Research Summary and Ethical Considerations: BUS 303 module 2 slp

Essay Instructions:

Persuasive Memos Assignment reading: Business ethicists claim that the recent spate of business leaders, especially bankers, who have admitted to unethical behavior, is not surprising. In fact, these experts explain that when rewards are high and risks are low, the brain often gives the green light to cheat. So how to stop unethical corporate cultures that arise from such a natural human response? Mark Frame, a psychology professor at Middle Tennessee State University who specializes in workplace psychology, says to begin by communicating solid business values to stakeholders. "If you advertise that you are trying to be ethical, you're going to wind up hiring more ethical people. It's kind of that field of dreams thing: If you build it, they will come," he says. But words must be followed by actions, so the next step is to thwart unethical behavior. Operating under the tacit rule that "it's okay as long as we're not caught" is insufficient. UC Berkeley professor Barry Staw says companies need to make their stance clear: When employees cross a legal line, they will lose their job and possibly be reported to authorities. Such a strategy invokes fear of punishment over reward for good behavior. Making ethical choices may not be innate, but people can be taught why making moral choices is ultimately in their best interests, says Dave Mayer, a management professor at the University of Michigan's Ross School of Business. He tells his students that the best way to test whether an action is ethical is to ask oneself: Is what I'm planning to do the right thing or is it simply in my own self interest? If the answer is the latter, it's probably not the best way to go. Assignment Instructions: If you were in a corporate culture in which you witnessed cheating, what would you do? How can a business create a culture that encourages its workers to be ethical? Do you think ethics and morality begin at home? 1. Now prepare to write your own 3 page persuasive and descriptive essays about the case study above and answer the three questions in the assignment instructions. 2. Explain which guidelines you used in the essay. Also be sure to include why your essay was ethical, using ideas from Cialdini's article in your paper. 3. Submit your assignments by the module's due date. Assignment Expectations: Write a persuasive essay (3 pages) using guidelines from Cialdini, Conger, and/or Bowman. Explain which guidelines (about 200 words) you used in your memo and include why your memo was ethical

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Research Summary and Ethical Considerations
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The idea of having employees that have the right code of ethics in line with what is set out in the company’s culture is very enticing, but the process to get there is more often than not mediocre for most of the companies. While drafting up the policies to be used at the work stations, putting down the values, organising trainings for the employees is every bit a good start towards the journey of reducing the polarity in terms of the ethical culture in the company, the process goes beyond (The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 2006). In some of the companies the culture encourages the employees to be unethical rather than harder to.
To establish the ultimate ethical culture at the work place, one has to start with the end in mind. As such they can easily see through all the expected turn of events from the perspectives of the positive elements and the negative elements that are bound to come up. This can then be followed with the creation of the atmosphere that works to reinforce both the formal and informal perspectives of the culture. The atmosphere is crucial as it is the sole driving force promoting the values of citizenship, trustworthiness, responsibility, respect, caring and fairness among others. In the event of trying to convince the staff to change their ethical background and follow the new ones that are more founded, there are several approaches that can be used but one stand out; Robert Cialdini’s principles. These are in a set of six principles that are designed to help influence people such as at the place of work to conform to new ideals in a given field.
Reciprocity
The idea of the reciprocity ties in with that of feeling indebted to persons that are kind to us. If someone at work has been good to us we will feel indebted to them and thus when they need our help we will feel more than obliged to help them with their situation. This is a principle that can be instilled in people at the hiring stage where, employees are shown how they should treat everyone else at the work place. It should also be engraved in the company culture such that the employees are treated with respect and the grievances are addressed in the best manner possible. When the employees feel that the company’s management works hard to make sure that they are satisfied, it will become very easy for them to work harder to achieve the company’s goals as they feel in debt. This means that all the policies should be streamlined to make sure that they put their staff at the forefront of the agenda, to ascertain that they are comfortable and working conditions are exceptionally humane. While every person has the capacity and willingness to be ethical, there is also the overriding desire to be successful; this pushes most of the people to do everything in their power even if it is not ethical.
Commitment
Borrowing from the first principle, the idea of making sure that those that are hired are in line with the company’s culture and values is crucial. According the commitment principle by Cialdini’s, when people are informed of the idea at the beginning they have the tendency to be more committed to the same to the better end (Mind Tools, 2013). By introducing the staff to the idea of the ethical culture midway through their orientation at the company, this will have less reaching impacts than if the same was introduced to them at the very beginning when they were getting hired. As such, it is crucial for the management to make sure that when they have a new idea that involves shaping the culture of the compa...

Updated on January 26, 2024

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