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Ethics and News
Ethics and News
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Ethics and News
Ethics is a philosophical inquiry into the moral language and principles about values. An action is moral when it is liable for approval and power while it is unethical when it is liable for disapproval or wrong or dangerous. It is crucial to clarify what is wrong and right and have a basis for the distinction. Three core areas of ethics are Value Theory, which defines what people consider a good life that people should pursue, Normative Ethics that deals with the function of identifying what is right and wrong and Metaethics dealing with the meaning of virtue. There are various ethical theories which authors use as ethical arguments. An ethical theory is an explanation justifying the basis of what is considered as good, in the theory, and uses the reason to discuss ethical principles. Ethical theories differ by the fact that they propose various parameters that people use in making moral judgments. The parameters are; motive for doing something, the act itself and the result of the action committed.Homosexuality or same sex relationships are believed to be present in all cultures in history. In the past, it was practiced in secret but now; proponents of homosexuality have come out in the open to helping their cause. Homosexuality is a controversial and ethical issue which has been making headlines of late. The New York Times reported that a man attacked a gay couple on a subway platform yelling anti-gay slurs and punching one of the men in the face “(Man in subway is injured in an anti-gay attack, 2014).” This incident shows that although homosexuality is gaining public and legal support, there are those who still cannot condone the practice and condemn it outright. The country of Uganda passed Anti-Homosexuality Act, 2014 last February and drew the wrath of proponents of homosexuality. People condemned the President of Uganda for passing the Anti -Gay law, and the Targeted News Service reported that United States Sanctioned Uganda in response to Anti-Homosexuality Act “(United States Sanctions Uganda in Response to Anti-Homosexuality Act., 2014).”
Religion is a supernatural belief that affects the life of a believer. There are different religions of Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Christianity among others. Each religion has its code of ethics (Sohn, 2012).
In ethics, the concept of God brings about the question of good and evil. In Christianity, God spells out righteous, and sins act as well as the consequences of the wrong doings. The Bible is the basis on which Christians make decisions. To the Christian, evil is allowed because God gave man free will. Man can thus choose to do good or evil and evil is the price man pays for having a free will. This creates a choice situation between good and evil and man, therefore, has the freedom to choose one over the other. God’s condemns homosexuality that is explicit in the Bible and calls it an abomination. On this basis, Christians oppose and do not condone homosexuality.
Ethical Egoism theory states that an action is right when its results help the person and that one ought to do only that which benefits them as an individual (Williams, 2011). Proponents of homosexuality subscribe to ethical egoism as the results of their practices help them as individuals. According to Socrates, the truth lies within each one of us and that no one intentionally does evil (Chaffee, 2011). Proponents of homosexuality are thus convinced that the practice is for the good of those who practice it and makes them happy.
Although many people do not accept homosexuality, it is real and touches on lives of families. In countries where the practice is prohibited like Uganda, homosexuals are forced to relocate to other countries or carry out their practices underground. It will remain an ethical issue for a long time as both proponents and opponents will not change their stands because of their convictions.
References
Chaffee, J. (2011). The Philosopher’s Way: A Text with Readings: Thinking Critically about Profound Ideas (3rd ed.).Boston, MA: Prentice Hall
Schwirtz, M. (2014, Mar 07). Man in Subway is Injured in Antigay Attack, Police say. New York Times Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview
Sohn, M. (2012). The Good of Recognition: Phenomenology, Ethics, and Religion in the Thought of Levinas and Ricoeur. The University of Chicago
United States Sanctions Uganda in Response to Anti-Homosexuality Act. (2014, Mar 24). Targeted News Service Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview
Williams, B. (2011). Ethics and the Limits of Philosophy. Taylor & Francis.
Ethics and Diversity Proposal
Ethics and Diversity Proposal
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Institutional Affiliation
Ethics and Diversity Proposal
Introduction
Prosperity of any company depends on how interactions and considerations laid within influence the operation and the ultimate goal of the company. In essence, a workplace that condones non-discrimination and equity, which are worthy ethical issues, allows a balanced representation of all people as entrenched in business ethics. In addition, a successful business must embrace diversity aspects such as gender and religion. Therefore, Polo Ralph Lauren Company ought to take into account ethical and diversity issues within the company and outside, particularly during the recruitment, remuneration, promotions, and their relationship with the customers.Problem Statement In many companies, decisions are on made by the managers while excluding the employees, which results to internal conflicts and disregard to worker’s viewpoints. Moreover, discrimination in recruitments, payments, and promotions demoralize employees and weaken their enthusiasm. Therefore, to build morale and observe employees’ occupational rights, Polo Ralph Lauren Company should embrace what most companies don’t, observing ethics and diversity in all operations or actions.Literature ReviewConsideration of ethics defines the code of conducts within the workplace and how the company relates to its customers. Further, ethics sets the moral values within the company; for example, all inclusive decision making in Polo Ralph Lauren Company will equally and equitably represent the different viewpoints of both managers and employees. Again, several thoughts, values, and ideas will be consolidated from the many personnel to enhance improvements of service delivery.Also, diversity explores all the avenues of human resource that results to a productive and competent workforce. In particular, during recruitment, no gender or religion should be discriminated so as to create a workforce with all aspects of skills, knowledge, and culture, which gives equal opportunities to all. As a result, employees will have loyalty, trust and again, the company benefits from varied potential and abilities of the workers regardless of gender or age.MethodologyAnalysis of the Company’s performance and productivity and sourcing information on business ethics from academic literature will be used to initiate the relevant changes. Moreover, use of interviews, questionnaire, and complain boxes in all the departments will present employees’ views about ethics and diversity and what need to be implementedObjectives1. To create an all inclusive decision making process.2. To enhance equity and non-discriminatory workplace environment.3. To consider gender and religious diversity during recruitment, remuneration and promotions.RationaleEthical behavior and diversity contribute to significant benefits; for example more employees would want to work in Polo Ralph Lauren; hence the company can hire most talented employees. In addition, the company’s image will attract more customers; thus boosting sales and revenue. Also, the experienced employees will have incentives to stay, therefore, reducing labor turnover; consequently resulting into increased productivity.Recommendations
The Company should treat all the employees with respect, equity and without discrimination regardless of gender or religion.
All decisions made within the company should involve everybody so as to reduce objections and facilitate considerations of divergent viewpoints.
The company should recruit, promote, or remunerate employees without favoritism but, to consider merits and qualifications.ConclusionEthical and diversity consideration involves integration of moral values, legal rights, and inclusivity in all the business operations. Therefore, when implemented, the reputation of Polo Ralph Lauren Company will be acknowledged by employees, suppliers, clients, and shareholders, which ultimately improves sales.
References
Ruddell, L. (2004). Business Ethics – Faith That Works: Leading Your Company to LONG TERM Success. Houston, TX: Halcyon Press.
Ethics 11 both Parts
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Ethics 11 both Parts
Introduction
It can not be disputed that various organizations in the global sphere fail to achieve their maximal potential due to scouring implications of poor ethics. The modern work place environment is characterized by various ethical issues that undermine the executive functioning of the respective organizations. This can be attributed to current heightened sensibilities, strict government regulation and the limited space that the workplace provides.
This paper seeks to describe a practical ethical dilemma in the work place in a bit to underscore the underlying ethical issues that characterize the contemporary work places. Then, it will apply Kidder’s ethical checkpoints in an attempt to resolve the ethical issues that are presented by the case study. Further, it will provide an explicit evaluation of the decision making procedure and outline the lessons that are learnt from the same. Finally, it will respond to the ethics audit questions that would then lead to a reflection of the organization’s status with regard to ethics and provide a way forward that would solve underlying issues in an ethical manner.
Ken has been working for Oducom Company for a period of six years now. Since he joined the company, he has been working diligently and his overall performance has been outstanding. He has helped the company to secure numerous customers and make significant profits. He is in third position in management and the company feels that it should reward him through promotion. However, there are too many employees at the next level and the management finds it tricky to give him the promotion because the employees at the higher level are older than him and have worked for the company for a longer period of time.
Company rules stipulate that promotion would be done on the basis of performance rather than age. Ken’s performance is far much above the performance of his senior employees but as indicated earlier, he can not be promoted on the premise that he is young and has been in the company for a relatively shorter period than his senior employees. The ethical concern in this regard pertains to the contravention of the company rules by the management with regard to employee promotion.
In this regard, the management of the company is morally obligated to enforce the company rules and ensure that justice is upheld at all levels. Before being employed, it is certain that Ken was informed about company rules and regulations. Possibly, he could have decided to work hard because of the knowledge that he would be promoted. Considering the fact that he has contributed significantly to the profits that are made by the company, he would be looking forward to promotion very soon. Although this provision is clearly presented in the rules that are used in governance, the management finds it difficult to enforce them because of the fact that many older employees are in the next grade. The respective older staff and Ken might be unaware of the current dilemma that the management is grappling with.
The future of the company might be at stake if Ken decides to leave because of lack of motivation and reward. On the other hand, it would seem unfair to dismiss the older staff because they have worked with the company for a long period of time. Notably, this case can be classified as justice versus mercy. Ken is denied a chance for promotion because the older employees have assumed top positions. This is despite the fact that t heir contribution to the wellbeing of the company is comparatively lower.
One way that can be employed to resolve this conflict is to use the rule based thinking (Rushworth, 1995). In this regard, company rules and regulation need to be employed in decision making. Thus Ken should be accorded his rightful position as this would even motivate him to produce more output (Abrahams, 1999). Some of the employees at a higher grade need to be demoted or relieved of responsibilities because of their low output. The best option that can be employed in this regard would be to improve Ken’s salary to the level of the next top position in the company without having to change his nominal status of the same. According to Trevino and Nelson (2004), this is an equally viable alternative that can be used to motivate Ken.
This ethical decision making provides an ideal procedure that can be employed in problem resolution. Notably, the final decision has led to motivation of Ken without infringing on the personal worth of the older employees. This procedure provides an opportunity for analysis of alternative options and creation of other viable options. Thus from the procedure, the most important lesson learnt is the need to exercise flexibility during organizational decision making.
Part B:
The organizational leaders exercise a high degree of integrity in leadership and mainstream the same in their various activities. From an ethical point of view, they provide model behavior through maintaining a high level of professional ethics and discipline. Further, employees are encouraged to assume responsibility for their activities at all levels. Junior employees interact with the authorities effectively and asses it moral performance through established feedback programs that maintain anonymity.
The organization also has a formal code of ethics that is widely employed in evaluation of moral performance of the organization. It provides a benchmark for organizational decision making and policy formulation. Whistle blowing is also encouraged although the organization lacks distinct measures of enhancing confidentiality. Further, misconduct punished justly and swiftly at all levels and is based on company rules and regulations. Furthermore, people of integrity are encouraged and promoted accordingly. This is also given utmost attention during recruitment. Generally, organizational leadership upholds a high degree of ethical decision making. However, they are not trained formally and although ethical language is used, it is not taught.
From the analysis of the organization, it can be ascertained that it is ethically sound. However, in order to enhance objectivity with regards to decision making, company leaderships needs to encourage whistle blowing by availing confidentiality. Of great importance however would be to provide formal training to the leaders with respect to ethical decision making. According to Rushworth (1995), this is imperative in enhancing justice and responsibility at all levels.
Reference
Abrahams, J. (1999). Corporate Ethics: Enhancing Company Image. USA: Wiley.
Rushworth, K. (1995). Making Tough Choices. USA: William Morrow.
Trevino, L. & Nelson, K. (2004). Managing Business Ethics. USA: Wiley.