The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations Essay

Exclusively available on Available only on IvyPanda® Made by Human No AI

Organizations in the modern world are so concerned with the constant need to improve performance that most of them have little time to work on the moral aspect of their decision making. However, each organization needs some form of standard behavior that all employees need to follow; without it the organization would run in to chaos and output will be hampered.

Ethical conduct therefore is the accepted behaviour within the organization or society at large. Each organization has different policies on ethics; however most of them are similar in nature. For example, coming to work on time is part of the ethical conduct of most organizations.

The ethical culture of an organization can make or break its very foundation. Ethics is from the Greek word “ethos” meaning character or custom. This means that organizations should formulate a code of conduct that will be used in the day to day service to the society.

Administrators view unethical behaviour as a tumor eating away on the fabric of society in many of the modern day organizations. It is observed that, the crisis of conduct is undermining the organizational competitive strength. A study carried out showed that employees accounted for a higher percentage of retail thefts than the customers (Silverstein, 1989).

It also showed that, one in every fifteen employees steals from their employers. This happens because most organizations have left the standards that define organizational behaviour lying n the grey area. How can then administrators promote ethical culture in the organization? First, they should promote ethical consciousness in their organizations. This should have a trickledown effect on the employees in the lowest post.

They should also formulate processes that will be used to back up and strengthen ethical behaviour. Philosophies of the administrators influence the working conditions of the various departments they hold. It is, therefore, important for them to have positive philosophies that will impact the organization and the employees in a positive and productive way.

Managers who behave unethically unlike their ethical philosophies, present a limit to the ethical reasoning of the firm (Nielsen, 1989). This means that, the presence of ethical policies in an organization have less impact on the employees if they are not reinforced by the conduct of the managing officers. The basic management principle states that if you wish to have some behavior or outcome, then you should reinforce it.

In most cases, the administrator will avoid taking responsibility of punishing unethical behaviour for fear of defamation of character by the employees. In addition to this, organizations should take upon themselves to provide ethical education to their employees, stressing on the positivity of having ethics in the work place. This can be achieved by allocating more resources to ethics training program.

In cases where there is an ethics dilemma, employees should use a check-list that resembles the following: identify and clarify the dilemma, get all the possible facts, list options, put options under test to find out if they are legal, right, and beneficial; make decision and double check it, and then take action.

The area of ethical problems has not been fully explored, which is why more research should be done on this. Furthermore organizations should formulate and ensure that their ethical code of conduct is positive and that it encourages or gives them a competitive advantage.

References

Nielsen, R. P. 1989. Changing unethical Organizational Behaviour. Academy of Management Executive 3(2), 123-130.

Silverstein, S. 1989. One in 15 Employees in Study Caught Stealing. Los Angeles Times, p. D1.

More related papers Related Essay Examples
Cite This paper
You're welcome to use this sample in your assignment. Be sure to cite it correctly

Reference

IvyPanda. (2019, May 17). The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ethics-in-organizational-culture-essay/

Work Cited

"The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations." IvyPanda, 17 May 2019, ivypanda.com/essays/ethics-in-organizational-culture-essay/.

References

IvyPanda. (2019) 'The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations'. 17 May.

References

IvyPanda. 2019. "The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations." May 17, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ethics-in-organizational-culture-essay/.

1. IvyPanda. "The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations." May 17, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ethics-in-organizational-culture-essay/.


Bibliography


IvyPanda. "The Ethical Code of Conduct in the Modern Organizations." May 17, 2019. https://ivypanda.com/essays/ethics-in-organizational-culture-essay/.

If, for any reason, you believe that this content should not be published on our website, please request its removal.
Updated:
This academic paper example has been carefully picked, checked and refined by our editorial team.
No AI was involved: only quilified experts contributed.
You are free to use it for the following purposes:
  • To find inspiration for your paper and overcome writer’s block
  • As a source of information (ensure proper referencing)
  • As a template for you assignment
Privacy Settings

IvyPanda uses cookies and similar technologies to enhance your experience, enabling functionalities such as:

  • Basic site functions
  • Ensuring secure, safe transactions
  • Secure account login
  • Remembering account, browser, and regional preferences
  • Remembering privacy and security settings
  • Analyzing site traffic and usage
  • Personalized search, content, and recommendations
  • Displaying relevant, targeted ads on and off IvyPanda

Please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy for detailed information.

Required Cookies & Technologies
Always active

Certain technologies we use are essential for critical functions such as security and site integrity, account authentication, security and privacy preferences, internal site usage and maintenance data, and ensuring the site operates correctly for browsing and transactions.

Site Customization

Cookies and similar technologies are used to enhance your experience by:

  • Remembering general and regional preferences
  • Personalizing content, search, recommendations, and offers

Some functions, such as personalized recommendations, account preferences, or localization, may not work correctly without these technologies. For more details, please refer to IvyPanda's Cookies Policy.

Personalized Advertising

To enable personalized advertising (such as interest-based ads), we may share your data with our marketing and advertising partners using cookies and other technologies. These partners may have their own information collected about you. Turning off the personalized advertising setting won't stop you from seeing IvyPanda ads, but it may make the ads you see less relevant or more repetitive.

Personalized advertising may be considered a "sale" or "sharing" of the information under California and other state privacy laws, and you may have the right to opt out. Turning off personalized advertising allows you to exercise your right to opt out. Learn more in IvyPanda's Cookies Policy and Privacy Policy.

1 / 1