(ASSIGNMENT TEMPLATE ENGLISH VERSION)

(COVER PAGE)

BACHELOR OF OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT

SAMPLE OUMM3203

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS

MATRICULATION NO IDENTITY CARD NO. TELEPHONE NO. E-MAIL LEARNING CENTRE

: : : : :

BOHSM<OUMM3203

1. INTRODUCTION

The origin of the word ethics is derived from the Greek word thos, which in a more precise translation, might be better rendered as image. The science of ethics, as it became established in the eighteenth and nineteenth century, was concerned with the search for absolute standards of conduct guiding decisions and actions, and was closely tied to the concept of duties derived from core values. Since ethics itself, as moral philosophy, set out to establish generally accepted standards of right and wrong, the word moral became interchangeable with ethics, although the former originally referred to the act and the latter to the abstract principle from which the act was derived. Literally ethics is an individual belief system that consists of knowing what is right and wrong. Ethics is first developed by our parents in ourselves at the early stage of our life i.e. our childhood time. Technically, ethics is defined as analyzing decisions, beliefs and actions. The issues of ethics often addressed when unethical decisions are found. It is known to everybody that ethics can vary from one person to another.

The definition of social responsibility may be different according to an individual. Literally, social responsibility is an obligation to take action which will protects and improves the welfare of a society as well as organizational interests. In other words, social responsibility could be the best example of ethical behavior because social responsibility helps to enhance the society in general. The social responsibility also defined as an obligation of the company to conform to policies, make decisions and take appropriate actions that benefits the society. In general, organizations may exercise social responsibility which is constituents, natural environment and general social welfare.

Ethics and social responsibility are equally important in organizational context. The importances of social responsibility are firstly it is for the best interest of business as to promote and improve the communities. Organization is also known as members of society who owed a moral obligation in helping the society to deal with its problems as

BOHSM<OUMM3203

well as to contribute to its welfare. It must be noted that, people and organizations need each other.

Secondly, social responsibility acted as to improves the image of the firm. Responsibilities to consumers should be seen as more than a natural outcome of good business. It must be take into consideration that, social responsibilities also include in providing good value for money, as well as safety and durability of one products or services. Besides that, standard of after sale service must also be taken into consideration and this is same goes when it comes to the matter of prompt and courteous attention to queries and complaints as well as long-term satisfaction.

On the other hand, the importance of social responsibility is also to solve the social problems. It is known to everybody that organization carried a responsibility not to misuse the scarce factors of production upon which the wealth of country depends. It is the responsibility of the organization to the society to respect the environmental considerations and to take care of the amenities. As we can see nowadays, there are so many problems arose such as the effects and dangers of pollution, noise, disposal of waste, the development of new buildings and the latest issue was that everyone was told to minimize their usage on excessive packaging i.e. plastic and maximize the usage of biodegradable materials. Social responsibility comes into the picture where the organization must respect and obey the law which has been set up by the government even when they regard it as in their best interest.

Therefore, as we can see the societies responsibility is to operate to generate profit and only slightly less important is the necessity for growth. It is something which is commonly known as business wealth creating and wealth-producing organ of the society. It must be noted that, the management team must maintain their wealth producing resource integral by making sufficient profits as to minimize the risk of economic activity.

BOHSM<OUMM3203

Ethics is also an important aspect in any organization. As mentioned earlier, the issue of ethics often addressed when unethical decisions are found and nowadays we could see ethics has been ignored in businesses because everyone wanted to stay on top with the competition. First of all, the management personnel should be thought the importance of ethical behavior as this will portray the ethical behavior of other employees in ones company. The importance of an ethical organization has been emphasized. The role played by all the stakeholders in the organization in establishing an ethical organization is critical to its success. According to Trevino and Nelson (1995, p. 202) and Schein (1995), as quoted by Gottlieb and Sanzgiri (1996, p. 1277), believe that leadership is critical in creating, establishing and maintaining an ethical organization. Therefore ethical behavior to establish an ethical environment will begin with the leaders within the organization as integrity, or lack of it, flows from the top down (Emiliani, 2000, p. 261).

BOHSM<OUMM3203

2. ORGANISATION OF THE LITERATURE REVIEW

Since the 1990s there have been daily reports of mismanagement and unethical actions by members of organizations. Furthermore, the ethical conduct of employees in organizations has received extensive attention and publicity. According to Mathis and Jackson (2000, p. 30) provide feedback on a survey that resulted in 48% of respondents stating that they were unethical at work. Examples of unethical behavior are 'cheating on expense accounts, paying or accepting bribes and kickbacks, forging signatures and lying about sick leave'. Through report from Esterhuyse (1999, p. 27) says that South Africa has lost significantly large amounts of money due to office or white-collar crime.

Each organization to excel globally would be effected if the organization has employees who are unethical at work. Flp, Hirsrich & Szegedi, (2000, p. 1) says that the ethics in the economic life of transitional economies is a 'delusion rather than the reality', therefore ethical behavior is becoming more important as communities begin to realize its significance. Flp et al. (2001, p. 1) believe that research on business ethics needs to begin with an understanding of the nature of business ethics. It is an important aspect of any organization, regardless of how large or small, to have proper ethics. With the problem of the economy and the extremely high market completion, many organizations have start ignoring their ethics in order to stay on top with the competition. Kay and Popkin (1998, p. 337) believe that organizations that wish to improve their profitability need to enhance their decision-making strategies by incorporating ethics into their decisions. During a South Africa survey in the IT sector which done by Charlesworth and Sewry (2003, p. 113) found that 65% of respondents believed that by being ethical an organization can earn a profit in long term. Rossouw (2008, p. 77) suggests that preventing corporate moral failure requires a total transformation of the organizations ethical environment. Business should be expected to acknowledge and take full responsibility for the noneconomic consequences of its activities with respect to wider society and the natural environment (Robins, 2005). This view emphasizes the interdependence of, and 4

BOHSM<OUMM3203

interaction between business and other units of society. The challenge facing a business operating within this framework is to behave in such a way that it will be able to produce benefits for society at the same time as it produces profits for itself (Abratt & Sacks, 1988). These views represent only two in a very wide spectrum ranging from those who require business to concentrate solely on profits with no regard to its effect on society to those who require business to concentrate on social betterment, even to the detriment of its own function. According to Freeman (1994), Adam Smith's separation thesis is that business decisions have no moral content and moral decisions have no business content. While there are some who still would like to maintain the separation thesis, many business practitioners and academics agree that there is at least some moral content in many business decisions (Abela, 2001). While most definitions of social responsibility contain some reference to the requirement that business consider its impact on society (Carroll, 1981) or concern itself with the welfare of society (Davis & Blomstrom, 1975), few definitions spell out precisely what this entails. It has no clear boundaries, nor even an agreed definition (Robins, 2005). Carroll (1981) suggests a four-part definition in an attempt to overcome this vagueness. The four areas of responsibility are economic, legal, ethical and discretionary responsibilities.

BOHSM<OUMM3203

3. ARGUMENTS ON THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY It is argued that ethics is important in the organization because on personal level most people feel better working for an ethical organization. If the organization truly values fairness, honesty and integrity, employees are more likely to enjoy their work and take pride in the organization. At the professional level, ethically oriented codes of conduct are common. Professions recognize that their credibility rests not only on technical competence, but also on public trust. At the organizational level, ethics is good business. Several studies have shown that over the long run ethical businesses do better than unethical businesses. At the societal level, the public often has different expectations from organizations that receive public funding. An ethical person can influence the organization where it will affect attendance, safety, quality, productivity, loyalty, security and profitability. In terms of attendance, an employee who is ethical will come on time and returned in a timely manner. Attendance records are good to work where any leave taken with the application and recorded. Attendances are also affected work productivity and organization. In terms of safety, an employee who is ethical will be concerned with safety at the workplace is not only concerned about their own safety but also safety properties that are at work. From aspects quality of an employee will produce a quality product or quality of ideas which help improve organizational performance. In aspects of employee loyalty in an ethical rather tend to be more loyal to the organization helped by strong support from employers. Security aspects of ethical employees tend to not make things like stealing, cheating, betrayal of the organization. Ethical employees will benefit in applying himself and the organization. The existence of managing of ethics in workplace will bring more benefits to the organizations. The attention to organization ethics has substantially improved society. As example a decades ago workers limbs were torn off and disabled workers were condemned to poverty and often to starvation. Employees were terminated based on personalities. Influence was applied through intimidation and harassment. Then society 6

BOHSM<OUMM3203

reacted and demanded that business place high value on fairness and equal rights. Antitrust laws were instituted. Laws and regulations were established. The ethics programs cultivate strong teamwork and productivity. Ethics programs align employee behaviors with those top priority ethical values preferred by leaders of the organization. Furthermore ethics programs support employee growth and meaning.

Attention to ethics in the workplace helps employees face reality, both good and bad in the organization and themselves. Employees feel full confidence they can admit and deal with whatever comes their way. Ethics programs help manage values associated with quality management, strategic planning and diversity management. Ethics programs identify preferred values and ensuring organizational behaviors are aligned with those values. This effort includes recording the values, developing policies and procedures to align behaviors with preferred values, and then training all personnel about the policies and procedures. In the social responsibility there are exist of argument for and against the social responsibility. The major arguments for the assumption of social responsibilities by business are public expectation, long run profit and ethical obligation. Social expectations of business have increased dramatically since the 1960s. Public opinion in support of business pursuing social as well as economic goals is now well solidified. Socially responsible businesses tend to have more and secure long run profits. This is the normal result of the better community relations and improved business image that responsible. A business firm can and should have a conscience. Business should be socially responsible because responsible actions are right for their own sake.

The major arguments against the assumption of social responsibilities by business are violation of profit maximization, dilution of purpose, cost and too much power. Business are violation of profit maximization, this is essence of the classical viewpoint. Business is most socially responsible when it attends strictly to its economic interests and leaves other activities to other institutions. The pursuit of social goals dilutes businesss primary purpose economic productivity. Society may suffer as both economic and social goals are poorly accomplished. Many socially responsible activities do not pay their own way. 7

BOHSM<OUMM3203

Someone has to pay these costs. Business must absorb these costs or pass them on to consumers in higher prices. Business is already one of the most powerful institutions in our society. If it pursued social goals, it would have even more power. Society has given business enough power.

BOHSM<OUMM3203

4. SUGGESTION OF APPROACHES TO SUSTAIN HIGH LEVEL OF ORGANISATION ETHICS AND SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY

Organizations can manage ethics in their workplaces by establishing an ethics management program. Brian Schrag, Executive Secretary of the Association for Practical and Professional Ethics, clarifies. "Typically, ethics programs convey corporate values, often using codes and policies to guide decisions and behavior, and can include extensive training and evaluating, depending on the organization. They provide guidance in ethical dilemmas." Rarely are two programs alike.

"All organizations have ethics programs, but most do not know that they do," wrote business ethics professor Stephen Brenner in the Journal of Business Ethics (1992, V11, pp. 391-399). "A corporate ethics program is made up of values, policies and activities which impact the propriety of organization behaviors."

The based lines to sustain the ethics and social responsibility we need create a policies and procedures. When the policies and procedures have established we must update the policies and procedures to produce behaviors preferred from the code of conduct. Must include to address ethical dilemmas, training of employees about the ethics management program, reward ethical behavior and impose consequences for unethical behavior, grievance policy for employees to use to resolve disagreements with supervisors and staff and consider establishing an ethics hotline and also once a year review all personnel policies and procedures.

Ethics in the workplace can be managed through implementing an ethics code of conduct, obtaining top management commitment and support, the appointment of an ethics officer, ethics training, reward systems, a system to report unethical behavior and the auditing of ethical performance (Emiliani, 2000, p. 2 ; Goosen & Van Vuuren, 2005, p. 61; McNamara, 1999, p.4; Rossouw, 2002, p. 405; Spangen Berg & Theron, 2005, p. 1; Van Vuuren, 2002, p. 22).

BOHSM<OUMM3203

According to Wallace, "A credo generally describes the highest values to which the company aspires to operate. It contains the `thou shalts.' A code of ethics is a set of guidelines which are designed to set out acceptable behaviors for members of a particular group, association, or profession. Many organizations govern themselves with a code of ethics, especially when they handle sensitive issues like investments, health care, or interactions with other cultures. In addition to setting a professional standard, a code of ethics can also increase confidence in an organization by showing outsiders that members of the organization are committed to following basic ethical guidelines in the course of doing their work. A well written code of ethics will be easy to follow and very clear, with sections that people can point to in order to illustrate specific issues. A code of ethics also stands behind most scientific experimentation, ensuring that the results are valid and that the testing was carried out in an ethical way.

"Codes of conduct specify actions in the workplace and codes of ethics are general guides to decisions about those actions," explains Craig Nordlund, Associate General Counsel and Secretary at Hewlett Packard. If the organization is quite large, e.g., includes several large programs or departments, you may want to develop an overall corporate code of conduct, and then a separate code to guide each of your programs or departments.

Other that training is also the best way to sustain high level of organization ethics and social responsibility. The ethics program is essentially useless unless all staff members are trained about what it is, how it works and their roles in it. The nature of the system may invite suspicion if not handled openly and honestly. In addition, no matter how fair and up to date is a set of policies, the legal system will often interpret employee behavior (rather than written policies) as de facto policy. Therefore, all staff must be aware of and act in full accordance with policies and procedures. Therefore, Trevino and Nelson 91995, p. 208) as well as White, Sharar and Funk (2001, p. 40) take the standpoint that baseline training and continuing ethics education and training programmes should be provided for all individuals within the organizations.

10

BOHSM<OUMM3203

Organizations should develop and document a procedure for dealing with ethical dilemmas as they arise. Ideally, ethical dilemmas should be resolved by a group within the organization, e.g., an ethics committee comprised of top leaders/managers and/or members of the board. Consider having staff members on the committee, as well. The following three methods can be used to address ethical dilemmas. Methods include an ethical checklist, a ten-step method and a list of key questions.

The auditing and monitoring framework provides tools to monitor compliance to Codes of Conduct and Reference Codes. Even though the first references to social auditing were made in the 1940s by Theodore Kreps (Caroll and Beiler, 1975), it wasnt until the 1960s and 70s that companies started to audit for social and ethical compliance. Today social compliance auditing is very common although it still mostly focuses on the first tiers of suppliers. Audit duplications and fatigue, lack of improvement in social performance and a greater need for standardization are challenges at the core of the development of the recent auditing and monitoring frameworks (Barrientos, 2006; Locke, 2006).

3031 WORDS

11

BOHSM<OUMM3203

5. APPENDIX Brenner, S. N. (1992). "Ethics Programs and Their Dimensions". Journal of Business Ethics, 11,391-399. Buchholz, R. A. (1989). "Fundamental Concepts and Problems in Business Ethics". In Madsen, P., & Shafritz, J. M. (Eds.) (1990). "Essentials of Business Ethics". New York: Penguin Books. Carroll, A. B. (1990). "Principles of Business Ethics: Their Role in Decision Making and in Initial Consensus". Management Decision, 28(8), 21-23. Carroll, A.B., & Buchholtz, A.K. (2003). Business and society:Ethics and stakeholder management (5th edn.). Cincinnati: Thomson Learning.

Flp, G., Hisrich, R.B., & Szegedi, K. (2000). Business ethics and social responsibility in transition economies. Journal of Management Development, 19(1), 1-3.

Managementhelp [Online]. http://managementhelp.org/businessethics/ethics-guide. htm#anchor96255 [2011, Jun 23] McNamara, M.C. (1999). Complete guide to ethics management: An ethics toolkit for managers. Retrieved February 02, 2000, from http://www.mapnp.org/library/ethics.html Rossouw, D. (2002). Business ethics in Africa (2nd edn.). Cape Town: Oxford University Press. Rossouw, D., & Van Vuuren, L. (2010). Business Ethics (4th edn.). Cape Town: Oxford University Press.

12

BOHSM<OUMM3203

Rossouw, G.J. (2002). Business ethics and corporate governance in the Second King Report: Farsighted or futile? Koers 67(4) 405-419. Rossouw, G.J. (2008). Aristotle in the modern corporation: from codes of ethics to ethical culture. Phronimon, 9(1) 77-84. South African Institute of Chartered Accountants. (2009). Summary of report on King Committee on Governance. Governance for South Africa (King III). Retrieved June 04, 2010, from http://www.saica.co.za Spangebarg, H., & Theron, C.C. (2005). Promoting ethical behaviour through leadership of ethics. The development of the ethical leadership inventory, 36(2). Trevino, L.K., & Nelson, K.A. (1995). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right. New York: Wiley. Trevino, L.K., & Nelson, K.A. (1999). Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to do it right (2nd edn.). New York: Wiley. Van Vuuren, L.J. (2002). Institutionalising business ethics: A multi-level ethics strategy. Management Dynamics, 2, 21-27. White, W.L., Sharar, M.S., & Funk, R. (2001). Elevating the business ethics of employee assistance. Behavioural Health Management, 21(4), 38-43.

13