Essay on Unethical Behaviors in Organizations: Impact & Prevention

Introduction

Organizations engage in some unethical activities, and that effect tarnishes the reputation of the organization (Zhu, & Chang, 2013). Unethical behaviors also affect the performance of the employees. Unethical behaviors in organizations are considered as actions that are the opposite of what is morally right in the industry. Managers have the responsibility of creating an ethical organizational culture. This can be achieved through policies that should be strictly followed. However, sometimes the managers assume that policies are promoting ethical behavior. However, this is not always the case as an organization may have an open communication policy but fail to instill courage in voicing out concerns.

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Altering the Books of Accounts

One of the common unethical practices in organizations is bending the accounting rules. I have noted that the accountants have been altering the books of accounts, which is an issue that urgently needs to be addressed. The financial statements of the organization do not reflect the real financial situation of the organization as they are falsified. The staff in the accounting department have been listing the higher assets and omitting the liabilities intentionally. This issue affects the shareholders as well as potential investors and financiers.

Overbilling

The second ethical issue in the organization that needs to be addressed is overbilling. Some clients have been complaining that they have been receiving bills more than the actual price of goods. Other customers have complained that they have been billed more than once for the same products. This is unethical behavior that should be dealt with immediately as it is likely to result in negative publicity, which will require a lot of marketing to clear. The staff involved in billing should be reminded that such actions are not only detrimental to the organization but are likely to land them in jail.

Solutions to the Ethical Issues

Ethical decision making positively influences the organization hence the reason why managers should come up with interventions that will help in dealing with unethical practices that tarnish the image of the organization (Zhu, & Chang, 2013). The problem of altering accounting books can be solved by creating a checks and balances system. A checks and balances system ensures that no single person controls all the financial transactions of the organization. The Chief Finance officer should work together with the accountants in the preparation of financial statements to ensure that there are no omissions, and the statements are a true reflection of the real financial situation of the company. Before publishing the financial systems, the chief financial officer and the chief executive officer should authorize it.

Overbilling is another unethical issue that the management needs to deal with. Overbilling is rampant in the organization hence the need for ensuring that the employees are accountable for their actions. The billing officials should indicate the units rather than the overall price. Through such strategies, it is easy to determine the price per each unit, then when the overall price is indicated. By specifying the units of goods supplied and the price per unit, it is easy for customers to recognize instances of overbilling and ask them to be rectified. This intervention will, therefore, discourage employees from intentional overbilling.

Unethical activities tarnish the activities of the organization hence the reason why they should be detected and interventions implemented. In the organization, employees overbilled the customers and altered the accounting books. These activities affected the customers, shareholders, investors, as well as the financiers. The accounting malpractices can be avoided by establishing a checks and balances system. Overbilling can be avoided by indicating the units and the price per unit.

References

Zhu, D. H., & Chang, Y. P., (2013). Negative publicity effect of the business founder's unethical behavior on corporate image: Evidence from China. Journal of business ethics, 117(1), 111-121.