Issues of business ethics and social responsibility

Issues of line of logical argument ethics and social righteousnessThe achievement of the intentions or hardened objectives of the business organization requires the establishment of the c erstrn structure that ensures proper definition of role and responsibilities to provide the basis for the development of effective selection systems that avail the recruitment and engagement of suitable personnel to occupy positions created at bottom the context of the business enterprise to discharge the assign roles and responsible forward the achievement of the set ends and objective of the business byplayIndeed, the set objectives of the business organization tolerate non be achieved unless the employees of the business enterprise demonstrate the appropriate honorable behaviours in the execution of assigned duties, finally enhancing the incarnate image of the business outfit in the environment where it operates. This becomes essential to stralegies developed to stimulated the patr onage of the goods and service produced and provided by the business concernAccording Dr. B. Odusina, Managing Partner of Upman Ltd in a lecture paper delive reddened titled Business honourable motive and Corporate Governance on 16 June 2001 at a Seminar Organized for Mobil Oil Producing at Ogere Training Centre There is the need to stress that employees who demonstrate un good behaviour do non promote the fortunes and the playing ara universe of the business organization, and thus, unless much(prenominal)(prenominal) negative behaviours atomic number 18 aband wholenessd it becomes impossible for them to make the desired contri unlession towards the success of the business enterprise Odusina went further to evidence that management science, to twenty-four hours has made available range of attri savees, and traits that form the basis for the development of the appropriate business honest behaviour that should should char make outerize the disposition and act of the individu als discussed in the latter leave-taking of this seminar paper.THE CONCEPT OF estimable motiveWhat are Ethics? Ethics are mural laws that involveA high Sense of self-importance Awareness Manage tinTime ManagementLife Goals ProgrammingPersonal Grooming ConsciousnessHuman RelationsStriving for Excellenceself-importance DisciplineA High sense of Responsibility and loyalty towardsOnes Own intentsTowards Superiors and SubordinatesTowards Company Customers and SuppliersTowards the acquisition and uptake of other preferencesTowards ones own family, community and nation Nigeria3. A high sense of Probity in(a) Dealing with Confidential matters(b) Handling Companys Finances(c) In very different smearsA high sense of businessFor authority and roles playedFor resources utilizedFor the life spentHISRORICAL PERSPECTIVE OF BUSINESS ETHICSWe start by looking at some get tos in modern years of public concern around organizational behaviour. It would, of course be doing a great injustice to past generations to imagine that only our own interpreted this topic seriously. The 19th century, while giving rise to some highly un preferable business practices, was nonable also for its pioneering work in area such as antislavery child labour reforms, and the development legislative framework to curb abuses in lodge financing. A society which deniers credit to the good pioneers of the past, just because they did non address all of today prominent themes, begins to undermine its own groundwork. According to David Munay (1997) the ethics of business and organizational life have acquired a opineably high public as well as professional profile during the past fifteen years Managers and top captains of industrial concerns now receive numerous invitations to conferences, seminars and workshops on topics such as corporate values, corporate governance and other ethical aspects of management.The books falls carry an increasing number of specialist titles and no self regar d asing management text can now omit at least some discussion of organizational values or corporate social responsibility.The 1970s in Nigeria saw a focus on rapid wealth creation because of oil boom a get -rich -quick syndrome and the widespread ignoring of moral imperatives beyond proceeds loss and cash f minor statements.In Nigeria particularly we are now well into a decade of moral reflectionBusiness if far from being the only spare in which this is happening, but it is particularly noticeable arguably because of the widespread neglect of such matters for so longTo some extent, this increased delight may be a consequence of a relatively high number of widely publicized scandals as it involves bank frauds, failed admits, tax evasing by corporate multi topics, swindles in hard currencies by top government functionaries, scandalous advance fee fraud popularly called 419 that is affecting our image a all-inclusive to remark a fewAbout three consecutive whiles last year 2004, nearly of our popular dailies reported Nigeria to be the second most(prenominal) corrupt domain in the ball, after Cameroon. This was on the good authority of Transparency InternationalThese and other phenomenal unethical practice are giving the government and hidden sector operators a serious concern. The recent collapse of Arthur Anderson and other much respected international concerns are a case in pointEVEYDAY ETHICSThe key business ethics concern is the way that the business demeanours itself in its ordinary, both day routline activitiesThe way the firm deals with its staff and its customers, the way it designs and supports its products, the way it awards contract and apportions fault these are the key determines of whether a business is ethical, and are as important as the way it deals with crises.According to Elaire Sternberg (2000) the sluicets that attract attention major frauds, for exercise may not represent ethical dilemmas for business in such cases business heap a good deal agree on what is duty. The problems that such events pose are real ones, but often concern practical difficulties how to implement agreed moral standard, how to deal with the villains who sadly exist in business as in elsewhereSternberg opined further that the really thorny business ethics issues in contrast, are those where in that location a genuine disagreement about what is right or wrong.THE TOOLS OF ETHICSVALUESIt is useful in this text to severalize that business ethics can refer to several different things most commonly, it refers to ethical conduct in and by business. In this sense, in benefits to business include doing the right typically promotes achievement of business goals. While doing the wrong things hinders the successive pursuit of those goals.To recognize things are the right things however, it is helpful to understand the principles that underlie ethical conduct in business. Accordingly business ethics as the knowledge and study of such pri nciples can also be of value to business.According to sternbery (2000), an ethical decision that clearly sets out the principle of business ethic can help business both to identify and in reality resolve business ethics problems.A illustration is theequivalent of a map it can help guide business by operator of the ethical issues that it inevitably must handleA model is not, however a panacea just as a Map does not physically smooth out the compassionate.What an ethical decision model can do is peakly valuable. Most fundamentally, I can help to eliminate abstract issues, it can help a business avoid wasting its resource on spurious problems and unwarranted guilt.An ethical decision model can refer when and how ethical discussion is appropriate in a business context. When all within the business share a common vocabulary for ethical matter, they can articulate moral standards and moral questions easilyBy reducing moral muteness and promoting the early detection and resolution of ethical issues, an ethical decision model therefore enables the business to benefit from the vigilance its staff.Accordingly, an ethical decision model can do much to reduce the make ups and adverse consequence of ethical problems. By illuminating what is at s yield in any situation, and what the alternate course of action might be an ethical decision can evince what information is relevant and what can be ignored.CULTURAL PERSPECTIVE TO VALUESIn a given culture, at a given time, there is broad agreement on major values. Mos people agree on what is good (e.g. the right vole), and what is bad (corruption in government). Not all people or groups of people hold the same value, but the value o of those in majority leave affect beliefs and behaviours of society.According to Yalokwu (2002), The action of managers are affected generally by because personal beliefs (Guth and Jaguini, 1965). For examples manager who are move by economic value will tend to stress the importance of gr owth for their companies. Managers who are motivated by social values on the other hand, might be willing to sacrifice some company growth to improve the conditions of service of the employees. only if however, values are not only factors, that influence managers decision. The specific situation a manager faces will have great influence on or even dominate how a manager behaves.RIGHTSEthical concerns penneate every aspect of business activity Ethical issues arise obviously in connection with substance ethical values when there are question of, for example honesty or justice.They also are potentially at issue whenever action or decision affect other people, either by helping or by harming them. scarcely ethical issues can even arise when other peoples right and interests are not directly at stake. Whenever there is a chose to be made between values or a better and a worse way of doing something or a thing is deemed to be a good one of its kind, an ethical judgment is involved. In this broad sense, most judgments and choices and decision about goals standard, quality and priorities are ethical.Accordingly, most business action and choices, decision and judgments have ethical aspects they involve specifically ethical values or help or harm people or indicate character, or all of the above.Sternberg (2000) opined that, hiring and firing, choosing suppliers, setting prices establishing objectives, allocating resources, determining dividends disciplining workers, planning schedules, awarding contracts all involve ethical choices.Even the most trivial decision and ones that appear to be made on purely technical or economic groups typically have ethical aspects, it is not, just in the fringe areas of do gooding that ethical issue occur, but through out all of business ethic is inescapable in business as in lifeIn order, therefore, to know which ethical issues should concern business as business, and to resolve ethical problems in ways that are appropriate for bus iness a clear understanding of business ethics is essentialIf it is a companys responsibility to be concerned with advancing the interests of its employees, then it will be essential to consider the issue of stableness of employment as it is quit apparent that this constitutes one of the paramount interest of most employees. At the very least, losing his capriole is likely to cause grave in convenience loan employee he will go through a degree of uncertainty and anxiety, will face a period more or less long without stable income, will incur search cost looking for a new job, and at the end of the day may be forced to move to different locally (Elegilo 1996)A firm seen to be truly committed to do its best to provide stability on employment will be sending a very powerful message to its employees that is really concerned about their eudaemonia. The firm is thereby laving the foundation for a two-may commitment. It is well known that guarantee of the life time employee constitutes on e of the bases of the extra ordinary loyally that Jepanese employees traditionally exhibit toward their companies.However, what is clear is that the foundation of employee loyalty, in any cas can easily be destroyed by policies that seem to be based on a consideration of the employees so many cost to be cut.Still, it is important to keep a sense of perspective and make it clear that there is no question of auguring that terminating an employee is intrinsically immoral will not be so if the objective by germinating an employee is something good in itself.As would be the case in situations in which management seeks to preserve on put up the long term viability of the firm, improve the cost structure of the company or (in the case of an unproductive or disruptive employee) remove cause of lower morale or a potential source of danger to other employees.As a matter of fact, terminating some employees may not be unethical but I source cases a may well be a definite ethical dutyWe may fi nd it emotionally repugnant to break up an employee who has a large family yet managers are not paid to follow the courses of action that they personality fund congenial, but to protect the common good of the company (Elegilo 1996).When preserving the jobs of some employee becomes incompatible with the health or even the survival of the whole organization as it eventually happened in the case of intel. Then failing to take the necessary measure can easily amount to gross irresponsibility. This will be much more so in the case of individual employees who through presistent misconduct erode the standard of the companyOther tools of Ethics1. LoyaltySteadfastness in allegiance to the management of the business enterprise. The implies the commitment on the part of the set objectives of the business organization2. FairnessThe avoidance of discriminating tendencies in dealing with people of diverse background, endeavouring to treat all human beings as equal, and then give separately per son equal opportunities3. regulationd BehaviourThe demonstration of a consistent behaviour in similar situations that makes ones behavour predictable, and ensuring the same decision being made in similar situations4. ConfidentialityBeing discreet in dealing with the publics in a manner that makes the employee to refuse to divulge official information even in the face of financial inducernent or inspite of threats to his life.MORAL RULES IN HUMAN RELATIONS AND COMMON MORALITYHuman Relations ConceptThe concept of human traffic is so vast and encompassing that it touches every aspect of our lives .it is true that whatever we are are doing involves human relation and in interactions in one form or the otherHuman relations encompass a body of knowledge through which workers and management get things through with(p) through each other.Ack Halloran (1978) defines human relation relations as all the interactions that occur among people, whether they are conflicts or cooperative behaviour s. The study of how people in work effectively in groups in order to satisfy both organizational goals and personal Kosson Stan (1978) observes that human relations are concerned with the of the people and their groups. It also learns the what that can be done to anticipate, prevent or resolve conflict among organization membersThe field of human relations is action -oriented emphasizing the analysis presentation and resolution of behavioural problems within organization.Philosophy of Human RelationsDougleas, McGregor (1960) gave the hobby as the basis of Human relations-The loyalty and cooperation of the individual in the organization must be earned, win and described.the individual employee in respect of his status, right, prospects for advancement, and his economic well-being, is inescapably linked with the success of the enterprise by which he is employed.The basic relationship of the individual should not be jeopardized by government or union and management activitiesPersonal policies and practices must be designed implemented in such a manner as to promote and safeguard the rights and well-being of the workers.The organisation stays for the individual and not the individual for their organisationOrganisation must to provide for the economic and social earnest of their employees.The society must be free and ready to safeguard their rights and privilegesSteps Managers Should Take in Maintaining Human RelationsAccording to William Scolt (1962) managers can create a good human relations environment if they do the followingthey should lead as they want to be ledThey should know their personnelthey should be in truth interested in their subordinateThey should be afraid to share responsibilitiesthey should tell their people why thins are to be doneThey should treat subordinates with dignity and respectThey should help the people in performing the tasks assigned to them8. They should praise their people even in public.Human Relations Effectiveness Use of wo rdsThe use of words in human relation is the key to it success. Good words in communication, motivation and leadership is essential in any human relations exercise. Good words can do miracles whereas bad words bad words can pollute the atmosphere.It can also cause enormous pain.Stan, Kossen, (1978) gave the following rulesThe least important word is lThe two most important words is weThe two must important words Thank youThe three most important words if you pleaseThe four most important works What is your opinion?The five most important words you did a good jobThe six most important words ladmit l made a mistakeFrom the foregoing exposition of moral rules in human relations, it can now well be established that the principle of reciprocity will play a big dual-role of keeping strictly to ethical standards on the part of employee and ensuring that their (employee) welfare is not jeopardized by management.Every partly involved (employer/employee) will see themselves as stakeholder tha t must ensure the sustenance of achieving corporate goals.No side will feel a sense of insecurity or unfairly treated.Differently put, common morality will now say Respect begets respects therefrom no party will want to jottion the contractual relationship of ensuring the human success through honesty by employees on the one hand, and treasuring the human resource (employees) by management by seeing to their welfare on the other handRE -ESTABLISHING LONG-TERM BETWEEN ORGANIZATIONS AND EMPLOYEESStep one Re- establish canon and Policies for SustainabilityStep Two Re-establish JusticeStep three Re-establish FairnessStep Four Re-establish Practices of honestyCOMMON MORALITY1. Dignity* Apologize for immorality check up on* Extend personal ..2. Honesty* Stop the spiral of denials* Implement full and immediate disclosure* Facilitate admittance and respond openly to all queries3 Fairness* Ensure compensation is commensurate with loss* Accelerate reconciliation to serve as many as possib le, and as quickly as executableEncode and practice lessons to benefit future transactions4. Sustainability* Use the humiliation of this experience to lead a worldwide effort to standardize global practices5. Auditing* get formal framework for monitoring ethical orientation* Report ethical progress alongside financial progress* Organize think tank ethical group to supervise compliance6 Updating* Begin planning for ethical mandate beyond resolution of the Holocust issue* Report progress and plans to the world community, employees and industry association.All of us can give many example of ethical rules. Some which readily come to mind are One should not tell lies, One should keep ones promises one should respect ones parents, One should help people in distress etc.Many ethical rules are contentious at least to some extent. Thus, for example, while a large majority of people would agree that in most situation, one should not tell lies, there is far less agreement if one proceeds to ask whether exception is to this rule are allowed in some more or less extreme cases.Assume for instance that a mad man carrying cutlass in his hand, asked you whether your sister is in the house. You sanely fear that he wants to attack her. Your sister is actually in the house. Does the rule that you should not lie cover this situation?When the proper scope and meaning of an ethical rule is called into question, one should refer it to the more ultimate principle and purpose that justify the rule. Thus for example, in the case of the mad man with cutlass, one could reason that one should fell no lie, because (i) telling lies is a way of harming the people one deceive and (ii), it tends to undermine mutual trust among people. If that were the complete justification of the rule against telling lie, which is not the case), it could follow that the rule did not apply in this case. By telling the madman that your sister is not at home, you would not be harming him in any way. One the co ntrary, you would be preventing him from doing him from doing something that, once he recovers his sanity, he would greatly regret harming alone, nor would you be undermining trust among people by acting in this way.According to Elegido (1996) the following constitute a reasonably complete list of independent and ultimate principle of business ethics.Principle of Solidarity We must be concerned with promoting the well being of all human beings, not only our own. In so far as we fail to do so, we undermine our own fulfillment.Principle of Rationality One should always strive to act intelligentlyPrinciple of Fairness or Impartiality One should apply the same standards in judging ones own actions, those who are dear to one, and those of strangersPrinciple of expertness In trying to promote human fulfillment good intentions are not enough one must endeavour to use effective means.Principle of Refrain from willing harm to a human being One should never choose directly to harm a human be ing.Principle of Role Responsibility One does not have responsibility for all the aspects of the well-being of all human beings. Ones special circumstance, roles and commitments give one a priority responsibility for certain aspect of the well being of certain people.ETHICS AND SITUATIONAL FACTIRS IN ETHICAL BEHAVIOURS IN BUSINESSAs noted by Gary Edward, President of the Ethics Resource Centre in the U.S, two-thirds of companies seeking ethical programmes came off the front page as a result of serious wrong-doing. This suggests that ethic are largely a tactical response to a serious problem, rather than a strategic commitment to a more enduring opportunity and obligation. From this perspective, most ethical initiatives aim to avoid repeating the mistakes that caused that particular crisis.The Federal Government established various agencies to curb a series of unethical practices in our national life. These include ICPC and EFCC Acts and the rest of it. The aim of these agencies amon g other reasons include overhauling the national and national image of Nigerians both at home and abroad.But this ethical renewal is one situation where the rifle short or fire brigade approach is clearly not enough. Codes and procedures, targeted to an impropriety may highlight the specific of the problem, and usually assign blame to one individual or a group of people, but without addressing the wider cultural competitive and personal factors that contribute to it. The Nigerian society is originally poverty-driven. Probably because of our low applied science/agrarian nature or because of our leadership problem and/or total depending on oil, 90% of the national wealth us being controlled by less than 10% of our people. We operate crude capitalism in which the rich is getting richer and the poor, getting poorer. There is highly level insecurity felt by both the private and public sector workers especially about what tomorrow has in stock for them. It is everybody to himself, God fo r us all who ever is slow, may the chafe take him.In such circumstance, individual is desperately looking for the opportunity to grab and secure his tomorrow and that of his family.Therefore, a feel of patriotism or national consciousness is secondary in the minds of most Nigerians.Unfortunately or incidentally, we worship those who have been privileged to occupy the seat of power, not minding the fact that these people amassed their wealth by crucked means. We roll out chieftaincy titles, and national honours for the celebrated thievesAccording to John, Dalta Costa (2000) ethics as a reflex action are never as comprehensive or as motivational as the thinking and commitment applied to ethics as pre-eruption. That so many companies and guiding light corporate bodies and individuals in Nigerian are repeat offenders is directly due to the narrowness of seeing ethics in relation to a one time problem rather than in the context of the national psyche.Companies hire sonant people but do not leave them only to their wits to manage. Organisations waitress strategies to be planted, analyses to precede decisions, and measure, to be put in place to monitor progress and results. Sonant companies, as learning organizations as Shell Petroleum, Mobile Producing to mention a few also invest consistently in training and skills development. An ethical orientation involves the same discipline. In addition to understanding the dynamics, that contributed to an error of ethical judgment, organizations need to explore the keeper tensions and contradictions that may put ethics at risk in future.Just as strategies require a situation analysis, ethics requires a temptation analysis. In other words, any individual or groups of people who are put into positions of responsible accountability must have their red alert threshold tests conducted.Retrogression analysis test or other psycho-analytical tests could be administered on them.Differently put, what moral and legal issues have rais ed ethical concerns in the past? How are these changing and testing the behaviour of the business organisation and its individual employees? What are new pressure points created by changes in technology or competition or globalization? How do corporate behaviours and policies influence the perception of those ethical conundrums? The process here is one of scanning the horizon with an ethical perspective, of expecting new confusions and temptations and anticipating risk.Central to the exercise is understanding not only the scope and scale of temptation but to the moral strengths and weakness of the business organisation for withstanding and overcoming them. This may involve and audit of past ethical performance an analysis of transgressions or an evaluation of the ethical concerns of the employees.The internent, as an example provides much more intimate access to customers, but it also . new issues of privacy and respect.So, in using this new medium, are the companys ethical skills m aturing in concert with its, technical competence? How well equipped is the company for dealing constructively with new temptation afforded by the new technology?According to Dalla Costa, (2002) a strategic assessment sets the course for what must be done. An ethical assessment investigates the how. As we have learned from total quality and other programmes of corporate renewal, the what and how can no longer be separated.THE CONCEPT OF social RESPONSIBILITYPeople often speak of the responsibilities of the firm of the firm or in a more common phrase, the social responsibility of companiesThese expressions are often used very loosely and are given different meanings be different speakers. Some people assert that business organizations have responsibilities which go beyond making profits.Often, what they have in mind is that it is proper for companies to support worthy community initiatives like universities, museums, hospitals, to reduce a minimum pollution going voluntarily beyond the standard, set by the law.To employ the physically handicapped to refuse to invest in certain places (e.g apartheid south Africa) in order to hasten desirable political objectives and generally to use their activities in a way which is not calculated to maximize their profits but which will contribute to the common goal/good of the communities in which they operate. Other people reject outright the above position and argue that the only responsibilities of a business company are to ensue the law and make profits for its shareholders.Still other think that companies can legitimately concern themselves with some of the causes listed above but not with others. It is not golden to find ones bearing in this jungle of conflicting opinions. It is often said that it is the duty of a companys managers to maximize their companys profits.Now whether or not managers have such duty will be a debatable topic.Fundamentally, maximising profit does not just mean making an effort to generate g reater profit. It means making every efforts to make profits as large as possible, subordinating literally everything (including loyalty, compassion the environment social welfare and other such considerations) to the increase of profits.According to Elegido, there is no argument or at least, there outght not to be, that profit is externally important for all business organizations but before one agrees that firms ought to maximize their profits, one ought to ask whether one agrees that profit is ultimately the only thing that matters in business and that in case of conflict, every other consideration ought way before it.PROF. FRIENDMANS POSITIONProf. Friedman, the known monetary economist has consistently argued in favour of the thesis that an organistion has only one responsibility maximizing profits for its shareholders while operating within the limits set by the law. He set out his main arguments for this position in a famous and other quoted articles entitled The Social Respo nsibility of Business is to increase its profits.In Friedmans view, it is certainly a responsibility of organizations to respect all the laws which protect the public interest. But going beyond this would amount to having socially responsible executives functioning as redistributors who would take other peoples money and spend it on what these executives themselves defined as the general social interest, as if they were some sort of self appointed tax collectors. It is Friedmans contention that it will be better for everybody if business executives concentrate on maximizing profit for in this way, they will more effectively be led by and invisible hand to promise the good of the society.In fairness to Friedman, it sho