Etica En El Trabajo

Ethics in the Workplace
Cynthia Melvin
MGMT 3600
CSU East Bay

We as a society are faced with ethical dilemmas virtually every day. From birth, most of us are taught what is right and wrong. The principles of right or wrong that guide an individual making decisions are called ethics. Ethics is a philosophical term derived from the Greek word “ethos” meaning character or custom (Corrigan, pg.42). According to the Society for Human Resource Management, "Ethics is defined as rules of conduct or moral principles that guide individual or group behavior." Ethics exist in all aspects of life and must be followed accordingly. It allows each person to respect each other and for relationships within organizations to be strong and to be based on trust, respect and honesty. Essentially, workethics regulate what an employee would do in different situations in an office. But how can people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, cultures, moral philosophies, religions, and education agree on what’s right and wrong? Work ethics involves the right attitude, correct behavior, respect for others and effective communication. Although the habit of following good work ethics comes from within, Ibelieve there are many factors that influence managers to encourage or promote ethical behavior among the employees.
A person’s ethical reasoning and conduct are influenced by four factors according to Rhode and Packel. First, moral awareness is the recognition that a situation raises ethical issues. An individual’s moral awareness can be influenced by the magnitude of consequences and socialfactors. Secondly, determining if the course of action is ethically sound is the moral decision making. This is when a good role model and a code of ethics come into play. Thirdly, moral intent is identifying which values should take priority in the decision. Finally, moral action is what follows through on ethical decisions (2009). A person’s ethical reasoning and conduct is also affected by theorganization’s structures and norms and by the management’s role, and this what this paper is going to focus on.
Unfortunately, unethical organizational practices are embarrassingly a commonplace. Almost every day we hear about a new story about an organization being accused of ethical conduct. Ethical challenges arise at all levels in all types of organizations and they can result in criminalviolations, such as fraud. The potential for individuals and organizations to behave unethically has no limits. For example, companies that dump dangerous medical waste materials into our rivers and oceans act unethically because they are favoring their own interests over public safety and welfare. While we believe that an organization behaved unethically, it is really the individuals actingunethically. Several individuals make ethical choices that get the organizations into trouble. In the 2007 National Nonprofit Ethics Survey, slightly more than half of employees had observed at least one act of misconduct in the previous year. In 2007, more than half (55 percent) of employees observed one or more acts of misconduct in the previous year and failed to report it to the management (TheEthics Resource Center, 2007). Organizations have to ensure that their employees know how to deal with ethical issues in their everyday work lives. When the ethical climate is clear and positive, everyone knows what is expected of him or her when inevitable ethical dilemmas occur. This can also give employees the confidence to be on the lookout for unethical behavior and act with the understanding thatwhat they are doing is considered correct and will be supported by the entire organization (Eures, 2011).
Being ethical in the workplace may sound easy, but putting ethics into practice in a real-world situation can be more difficult than many employees may believe. In an organization, there are numerous individual influences that can impact ethical behavior, particularly the leadership of an...