Essay Sample on Business Ethics: Understanding why it Matters from a Manager's Point of View

Introduction

In the world connected by businesses and corporates, with millions of employees and employment opportunities, ethical principles in all fields of interactions are important in the fulfillment of any organization's objectives. This paper discusses the importance of understanding ethical principles, business ethics and why they matter from a manager's point of view.

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Ethical principles are based on philosophical backgrounds and directly relates to the common ethical criteria. Ethics means moral principles that guide and govern the behavior of an individual or a group of people. The term principle is used to mean an important truth or a proposed statement, and functions as the foundation of a belief or a system of belief. The reading material in chapter2 gives a case study of a fresh graduate of MBA (Masters in Business Administration), named Louise Simms. His integrity is put to test in his employment in pursuit of a tender installation of computers for the government in the Middle East. He is not certain of the terms of the contract that requires her to benefit the nephew of an official who owns a computer company in the Middle East so that she is awarded. Ethical reasoning is important if she is to be free from accepting or denying the term. It will help her determine whatever is right from a wrong one.

As a manager, it is important to understand ethics and its principles so that dignity can be restored in business and human relations. Ethics govern the behavior of a people and are regarded as bad or good depending on a group like law group. It involves the punishment of the offender who breaks the ethical code. (Stenmark,2017) It is important to understand this aspect because the skill will assist a person in making a moral, logical decision in a situation like the one in the case study. The case study above relates to a scenario that is familiar to me. A young graduate was required to pay some fee in a job interview to make his chances of getting a job higher. Job interviews are supposed to be free and fair for every citizen with the required qualifications to participate. The candidate named Don was at a very difficult point and was faced with a dilemma between paying the unethical bribe or giving up an equally important job interview. The cases are rampant in the workplace and need a public address so that the future of the workplace is secured.

Another aspect that is important to understand from the readings is the one on business ethics and why they matter. (Sercombe,2010) As a manager, every individual needs to understand that business is made possible and successful, whenever it is conducted professionally. Business ethics are important in any trading environment. In the opening case of chapter 1, There are complaints by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) over the illegal downloading and sharing of the files which are exclusively protected by the copyright of the owners. Many people have been arrested over the issue with a great percentage sharing files over peer-to-peer networks. There have been attempts to challenge the activities of RIAA by lawyers and activists who claim that in the world of internet and technology, it is important that people access the files without being charged for it. The law has sued university networks because of the illegal downloads by students.

An illegal download is unethical and has a lot of negative consequences to the owners of the music and the online materials being downloaded. It takes a lot of time and money resources to create online contents and free downloads using unauthorized channels make the owner fail in collecting the required revenue. The understanding that RIAA is right by suing the offenders including students, is the first step towards the appreciation of corporate responsibility, where business activities are fair and do not affect the community negatively. A company's activity should not be undermining a community of, singers, filmmakers, and other members.RIAA is practicing business ethically and is responsible enough to check on the activities that might be undermining the ethical standards. The case study relates to a scenario where a company paid lower wages which were greatly unethical. The reason for the payment of the lower wage was to possibly boost the profits of the firm, however, this over some time became a huge problem because the employees felt like they were being mistreated and the company started to perform poorly. Illegal downloading and sharing of files similarly affect the artists. It cuts their wages and they don't feel motivated. Over some time nobody will be willing to participate in the creative industry again due to fear of losses from piracy.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the aspects and the case studies have shown that workplace ethics are very important in the management of any organizations. Eery managers should be aware of the ethics, their importance and the need to abide by the requirements. Employees and other important stakeholders in any organization should be aware of their rights and should not allow any unethical decisions and activities to occur.

References

Stenmark, M. (2017). Environmental ethics and policy-making. Routledge.

Sercombe, H. (2010). Youth work ethics. London: SAGE Publications.