Essay Example on Ethics in the Workplace: Fiduciary Principle & Beyond

Introduction

Ethical behavior is the conduct that adopts the use of both fairness and honesty when developing robust relationships in the workplace. People with ethics make an effort to treat others as they would want to be handled or treated (Trevino & Nelson, 2016). Ethics and ethical behavior are guided by a set of principles that include;

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The Fiduciary Principle

According to this principle, every director or officer of a firm has a fiduciary responsibility to make decisions that are in the best interests of the organization as well as the employees. The principles also direct every official affiliated to a firm to act in a manner that generates benefits. Traditionally, the fiduciary policy consisted of components that strive to ensure that there exists no conflicts or potential disputes of interest, given the decisions of workers. It also understood that it prevented all employees or company officials from putting their interests first at the expense of the company (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2013). This ethical principle aims at establishing a sense of loyalty in workers to their respective firms.

The property Principle

This principle bases its argument on the belief that every worker has the responsibility to protect and respect commodity/property and the rights of those who claim possession. Examples of violating the property principle are through wasting resources, theft and embezzlement and misappropriation of finances. Over the years, this principle has been stretched to include intangible forms of a commodity such as information and intellectual property. Through the property principle, every worker has the responsibility to care for both the physical and non-physical assets of a company (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2013). Therefore, the property principle expects all employees to be protective of company commodities and should not steal nor damage.

Reliability Principle

The argument of this principle is set on the belief that employees are responsible for honoring all commitments made to the company. All the obligations and promises to the organization must be followed by the workers who made them. Traditionally, issues that violated the reliability principle include promise/contract breach or failure to commit to a promise. The policy expects employees to do whatever thing possible to fulfill and adhere to all the rules and commitments they made. The reliability principle also ensures that business partners such as suppliers receive their dues in time (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2013).

Transparency Principle

The principle of transparency is grounded on the belief that workers must always involve in business operations openly and truthfully. It argues that employees have the responsibility to make decisions based on the interests of the firms and not personal agendas (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2013). Transparency also defines how workers should handle company information. All data presented either internally or externally should be correct and it's the responsibility of workers to record the accurate and correct information.

Fairness Principle

The principle of fairness is established on the notion that investors and stakeholders who hold interest in the firm must be fairly handled/treated. Reciprocal balance involves treating an individual fairly and having that person treat an organization fairly (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2013). Other forms of fairness such as procedural fairness, are responsible for ensuring that all partners are fairly treated from the beginning.

Conclusion

Ethics and ethical behavior are the moral issues of fairness and honesty that help in establishing healthy and robust business relationships. Ethics are the unwritten rules that help in preventing unnecessary disputes in the workplace. Several principles guide both ethics and ethical behaviors. These moral guides include the fiduciary, property, reliability, transparency and the fairness principle.

References

Stanwick, P., & Stanwick, S. D. (2013). Understanding business ethics. Sage. https://books.google.com.tr/books?hl=en&lr=&id=SpPUrOhQ7I4C&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Understanding+Business+Ethics+3rd+edition+by+Peter+Stanwick+and+Sarah+Stanwick&ots=NHR4GI1HvM&sig=_ZOAZf01l5M0aC4PQOFZ1g3XpMs&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=Understanding%20Business%20Ethics%203rd%20edition%20by%20Peter%20Stanwick%20and%20Sarah%20Stanwick&f=false

Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2016). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. John Wiley & Sons. http://182.160.97.198:8080/xmlui/bitstream/handle/123456789/47/managing_business%20ethics-%20straight%20talk%20about%20how%20to%20do%20it%20right%201.pdf?sequence=1