[A+] Ethics in Business

LET'S EXCHANGE IDEAS

Direction: Discuss the list of unethical activities. In your opinion, which are the worst? Are any common in your country?

Finding ways of paying tax as little as possible
Using your work computer or phone for private purposes.
Accepting praise for someone else's work
Selling something as genuine when you know it is not.
Using your influence to get jobs for friends or relatives (nepotism)
Phoning in sick when you are not ill
Not telling the truth about your age or experience on an application form
Not saying anything when you are charged too little for something by mistake
Paying people in cash for jobs done around the home in order to reduce cost
Claiming extra expenses (e.g. getting a taxi receipt for more than the actual fare)

LET'S READ! 📖

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

The concept of ethical behaviour (including honest business) has been explored by societies from ancient times until today. Behaving ethically is, unsurprisingly, the foundation stone of the philosophy in almost all of the world's religions. In its simplest definition, ethics related to knowing and doing what is 'right'. As stated by the Oxford dictionary, ethics is moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity". By being moral, you are doing what is right.

The hindrance of ethical behavior originates from defining what is 'right'. People from different religions, countries, cultures, families and even from the opposite gender can view certain situations as 'right' that others would differ with. The definition of ethical behavior has even shifted within similar cultures as society has evolved and changed.

As for business, the role that ethical decisions play within an organization depends on the leadership style and the vision the company wants to put into practice. With ethical leadership, clarity is vital for clear and coherent policies, rules and regulations. The more exhaustive policies, the easier it is to assure those proper ethical standards are upheld. But the rigorous clarity and consistency could be challenging, especially for smaller organizations.

Despite the positive elements ethical leadership can provide to an organization, its arguable fundamentals can cause issues as well. In ethical leadership, the leaders ethical framework needs to fall in line with the vision of the organization. The leader, the subordinates and the organization all need to be aligned. Tony Hsieh, the owner of the successful business Zappos, made an interesting point about this, stating: "It doesn't really matter what the core values are, as long as the entire organization commits to those core values."

Yet people commit serious crimes of fraud worldwide. As reported by the Financial Times, the value of fraud hit a shocking £2.11 billion in 2017 in the UK. The total value of fraud rose to £899.7 million in the financial services industry last year. Employees were behind most fraud in 2017 with £474.3 million, and tax fraud cost £351.8 million. Corruption, money, laundering, and management fraud in financial accounts were other common problems.

As global citizens, doing what is right all the time is certainly very hard, but as good old John once said: "Being honest might not get you a lot of friends, but it will get you the right ones".

QUESTIONS

1. How is ethics defined, and why is it considered the foundation of philosophy in almost all of the world's religions?

2. What are some challenges in promoting ethical behavior within organizations, particularly in terms of ethical leadership?

3. What role does ethical leadership play in organization?

LET'S PRACTICE! 📝

👂🏻 Listening Exercise

Direction: Listen to a conversation about a woman who was fired from her job and put these events in the order that they happened.

a. She lost her job

b. She felt desperate

c. She lied on her CV

d. There was an HR initiative

e. The company found out she didn't have a Master's degree

f. She got a really good job

g. She got strong performance reviews

🗣 Speaking Exercise

Direction: Read the situation and come up with a plan on how you are going to approach the situation.

Situation:

You work for a travel company which is in serious financial difficulties and will go bankrupt in the near future. You boss has ordered you to continue to accept deposits and payments from customers until the company officially stops trading. You fear that these people may lose their money or may be left abroad when the company collapses。