Business Ethical Dilemmas and Stakeholders

let's be honest even the most honest truthful and ethical person will find him or herself in the midst of a full-blown ethical crisis at some time in his or her career it is an unfortunate yet inevitable event from which no one escapes although you can't hide from ethical dilemmas you can do something to prepare yourself the first step is to become aware and equip yourself with knowledge and skills so you'll be ready to handle whatever comes your way so let's start with the question what is ethics well ethics are the basic moral ground rules by which we live our lives we all have either we have good ethics or bad ethics you can't be devoid of it of course you can have really really bad ethics but that in itself is a form of ethics it all has to do with our conscience our conscience that more of self awareness of our behavior that tells us when something is right or wrong the question is what do we do with it especially in the workplace well despite your level of good ethics you come to work and your employer has certain specific expectations of you such as playing by the rules obeying the law being honest in your behavior and speech to look out for the company's best interest and to show respect for property and people these are the basic ethical expectations of your employer so where do workplace ethical dilemmas come from understand that ethical dilemmas are everywhere the workplace provides no shortage of ethical dilemmas to test your ethical decision-making skills they lie in the way you deliver service or respond to crises how you react to the policies and practices of your company the choices you make personally and in team situations how you fulfill your obligations to co-workers and customers how you present your company and its products to customers and shareholders how you deal with outside agencies contractors and vendors remember that everyone is watching your ethics are always on display to others be aware and careful of how others perceive your actions of course ethical dilemmas come in all shapes and sizes some ethical dilemmas are issues of consciousness while others come from outside your sphere of influence whatever kind of ethical dilemma is each one has its own twist and strategy for getting through it first there are issues of conscience such as should I call in sick or go to the beach should I use the photocopy machine or my personal project should I use my computer laptop or my second job can i pocket a little extra cash by pledging the travel expense report that no one seems to notice of course some of these issues have few stakeholders and others that many stakeholders such as should I keep quiet about an unnoticeable but costly manufacturing mistake when everyone else seems to ignore inflated sales and financial numbers do you report it will just go with the flow do I report harassing or intimidating behavior of Supervisors or others that can make trouble for me for all these ethical dilemmas there is usually a right and wrong answer an ethical option and an unethical option it may not be so easy because we have strong needs and feelings as well as the ability to rationalize and make excuses to get what we want but you do have freedom of choice to make the wrong or right decision and you are obligated as a functioning member of society to make the honest choice for some of the consequences this is why we have lost police and jails we choose to obey and play by the rules or face punishment it's our conscience and our choice [Music] the other kind of ethical dilemma comes from outside your sphere of influence you didn't ask for them and you've done little if anything to encourage them examples might be my boss is making lewd sexual remarks in advances I work with someone who can't tell the truth our top management is corrupt and arrogant a customer's always asking for special favors I am pressured to cover up for the mismanagement of my supervisor I am being isolated and discriminated against for my views for these kinds of ethical dilemmas you need strategy and a system to help your ingenuity experience and character may get you so far but what you need are strategies that you can pull from your arsenal regardless of whether you're dealing with issues of conscience or with issues outside your sphere of influence you need to consider the stakeholders stakeholders are all the people and parties who have some connections to your problem or situation you may not think about the stakeholders who are connected to your ethical decisions because it's so easy to think only about yourself interests and survival in an ethical crisis but you are not alone your decisions oftentimes have consequences and stakeholders far beyond what you initially considered so who are the stakeholders well there are the receivers these are the people who are on the receiving end of your ethical decisions third parties these are individuals groups departments and even communities that are affected by our decisions the workplace environment and culture because ethical decisions don't happen and can have a profound impact on everyone and of course you physically emotionally and spiritually remember your career reputation family safety and security are at stake it is sobering to think about all the stakeholders who are affected by your ethical decisions you may not have intentionally intended to hurt anyone else or drag them into a crisis but you did don't just assume that your decisions will have no consequences beyond your tiny world think about all the stakeholders before you act not just how the consequences affect you

Channel: Global Ethics Solutions

Views: 177,160

Keywords: ethics, business ethics, ethics in business, ethical decision-making, business, employee ethics, ethics training, employee training, integrity, global ethics solutions, ethical dilemmas, ethics in the workplace, ethical decision making, ethical dilemma scenarios in the workplace, ethical dilemma scenario in business, ethical dilemma scenarios, ethical dilemma meaning, ethical dilemma

Id: ahH_P_5yVSo

Length: 6min 30sec (390 seconds)

Published: Sun Nov 17 2019