Abstract
Ethical behavior is one of the crucial factors for successful work. However, sometimes conflicts between employers and employees or dilemmas among co-workers are hard to resolve with guaranteed success. For this reason, many corporations organize training for their workers, so that they could learn how to act in different situations with minimum or no damage successfully using communication techniques. The following conflicts for discussion reflect circumstances that can occur in the workplace.
Case #1—The Boss’s Expense Report
In the first case presented the superior requires to fill in the report on the trip without any proof of expenses. However, the consequences are unethical and illegal; moreover, it can have negative consequences for both the leader and worker (Ethics and the Administrative Professional. What would you do?, 2018). As an employee, one is obliged to follow the instructions; otherwise, one risks losing the job (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). The first step in resolving this conflict would be to collect all the information about expanses from the boss, and then call the places he or she visited to find out the amount of money spent, sum it up and see how much is missing. Since setting expectations is an important communicative technique; I would notify the superior about the refusal to participate in such an affair.
Case #2—Lunch Reservations
In the second case, the supervisor asks the employee to make a booking for a dinner with a lady who is not his wife. Work ethics dictates that the private life of one’s superiors and co-workers is irrelevant to the workplace. An employee should not pay attention to personal thoughts and preferences during work time (Einarsenet. al., 2016). It is the responsibility of an employee to follow the instructions; in this case, making a reservation. However, the purpose of booking or the person who is accompanying the boss is not an employee’s business. In this situation, I would not interfere, since it can aggravate my professional relationship with the supervisor.
Case #3—Dinner a la Corporate Card
In the third case a manager from the company I work for invited me to dinner and paid the bill with the corporate card. It is evident that the manager uses his position at the company for personal reasons. It is also ethically wrong to use the company’s money for purposes other than professional ones (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). However, it is possible that the manager left his credit card at home, or mistakenly took the corporate card. Therefore, before making the judgment, one should ask whether the manager uses the card regularly or only this time and make a conclusion based on the answer. Reporting his or her actions would be a good idea, only if I see the tendency to repeat the same situation with others since it can have a negative impact on the relationship among the colleagues.
Case #4—The Confidential Report
In the fourth case, I mistakenly found the information about the company I work for being involved in the scandal. Firstly, I would learn more about the situation by asking the leaders. Since loyalty to the company is one of the main priorities of professional and ethical behavior, it is crucial not to make a judgment based on suspicion (Einarsen et al., 2016). Moreover, developing listening skills is one of the communication techniques for resolving conflict (Einarsen et al., 2016). Therefore, I would try to learn all the aspects of the issue, before making a judgment. If the scandal of the century is the fault of the company, I would then go public and reveal the information I possess. It would be the right decision because other employees must be aware as well. When the company’s leaders make a mistake, it is employees who pay for them. Therefore, it would be unethical to hide the information from my co-workers.
Case #5—Party Marty
In the fifth case, I learn that my co-worker secretly possesses the key from the company’s facility and intends to have a party there. Loyalty to the company does not only mean supporting the leadership but also standing by one’s co-workers (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). However, if some of them make untrustworthy decisions that could have a negative impact on the whole team, it is one’s responsibility to warn them or prevent them from doing something unethical (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). It is important to set clear expectations and make supervisors and colleagues aware of them to achieve better communication (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). In this case, missing a couple of pens and some paper is not critical to a big corporation. However, a party can turn out to be a disaster, because some valuable things in the facility could be broken or stolen; moreover, some of the participants could be injured. It is clear that the boss must know about missing keys. Therefore, I would let the leader know anonymously to ensure everybody’s safety. I understand that Marty can lose his job; however, it would be unethical as well to let other co-workers get into trouble.
Conclusion
In conclusion, ethical behavior requires a complete understanding of the situation in order to make a justified judgment. Whether it is a worker who snitches out stationary or a boss who hides an affair, a worker needs to leave his personal opinion outside of the office and consider only the professional side of the matter. Therefore, in all the cases above, I would learn all the information on the topic and make a judgment based on the information.
References
Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing conflict through communication (5th ed.). Pearson Education, Inc.
Ethics and the Administrative Professional. What would you do? (2018). Web.
Einarsen, S., Skogstad, A., Rørvik, E., Lande, Å. B., & Nielsen, M. B. (2016). Climate for conflict management, exposure to workplace bullying and work engagement: A moderated mediation analysis. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 29(3), 549–570. Web.