Organizational Ethical Standards, Part 1: Ethical Values Statement

An ethical values statement provides a high-level overview of the guiding principles informing ethical decision-making within an organization. This formal declaration is typically developed for and used with an internal audience. In this assignment, you will create a 1-page ethical values statement outlining 4-5 values. Note: Envision yourself as a leader in an organization tasked with cultivating an ethical culture. Over 5 weeks, you will develop ethical standards for your organization. This week, you create an ethical values statement for internal stakeholders. Step 1 Select an organization. It may be an organization you are familiar with or one you are interested in learning more about. Research the organization’s background to appraise its ethical framework. Evaluate its mission and vision. Assess any existing ethical codes. Survey its recent activities. Analyze its background. Use the following questions to guide your analysis: What current problems does the organization face? Choose one to focus on for this assignment. What decisions has the organization made to solve the problem? What values do these decisions reveal? Are these values ethical? Why or why not? Are these values aligned with the organization’s mission, vision, and standards? How or how not? What is the effect of the current values and decisions? Tip: Many organizations name ethics in mission and/or vision statements. They may not have a separate ethics or values statement. You may learn about an organization’s activities by searching for internal blog posts and reports or external news articles and reports. Step 2 Review the course readings and video presentations and conduct additional research using the ACE LibraryLinks to an external site.. Select at least two scholarly sources related to organizational values, mission and vision statements, ethics statements, and ethical theories. Synthesize your scholarly evidence with your notes on the organization’s background to identify 4-5 values critical to ethical decision-making that align with the organization’s mission and vision. Use the following questions to guide your thinking: How are values enacted in ethical theories? Can you use an ethical theory to justify your selected values? How will your selected values improve decision-making? How will your selected values cultivate ethical culture? How will your values support the organization’s goals? Time-Sensitive Preview: In Module 2, you will develop and distribute a survey to five individuals soliciting feedback on your ethical values. These individuals can be peers, colleagues, friends, and leaders. A mixture of individuals with varied organizational experience and leadership levels will provide a robust sampling. This is only a scenario, so they do not need to work at your selected organization. Select and connect with the survey recipients ahead of time to ensure timely feedback. Step 3 Download the Ethical Values Statement Template. Use the template to organize your identified values into a formal ethical values statement for the organization you selected. Note: Your finished assignment should look like something used in the workplace. Instead of an APA-formatted essay, it should mirror an authentic, evidence-based ethical values statement with APA-formatted in-text citations and a reference list. You do not need an APA-formatted title page.  Ensure the values reflect your organization’s unique context and specify the alignment in your statement. Use APA formatted in-text citations to support your statement. Include your sources in an APA-formatted reference section. Tip: You are sharing a wealth of information with your organization in your statement; it is a leader’s job to simplify complex information. Use headings and bulleted lists to guide your readers’ eyes through the information. Use clear and approachable language to ensure readers understand and remember the values. Step 4 Submit your ethical values statement as a Word document.