BUSI 561 Discussion Board Forum 1 Business Ethics

BUSI 561

DB1

Introduction

In the case of Ramona working for Next step company that has issues of mishandling their distributors and other allegations against the way they conduct their business. I would advice that she takes the job and tries to use her knowledge in changing the management and ethics used in the company.

Research indicates that an organization needs clear ethics strategies so that they can be able to meet their ethical goals and culture. Manu organizations have the realization that they need sound ethics to guide them in conducting their business but the most difficult part is prioritizing management of theses ethics (Schoeman, 2007). Every company needs to have code of conduct and ethics clearly explained so that they can serve as the rules, values and policies that guide them in doing their business. These ethics should describe how employees, shareholders, customers and distributors should be treated by the company. In the case of Next step company there is a clear indication that the company does not have a set of ethics that determine how they should handle their distributors and they end up mistreating them. Building ethical awareness is a powerful way of ensuring that there is improvement in the workplace and that unethical behaviors are dealt with according to laws and policies put in place (Schoeman, 2007). One of the most significant achievements in an organization is maintaining an ethical culture. Next step has registered great progress and growth in their business but they have failed in having an ethical culture. This might affect their business because distributors might find it hard to work with them in future.

Leadership and ethical behavior in business

According to research leaders have great impact in influencing ethical behavior in an organization and therefore they can shift ethical practices of members of an organization either to a positive or negative direction (Thomas et.al, 2004). In Next Step Company the problem is that the company does not value the virtue ethics and they believe that people must work regardless of the consequences (Bertland, 2009) as long as the company is benefiting from them. Ramona has a chance of joining the management team if she accepts the offer and having graduated from a Christian university, having read about the dark side of the company’s operations, she should take advantage of her position and try to bring change. The questionable business practice where distributors are forced to purchase tie-in agreement with the company and also buy goods that are not doing well in the market is against ethical practices of an organization. Ramona should suggest that in the case of goods that are not doing very well in the market, the company should improve in their marketing strategy so that they can improve the sales of these goods. Honesty is required for ethical behaviors to work in every organization and according to the response given by the recruiting team when Ramona inquired about some findings that are against the company indicates that the management and employees in this company are not honest while conducting their business.

Corporate culture

Organizational culture is used to determine how things are done in every organization and ethical culture is part of the corporate culture that determines how things are done in relation to organizations ethical behaviors (EthicalSystems, 2015). Making good ethical decisions and having ethics based behaviors in an organization is the key support offered by clear ethical cultures in an organization. There are different factors and forces that lead to ethical failure and push people towards taking shortcuts (EthicalSystems, 2015). For example in the case of Nest Step Company there is evident ethical failure that can be contributed to the quest for fast growth, more sales and dominating the herbal health care market. Ethics are necessary in such cases because they push every member in the organization towards achievement of a common goal. Corporate culture in an organization should be built on an ethical system that includes both formal and informal systems supporting ethical judgment and actions (EthicalSystems, 2015). Leadership is the key driver in achieving ethical culture in an organization, in the case of Ramona; she should work in her leadership position to change and the culture that governs Next Step Company so that they can have a team that will work in developing a corporate culture that is guided by ethics.

Ethical concepts in business

There are different ethical concepts in business that contribute to the success or failure. Some of these concepts are integrity, honesty and trustworthy. Maintaining these concepts in a business is challenging and getting them wrong undermines the reputation and trust of every organization (PwC, 2016). Organizations should conduct their operations by being honest so that they can win the trust of their stakeholders. In the case of Next Step Company these concepts lack and the business might fail in case there is enough evidence from the claims made by their distributors. The company has failed to follow the legal rights of their distributors and they are forced into an agreement that they do not agree to. There is lack of honesty in what the company says they are offering, for example the CEO says that they are working to make peoples’ lives better but asking the woman to take the crying baby outside is a clear indication that they are purely interested in profits for their business and not changing peoples’ lives. The company clearly lacks corporate social responsibility ethical concepts will guide the strategies that could be defined in their business ethics code if they had one. Ethical concepts guide a company on how they should relate wit the society around them and the right channels they should follow in selling their goods. Corporate social responsibility is one concept of business ethics that ensures an organization conducts their operations considering the people around them, the environment and the ways in which the business affects the society. Lack of business ethics culture indicates that the business has no clear mission and vision and they are only profit oriented. Based on biblical concepts the company lacks transparency in conducting their operations and they are selfish and oppressive to their distributors.

Conclusion

According to the findings above it can be concluded that Next Step Company lacks clear ethics that guide their operations and therefore Ramona should work in making sure that she brings positive change in the company by having a clear code of ethics. The company’s operations are not transparent and they are profit oriented.

References

Bertland, A (2009). Virtue ethics in business and the capabilities approach, Retrieved from http://philpapers.org/rec/BERVEI.

EthicalSystems (2015). Corporate Culture, Retrieved from http://www.ethicalsystems.org/content/corporate-culture.

PwC (2016). Business ethics and integrity, Retrieved from http://www.pwc.co.uk/fraud-academy/multimedia/business-ethics-and-integrity-video.html.

Schoeman, C (2007). An ethics strategy is essential to create an ethical business, Retrieved from http://www.ethicsmonitor.co.za/An-ethics-strategy-is-essential-to-create-an-ethical-business.aspx.

Thomas, T et.al (2004). Strategic leadership of ethical behavior in business, Retrieved from http://home.sandiego.edu/~pavett/docs/gsba532/leader_ethic_behave.pdf.

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