Succeeding through Ethics
Ethics is a broad area, encompassing diverse business activities—from maintaining work—life balance to assessing the impacts of globalization. In today’s business environment, the active management of ethical risks will steer your organization away from crises and boost financial success.
Managing risks
Business ethics is all about managing risks. For example, if you are a human resource manager, you will be concerned with hiring practices, termination processes, and record keeping. If you work in marketing you will deal with honesty in advertising, integrity in the sales force, and products that function effectively. If your role is in finance, you will be held responsible for providing accurate and truthful information. Without precise risk identification, proper training, strong leadership, and support for ethical conduct, wrong-doing can and will occur in an organization.
Building ethics into the business
Business ethics are distinct from personal ethics. Personal values, such as honesty and fairness, are important in ethical decision-making at work, but they are just one of the elements that guide the actions and strategies of organizations. Business decisions involve complex economic, legal, and social considerations and it takes years of experience in an industry to understand the risks and expected conduct.
Good businesses have robust ethics programs that run alongside other quality-management systems. They have a set of bedrock principles that guide behavior, and processes for ensuring that these principles are implemented. For example, one of a company’s principles may be never to lie to customers and suppliers; this may be supported with zero tolerance for abuse. At the heart of success is strong leadership of enlightened employees, who have been trained to understand the risks associated with their jobs and how to deal with “gray areas.”
Getting the basics right
| Fast track | Off track |
|---|---|
| Focusing on shared ethical principles | Focusing only on individual values |
| Creating an ethical culture within the organization | Making uncoordinated ethical decisions |
| Providing strong ethical leadership | Expecting good conduct to spring from the bottom up |
| Making ethics an ongoing concern within the organization | Addressing issues only as they arise |
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When looking for a job, make sure to ask during your interview about the company’s ethics program. The response you receive will speak volumes about the culture of the organization.
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Hiring good people puts you on the road to having an ethical organization, but it’s not enough on its own. Individuals require strong leadership and encouragement to maintain standards.