Values And Ethics Of The Workplace Essay

We as business owners, management and or in a role of authority must set, address and comply with a solid foundation of ethics. “A code of conduct is the single most important element of your ethics and compliance program. It sets the tone and direction for the entire function. Often, the code is a standalone document, ideally only a few pages in length. It introduces the concept of ethics and compliance and provides an overview of what you mean when you talk about ethical business conduct.”

“Analytically, a corporation’s code of ethics is the documented, formal, and legal manifestation of that organization’s expectations of ethical behaviors by its employees” (Adelstein & Clegg, 2016, p. 55). The corporate credos and code of conducts provide employees with an understanding of the policies of the organization and the organizational ethical position. For these codes to be effective, all employees of the organization must be aware of them. The visibility of the code of conduct that enables the organization to be judged as ethical.

In an approach to illuminate the values that will guide my viewpoint on moral and ethical leadership, the following text is my personal code of ethics. This document focuses on the beliefs that define who I truly am. Simon, Howe, & Kirschenbaum (1995) state, “Values are those aspects of our lives that are so important and pervasive that they include feelings, thought, and behavior” (pp. 10). Through deep reflection, which challenged me to consider alternatives and allowed me to compare what I believe and how I would act, I have created the following declarations to myself:

The culture of an organization has a bearing on all levels of management, and employees and their behavior in making decisions concerning the organization (Mathis & Jackson, 2011, p. 13 ). In creating a code of ethics, begin by acknowledging actions that may create concerns, contemplate which are considered to be of moral value, such as matters in regard to esteem, objectivity and trustworthiness.

Most organizations implement a code of ethics to establish proper standards and procedures for line managers and employees. Additionally, Dowlen and Festing et al., ‘‘HR professionals have an important role to play in instituting a strategic plan for legal compliance and developing corporate codes voluntary compliance’’ (p. 271). Ideally, a well-written code of ethics will provide guidance and understanding on how staff members should handle certain situations. For example, Lisa Magloff from Chron Business, states that ‘‘The Kraft code of ethics contains just 10 short rules of ethical behavior that all employees must follow. The introduction to the Kraft code of ethics suggests that employees should let values guide their actions

Since the employees look up to their supervisors or leaders, so it is very important for leaders to lead on ethics. Leaders should be a role model to her employees when it comes to ethics. Leaders should also share the ethical standards of a company to her employees, and make sure they all understand those standards.

Ethical leaders embody the purpose, vision, and values of the organization and of the constituents, within an understanding of ethical ideals. They connect the goals of the organization with that of the internal employees and external stakeholders. Leaders work to create an open, two-way conversation, thereby maintaining a charitable understanding of different views, values, and constituents’ opinions. They are open to others’ opinions and ideas because they know those ideas make the organization they are leading better. (Edward & Steward,

Analyzing values-based leadership from a macro-perspective, it is one and the same with business ethics. However it is not an effective strategy to simply decide to act ethically as a business mission. Values-based leadership requires identifying specific values the business is to stand for and enforce, in order to strategize how they will conduct business. After all, if the executive leadership of any company doesn’t define their own values, by whose moral compass are employees to navigate? Their own? Their manager’s? Isn’t ethics open to interpretation from one person to the next? Mandating that every employee base each decision upon a clear and concise corporate values-system, is the only surefire strategy to build and sustain a truly ethical organization.

Values and norms that could encourage internal stakeholders to operate in an ethical manner, is the installation of positive values, and the discouraging of negative influences that could adversely affect conduct. Values are what shape everyone, some have a strong moral compass, while others don’t see anything wrong with delving into the grey areas. Roy Disney said “It's not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” (Roy Disney)

Morals, Ethics and Law in a Code of Ethics A code of ethics that may be also called an ethical code or a code of conduct is an inherent element of the company culture. The membership in the company commits members to comply with the standards of the code of ethics and the rules and procedures used to enforce them. Thus, a well-structured and planned ethical code establishes trust and honesty, guides a decision-making process and advises employees’ commitment to the code. It might not be argued that every code of ethics is unique and reflects the spirit, values and business style of the company. Some codes are short comprising only general rules, while the other ones are large manuals covering a variety of situations.

Ethics in business is defined as the principles to distinguish right from wrong and to choose ethical actions. It is the standard governance to all concerned to practice mutual respect and to establish morality in order for the entire organization to benefit. This leads to the development of code conduct that must be followed by the organization. It is highly important that the top senior management and leaders must set the standard attitudes and behavior in the entire organization to press ethical concerns. Because of the consequences of ethics in different organizations, senior leadership’s responsibility is to provide ethics because of their authority and responsibility; this has evolved significantly as a primary influence to change (Ciulla, 2004).

how we interact with others but is also in the daily choices we make. Do

Introduction: Having been chosen as a new leader in our organization, you have already demonstrated your abilities and expertise to guide and enhance the successful outcomes of a business. Leadership behavior is not only based on knowledge and expertise, it is an expectation that leaders understand the vision and core values that guide moral and ethical leadership at all times. Although morals and ethics are synonymous for the most part, the terms are distinguishable. Simply put, ethics is determinant of acceptable guidelines for behavior of a group or organization while morals exude individual beliefs of right and wrong derived from personal values (DuBrin, 2010).

How do ethical values shape behavior in organizations? According to Saleem (2014), ethical values and behaviors of an organization are made up of organizations institutionalized philosophies along with the moral ideologies of its members. In addition, the codes of ethics help to enhance the moral reasoning of employees while shaping their behaviors towards morally questioning unethical situations. Organizational leaders are encouraged to build cultures of trust with leadership who establish concerning goals employees pursue y setting examples for others to follow (Crosbie, 2008). The leaders whom are able to build training and development throughout their organization helps design and build relationships characterized by collaborative behaviors those results in mutually beneficial outcomes (Crosbie, 2008).

I will examine the importance of personal ethics in leadership and how ethics produce effective leaders in organizations today. The importance of understanding ethics, motivation to act as a role model and developing a plan of action for an organization are discussed because of their importance regarding development of good leadership. These key points suggest personal ethics positively affect leadership and when made a priority for leaders will produce ethical and effective leadership. With so many definitions of leadership, the question evolved from “what is the definition of leadership?” to “what is good leadership” (Ciulla, 2004, p. 13). To develop a system of values one must compile a list of the most important instrumental values and terminal values. These lists are unique to every individual because they are determined by personal importance. Instrumental values, such as honest, helpful, ambitious, responsible, etc. should reinforce terminal values. Once a leader’s means are consistent with desired goals, their value system is unified and they have climbed the staircase from the lobby to the first level of values. The climb from the first floor to the second floor results in a person incorporating principles into their newly developed values. Although values act as the bedrock of ethics, principles are required because alone, “values are far too vague to have much meaning in ethical analysis” (Cooper, 1998, p. 12). Morals are ideals that help us decipher between right