Personal Ethics Development
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PERSONAL ETHICAL DEVELOPMENT / 1 Personal Ethical Development
In the United States the collapse of financial industry, economic crisis and the lack of ethics in businesses are the key factors in the mortgage down turn. Due the reason, it become very vital that organizations pay more attention to their members ethical development process. This paper aims to explore the developmental aspect of one's ethics including the importance of ethics and ethical systems.
The information above was also created by Wong and Backham (1992) about 20 years ago while searching for the results of the failure of financial organizations. Moreover, according to Wong and Beckham (1992) the two ethical theories that can lead the growth of ethics: 1) utilitarianism and 2) Ross's prima facie duties.
It is possible to make ethical decisions depending on the available morally correct action which can provide great benefits compared to expense. Basically, the above actions can provide great utility to everyone affected by the decision. Personal ethics development depends on the utility model that could cause moral ethical decisionsbut didn't account for "justice and other principles that society embraces" (Wong & Beckham, 1992, p. 175). Developing personal ethical character fromboth the utilitarian model and the principles that society follows.
Ethical system can be identified according to Rae (2000)"either-oriented systems or virtue-based systems" (p. 17). Furthermore, these systems are further subdivided into the deontological, teleological and relativism systems.
Virtue and leading policies can have a great affect on an individual's ethics and decision making in a deontological system. “This is very pronounced in Christian ethics. Thus, decision making in governed by the deontological system is whether an action is inherently right or wrong” (Rae, 2000, p. 17).
As we know, according to teleological systems, "end result produced by an action" (Rae, 2000, p. 17) that can affect an individual's decision making ethics. An individual's ethical development related according to his belief and his preferences, is called Relativism. According to the Josephson Institute, based on political, not any religion or culture, identifies a person's preferences affected by six pillars of character.
The following are the six pillars of character, trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. Specifically, if an individual has integrity, loyalty, and keeps promises, they are called trustworthy. Ethics is all about respecting people and their opinions. Additionally, that individual also takes responsibilities of their actions and behaviors (Josephson Institute, 2010). An ethical person should be fair in treating other people and should also be compassionate. The ethical person should be able to know that there is nothing above the law and thus "[obey] laws in good faith" (Josephson Institute, 2010). “Ethics is comprised of "[the] principles, norms, and standards of conduct governing an individual or organization" (p. 13). Ethics is the main key for figuring out the correct action and moral behavior in a specific situation. Moreover, according to Trevi and Nelson (2007), there are several steps in making ethical decisions.
Some of them are follows:
1. Gather the facts
2. Define the ethical issues
3. Identify the affected parties
4. Identify the consequences
5. Identify the obligations
6. Consider your character and integrity
7. Think creatively about potential actions
8. Check your gut
Ethics is a very important aspect of a person's life as well as in his/her workplace. The performance of any person in their workplace can be affected by their ethics. For instance, there was reaction from Australian consumers because of the misinformation about their credit. The researchers study was timely as "Australia's love affair with easy credit turned on itself" (Fear & O'Brien, 2009, p. 3). Furthermore, research shows that many Australasian institutions specifically identify advertising and marketing practices to make good financial decision in their country (Free & O'Brien, 2009, p.3).
Even so, there is a clear requirement for ethics in the establishment and also in accomplishing the firm's objectives and instructions. Overriding priority like locating higher profits to the difference of ethical attitude is vital. Enron, for example, before its downfall, was the most massive energy cooperation on the planet. Its fall was not reversible when it got cleared that its excellent growth was because of the accounting shenanigans perpetuated by its top management.
Additionally, we all know that like Enron downfall, if any business do not focus on their financial operations then government will do it for them through laws and legislation. The establishment of Sarbanes- Oxley Act of 2001 was the reason to provide guidance to managers in the implementation and maintenance of internal controls over financial reporting or on the other hand management can get liable legally for this crime.
Moreover, globalization become very intense because of the competition. A different perspective on globalization called “hyper-globalism” asserts that globalization is a new stage of human history through which the power of nation-status is supplanted by business activities. This means that businesses more than nation-states will become the “primary economic and political units of world society”. Peter Drucker as quoted by Tetrault Sirsly (2009) said that "the social impact of business decision, making a profit the first social responsibility and the ultimate responsibility: to make what is for the public good the enterprises' own self-interest" (p. 78). Business ethics is like time management, quality circles, and other mangment buzzwords of the day would soon become a footnote in texts that described business fads of the late twentieth century. Business ethics is ongoing phenomenon that must be better understtod and managed and for which business professionals must be better prepared. Thus, it is without doubt that ethics and ethical behavior is an integral part of doing business.
References
Fear, J. & O'Brien, J. (2009). Where does the buck stop? Community attitudes to over-lending
and over-spending. Australasian Accounting Business & Finance Journal, 3 (1), 3-12.
Josephson Institute (2010). The Six Pillars of Character. Retrieved December 10, 2010, from
Rae, S. (2000). Moral Choices: An Introduction to Ethics. Washington: Zondervan.
Tetrault Sirsly, C. (2009). 75 years of lessons learned: chief executive officer values and
corporate social responsibility. Journal of Management History, 15 (1), p. 78.
Trevio, L. & Nelson, K. (2007). Managing Business Ethics: Straight Talk About How to Do It
Right (4th ed). New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
Wong, Al. & Beckham, E. (1992). An Applied Ethical Analysis System in Business. Journal of
Business Ethics, 11 (3), 173-178.