Ethical Businesses Have a Greater Probability

Undoubtedly some of your stakeholders are being negatively Impacted by your dealings. If this is true then you will not receive the best possible performance from whoever is feeling the effects of the unethical behavior. This must affect your overall profits In some way, shape or form. "Leading firms In a range of fields, including energy, banking, auditing and investment have been assessed huge fines for unethical dealings. Executives have been Jailed. (Holland, 2011) Unethical is defined by Argosy University as; "not conforming to approved standards of social or professional behavior; "unethical business practices"" In a large reparation such as suggested above, when you do not adhere to ethical practices, someone will know. There will be tons of attention on your business simply due to its size and scope. When this happens it can be like a snowball effect and before you know it, sales, community support and stock prices can plummet It Is hard to run a profitable business when you have to deal with negative and potentially global scrutiny.

Let's take for instance Enron. This was a huge corporation that was highly respected around the world but after what is now known as "The ENRON Scandal is unconsidered to be one of the most notorious within American history" (Finance Laws. Com, 2002), they no longer exist. "Due to the actions of the ENRON executives, the ENRON Company went bankrupt. The loss sustained by investors exceeded $70 billion.

Furthermore, these actions cost both trustees and employees upwards of $2 billion; this total is considered to be a result of misappropriated investments, pension funds, stock options, and savings plans ? as a result of the government regulation and the limited liability status of the ENRON Corporation, only a small amount of the money lost was ever returned. (Finance Laws. Com, 2002) Tens of thousands of people lost their investments, retirement funds and their trust in corporate America. If this Is not proof positive that unethical behavior will eventually fall short in the profit department, I do not know what is. OFFS take a firm stand on ethics" (Choctaws 1990, 50). " Source: http://www. Livableness. Com/ human-resources/employee-development-employee-ethics/ 401975-1 . HTML#tizzy embower Now let's talk ethical profit. There are thousands of companies out there that operate solely based on ethical practices. I could not possibly list all of them, however one in reticular comes to mind; Google, Inc. Here is a company that believes in the exceptional treatment of its employees. They firmly believe that thru the good and fair treatment of their stakeholders, they can enjoy and share their profits and ensure sustainability for the future.

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Google has been operating under the "Ten things we know to be true" philosophy and so far so good. After reading them I thought two really applied here; "#1 : Focus on the user and all else will follow. This shows a true concern for the reason it all got started; to provide a service to people who want an easier way to find things. The great part is they remain focused on that today even though money and profits come from ads and sponsors. "we take great care to ensure that they will ultimately serve you, rather than our own internal goal or bottom line. (Google. Com, 2009) This is a main, yet small part of their ethical business practices. My favorite one is number 6, it really goes in line with what we are discussing here; "#6: You can make money without doing evil. " (Google. Com, 2009) This goes on to include subheadings showing a concern, not only for their advertisers and sponsors, but also for the end user. "We don't allow ads to be displayed on our results pages unless they are relevant where they are shown. " * We believe that advertising can be effective without being flashy.

We don't accept pop-up advertising, which interferes with your ability to see the content you've requested. * Advertising on Google is always clearly identified as a "Sponsored Link," so it does not compromise the integrity of our search results. We never manipulate rankings to put our partners higher in our search results and no one can buy better Page Rank. Our users trust our objectivity and no short-term gain could ever Justify breaching that rust. (Google. Com, 2009) What a great focus... This company has set the bar for others to follow.

They were nearly an overnight success that managed to stay tuned to what got them there and also know how to treat their employees by allowing them to share in their success. The company now has a Market cap of $197 Billion, trading over 325 Million shares at more than $600 a share! Opinion What we are talking about here is not only a matter of what we do but also how we do it and why we do it. Should we always do the right thing Just because it is right? Well, yes. "Honesty is the best policy. I know, I've tried it both ways. " Richard W. Sears (Sun, Douglas. "Sears, Roebuck and Co. " in International Directory of Company Histories, Volvo. , 1992, Detroit: SST. James Press, p. 180. )" (Michael J. Booker, 1997) Moreover, I believe we should do the right things because we are always being people for guidance. Maybe it's because they don't want to read a set of rules that they won't understand or maybe they are Just lazy. Whatever the reason, it is true that people tend to follow the lead of others. "In practical terms, this means that most dulls are looking outside themselves for guidance in ethical dilemma situations, either to significant others in the relevant environment (e. G. , peers, leaders) or to society's rules and laws.

It also means that most people need to be led when it comes to ethics. " (Brown, 2004) Back when I was Just a child I learned that if you did the wrong things you would get caught... Maybe not right away but you would nonetheless. I think I was around 8 or 10 years old and we used to go into this local "Mom/Pops" grocery store that was owned & operated by a really elderly man named Tommy. He couldn't hear or see very well and as an immature young boy with no money might do, I used to steal "penny fish" (which back then actually did cost a penny), chewing gum and other assorted candies.

I always felt bad about it but never bad enough to stop until the time I got caught. I don't remember all the details but I do remember that I had to work for him doing odd Jobs cleaning and such. A little later in life I felt the pain that old Tommy must have felt when I came downstairs one morning heading out to my car to go to work and saw the door to my car wide open. Of course I had locked it but sure enough there it was wide open. When I looked inside I found that someone had stolen my prized pool cue, my newly acquired hi-powered stereo and a small amount of money that was left in the car.

I had a strong, sick feeling in my gut that I will never forget. That was the day I knew that I would never cheat, steal or hurt someone Just to get money. I had worked hard to buy that pool cue and stereo equipment and someone stole that from me, Just the way I had done to poor old Tommy. "Ethical decisions are heavily dependent on the complex interplay of the individual aloes of top level management and have little to do with personal values. The small business owner/manager does not have the same constraints or guidance and can employ personal values to a much greater degree. Source: http:// www. Livableness. Com/human-resources/employee-development-employee-ethics/ 401975-1 . HTML#tizzy arranging Although the above quote may be true, I took a look at companies that people/ employees love and what I found affirms my beliefs about ethical behavior being profitable even in the big leagues. There was a list of the Top-25 companies to work or and what they all had in common was a sound ethics based philosophy, good employee relations and strong community support. Oddly enough, these businesses were all Fortune 500 companies... Mm; maybe they are on to something huh? At #7 in the rankings was Colgate-Palmolive who employs more than 40,000 personnel, has a market value of $40 Billion and a 97% CEO approval rating. (Fortune Magazine, 2011) At #6 Southern Company is a great place to start a career with many learning opportunities, employs 26,000 personnel, is valued at more than $57 Billion and favorite company, Google whom we discussed earlier in this debate. Conclusion "According to Erosion's theory of psychosocial development, the final stage of individual development is called "Integrity" (Wolff, 1995, p. 6)" (Sergeant, 2007) Not only is this statement true but it also happens to be the Air Force's first Core Value... "Linearity First". This is followed by; "Service before Self" and "Excellence in all We do". These three Core Values have been the mainstay in my life for the last 20 years. Without them I am not sure where I would be today. The Air Force values and the values/beliefs instilled in me by my parents are the only thing I know and they eave led me down a road that I am very proud of. I sincerely plan to live my life continuing on with these beliefs because I know they are both morally and ethically sound.

I have seen many different values, beliefs and moral subsets in my 20 years with probably thousands of people displaying them. Each person is unique in how they think and act, however the ones who have performed the highest have always led their lives thru good ethical conduct. Very recently, I was helping one of my troops move into a new apartment when I discovered a few items with Air Force markings on them... Thing really, Just a couple of broken drop lights. When I questioned the troop about these items he said they were in the garbage so he took them to see if he could fix them.

Although a little leery of the reply, I figured it was Just trash. As we continued packing I couldn't shake the feeling that it Just wasn't right or that there was more to the story. Before I was ready to re-attack the subject I located several other government tools and staying with the Core Values I had no choice but to notify the proper authorities. This person was a 22 year Test who was Just starting the retirement process. Did this act negate the last 22 years they gave to their country? Should I have given this instance separate consideration from that of say a 2 year Airman First Class?

Trust me, pondering this over and over again in my head nearly drove me crazy for several weeks but in the end, I know that I did the right thing. This person had stolen tools and equipment from the same Air Force that provided for them and their family for 22 years. If they had thought about it for even a minute longer than they did and utilized the Core Values they were taught, then this would never have happened. We must always stick to our guns both personally and professionally. If you do not agree with the standards of conduct at your place of employment, I suggest finding another Job.

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