Introduction
Ethics is the principal moral conduct, which addresses issues that individuals perceive to infringe their rights. Ethics tries to define and guide us how we should live in our society in harmony. It also tries to analyze the impacts of one’s behavior to others, and its social consequences in the long-run. In addition, it compares what is moral in one society and what is not in another society. This is because our societies are divergent, and what is accepted as moral in one society can be regarded as very immoral in another society. A good example is selling of alcohol. In the secular society, it is an accepted form of income to the business owners, but in Christian society, this is very wrong, since it contributes to people committing sins.
Ethics seeks to answer questions, which deal with the correct concept of humanity like good from evil, right from wrong, and delivering the right justice to the deserving party. Ethics is making the appropriate decisions based on our common sense. It asks an individual before doing something to think critically the consequences of the action to others and one’s self. A person should not harm or cause injuries both physical and mental to another person intentionally unless it is a case of self-defense. Ethics engagement makes one to be concerned about the welfare of the society consciously an unconsciously (Fisher & Phillips, 2001). Additionally, ethics makes one to be responsible and live a morally upright life respecting the norms of the community.
Furthermore, ethics gives an individual the courage of addressing crucial matters, which are in the public domain and are nuisance to the point of breaking social fabric. Examples of these crucial matters include corruption, nepotism, prostitution, wars, immorality, bad governance, draconian laws passed by ruthless politicians, hate speech, poor sanitation, and high taxes or misappropriation of public funds. In addition, ethics helps one to become a better person, make the right decisions, live in harmony within the law with others, and learn to appreciate what the nature has provided for the mankind and protecting it for the betterment of all humans (Jennings, 2009).
Ethics initiates some sense of political fairness and thirst to build a good business environment for all (Elearn Limited, 2009). It is worth mentioning it gives one the capacity to reason rationally, evaluate political endeavors, and make an informed conclusion. It instills discipline and democracy in business. It makes one to have a strong self awareness and his/her ability to work with others in the business. It advocates for one to think critically before doing something, which might affect others.
As a worker, I do not believe that I broke any law since I did not harm the supervisor myself physically. My inaction of not reporting the bad state of the stairs to the authority cannot be proven, and it was not my responsibility to check the safety conditions of the various facilities of the company. However, I think I broke the good ethics conduct of the office. It was unethical of me not reporting the deteriorating states of the flight of the stairs. I also acted unprofessionally because I did not follow the bargaining process to get a promotion at the work place.
Workers union exist to support the rule of law and make sure all the workers are getting what they deserve and act professional no matter how good they are or how much influence they have at the work place (Newton, 2005). These unions make sure that ethical standards are observed to create an environment, which is honest, and everyone has an equal chance to promotion and compete for opportunities available so that all the workers can work peacefully and witness their dreams. Business ethics promotes good morals and uncorrupted minds.
As the owner of the company, to avoid the repeat of the incident, I will offer a wide range of benefits to my employees so that they can know that the organization recognizes and appreciates their efforts. One of the main rewards to offer is cash bonuses or just a congratulations card to the individual employees who have shown exemplary behavior, high ethical standards and good performances, which bring value to the companies. I will advise my employees to be responsible and often provide information about the nature of their working environment. In addition, I will advise them the importance of reporting their concerns to the complaints desk so that the management can address them.
In the public domain, it is common knowledge that recognition not only improves the employee perception about work but also helps to relieve stress, which they face in their day-to-day work. When we are experiencing hard situations and challenges in life, we need something we can involve ourselves in or be proud of, for instance, thank -you note from the manager can do wonders to employees since they know their contribution is recognized. Every individual effort should be recognized and appreciated. The biggest reward an employee can be given is recognition. For this reason, as the owner of the company, I will encourage the supervisor to recognize the efforts made by all the employees for them to feel that they are part of the organization. This will make them develop a habit of forwarding their concerns.
In addition, I will provide guidelines on how an individual should be promoted, and put in place good work structure levels that can be occupied by individual based on experience, age or skills that one possess. No one will be allowed to work for one station for more than three years. The workers will be rotated or promoted to reduce dormancy and compliancy. There should be centers for raising complaints where workers can complain if they are not treated fairly by the supervisor. I will ensure that the organization provides a conducive environment where workers can work as a team or groups. This will make workers to share their problems and success with others so that they do not feel isolated. This will allow the supervisor and junior workers to interact, share ideas and work together. It will also push employees to show the will and commitment to go beyond the boundaries of his/her responsibilities in performing his/her duties to the benefits of a company and all the workers since they are a team.
I think my inactions warrant disciplinary actions, because by not reporting the nature of the staircase to the supervisor, I acted unethically. All the employees must be accountable for their actions and places of work. They should take care of their work premises and stop blaming other for not doing their work or act unaware of what is happening around them. It is important for the workers to be responsible for others or report and danger to the authorities. Any negligence should not be tolerated. A worker’s inaction can cause him/her to lose a job.
The organization on its part should offer professional counseling and advice on other matters apart from health to its employees. This help will help workers to deal with psychological problems and stress at work. This will prevent workers from thinking evil deeds upon other employees or the company in general. Ethics and rule of law give workers at work place a chance to engage productively with each other (Cross, Miller, & Cross, 2009). The organization and the worker in general need to teach each other about ethics and rule of law not only how to obey but how to live a good and honest life so that they can take care of themselves and others in general. This is a challenge to workers since the work of making sure ethical conduct is not violated cannot be left on the workers union heads and management of the organization. It is a collective responsibility.
References
Cross, F. B., Miller, R. L. R., & Cross, F. B. (2009). The legal environment of business: Text and cases: ethical, regulatory, global, and e-commerce issues. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Elearn Limited (Great Britain). (2009). Business environment. Amsterdam: Elsevier/Pergamon Flexible Learning.
Fisher, B. D., & Phillips, M. J. (2001). The legal, ethical, and regulatory environment of business. Cincinnati, Ohio: West Legal Studies in Business.
Jennings, M. (2009). Business: Its legal, ethical, and global environment. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.
Newton, L. H. (2005). Business ethics and the natural environment. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
