Moral Integrity in International Organisations Paper Example

Introduction

Many international organizations are faced with challenging problems that affect the way of business of an organization in different geographical locations. These challenges might be brought forth due to the differences in culture, that is, way of life, of people around the contemporary World. However, the strategies that the organization has in place determines the triumph of the organization over these challenges. Moral integrity or ethics are vital in ensuring that such an organization becomes prosperous. In addition to this, operating a morally upright business depends not only on the employees employed in a certain organization but also the leaders of the organization (Paine). The interaction of the employees, the management and the consumers is also vital in determining if a business is morally or ethically upright, or not. This paper aims at discussing the Social Catholic Teachings that international organizations should adopt to ensure that they keep in check their moral integrity.

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Moral Integrity in International Organisations

The first step in ensuring that an organization is performing its operations both morally and ethically, is the scrutiny of the leadership of an organization. Leaders that are morally upright often maintain moral integrity in their organizations. Multinational organizations have come to the understanding that once unethical behavior is condoned in an organization, it slowly grows and other employees might adopt the practice since it was unpunished. The social Catholic Teaching of solidarity affirms this allegation (Miles, 1). This principle discusses that we are one great human family regardless of our origins, race or religion. As such, the social teaching enforces the neediness of being one and being one another's keeper. In light of this, people are always integrated, and the management of the organization should take advantage of this to ensure that moral integrity is kept in check in their organization. An ethical form of management would punish any instances of immoral behaviors and this would be considered leading by example. If none of the employees are caught in mischievous and immoral behaviours, no worker should be attracted to such behaviours due to the solidarity found in humans. As a result, managers should shape the morals of an organization and establish a climate that could be able to strengthen reputations and relationships that the success of the company depends upon.

The maintenance of the right of workers and dignity of work has been a major pillar in keeping the moral integrity of national organizations in the contemporary World (Miles, 1). Organizations need to be true and transparent in their work as defined by this Social Catholic Teaching of dignity. An example of an organization that received hefty fines for not complying with this principle is the Beech-Nut Nutrition organization. The organization had been lying to its consumers that the concentrate provided by the company was one hundred percent pure apple concentrate. In contrast to this, the concentrate was made up of only water, chemicals, and sugar. The newly appointed CEO discovered this vice and attempted in clearing all the inventory the company had despite the loss it would have caused the concentrate producing organization. Due to immense pressure he got from the management of the organization to improve the performance of the ailing company; he was unable to clear the inventory. A quality control researcher found out this discrepancy, and when he reported to the management, he was accused of naivety and lacking quality testing skills. In the long run, the organization was caught by legal bodies and fined heavily due to the immoral act of lying to its consumers and maybe even causing health damages to them.

In the maintenance of a morally upright workforce, many organizations have rushed with the direct implementation of ethics-compliance programs to ensure that leniency in an organization is achieved. The main aim of these programs is to detect, punish and prevent legal violations. However, what these corporate counsels that develop these rules and models don't know, is that it takes more than avoidance of illegal actions from the part of the employees to maintain a moral upright workforce. It has been stated in the past that to maintain an upright moral workforce, an approach that is comprehensive needs to be adopted. The approach should be past punitive measures imparted on those who break the rules and laws set in place (Jeurissen, 19). An example of such an approach is the Catholic Social Teaching of Rights and Responsibilities. Most organizations today have discovered the need for preaching accountability in the rules and responsibilities of their employees. This social teaching advocates for the right to life of everybody and the need of being responsible for the tasks and wellbeing of others.

An example of an organization that defied the right of a person to live is the Johnson & Johnson organization that manufactured capsules (Paine). The organization produced capsules that were a danger to the health of individuals as they led to death. Due to this, the organization recalled their capsules nationwide. As much as their recalling of the capsules was ethical, the manufacturing of the capsules in the first place was immoral as the product had been tempered. The act was immoral as the quality control managers should have detected the tampering as that is their responsibility. As such, if an organization preaches this social teaching and ensures that it is attached to their organizational culture, employees would learn to be responsible and work in a manner that is both ethical and morally upright.

Option for the vulnerable and the poor is the other social teaching principle devised by Catholics to ensure that international organizations observe moral integrity. The widening of the gap between those that are extremely poor and extremely rich is visible in our societies today. People should be the keepers of their brother's and sister's, and experiencing prosperity while others are experiencing poverty is in direct violation of this teaching. Many successful organizations have, however, been attached and committed to helping the poor especially from underdeveloped countries. The organizations that usually help the needy create a culture in their organization which could be adopted by the employees of the company (Molina, 13). In doing this, employees would be dedicated to helping the poor and ensuring that their basic needs are met since they deserve to be live good and healthy lives as the social teaching of Catholics of helping the poor dictates. An organization that does this is considered to be morally and ethically upright. This social principle is usually supported by Corporate Social Responsibility. The latter is applied by many organizations today to ensure that it gives back to the community. Although nowadays it's used for a profit related purpose and creation of a positive brand image, helping the poor should be a good moral practice that is not aimed even at profit generation at all. For instance, the World Bank is an organization that is responsible for projects in underdeveloped countries to help create employment and raise the standards of living of the poor. As such, the World Bank can be considered a morally upright organization.

Conclusion

It is evident that the social teachings from the Catholics are very paramount in ensuring that national organizations maintain moral integrity. Many organizations around the globe are involved in unethical and immoral behaviors to ensure that they generate significant amounts of profits at the end of the year. This is wrong, and they should be considerate of the wellbeing of those they are selling their products. The management has been seen to be the most critical section of the organization that could maintain and uphold the moral integrity of the organization. The management should create a culture of ethical business practices and make sure to eliminate any instances of employees associated with immoral practices at the place of work. Solidarity is in human nature, and therefore, a leader is responsible for eliminating the "chain reaction" that would be established once an employee goes unpunished for an immoral act in an organization. Employees, on the other hand, should be accountable for their actions and should be responsible for avoiding tempering, or rather, risking any of their clientele lives. It's advisable that all organizations should strive to maintain moral integrity in all their operations to justify their business even in the presence of the most Supreme Being, God.

Works Cited

Jeurissen, Ronald. "Managing for Organisational Integrity." The University of Melbourne (2012): 31.

Miles, Kathy. "Seven themes of Catholic Social Teaching." United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (2011): 2.

Molina, Anthony D. "Ten Recommendations for Managing Organizational Integrity Risks." The Business of Government (2016): 32.

Paine, Lynn S. Managing for Organizational Integrity. 1994. https://hbr.org/1994/03/managing-for-organizational-integrity. April 2019.