Ethics First in Organization Essay
Last Name ETH/316 March 26, 2013 Instructor This essay will discuss ethics and why ethics is vital to an organization. From the very first day our parents taught why ethics is critical to how individuals are looked upon as citizens. The same ethics and moral principles taught to each person in the home is the same principles that organizations should strive to emphasize to their employees. To begin one must look at virtue ethics. Virtue ethics comes with characteristics that include honesty and generosity.
According to Boylan, M. Basic Ethics (2009), “Virtue ethics is also sometimes called agent-based or character ethics. It takes the viewpoint that in living your life you should try to cultivate excellence in all that you do and all that others do. ” The old adage is that, “honesty is the best policy. ” These characteristics clearly mean that one must be of strong morals which in turn will assist in building a stronger values system that will support ones beliefs and do what is ethically right. Next a look at what Utilitarianism is about.
According to “Utilitarianism” (n. d. ), “An ethical philosophy in which the happiness of the greatest number of people in the society is considered the greatest good. ” Utilitarianism is based on a theory that what actions that occur by an individual or an organization is done for the greater good. It has been said that the invasion of Iraq in 1991 was for the good of the American people. The invasion of Iraq was never proven to be for the good of our nation. Deontological ethics basically is cut and dry in other words it’s like black and white.
According to “Deontological Ethics” (2007), “The most familiar forms of deontology, and also the forms presenting the greatest contrast to consequentialism, hold that some choices cannot be justified by their effects—that no matter how morally good their consequences, some choices are morally forbidden. ”(para. 2). Deontological is the basic qualities of an act which does not include what moral effects may come from it. One of the most common forms of Deontological ethics is lying. In our society today more people continue to use what is called, “A little white lie. A white lie is told in order to make everything okay for the moment. However it is proven fact that lies can lead to more serious outcomes in the long run. In an organization it can tarnish and or even bring down that organization. The most recent example of this would be the Enron Corporation. Enron was distant to fail because of years of lies from their Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and others in upper management. My past and current experiences with virtue and utilitarianism and deontological ethics have been noticed since I truly understood what ethics was all about.
Over the past 26 years I was a part of an organization that continues to teach ethics. However is this truly being observed? To answer that question I would say, no. I have seen management make decisions to fit the best interest of the organization and not to the customers they serve. I have seen work performed in manners that could have in some cases resulted in death to the employees and was covered up by either lies about the employee or that the incident never occurred. In order for our society to truly reap the benefits of being a great nation ethics should be enforced.
Your word is all you as an individual have. Maintaining your integrity and strong ethical values can only make an individual stronger and more trust worthy which spills over into an organization. References Boylan, M. (2009). Basic Ethics. Retrieved from Boylan, M. , ETH316 website. Deontological Ethics. (2007). Retrieved from http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/ethics-deontological Utilitarianism. (n. d. ). Retrieved from http://www. businessdictionary. com/definition/utilitarianism. html#ixzz2Om5cndry
