Ms HANA MOFAREJ

0505809283 <h.mofarej@hotmail.com>
UNIV 1211: Professional Development and Competencies Fall 2010

Assignment 1 Ethics
Introduction Ethics refers to the whole domain of morality and to the theoretical reflection on moral values, norms and principles. (Margit Sutrop, The Growing Importance of Ethics in the ERA: From Moral Philosophy to Integrated Ethics) Ethics is the branch of philosophy which governs human thoughts and behavior. Ethical perceptions help decisions makers in business, religion, politics and law to determine right from wrong, moral from immoral, justice from injustice, fair from unfair, and just from unjust etc. Personal, professional and corporate ethical practices have profound impact on how policies and procedures are shaped and implemented. Questionable ethical practices can in the long run affect business and revenue growth of enterprises (example GM, ENRON and Barings Bond etc), implicate corporate leaders (termination and jail sentences), and have negative impact on the country and society (example reluctance of donor countries to provide flood relief in Pakistan recently. Ethics which reflects the implementation of just and fair practices in personal, professional and business environment strengthens the foundation of humanity by shaping character and personality. The report which describes ethics in business is intended to protect employee values in safeguarding organizations resources against fraudulent misuse. Ethical Behaviors It is unethical to carry small workload with pretensions of being very busy when an employee has adequate time and energy to contribute his/her efforts which can help their colleague who is burdened with heavy workload responsibilities.

Responsibility for maintaining ethics in work environment is shared equally not only the employee who is avoiding work but also his/her manager / supervisor who incompetent to distribute job assignments equitably by listing tasks, efforts required to carry out those tasks, demands of time which the tasks will impost on employees etc. In an organization setting, being ethical requires both employees and their managers to be fair in the distribution of work, responsibility and reward. For example, if Employee - A is burdened with preparing 100 commercial invoices while Employee B makes only 38 Receipt Vouchers for acknowledging cash or cheque from customers the distribution of work between Employee A & B is unfair. Importance of Ethics in my Major Ethics start at the top and spreads throughout the organization. Individuals working in organizations which adopt high ethical standards naturally reflect them in their day to day activities whether they are dealing with sales, purchase, cash, investment, customer relationship, workload acceptance, sharing responsibilities with fellow employees, and adding value for their organization, for their society, for their country and for themselves. Ethical Issues in my Major In a major service organization in which my uncle is working, unethical practices are wide spread. The management spends thousands of Riyals every year on business gifts which are intended for their customers to promote their goodwill. Unfortunately employees take significant quantities of these complementary items to give to their family members and friends. This is highly unethical because the purpose which the company intends for investing in business gifts (customer relationship and goodwill) cannot be achieved when families and friends receive them. As an employer I would like to create knowledge awareness among the employees on the values attached to ethics in the organization. Employees would be made aware on how ethical values are essential for maintaining long-term business and revenue growth.

Appoint ethics officers to monitor, report and control fraudulent misuse of organizations resources. Warn employees who violate rules governing enterprise ethics. Demote or terminate repeat offenders. Conclusion Information contained in the thesis statement which governs ethical issues related to fair practices in personal, professional and business environment very much align or connect with enforcement of rules by ethics officers in demoting and terminating those who are continuously engaged in unethical activities which cause serious financial losses to the organization. Strict rules help in shaping employee personality and character through greater knowledge awareness on ethics concepts. References Margit Sutrop, The Growing Importance of Ethics in the ERA: From Moral Philosophy to Integrated Ethics 21 Oct. 2008: 122 <www.healthncpnet.eu/.../ Support%20on% 20 Ethics/HEALTH-NCP_NET-Sutrop_211008.ppt>