How and Why New Ethical Issues Arise in Modern Workplace

Writing Emphasis Projects
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* Divergent Paths
* Divergent Paths, Ethical Philosophy Among Organizational Managers
* Economic Theories and Their Impact on Ethical Reasoning
* The Impact of Workplace Equality in the Society
* Resolving Workplace Issues
* New Ethical Issues in the Modern Workplace
* References
* Divergent Paths
For many years, the teaching of business ethics has piqued people's interest. Unfortunately, major ethical blunders continue to attract public attention to the scope and effect of corporate wrongdoing—for example, the Deepwater Horizon spill in 2010 by BP firm. The firm lost billions of dollars in shareholder value (Behi, 1995). The firm was then fined $55 billion in Mexico, and executives were sentenced to jail sentences. BP is only one of several companies that have made unethical decisions in the past. Uber scandal in 2019 and the Apple scandal in 2017 have all been involved in corrupt practices. These incidents have reignited discussion about the role of schools in influencing CEOs' Ethical Decision Making.
Identifying ethical concerns in the business and marketing areas requires a keen eye and a thorough grasp of various topics. You should be aware of the following: Be mindful of multiple potential ethical issues and categories. For example, harassment can take many forms, including bullying and sexual harassment. Honesty and integrity may entail, among other things, accepting credit where it is not due (Kimmel, 1998). Be aware of each area, the narrow line between a righteous and immoral deed. For example, when it comes to ethics, there are instances when it is a no-brainer. It is time to call the police on your manager if you have discovered them stealing money from the firm. However, ethical concerns are not always easy to spot. For example, let us assume you observe an Acme employee giving a present to the CEO of another firm. Is this a bribe or a gift? That entails precisely determining what is going on. Lastly, be aware of the business and marketing policies in terms of ethical problems. For example, the ethical challenges that managers face are many. Still, the majority come from a possible contradiction between the organization's or individual managers' aims and the fundamental rights of crucial stakeholders. Stakeholders have basic freedoms that should be respected, and violating such rights is unethical.
When confronted with an ethical problem in the business, managers are put to the test. Certain circumstances frequently go outside of the scope of protocols or the official code of conduct, and it is at this point that the managers feel the heat. Ethical issues can be resolved by the processes below:
Know the principles of the business. For example, is the intuition principle based on the idea that the HR person or management is knowledgeable enough to see the gravity of the issue and act appropriately so that the final choice does not hurt anybody directly or indirectly involved. Moral decisions should be debated such that the management uses the balance sheet technique to put out the benefits and drawbacks of the decision (Scheyvens, 2005). This aids in gaining a clearer image of things and better arranging them. There should be an engagement of people at all levels of the organization. One excellent approach is to publicly state one's position on various ethical problems, delivering a strong message to all company members, particularly those who are more prone to unethical behavior. As a result, workers will be less inclined to engage in unethical behavior. They are integrating Ethical Decision-Making Processes into Strategic Management. Morality and ethics are constant sources of contention; it is virtually difficult to reach ethical perfection. A better way to deal with this issue is to incorporate ethical decision-making into strategic organizational management. The process by which the HR manager obtains a different viewpoint than the usual employee or stakeholder viewpoint.
In today's culture, most people who work in a business are frequently confronted with and must deal with ethical concerns in marketing. Corporate stakeholders expect ethical behavior, which improves business performance, conforms to legal requirements, prevents or reduces harm, and promotes personal morality. Therefore, management must be able to detect ethical problems in marketing and assist in their resolution to prevent unethical behavior.
There are numerous benefits and drawbacks to ethical behavior. Some benefits include positive customer support that increases revenue demand, more excellent brand and business visibility and recognition, and improved staff motivation and recruitment. More significant costs (purchasing from fair-trade suppliers rather than the lowest price), higher overheads (training and communication of ethical policies), and the risk of creating misleading expectations are some of the drawbacks. I believe that moral, cultural disparities are becoming increasingly common in today's culture. Peers in various industries expect high ethical standards and behaviors from their coworkers. Employees in businesses with a history of weak ethics may condone or support harmful moral actions or passively condone them via inactivity.
For corporate operations to function efficiently and equitably, I feel that ethical reasoning is required. Both large and small businesses are beginning to recognize the value of ethics in marketing and the significance of adhering to it.
* Divergent Paths, Ethical Philosophy Among Organizational Managers
The individual and organizational ethical standards often determine the actions taken when an ethical conflict arises. Often, issues such as environmental conflicts pose a test on the ethical integrity of leaders. Likewise, organizations are often tested as leaders grapple with addressing the issue that challenges their ethical philosophy. Despite the seeming cost of upholding ethical values, the cost of ignoring ethical values is much higher. Unfortunately, some leaders are not keen to observe the long-term disguised effect of not observing the ethical philosophy and policies.
Managers base their ethical decisions on experience, education, beliefs, and social norms. Their actions are engendered towards developing the most effective solution to an issue based on their ethical philosophy. Among the common ethical philosophies used to solve issues that have ethical implications include utilitarianism, rights, and justice (Premeaux, 2009). Managers chose any of the approaches to address organizational conflicts that may have ethical implications.
Often, managers engage in situations where there is a conflict between the ethics of a decision and the overall solution to the case. Many managers base their ethical justice on rights and rules. They want to remain safe as they address the problem and ensure that other factors such as litigations do not ensue. As such, managers attempt to align their ethical values to the legal expectations and the rule of law. This way, the managers are sure that they will avoid any adverse result of litigations.
Despite the effort by managers to align their ethical philosophy with the rights of individuals and the rule of law, the plan does not always work. At times, ethical philosophy demands doing more than just what the law demands. In such cases, the true call of the managers towards upholding their ethical standards is put to the test. Only a few managers go the extra mile to meet the costly demands of ethical expectations. Most managers stop at the point where they meet the legal expectations. Arguably, ethical demands are at times too expensive and might hurt an entity economically.
The strong affinity towards observing the economic impact of a decision is explained using the utilitarian approach to ethical philosophy. The utilitarian orientation allows the managers to observe a solution to a problem that will benefit the most people (Fritzsche & Becker, 1984). Furthermore, this approach will ensure that the organizational head retains a positive relationship with the involved people.
The main challenge with the utilitarian approach is that it does not guarantee that everyone involved is favored. On the contrary, the approach seeks to favor as many as possible. However, not everyone may be favored by the final decision. Therefore, this approach may create enmity between the unfavored people and the management. Managers who adopt the rule or rights philosophy tend to follow what the rules dictate to resolve a situation that invokes the ethical dilemma (Fritzsche & Becker, 1984). Such leaders want to ensure that many people benefit from their decisions with a minimal negative impact on any of the involved parties.
Many leaders favor the use of the rule and rights when they adopt the utilitarian philosophy. However, some leaders prefer to adopt the utilitarian philosophy based on the acting philosophy. Such leaders are selfish and look towards the best gain for themselves or the entity. Therefore, when such managers face a conflict, they tend to act based on the decision that will majorly favor them and have minimal benefit to the other parties. Fritzsche and Becker (1984) warn that such people are likely to take action that compromises other interests. These are the managers that will prefer to pollute the environment for the sheer benefit of making more profit for the organization.
Leaders in the current era tend to favor following the rules and rights when making decisions that entail an ethical conflict. Leaders are keen to observe the ethical philosophy for several reasons: they want to observe the law or are happy to treat other parties fairly (Premeaux, 2004). The result is that managers favor ethical rules and rights, despite their cost to the organizations. The managers are aware of the fact that the economic ramifications of not observing the ethical philosophy are much higher than that incurred when following the ethical demands.
In conclusion, leaders often face issues that demand making decisions that involve evaluating their ethical values. Quite often, the better option for managers is that of ignoring the demands of ethical philosophy. However, leaders are growing weary of the adverse ramifications of not heeding to the ethical philosophy. The consequences range from litigations, negative public image, and even hostility between parties involved. Therefore, leaders are keen to observe the ethical philosophy in its diversified approaches to ensure that the least harm is impacted to the organization and the manager's integrity. The trend towards observing ethical philosophy among the leaders may seem costly in the short term but has proven safer and more convenient compared to the ramifications of ignoring the ethical demands of parties involved in a conflict.
* Economic Theories and Their Impact on Ethical Reasoning
Ethical models are the most critical aspects that determine people's behaviors and relationships with others. For that reason, every individual must uphold a virtue as a character trait that enables them to act following the set standards. Economists and theorists reveal the evolution of economic thought based on the challenges in the market system. Although communists and socialists are the major economic systems, their deficiencies have resulted in corrupt acts. Notably, imperfections in the market result in significant imbalances in society. In the contemporary world, most communities have embraced capitalism, in which most people focus on making profits. While capitalism is effective in producing wealth, it might result in various breaches of ethical philosophy. Thus, economic theories have a significant impact on virtues as one of the ideal examples of moral philosophy.
Virtue ethics is one of the moral theories that emphasize the importance of individual characters in assessing the right actions. One of the emphases of the philosophy is the need to adhere to ethical rules. Therefore, an effort can only be right if a virtuous agent would execute it in a similar circumstance. In most instances, virtues are some of the acceptable behaviors among society members. Therefore, an individual needs to adhere to ethical standards. According to Mitran and Ipate (2014), one of the unique aspects of virtue ethics is that it does not compromise an individual's motivations and reasons. For that reason, any virtuous individual adheres to moral teachings and practices to maintain interpersonal connections.
Keynesianism and libertarianism are examples of economic theories that significantly impact virtue ethics as moral philosophy. The two approaches are likely to provide solutions to the problems that might emerge in the market economy. Since inflation and employment are some of the general issues in society, they represent a poor basis of governance. However, most people focus on maximizing profits at the expense of virtue ethics (Mitran & Ipate, 2014). Therefore, markets should provide incentives to ensure that all producers bear the consequences of their decisions. However, they have imperfections that lead to significant imbalances in the economy. One of the solutions would be to monitor inputs for standard incentive schemes in addressing any underlying issues in the economy.
Besides, communism and socialism are equally relevant economic theories that significantly impact virtue ethics as moral philosophy. Notably, expanding different forms of universal grants enables the shift towards communism as the core objective. Research findings indicate that affluent capitalist societies are likely to embrace the government's principle to maintain material welfare. Capitalism is one of the practices that facilitated the end of slavery while elevating the status of women in society (Milgrom & Roberts, 2001). However, it undermines shared values resulting from high human costs on investors and top executives. One of the shortcomings of capitalism is that it fails to recognize greed and ambition. Economic systems should cope with desire as one of the standard practices in society. The societies that rely on traditions in shaping their economies allow the people with inherited status to use force against others.
Tax evasion is one of the moral concerns in society that entails the illegal activities that taxpayers undertake to maximize profits by releasing themselves from the tax burden. Similarly, tax avoidance entails a practice of effective business organization to reduce overall taxable income. However, such methods are against the moral philosophy of virtue ethics (Williams, 2020). Economic theories have a significant impact on moral philosophy, especially virtue ethics. The state and individuals are the two parties that considerably influence each other based on moral philosophy. Fiscal policies influence the attitudes on the opportunities that might arise from tax evasion. For that reason, policymakers must consider behavioral attitude and demographics as variables that affect personality traits. Similarly, perceptions and individual attitudes are ideal antecedents of tax evasion.