Unit 2: Common Ethical Issues
lOMoARc PSD|25701531
Module1:TheimportanceandimpactofEthics
Identify common ethical issues that individuals face within organizations.
Fundamentals for Success in Business Working conditions of workers is an ethical concern, and a business concern for a company’s
management.
Contents
Fundamentals for Success in Business.............................................................................................................1 Lesson1:PersonalvsOrganizationalEthics
Unit 2: Common Ethical Issues ....................................................................................................................2
What is Ethics: Branch of philosophy concerned with the meaning of all aspects of human behavior.
Module1:TheimportanceandimpactofEthics...........................................................................................2
PersonalEthics
Lesson1:PersonalvsOrganizationalEthics.................................................................................................2 Principle that guide person’s behavior
Reflect beliefs about what is right, wrong, just, unjust, good or bad in terms of human behavior
Legal vs Ethical .........................................................................................................................................2
Direct how can they fulfill their obligations to society and live life.
Lesson2:Theimpactofethicsonorganizations ...............................................................................................3 Ethics are central concern for businesses, organizations and individuals alike.
Personal values and morals are based on individual experiences and the environment.
Module2:OrganizationEthicsandCorporateSocialResponsibility .................................................................3
PersonalCodeofEthics: Codes, principles and values that shape human experience. Guides
Lesson3:CSR .....................................................................................................................................................4 interactions with others, personally and professionally.
Lesson4:Corporateethicalcommitments .........................................................................................................4 OrganizationalEthics
Module3:Keyoperationalfunctions..............................................................................................................5 Rules, principles, and standards for deciding what is morally right or wrong when doing business.
Individuals are the ones who determine organizational ethics.
Lesson5:Keyoperationalfunctionsofdifferentdepartmentsinanorganization ..................................................5
Levelsofethicalissueswithinorganizations
Lesson6:LeadershipvsManagement ................................................................................................................6 o Societal issues = based on the ethics companies create out of care and concern for
individuals.
Module4:OrganizationalCultureandValues..................................................................................................8 o Stakeholder issues = anyone affected by a company’s actions including suppliers.
Lesson8:Personalvalues’fitwithorganizations................................................................................................11 o Internal policy issues = Internal relationships between a company and its employees. Fair
management, pay, and employee participation.
Lesson9:Meansofcommunication..................................................................................................................13 o Personal issues = how people treat others within their organization. E.g. gossiping at
work or taking credit for anther’s work.
Lesson10:CommunicationStyles ....................................................................................................................14
Legal vs Ethical
Lesson11:Definitionandprinciplesofemotionalintelligence ...........................................................................16
Legal:
Lesson12:Role,benefits,andexamplesofemotionalintelligence .....................................................................17
Act that is permissible or in conformity with the law of the land.
Lesson13:Ethicsofemotionalintelligence .......................................................................................................17 Law protects one party from another.
Sometimes legal frameworks do not uphold to the ethical standards.
Module7:Basictechnicsforenhancingemotionalintelligence. ....................................................................17
Illegal: Act that is in defiance of the established laws or jurisdiction.
Lesson15:Enhancingyouremotionalintelligence............................................................................................19
Issues
Lesson16:SharingEIconceptswithothers ........................................................................................................19 Legal – Ethical: Law, personal or organizational ethics are in accordance with each other.
Unit6:LeadershipandInfluence...................................................................................................................20 Legal – Unethical: Established laws are not in accordance with ethical choices.
Illegal – Ethical: Ethical choices are in violation of established laws.
lOMoARc PSD|25701531
Lesson18:BasesofPower ................................................................................................................................22
Lesson19:ProcessofDesignThinking ...............................................................................................................23
Lesson21:InteractingwithDifferentLeadershipstyles .....................................................................................25
Legal liability is a test of smarts
Ethical liability is a test of characters
Leadership 101: do not delegate ethics
, Lesson3:CSR
Factorsinfluencingourethics CSR focuses company’s attention on demonstrating the social good of their new products and
Ethical choices involve judgment, weighing the potential consequences of one’s actions for other people. endeavors.
Persons values, environment, beliefs and culture How a company approach CSR depends on their resources, available assets and corporate culture,
along with the personal beliefs and priorities of senior management.
Values: are influence by early life experiences and tend to remain stable but are still influenced by
the accumulation of further experiences.
StrategicvalueofCSR
Morals: rules developed based on cultural norms and beliefs. They are individual characteristics Aims to increase long-term profits and shareholder trust through positive public relations and
that can affect an individual’s ethics. They are often passed down through generations. Influenced high ethical standards.
by cultural norms meaning that what is ethical for ones might not be consider so by others. Compliance and ethics programs to help guide decision-making and the behavior of
employees.
Analyze ethical issues by asking: Compliance and ethics programs support the organization's business objectives, identify
o What could happen? the boundaries of legal and ethical behavior, and establish a system to alert management
o How likely is to happen? when the organization is getting close to (or crossing) a legal or ethical boundary.
o What harm might come? Institutions like World Trade Organization (WTO) function as international instruments
o Who might be hurt? to support ethical trade on a global scale.
Conflicts of interest can exist, which is why organizational ethics require transparency.
Lesson4:Corporateethicalcommitments
Lesson2:Theimpactofethicsonorganizations
Codeofethics:
guide that publicly sets out and organization’s key values and ethical obligations.
Howpersonalethicsaffectorganizationalethics:
Details how companies plan to implement its values and vision, and guidance for the staff on
Ethical tone in a company should be set by the organizational leadership.
ethical standards and how to achieve them.
Employees want leaders that are ethically liable (treat lower-level employees with dignity, share
credit, remain steady in crisis and hold themselves accountable)
Greenwashing:
Executives should establish specific, measurable and realistic objectives for the company in order
Occurs when organization carry CSR in an unauthentic way, using them to increase publicity
to determine where people will focus their time and effort.
rather than spur real change.
Not setting realistic business objectives can lead to employee pressure or failure a factor that can
Ethical commitments and statements run contrary to actual practices.
lead them to compromise their ethical standards.
Kickbacking
Culturalvariationsofethics
Illegal material gratification or compensation that an individual or organization receives for
products or services
What is culture: is the sum of values, attitudes, goals and practices shared by individuals in a group,
organization or society.
Publicizing
Individuals or organizations forcefully communicate their action to the public. E.g. CSR actions.
Culture dictates which behaviors are right and acceptable, and which are wrong and unacceptable.
An organization culture may be its strongest asset, or its biggest liability
Whistleblowing
International business culture = Culture variations (variations in attitude, values, goals, between
Individual discovers and informs the public or the authorities about alleged misconduct in an
countries and geo region, and among groups and organizations) strongly impact organizational
organization.
ethics. lOMoARc PSD|25701531
Internaltransparency lOMoARc PSD|25701531
Module2:OrganizationEthicsandCorporateSocialResponsibility
System of openness, communication and accountability followed by employees in an
Corporate social responsibility (CSR): Deals with ethical problems. A philosophy in which a company organization.
voluntarily engages in actions that benefit society, be it economically, socially, politically or Is the perceived quality of intentionally shared information.
environmentally. The system comprises company leadership and all employees.
Sarbanes-OxleyAct(SOX)
o Law aimed at improving corporate transparency by requiring clear reporting practices.
o SOX makes it both unethical and illegal to deceive shareholders, creditors and the public