Do you agree with personal vs. business ethics distinction?
Yes, I do agree with the distinction between the two terms. Personal ethics can get defined as the morals and values held by an individual. These are ethics in the sense that they define what individual views as right or wrong. Values vary from individual to individual and from culture to culture. The reason for these differences is that different cultures have diverse worldviews and live in different environments that require varied forms of thinking and doing things.
Individuals belong to one culture or another and for this reason; personal ethics is greatly influenced by someone’s culture. From a tender age, certain values get passed on to children by parents, friends and the community. They might include morals such as honesty, caring, and kindness. As a children grow up, these values get incorporated into their lives and become part of their conscience. Without personal ethics, humans would indeed be shallow and incomplete.
Professional or business ethics, on the other hand, include those values and regulations that people learn through becoming part of an organization. Unlike personal ethics, members of the organization must adhere to these values regardless of whether they agree with them or not. Business ethics are universal in nature and do not have many variations from one organization to another. They are more like accepted standards of practice.
The most common ethical values in business settings are punctuality, time management, transparency, and confidentiality. With personal ethics, an individual has a choice whether to follow or not, but failure to comply with professional ethics might harm a person’s professional reputation. Furthermore, the act might lead to dire consequences such as the loss of a profession. When people adhere to personal ethics, they satisfy their personal needs whereas adherence to professional standards satisfies their personal and professional needs (Hazard, 2002).
Do personal and business ethics overlap?
Before answering this question, it is important to carry out an analysis of the interrelationship between the two types of values. Professional ethics arise when individuals from different professions come together to achieve a common cause. However, their goals can only get met when there is teamwork and excellent cooperation amongst each other. To achieve this condition, the team must come up with a code of conduct and procedural guidelines to keep them on track.
As the professional team formulates the ethical values they want to follow in the workplace; they will first examine each of their personal values. In the process, they will come to a conclusion that there are certain values that though personal, are universally acceptable. Such values include, but not limited to honesty, integrity, respect, and diligence. In that sense, we notice that personal values form the basis of professional ethics. There is no way that professional values can arise on their own without the incorporation of personal ethics. Professionals are humans. Therefore they have their own beliefs. In fact, it is right to say professional standards are just but a conglomeration of different personal values modified to become acceptable to all professionals (Durkheim, 2013).
There comes a time when professional standards might clash with one's personal views and beliefs. For example, if an employer instructs an employee to undertake an activity deemed acceptable by rules of business ethics, but the employee finds it wrong, it might influence the way he or she acts in response. Another case where the two concepts overlap is whereby almost everyone believes stealing is wrong whether in a professional or a personal setting. But in a situation where a poor man steals food to keep him alive, some people might cut him some slack. They will claim that the act was one of desperation. However, if a business resorts to stealing for the sake of keeping afloat, most people would heavily revile the company. Both people in general and the law enforcement consider it a heinous crime.
Should personal ethics play a role in the ethical business decision?
This question is rather complicated. First, the appropriateness of the personal choice gets largely determined by the individual values of the decision maker. As aforementioned, values differ from one person to another. If a person decides to make a decision based on personal views but the majority of the workmates disagree with the individual view, then problems are bound to arise. Or still, if the individualist view conflicts with the rules of the organization's ethical values them even bigger conflicts can occur. In this case, use of personal ethics that conflicts with an organization's moral values or values of the majority proves retrogressive.
Internal disagreements are among the biggest setbacks that a company can get. The reason is that when there is discord among members of an organization, petite to no progress can continue. This condition thus hampers the company's ability to achieve its goals. Not to say that personal ethics should not play a role in ethical business decisions. But rather, individuals should first analyze their views before they integrate them into the professional environment. A well thought out personal value can go a long way in making the right business ethics decision.
Certain personal values overlap with ethical values. Such include honesty, integrity, and diligence. Therefore, if the situation calls for any of these values, an individual should not hesitate to make a judgment. Taking a closer look at this scenario, we find that personal values can indeed act as guidelines that assist us in making sound professional judgments. In fact, when personal values are in tandem with the professional values of an organization, they can greatly enhance the success of both the individual and the institution (Singhapakdi & Vitell, 2003).
References
Durkheim, E. (2013). Professional ethics and civic morals. Routledge.
Hazard Jr, G. C. (2002). Personal Values and Professional Ethics. Clev. St. L. Rev., 40, 133.
Singhapakdi, A., & Vitell, S. J. (2003). Personal and professional values underlying the ethical judgments of marketers. Journal of Business Ethics, 12(7), 525-533.
