms thrown left and right and ethics has been among the buzzwords that has gained strong prominence. As such, one leads to question the need for ethics to be revisited. Looking at the many scandals, it is easy to see a very important facet of management that has seemingly been neglected. Hence, Brown and Trevino (2004) have tried to debunk common misconceptions about this term. It is important to note that ethical issues are never easy and the notion that it is not meant to be managed is very wrong. Therefore, it is very important to be wary of possible ethical issues that must be given attention to as well as an acceptance that the complexities of these issues require a very intricate process. Also, it is likewise important to be able to look into the strong possibility that the bad people in the organization that are usually the ones to blame may just be symptoms from a systemic problem in the organization. Hence, there must be a deeper examination of this probability and that the underlying problem must be solved so that there will be a lasting solution to these ethical issues. Character and Ethics Furthermore, there must be a stronger effort than the codes and programs in order to be able to take in these challenges and that there must be the realization and acceptance that despite all talks about accountabilities and chains of command, corporate leaders cannot really take all the blame for their staffs or employees that go astray. Many leaders are formed by their strong character and an overarching appreciation of their calling (Gallos, 1997). Hence, the many people in the organization cannot be always influenced by their leaders as these people are However, despite the recent issues about these scandals, this has been going on since the time that humans basically started commerce. Indeed, Bowen (2002) stresses the need for a coordinated and strongly planned approach to these ethical issues and that these must be integrated within the organization and even in the vision mission of the company. Indeed, the role of the organization must be very prominent in addressing these ethical issues as this can be the strong force that will enable the company to be able to really direct their efforts at ensuring the maintenance of integrity within their ranks (Smith, 1990; Hanson, 1991). Areas of Concern Becker (2010) highlights the dilemmas whereby there are four major areas that must be considered. Hence, in dealing with ethical issues, the human resources must be considered since there lies the enablers and the possible causes of ethical problems. Moreover, the confidence of customers must be adequately considered since business confidence can be greatly affected when ethics crises sets in. This brings forward the next area of concern which is the possible sources of conflicts of interest that the company must look into in order to maintain a spotless record with their stakeholders. Finally, the company must watch over their company resources and how these are spent. Indeed, ethical issues can be very challenging and finding solutions to these problems has been greatly hampered by the aforementioned myths. Although these ethical issues go way back, it must be noted that the current trends in business and society has been greatly influential in its proliferation as well as in its recognition. Social networks have considerably grown in prominence at the turn of the century boosted by the rapid greater improvements in the communications capability worldwide. As such, Borgatti and Molina (2003) have pressed the need for an ethical framework that will govern researches made in these social networks. There have been many reports of privacy concerns arising from such researches and this has been growing alarmingly in the continuous absence of policies and guidelines. Many social networks though have tried to step up their security in order to thwart these efforts but there remains the threat of abuse. However, it must be noted that the changes in customer behaviour can impact the results of these surveys that may make them useless to the end-user which therefore means that aside from the respondent, there also must be the adequate protection in place for the ones making the survey. In the People Looking at how ethical issues have abounded at the turn of the century, there must be adequate recognition of these ethical issues so that these cannot affect the image and operations of the company. A pressing example is the greed problem that has been central to the past economic crisis. The repackaging of the subprime mortgages for the financial gains of the few has resulted to the crippling of the banking system of most of the advanced economies resulting into the credit crunch crises. Throughout this economic crisis, there have been many ethical issues that arose. As mentioned by Brown and Trevino (2004), there have been many systemic causes that results to these ethical issues. Common to these is the incidences of insider trading that are of course rightfully blamed on the erring individuals. Still, it is important to note that most ethical issues arise from the system that is conducive for ethical problems to take root. However, the human element is strongly present in committing ethical errors since ethical behaviours are strongly impacted by the cognitive moral development of different individuals. Conclusion To conclude, ethical issues have pervaded human society ever since they have engaged in commercial activities. However, the importance of ethics have somehow been downplayed by most of the pressing concerns as strategic management and all the other intricacies of the company’s day to day operations. As mentioned, the issue of ethics has not been given as much attention as it ought to have been. Indeed, looking at ethics as a simple issue that need not be managed can be the root from which many ethical problems have sprouted from. Looking at the arguments of Brown and Trevino (2004), there have been many misconceptions about ethics which are really disturbing if left unchecked by companies. Although ethical mistakes are made by people, the system in which these people operate must be examined since these human errors may be mere manifestations of a flawed system that is susceptible to ethical degradations. Hence, it is indeed crucial to integrate ethical management strategies within the organization in order to gain a more concerted thrust from the whole company to ensure that it can stay on the right track and avoid anomalies and scandals (Bowen, 2002). This coordinated effort can help the company keep in check the behaviours of individuals and even prevent the evolution of faulty systems that may breed ethical problems. References Becker, W.S., 2010. Ethics in Human Resources: An exercise involving new employees. Journal of Human Resources Education, vol. 4, no. 4. Borgatti, S.P. and Molina, J.L. 2003. Ethical and strategic issues in organizational social network analysis. Journal of Applied Behavioural Science, 39, 3, 337-349. Bowen, S.A., 2002. Elite executives in issues management: The role of ethical paradigms in decision making. Journal of Public Affairs, vol. 2, no. 4, School of Communication, University of Houston. Brown, M.E. and Trevino, L.K., 2004. Managing to be ethical: Debunking five business ethics myths. Academy of Management Executive, vol. 18, no.2. Gallos, J.V., 1997. On creating leaders: A pedagogy of courage and passion. Journal of Management Education, vol. 21, no.1, p. 6-8. Hanson, D., 1991. Managing for ethics: Some implications for research on the Prisoner's Dilemma game. SAM Advanced Management Journal, vol. 56, no. 1, pp. 16-20. Smith, J. E., 1990. Do the right thing: Ethical principles and managerial decision-making. SAM Advanced Management Journal, vol. 55, no. 4, pp. 4-7. Read More