People must make decisions that are both morally and legally acceptable to the community. In order to make ethical decisions, one must ensure that he behaves in a way that the majority in the society consider good. People should behave ethically without rules and regulations being imposed on them. The society imposes sanctions to those who fail to meet ethical standards and the law punishes anyone found guilty of carrying out unethical behavior
In making ethical decisions, we are guided by questions such as ‘what would a reasonable person do in this situation?’ At times, unusual situations arise and cause ethical dilemma in our day to day life. Such situations include conflict between social values and personal values, self interest and benefit to others, organizational rules and personal values, benefits to others and ethical code, benefit to others and honesty, social norms and personal values among others.
In the two scenarios given, it is clear that being ethical comes at a cost. James who discovers malpractices in the Accounting department fears for his security and reputation if he reports. His fear is justified as those who committed irregularities in the Accounting department may revenge. This would make James to be on the receiving end especially where employees involved are very influential in the organization. Similarly, when it is discovered that Mary’s company has manufactured toys that pose risk to children, she stands to incur huge losses through loss of sales. If she decides to remain unethical she could be endangering the life of many children. This could have adverse effect on the company in the long run.
The Essay on Time to make a decision
Life has always been filled with numerous surprises. Sometimes, the little things that we take for granted are the things that matter the most. Like any other individual, I am one of those people who give importance to detail. Every time when I open my wallet, a little tiny picture never fails to attract my attention. Four people are in it-my parents, my younger sister, and I. If I remember it ...
Kartz (2008) argues that in stopping people from undesirable behavior, three forces are used. These forces include environmental pressure, task and requirement social and group goals act to realize a coordinated effort. Individuals are required to forego their individual short term needs in order to achieve long term objectives. In doing this, they forego their freedom and submit to the group. The other force that control behavior is shared expectations and values. Within a group, members develop goals and mutual expectations that are common. These group norms and social goals become the basis of behaviors of group members through internalization system of behavioral standards. The last force according to Kartz is system of external control. This system requires higher level of monitoring ones behavior and use of power to make sure that members follow rules. Rules are more formal and can be in terms social norms (Chambers, 2008).
They are enforced through contingent use of social power and a system of monitoring.
Unethical behavior refers to dishonest behavior like cheating, lies or stealing in order to achieve group or personal goals. Making false representation, misleading others and dishonoring promises are all dishonest behavior. Another unethical behavior is failure to comply with ethical standards. They include rules, policies, guidelines and use of codes. Ethical standards are culturally designed and provide a list of things that people should do or not do. Their function is to protect powerless and to balance power (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2010).
The Term Paper on Social group
This book, Ain’t No Makin’ It, shows the lives of the youth who are living in a neighborhood of low income earners. It shows that people are not poor because they are not ready to work, but it is because of various societal structural barriers that get them entrapped in poverty. The book is about the lives of two distinct units of teenagers who live in the inner- city with one unit believing in ...
When one is making a decision in an organization, they ought to take into consideration the consistency of personal and social values. Ethical behavior is acting or behaving in ways that are consistent with personal values and values held in an organization and society. This is the use of social and personal variable as a method of decision making and behavior choices in an organization.
Rules, guidelines, use of codes and other systems help identify unethical decisions. Ethical decisions are enforced through external and internal control mechanisms. External control mechanisms involve rewarding people who are ethical and punish those who are unethical (Kee, 2012).
Internal control mechanisms organizations and individuals internalize standards inform of private terminal and instrumental values. People adopt professional codes of ethics, civic laws and religious creed as their personal standards
Toyota Motor Corporation is a good example of a company that makes ethical decisions even if it leads to huge losses. In 20009, United States national Highway Traffic Safety reported that vehicles manufacture by Toyota Motor Corporation experienced unintended acceleration (Konigsburg, 2012).
They recalled vehicles three times in year 2009 before finding a solution to the problem. The following year it recalled over nine million vehicles all over the world. At some point the company recalled cars voluntary. They also advised car owners to remove floor mats of their cars and not replace it with other types. Consequences of being unethical are dire. In 2013, Toyota was found guilty of unintended acceleration problem and this forced them to have settlement talks with the plaintiff.
Hojnacki argues that employees should be guided by three rules of management whenever they are faced with ethical dilemma. The first is the rule of private gain. An individual should assess the situation and determine what they stand to gain and whether it will be at the expense of others. Secondly, one should determine those that will be hut and how the world will be like. Lastly, one is expected to evaluate the benefits of ethical behavior and the burden placed on others. (Loewenberg, & Dolgoff, 2009).
Apart from unintended accelerating, Toyota has recalled over 885,000 vehicles all over the world due to a problem that prevent airbags from deploying in case of a crash. A mix of crossover and sedan was recalled. In United States 0ver 1.5 million cars were recalled due to other problems. According to Toyota the problem of airbag failing to deploy was caused by short circuit that in some cases caused airbag lights to turn on and at times disable the air bag putting the life of the driver at risk.
The Term Paper on Ethical Decision Making 4
This is to bring to your kind notice that recently we have received a report from the quality assurance department regarding the toy collection which has been recently been made for elementary schools for our South American client. The toys made did not pass the quality check as it includes a metal whistle, which contains high percentage of led which is highly harmful for the children. The ...
It was very ethical of Toyota to explain the real cause of this problem as well as other problems that it faced. They informed the public that the problem was caused by water that leaked from air conditioning unit onto airbag control unit. The problem could also lead to other problems like disabling power steering system (Chambers, 2008).
This makes it hard to turn the vehicle. Toyota advised car owners to return their cars to Toyota dealers for repair at no cost. In as much as Toyota in the recent years has been faced with a series of recalls they have remained ethical.
However, Toyota has admitted that it engaged in unethical behavior by delaying investigations of safety of vehicles. They delayed investigations in order to save money. It also accused of obstructing government inquiries into the issue of safety. Toyota uses a system of continuous improvement in order to continue delivering more quality cars. Toyota has managed to combat completion because of fulfilling their promises to the public of producing unique and valuable cars (Chambers, 2008).
It did this by building cars from economy to luxury hence reducing frustration of car ownership. Their products are not only cheaper but also comfortable compared to other models and it went further and promised hybrid engine.
Toyota has earned a good reputation of integrity, quality, commitment to environmental practices and responsible management. Their ethical behaviors go beyond legal requirements which include honesty, social responsibility, equity, a goal of achieving good reputation. All Toyota Motor Corporation employees are expected to be honest in word and deed, be responsible, perform duties consistently with code of conduct, obey the law, and avoid actions that create conflict between company, community and personal interest. The same code of ethics extends to their dealers, wider community, customers and their suppliers.
In conclusion, in order for an organization to remain ethical, there must be a trade off. Failure to make ethical decisions leads to negative public opinion hence loss of customers and legal issues. This kind of trade off is well demonstrated by Toyota Motor Corporation that had to delay investigations in order to lower cost but eventually incurred heavy losses in recalling vehicles. Leaders must strive to make ethical decisions because in the long run the organization benefit more than when they choose to remain unethical.
The Review on Management Decision Problem Of McDonald’s Arabia
We are pleased to submit this research proposal for McDonald’s retaining their competitive position management decision problem. We have provided information, which we feel, will help illustrate what course of action should McDonald’s Arabia take to retain and expand its market share as well as improve its marketing strategies. The research would be completed in an estimated 8 weeks 1) Background ...
References
Chambers, K. D. (2008).
Toyota. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press.
Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2010).
Business ethics: ethical decision making and cases (6th ed.).
Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co..
Kee, H. C. (2012).
Making ethical decisions. Philadelphia: Westminster Press. (Original work published 1957)
Konigsburg, E. L. (2012).
From the mixed-up files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler (13th ed.).
New York: Atheneum.
Loewenberg, F. M., & Dolgoff, R. (2009).
Ethical decisions for social work practice. Itasca, Ill.: F.E. Peacock Publishers. (Original work published 5th)
