Business Ethics: Every Organization's Responsibility - Essay Sample

Introduction

Business ethics is an organization's responsibility to its clients and employees. In their everyday operations, employees are usually faced with scenarios that require them to often make decisions about their work ethics. In essence, workplace ethics are a set of behavioral standards or moral principles that set values which determine the proper moral conduct within an organization (Johnson, 2007).

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The Extent to Which Allowing the Crew Into the Trench Without a Trench Box Would Be Pushing the Limit

Safety is paramount within any profession. By allowing the crew into the 7-foot trench, Jerry would be pushing the limit by an extreme as he would be putting his crew members' lives on the line and consequently his profession. However cohesive the soil may be, there usually exists intrinsic weak points that may not be easily perceived by the crew members and this doubles the risk of trench cave-ins.

Ethical Grey Areas in the Described Scenario

Human beings tend to reason against a continuum of extreme consequences and outcomes especially when faced with a moral, ethical dilemma (Northouse 2018). In as much as Jerry and his crew have a duty to follow the municipality's safety rules, they also must serve the public in the best way possible within the shortest time.

Knowing that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) does not have jurisdiction over municipalities in Nebraska and that the City's safety Director has taken a day off, Jerry is torn between going ahead and replacing the sewer line, so that things can get back to normal, and following the set rules. This can be typically construed as an ethical grey area as the border between these two options is blurred making it quite challenging to make a choice (Burgess,2005).

Opinion on the Right Thing to Do

Jerry and his crew have done excavation jobs without trench boxes before and are thus experts in their field. I, therefore, think they should go ahead and replace the sewer line, a job that would take 30 minutes, rather than wait for more than six hours to fix a minor problem. Also taking into account that if not repaired, the broken sewer line will affect the majority of the city residents who rely on it.

The Value of Having an Ethics Program

While ethics are a set of moral principles that have been adopted by an individual or organization, an ethics program is a policy that guides employees and clients on the accepted code of conduct within the workplace.

An ethics program is of great value within the workplace as it sets clear guidelines on how employees and clients should conduct themselves. In such a case, whenever an employee is faced with a moral dilemma such as how to behave in a particular situation, they can easily consult the company's ethics handbook. Not only is this of benefit to the employees but it also keeps the organization on track and ensures that it abides by Government rules, policies and regulations.

Also, it cannot be overlooked that an ethics program is great for business in the sense that it guarantees proper customer service. Most organizations, through their ethic handbook, stress on the need for top notch customer service and that customers should be treated fairly by employees. When this is well observed, the organization is likely to attract more clients consequently boosting its profits.

Responsibilities of Front-Line Leaders/Supervisors and the Workers in the Face of Such Dilemmas

Supervisors are usually put in charge of teams. They are therefore the bridge between the company's management and the employees. It is therefore essential that when faced with a moral dilemma, they should act according to the set guidelines and codes. In retrospect, such codes are put in place to protect all involved parties. For instance, in the stated dilemma, the codes of conduct are put in place to protect the crew from unforeseen dangers like trench cave-ins.

Conclusion

Strong workplace ethics should not only be established at the executive level but should also be narrowed down and aligned with the organization's field operations. From the case study, it is evident that loopholes exist within the workplace ethics. Organizations should, therefore, strive to ensure that the codes of conduct are continuously revised to keep up with changing times.

References

Burgess, R. G. (2005). Grey areas: Ethical dilemmas in educational ethnography. In The ethics of educational research (pp. 64-80). Routledge.

Johnson, C. E. (2007). Ethics in the workplace: Tools and tactics for organizational transformation. Sage Publications.

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice. Sage publications.