Business Ethical Violations - Research Paper

Introduction

In every business organization, there are certain rules and regulations written to be followed by every employee to facilitate their professional interactions and relations when conducting business operations. However, a business owner or management team must ensure that there are additional codes of conduct that govern and guide employee on how to treat each other on a professional level (Lere and Bruce 39). There should be a business ethical code integrated into the organizational culture to help the employee navigate through their roles and responsibilities as they work. By establishing a written code of ethics, business owners or managers are in a position to prevent any potential unethical behavior in the business. Also, they are able to distinctively differentiate between what is right and wrong for an employee to do, whether for the benefit of the business or personal advantage (Stevens 605). Some of the commonly known and internationally used ethical violations are related to aspects like employee health and safety, accounting and financial processes, conflicts of interests, human resource employment policies and practices, harassment and discrimination, social and environmental impact, technology and privacy concerns (Lere and Bruce 41) to name a few. Therefore, when a business commits or is involved in violating ethical codes governing these aspects of a business, they can be charged and prosecuted by the rule of law (Stevens, 602). Every business enterprise ought to have a set standard of ethical rules to govern and guide their professional behavior, career and the company itself.

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Weinstein Company

The Weinstein Company is one of the best performing film production businesses in Hollywood. It was formed by two brothers, Harvey and Bob Weinstein. They are personally well-known for their exemplary skills and knowledge in the film production industry in America. The company has received more than 300 Oscar choices and won 81 academy awards. This means that since it was started in 2005, its performance has increased and improved with each year giving it identity and praise in the crowded film production industry. However, over the last two years, the company faced criticism from the public after the New York Times released an article detailing sexual harassment claims on one of the co-founders, Harvey Weinstein. The October 2017 articles consisted of damning information and supported by various popular and famous actresses working for the Weinstein Company. These multiple numbers of women who spoke up with claims of sexual harassment and rape by Harvey Weinstein increased after the article was published with the number of claims dating from 1990. The issue became a national news story which still encouraged more victims to open up about their experiences in the company and with the accused.

The sexual harassment claims are included in Harassment and discrimination ethical violation group. Also, they touch on the ethics relating to employment policies and practices used by the company.

Harassment and discrimination are common issues that employees face at some point in their careers. The discrimination violation spurns from racial, ages, gender, ethnicity and wage inequality among others. The harassment violation includes aspects of professional misconduct like sexual favors and advances and rape. It is crucial for business management teams and owners to create a healthy environment and platform for reporting these type of ethical violation (Lere and Bruce 42); especially in the film production or media sector. However, many organizations have often failed to perform his responsibility with the assumption that it cannot happen in their companies. The Harassment and discrimination violations reports have therefore decreased due to the likelihood of the victims receiving a form of punishment like a demotion, being passed over for promotions or any other form of harassment. These kinds of practice and assumptions keep victims quiet or looking the other way.

Companies and individuals can use harassment and discrimination violations to make money by sewing for damages. As mentioned earlier, reporting of this ethical violation enables the perpetrators to face justice and the consequences of their actions. Often when sexual harassment claims are reported, victims are given financial rewards for their silence which encourages the violation and reduces the chances of reporting (Pope 144). Companies should ensure that the needs of their employees are protected and honored by providing a secure and healthy environment for them to work. However, in the case of Weinstein Company, since Harvey Weinstein had protection and support of his rich and high ranking officials of the company, the harassment continued for decades without any accountability. Finally, when the charges were made public by the New York Times, Harvey was held accountable for his ethical violations and paid damages to victims after a legal battle.

The manner in which a company treats its employees is a key aspect of the business's ethical rules and code. This means that if the organization failed to protect its employees by encouraging the implementation of effective ethical principles, then it puts off potential productive employee and may lose its current ones (Pope 142). This is what the Weinstein Company failed to do and, therefore, was held accountable for its participation and poor management policies that enabled the harassment to continue. The organization's identity and good name were tainted which resulted in losing productive talent in the film industry.

According to Pope when a company allows employees to commit ethical violations, there are costs attributed to the violations, e.g., death, loss of careers, prosecution or even losing a company (142). The main factor that motivated the company into tolerating Harvey's sexual harassment claims was the fact that he was a very skilled and knowledgeable person, especially on issues regarding production, directing and choice of effective actors. He was the right person for every position he held in the company; he was simply good at what he did. However, he was given too much power, authority, and responsibilities which lead him into intimidating, threatening and bullying employees to reach his goal. Also, because of the company's failure to hold him accountable, his unethical behavior continued even when the reported claims increased. The company considered him a major asset with a major financial and non-financial contributions to the company. Therefore, with the help of the company's management, Harvey held more power over different female employees and by using Harvey's skills, the company brought profits and its performance was improving every year.

The best way for the Weinstein Company to be more ethical is by, first, the company should come up with ethically effective employment policies and practices that guide and govern employee-employer interactions and relations. This will help the company from being sued for issues like sexual harassment, discrimination, bullying, etc. The company can form a committee that disciplines those reported for such claims and rules to be followed for professionalism to be achieved hence holding perpetrators responsible (Lere and Bruce 42). Second, the company should listen and always investigate reported violations instead of shutting the victims up with money. This encourages speaking up of future victims and discourages the actual violation. Third, the management should ensure that the employers top employees like owners, CEOs and others in high hierarchy positions have limitations to their powers on their employees. This means that in case these individuals are reported for ethical violations, they have no effect on the employee's career and professional development.

Conclusion

Ethical norms and practices simply help the business monitor and take control of the employees' actions in the workplace. These ethical codes also help the government or commissions overseeing various business operations and dealings to punish or hold accountable any individual who has failed to uphold them. This means that just like any other requirement for business enterprises, companies and individuals have always found a way to avoid criminal charges and consequences originating from their ethical violation actions and practices. In this case, since Mr. Harvey was a co-chairman of the Weinstein Company and was being accused of sexually harassing female artists or rather the company's employees, the company was definitely criticized as well. It was involved in both the cover-ups ensuring they do not go public and protected Harvey when the claims were public. However, even if there were damages paid to the victims, the company's had made profits from Harvey's skills as a co-chair before its name was tainted. It is vital for businesses to not only create ethical codes of conduct but also ensure their implementation in the business to protect their employees, customers and themselves as well.

References

Lere, John C., and Bruce R. Gaumnitz. "Changing behavior by improving codes of ethics." American Journal of Business 22.2 (2007): 7-18. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25074652.pdf?casa_token=lGwPa3h7m3AAAAAA:ZZGHdyTE3u_61gJn2W6J4zYcpuORnlThSuofLHLRuObIXWopJU3rrNQmPA8R8B3KGyZfOfbEk6MrPBdvjuBtG6MgBs6UmPrlk2YS-T1kB6jM0CJ_TQ

Pope, Kenneth S. "Steps to strengthen ethics in organizations: Research findings, ethics placebos, and what works." (2015): 139-152. Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15299732.2015.995021?needAccess=true#aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cudGFuZGZvbmxpbmUuY29tL2RvaS9wZGYvMTAuMTA4MC8xNTI5OTczMi4yMDE1Ljk5NTAyMT9uZWVkQWNjZXNzPXRydWVAQEAw

Stevens, Betsy. "Corporate ethical codes: Effective instruments for influencing behavior." Journal of Business Ethics 78.4 (2008): 601-609. Retrieved from https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/25075634.pdf?casa_token=7MkZFthUvp0AAAAA:X1LqhjEgX1ysyB9956saH9vxZOAiXYOXbx2-e427hYVFrQ7RROfXXn9tM9oNVcOa6Edo3CS14TKsihPiMMVFym6TR5S5GXaXFZj_gPWwMztqjMaiPw