ETHICAL DILEMMA

Ethical issues being a viral concerns in global today. The issues regardless incurred by
individual or an organization will depict the behavior of how they look like. For instance, if a
company being unethical to a certain principles of their business or against laws in a country,
it will show the bad behavior of the organization in a company. Enforcing workplace with
ethical ensuring a good reputation of the company.

The owner definitely do not want violence at work. He understand and stick with the
company policies that good practices in the office promote exemplary behavior and in turn
project a positive and attractive image of the company. However, even as he recognize the
importance of implementing and practicing good work ethics, the effectiveness requires
perhaps more than merely having these ethics in writing or repeated to employees.

Mr. Cheah Chia Gen has shared some of his experience he has been through during the
company operation. Among all the employees hired full time or part time workers in the
company cited as the following as the most common forms of misconduct:

i. Lying to the owner

ii. Improper/personal use of company resources
iii. Lying on reports

Some of his employees who noticed or were aware of misconduct in the work place did
not report them. Before he make any decision, he will identify and diagnose the problem when
these ethical behavior happen in the company, a clear identification and an assessment of
problems will only be as accurate as the information on which it is based by both part that
involved. Once assessment of problems has been identified or diagnosed correctly, the owner
develops various ways to solve the problem and achieve objectives. The alternatives can be
standard and obvious as well as innovative and unique.

Then, the value or adequacy of the alternatives generated determined. In the evaluation
process, predetermined decision may be used:

i. Quality desired
ii. Anticipated costs
iii. Benefits
 iv. Uncertainties
v. Risks

Although choosing an alternative would seem to be a straightforward proposition, in

reality the choice is rarely clear-cut. Decision making is commonly associated with making a
final choice. There is a bridge between reaching a decision and evaluating results. The keys to
effective implementation are:

i. Sensitivity to those who will be effected by the decision

ii. Proper planning and consideration of the resources necessary to carry out the decision

No decision-making process is complete until the impact of the decision has been
evaluated. Owner will observe the impact of the decision as objectively as possible and take
further corrective action if it becomes necessary.

Among reasons cited, some were of practical importance. For some, there were not
enough facts or evidence to bring a complaint forward while others felt that it was not their
business or responsibility to report such misconducts. Also, the employees:

i. Did not feel the organization would respond

ii. Did not know of an anonymous/confidential way to report it
iii. Feared retaliation from management
iv. Feared being a considered a troublemaker

He said that good ethics must be practiced and displayed by the higher management
which is him as the owner. Employees have a positive view on the integrity of senior
management, statistically similar to a few years ago, this means that employees’ views on
management have not changed much over the years. A negative situation should not be allowed
to fester as this will undermined the company. Should the problem be left unresolved,
employees will see no value in action and may turn to external means or third parties for a
solution. In addition, workers want to be associated with companies they trust, and therefore
reported misconduct must be investigated and acted upon.

One of the most important values is the trust must be exist between employees and the
owner. As mentioned, an owner must ensure that an investigation is carried out after a report
is made. Another method is to implement an ethics programme to provide employees with the
tools and knowledge they need in making ethical decisions. The idea behind this is to allow
both sides to acknowledge that there may be an ethical dilemma and that there are resources to
overcome it.

There is no substitute for clear procedures and sanctions. But the real function of an
ethics programme “is to allow basically good people to do the right thing and succeed” said the
owner. According to Mr. Chia, this is the essence of a healthy work environment. People need
to be sensitive to ethical issues on the job, but they also must trust their organizations enough
to raise them.

SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Social responsibility is the idea that businesses should balance profit-making activities
with activities that benefits society; it involves developing businesses with a positive
relationship to the society in which they operate. The International Organization for
Standardization (ISO), emphasizes that the relationship to the society and environment in
which businesses operate is “a critical factor in their ability to continue to operate effectively.
It is also increasingly being used as a measure of their overall performance”.

Responsibility of the company towards different section:

1. Employees – the success of the company depends largely on the morale of the
employees. Employee morale depends on employer-employee relationship. The
responsibility of the company to the workers include:
i. Payments of fair wages
ii. Establish of fair work standards
iii. Provision of labor welfare activities
iv. Reasonable chances of promotion
v. Proper recognition and appreciation
2. Consumers – the consumer is the king and is the foundation of this business venture.
Important responsibilities of the business to the customers are:
i. Improve efficiency so as to increase efficiency and reduce prices, improve
performance and smoothen the distribution system so as to make the products
or medicine easily available.
ii. To supply medicine at reasonable prices
 iii. To ensure that the medicine supplied has no adverse effect
iv. To provide sufficient information about the medicine
v. To avoid misleading customers by improper advertising
3. Community:
i. Improve the efficiency of the business operations
ii. Contributing to welfare activities like promotion
4. Governments:
i. Timely payments of taxes and duties
ii. Not involve in corruption
iii. Follow the norms and guidelines laid by the government
iv. Follow the legal system of the country
v. Support government in its public welfare initiatives
5. Supplier/creditors:
i. Make regular orders for purchase
ii. Deal on fair terms and conditions
iii. Have fair credit policy
iv. Timely payment of dues

Ignoring the company social responsibility could spell disaster. It’s never too late to
start making a difference. Consumers frown upon company that ignore social responsibility
and develop unethical reputations. What’s more, company with these reputations are more
likely to stumble into legal troubles, which could result in their failure. In short, company care
about social responsibility because customers do. In this electronic age, consumers are far
savvier and can search for a company’s record and labor practices any time they want. Then,
they will take to social media to talk about it using those platforms as a powerful tool to spread
the word, positive or otherwise.

Be sure to be transparent with practices and honest with your customers. A company
must be authentic if it is going to be successful at anything. Otherwise, the company will be
labeled as disingenuous and will lose the trust of the customers. Trust is the most fragile
relationship could ever have. Once it is gone, company will find it next to impossible to get it
back.
RECOMMENDATION

There is always room for improvement, especially in a company that want to stay
visible, viable and maintain its competitive edge. Recognizing the current strengths and
abilities of the workforce is as critical as identifying their untapped potential to assume
leadership positions, participate in team-building activities, exercise initiative and develop
better communication skills. In concert, these elements not only contribute to a more effective
and cohesive organization but also improve employees’ individual performance levels. The
first step in improving any organization is establishing and enforcing the concept that there are
not different sets of rules that govern the activities of supervisors and subordinates. Let the
employees in on what is going on within the company as well as how their jobs respective
contributions to the company toward a common goal. When employees informed they tend to
feel a greater sense of worth in the company. Keep the communication between employer-
employees hopeful and truthful. Do not be afraid to share bad news, instead be more strategic
about how to deliver it. Sometimes, sharing bad news can influence the employees to do better
or maybe they can also collaborate and share on problem-solving. At the same time, owner can
support employees in their work and growth. When employees get the idea that their owner or
leader is the one who has to solve all the problems, it takes away from their sense of
empowerment and ultimately is likely to decrease engagement over time. Employee
engagement is one of the most written and talked about issues today in business. To enable the
people to engage and feel passion about the work they do, deliver their best performance and
to strengthen their commitment. How many of company have responded to a subordinate’s idea
as brilliant or even good. Success begets success. Encourage team members to take
responsibility and work through problems or issues on their own or collaboratively. Company
can support employee growth by providing education and learning opportunities, cross
training, coaching, and any other interactions that support employees’ personal development.
Build a strong understanding of business strategy throughout the workforce. Owner can get
insight into the ideas from the employees by using surveys, suggestion boxes or team meetings.
Be open-minded and encourage the employees to express their ideas and perspectives without
critics. This alternative can build engagement between employer-employees and show that the
owner genuinely concerned about employees’ opinion. He can also use social media as a
communications tool to build this engagement. Furthermore, they can provide constant
feedback on the positives. Feedback is two way communication. It is the opportunity to share
opinions and find solutions. Too many owner think should be province of the annual personnel
revue. It should be a daily occurrence. Demonstrate to staff how their feedback is being used.
When employees know what they are doing well, they will keep doing it or doing it even better
and do more of it. Providing employees with a little recognition on what they are doing well
can go a long way toward boosting morale. Don’t make a weakness the only focus area of
feedback. If we criticize their weakness or fault, employees will learn how to hide their
mistakes or shift the blames. The performance can be improved through transparency by
sharing numbers with employees, this also can increase employees’ sense of ownership.
Delegation of responsibility is good for a company to achieve better results than egotistical
leaders who believe that theirs is the only “right’ way to get anything done because it expands
managerial span of control. It is good for the employees because it is growth opportunity to
them. It demonstrates the trust in them to do the job correctly and increases their ownership of
the task. Employees need to feel validated and that they are a valued part of the organization.
Leadership needs to show how much they care for their employees and show recognition for
efforts. Employees need to know that their managers and executives care about them as people
as well as being committed to their success. We can make each employee using his or her
preferred skills and has an effective degree of autonomy. Communication is the king in today’s
organizations. It is one of the biggest challenges leaders have, and is probably a weakness for
many companies. Communicate clearly in simple language, creatively, interactively, daily
about core business subjects such as:

i. Departmental and organization performance targets, progress, obstacles and

solutions.
ii. Stories about competitors and customer successes from sales and customer
service.
iii. Current organization iniiatives