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GSSDGS KHALSA COLLEGE PATIALA

Project report

on

“ETHICAL ISSUES ON SOCIETY- CASTE OR RACE”

Submitted in the partial fulfilment for the requirement


of the degree Masters of business administration in
leadership development

SUBMITTED TO: SUBMITTED By:


Dr. Komal Randhawa Ekta Virdi

ROLL NO:
(9914)

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

It is a matter of great pleasure to present this report on the entitled “Ethical Issues
on Society- Caste or Race” undertaken by me as part of my MBA curriculum.

I am thankful to Punjabi university Patiala for offering me such a wonderful


challenging opportunity and I express my deepest thanks to faculties of the
college and Dr. Komal Randhawa, whose guidance and support was available
to me all the time. I find inadequate words to express my sincere gratitude towards
him.

It is my pleasure to pen down these lines to express sincere thanks to my parents


who had complete faith in my capabilities and also giving me the opportunity to
step in masters for flourishing my personality. I am also thankful to my guide for
training me on the subject of " Ethical Issues On Society- Caste or Race ".

I express my deep sense of gratitude to my dear friends for their support and
encouragement during my presentation.

Ekta Virdi

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INDEX

Sr. No. Chapter Page


No.

1 Introduction to Ethical Issues 4-6

2 What is Caste and Race 7-8

3 What are ethical issues in business 9-24

4 How to resolve ethical issues in business 25-28

5 Conclusion 29

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INTRODUCTION TO ETHICAL ISSUES

Ethical issues in business are a situation where a moral conflict arises


and must be addressed. In other words, it is an occasion where a moral
standard is questioned.

Ethical issues occur when a given decision, scenario or activity creates


a conflict with a society’s moral principles. Both individuals and
businesses can be involved in these conflicts, since any of their
activities might be put to question from an ethical standpoint.
Individuals are subject to these issues in their relationships with other
individuals or in their relationships with organizations and same goes
for organizations.

These conflicts are sometimes legally dangerous, since some of the


alternatives to solve the issue might breach a particular law. In other
occasions, the issue might not have legal consequences but it might
generate a negative reaction from third parties. Ethical issues are
challenging because they are difficult to deal with if no guidelines or
precedents are known. For this reason, many professional and industry
associations have ethical codes that are discussed and approved by key
participants to provide a useful framework for companies and
individuals to make adequate decisions whenever they face one of these
conflicts.

Ethical issues occur when a given decision, scenario or activity creates


a conflict with a society’s moral principles. Both individuals and

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businesses can be involved in these conflicts, since any of their
activities might be put to question from an ethical standpoint.

Why is it an ethical issue?

Ethical issues occur when a given decision, scenario or activity creates


a conflict with a society’s moral principles. These conflicts are
sometimes legally dangerous, since some of the alternatives to solve
the issue might breach a particular law.

How do you identify ethical issues?

• Recognize there is an issue.


• Identify the problem and who is involved.
• Consider the relevant facts, laws and principles.
• Analyze and determine possible courses of action.
• Implement the solution.

Why is it important to identify ethical issues?

Research ethics are important for a number of reasons. They promote


the aims of research, such as expanding knowledge. They support the
values required for collaborative work, such as mutual respect and
fairness. They support important social and moral values, such as the
principle of doing no harm to others.

What are the code of ethics?

A code of ethics is a guide of principles designed to help professionals


conduct business honestly and with integrity. A code of ethics, also
referred to as an “ethical code,” may encompass areas such as business
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ethics, a code of professional practice, and an employee code of
conduct.

What are ethical or moral codes?

While they’re closely related concepts, morals refer mainly to guiding


principles, and ethics refer to specific rules and actions, or behaviors.
A moral precept is an idea or opinion that’s driven by a desire to be
good. An ethical code is a set of rules that defines allowable actions or
correct behavior.

The whole question that arises in any discussion of current ethical


issues, is the differences in viewpoints, core values, and beliefs that
define what a person supports. What may be a gross violation of ethics
for one, may be a regular day’s work for other Coming to a consensus
is tough, but well worth the effort.

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WHAT IS CASTE AND RACE?

What is caste?
Caste is a form of social stratification characterized by endogamy,
hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an
occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction
and exclusion based on cultural notions of purity and pollution. Its
paradigmatic ethnographic example is the division of India's Hindu
society into rigid social groups, with roots in India's ancient history and
persisting to the present time. However, the economic significance of
the caste system in India has been declining as a result of urbanization
and affirmative action programs. A subject of much scholarship by
sociologists and anthropologists, the Hindu caste system is sometimes
used as an analogical basis for the study of caste-like social divisions
existing outside Hinduism and India.

The use of the spelling "caste", with this latter meaning, is first attested
in English in 1613. Caste is a birth based hierarchical system wherein
people are divided. Varna is not the origin of caste.

Caste is one of the hereditary social classes in Hinduism that restrict


the occupation of their members and their association with the members
of other castes. It is a division of society based on differences of wealth,
inherited rank or privilege, profession, occupation, or race. It is the
position conferred by caste standing.

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What is race?

A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social


qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given
society. The term was first used to refer to speakers of a common
language and then to denote national affiliations. By the 17th century,
the term began to refer to physical (phenotypical) traits. Modern
science regards race as a social construct, an identity which is assigned
based on rules made by society. While partially based on physical
similarities within groups, race does not have an inherent physical or
biological meaning.

Social conceptions and groupings of races have varied over time, often
involving folk taxonomies that define essential types of individuals
based on perceived traits. Today, scientists consider such biological
essentialism obsolete, and generally discourage racial explanations for
collective differentiation in both physical and behavioral traits.

Since the second half of the 20th century, the association of race with
the discredited theories of scientific racism has contributed to race
becoming increasingly seen as a largely pseudoscientific system of
classification. Although still used in general contexts, race has often
been replaced by less ambiguous.

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WHAT ARE THE ETHICAL ISSUES IN BUSINESS?

It can get tricky sometimes, but addressing ethical issues in business is


an essential step to building a strong company that will maintain a
positive reputation and track record. Of course, there are some
questions you might have, for example:

• Which ethical dilemmas in business should you be focused on?


• Why is it crucial to address ethical issues in business?
• How can you resolve ethical problems in business the right way?

Ethical issues in business affect a variety of aspects related to a


business’s general operating standards. The topic of ethical problems
in business is focused on what actions a business takes and/or what
policies a business creates in its efforts to resolve ethical questions that
come up.

The importance of ethical issues in business cannot be overstated,


particularly in today’s day and age of social movements and political
correctness. All personal feelings set aside, it remains a fact that current
events have reshaped current ethical issues in business and, to a large
degree, have increased the focus placed on ethics in the workplace.

Establishing a code of ethics for your business to operate by will help


you lay a firm foundation of basic trust between you and your
employees, clients, partners, suppliers, and so on. Fortunately, the law
often gives the answers to questions related to ethical issues in business
(we’ll touch on some examples later on), but that’s not always the case.

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That’s why every business owner should familiarize themselves with
what ethical problems in business are, why they matter, and how they
should be addressed.

It’s not enough to simply know what the biggest ethical dilemmas in
business are – you should also be aware of why they’re considered
problems and what you can do about it at your business.

Common ethical issues facing businesses:

• Sexual Harassment
• Diversity & Discrimination
• Social Media
• Health & Safety
• Environmental Responsibility
• Accounting Practices
• Data Privacy
• Nepotism

1. Sexual Harassment

More often than not when we discuss harassment at work the topic
quickly shifts to sexual harassment. There’s no doubt that it is an ethical
issue in business that should be taken very, very seriously – and if
you’re not sure why then you need to read about the #MeToo
Movement. While we shouldn’t forget that there are many forms of
harassment in the workplace, sexual harassment is one that deserves to
be addressed on its own.

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According to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC), in 2018 alone there were more than 7,600 allegations of
sexual harassment made. Not only that but the resulting monetary
benefits for those plaintiffs were in excess of $56.6 million – an
indication of the validity of those claims.

When we take an even closer look at this ethical issue, we find that 54%
of women report having experienced unwanted sexual advances in the
workplace and 23% said that the instance of sexual harassment actually
involved a superior.

These numbers paint a troubling reality and present real challenges to


creating a workplace environment where people feel secure and
comfortable.

What can your business do about sexual harassment?

The most important step in addressing sexual harassment as a serious


ethical dilemma in business is to implement employee training. Start
by making sure everybody who works for you is made aware of the
rules, that those rules are posted around the workplace, and by
enforcing a zero-tolerance policy for sexual harassment.

From there, you’ll want to ensure that leaders in your business are
setting good examples, that you continuously monitor for inappropriate
behavior, and that you provide employees with a safe and discrete
avenue for reporting cases of harassment. Additionally, there should
never be any fear of retaliation for reporting sexual harassment –
victims, whether alleged or proven, should get your full support.
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It’s also best to take preventative steps to reduce the risk of sexual
harassment. That can include having employees sign agreements that
they will follow company rules, not allowing the ‘little things’ to slide,
by limiting the serving of alcoholic beverages during company events,
and so on.

If sexual harassment does occur at your business, acknowledge the


charge, investigate the case thoroughly, respond with care, and
administer discipline if need be.

2. Diversity & Discrimination

Discrimination in the workplace is essentially any aspect about the job


itself or the duties related to it which are treated differently with respect
to any of the categories listed below. Ensuring diversity and actively
preventing discrimination are critical aspects of resolving ethical
dilemmas in business.

The EEOC lists the following types of discrimination:

• Age
• Disability
• Equal Pay/Compensation
• Genetic Information
• Harassment
• National Origin
• Pregnancy
• Race/Color

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• Religion
• Retaliation
• Sex
• Sexual Harassment (as we discussed this above)

Most of us are [unfortunately] aware that some people hold prejudices


towards people of a certain ethnicity, race or color, religion, sex or
sexual preference, people over a certain age, mentally or physically
disabled individuals, and so on. In fact, a shocking 61% of American
employees report having witnessed or experienced discrimination
based on age, race, gender, or LGBTQ identity at work. On top of that,
women currently make $0.81 for every dollar that men earn.

Other categories like genetic information or retaliation might be


discussed less frequently, but are important nonetheless. To quickly
clarify, genetic discrimination in the workplace is when a business
treats an employee differently based on their genetic predisposition to
developing a certain disease or disorder (such as a family history of
heart disease, for example). Far-out as it may seem, this sort of ethical
problem in business is becoming more prevalent as advancements in
science continue to make DNA sequencing easier, quicker, and
cheaper.

Regardless of how familiar you are with the different categories of


discrimination; you can use the set of guidelines for each type of

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discrimination published by the EEOC to ensure that you operate
properly with respect to this ethical issue in business.

For example, Become has made huge strides in eliminating human bias
from the loan decision-making process by using advanced technology
to analyze a business’s financial health & stability. Your Lending
Score™ will reflect your business, never your personal background or
circumstances.

It’s particularly important that your business positions itself to respond


quickly and effectively to any instance of discrimination especially
given the current ethical issues in business specifically related to race.

What can your business do about discrimination?

As is the case for all ethical issues in business, the first step to
preventing unacceptable behavior is to educate employees, make sure
everyone is aware of the rules, and have a system for distributing
disciplinary action when needed.

After that, one of the best ways to fight discrimination at work and
guarantee a diverse group of employees is to consciously hire people
with different characteristics and backgrounds. Having a diverse
workforce will not only ensure equal representation for different groups
of people but will also, in turn, help your business fight against
discrimination by bringing in a variety of perspectives into the fold.

You should also be careful about implementing business policies that


may be inadvertently discriminatory towards a particular group of

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people. For instance, you may require all employees to shave their
beards – but if the rule is deemed arbitrary and doesn’t actually have
anything to do with the employees’ ability to properly do their jobs, the
rule can be considered discriminatory on religious or even race
grounds.

3. Social Media

One of the more current ethical issues in business is the question of


employees’ personal behavior on social media outside of work hours.
Granted, there’s still quite a large gray area of situations that may or
may not make it ethically justifiable to fire an employee for their social
media conduct.

Here are a few questions you’ll want to consider with regards to this
ethical dilemma in business

Is it right to punish employees for certain types of social media posts?

Are you obligated to keep an employee who holds distasteful views and
expresses them online?

Should you fill the role of a mediator if employees get into a


disagreement with each other on social media?

When it comes to employee etiquette on social media, the bottom line


for most businesses is that the employee can be justifiably fired if the
activity is deemed disloyal or financially harmful to the company. Of
course, neither you nor your employees would want to get to a point

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like that – so what can you do to minimize ‘bad’ employee behavior on
social media?

What can your business do about ethical issues related to social


media?

Addressing ethical problems in business connected to social media can


be tricky mainly because most situations will fall in the gray area. To
help eliminate confusion or Di clarity for you and your employees, the
best step to take is to create a set of rules and policies that clearly
describe what is (and isn’t) acceptable for employees to do on social
media.

Your business’s guidelines for employee behavior on social media


should be paired with training sessions and periodic company-wide
reminders via email. Likewise, if there ever is an instance of
misconduct on social media and you’re forced to fire an employee, it
may be a good opportunity to readdress the topic with other employees.

4. Health & Safety

There are few ethical problems in business that are more serious than
the health & safety of your employees and customers. Besides the
obvious ethical implications of people getting hurt or sick while
working for your business, there’s also the huge risk to your business’s
financial stability and reputation. Don’t be fooled just because this
ethical issue in business is number 4 on this list!

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In 2018 alone, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported 5,250 fatal
injuries, the causes of which included everything from injuries by
animals to falls/slips/trips to transportation incidents and more. It may
come as little surprise to learn that the two industries with the most fatal
injuries are transportation (1,379 fatalities) and construction (1,008
fatalities). But regardless of what industry you’re in, what your track
record looks like, or how risky you think your business is – addressing
health & safety in your workplace is of the utmost importance.

It’s key to also highlight that physical safety shouldn’t be your only
focus; psychological well-being is a core component of creating a safe
and healthy workspace. Consider this: approximately 63% of the U.S.
population is part of the labor force and roughly 71% of adult
Americans report at least one symptom of stress (like headaches or
anxiety).

It’s not all doom and gloom though; of course, there are actions you
can take to ensure health & safety at work.

What can your business do about health & safety?

There’s been plenty of research done on the topic of combating ethical


problems in business related to workplace health & safety. The World
Health Organization has gathered data to develop some fundamental
advice on how to promote safety and health in the workplace:

• Regularly inspect your workplace for any potential hazards


• Train your employees so they’re educated on safety protocols

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• Promote healthy living (stock kitchens with healthy snacks &
drinks)
• Inform employees that help is available
• Recognize and reward hard work
• Create opportunities for employees to grow
• Hold periodic meetings with employees to understand their needs

5. Environmental Responsibility

Environmental responsibility in business may seem like it’s targeted at


big oil companies, lumber businesses, farming, and other businesses
that have a more direct impact on the environment. But that’s not the
case! Even if your business operates entirely within the confines of an
office building, environmental responsibility is still on the list of ethical
issues in business that you should pay mind to.

Every business owner is responsible for the carbon footprint that their
company produces. That applies to how your business affects air
quality, water cleanliness, the safety of endangered species, the use &
conservation of other natural resources, the pristineness of protected
nature reservations, and so on. Fortunately, the government has made
laws to address most of the environmentally-related ethical dilemmas
in business. Those laws include the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water
Act, the Endangered Species Act, the Resource Conservation and
Recovery Act, and more.

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All of that said, a recent study found that a whopping 78.2% of small
businesses haven’t designed or implemented an environmental
management system. It should be noted though that small businesses
have reasons for not implementing environmental management
systems. Those reasons include the financial burden of making
changes, complications that may arise while implementing changes,
not having enough guidance on how to go green with the business, and
so on. How can your business avoid those obstacles?

What can your business do about environmental responsibility?

There are numerous ways that your business can address environmental
responsibility, some of which can be a bit costly and others that you
can start implementing today. Either way you’ll want to create an
environmental management system:

• Assess for areas to improve


• Choose the ways to go green
• Define the goals for your EMS
• Create an EMS team to implement and oversee changes

Among the easier-to-do tactics your business should be doing: going


paperless. Not only will it save trees, but it will also save you money –
roughly 31 times the price you spend on the paper itself. In other words,
if you buy a $40 pack of paper, you’ll ultimately save around $1,200.
The planet will thank you, and so will your bank account.

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Of the [perhaps] more complicated and costly routes to environmental
consciousness: using renewable energy. Namely solar power. Installing
solar panels on your place of business will reduce the amount of
electricity you source from the power company and can save you
upwards of 80% on your electric bill. How does reducing electricity
consumption impact the environment? Consider this example from Fast
Company:

6. Accounting Practices

This is one of the more ‘classic’ ethical issues in business and comes
along with some very serious legal implications as well. Manipulating
a business’s financial data to make the company look more successful
– also known as “cooking the books” – is the most well-known form of
accounting misconduct (and is a federal crime). Beyond the legal
boundaries that it crosses, the ethical dilemmas in business related to
bad accounting practices can put innocent people in harm’s way.

Say, for example, your business was to misrepresent its earnings and
expenses. Not only would you be cheating the IRS and American
taxpayers by benefiting from tax deductions your business doesn’t
actually qualify for, but you’d also be deceiving your shareholders (if
you have any). If you then get caught, you could also be responsible for
your employees losing their livelihoods – even if they have no
knowledge of the wrongdoing. This is definitely an ethical problem in
business that you want to avoid at all costs.

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What can your business do about accounting practices?

The solution to this ethical issue in business is quite simple: personally


review your financial statements and reports to ensure that they’re
honest and accurate. If that’s going to be too time-consuming, hire an
accountant you trust to run the numbers – even if they cost a pretty
penny. And if cost is stopping you from hiring an accountant, but
you’re not sure if you can do it alone, then take some time to look over
the top 5 accounting software that can help you keep your books in
order.

Important note: After some careful thought, you may find that hiring
an accountant is well-worth the investment, but you may still be short
on funds to make it happen. Consider taking business loans as a way to
clear this hurdle and do what you need to do to keep your business
protected from the risks of fraudulent accounting practices.

In any case, this is not something to leave up to chance. Be sure that


whoever is handling the accounting end of your business is trustworthy.
If they aren’t, replace them with someone who is.

7. Data Privacy

These days you’ll be hard-pressed to find anyone who doesn’t have


some sensitive data stored digitally – including your employees. In fact,
more than 80% of Americans own a smartphone and the average person
uses roughly 25 applications every month. That’s a ton of opportunities
for data to fall into the wrong hands!

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So, what does that have to do with ethical problems in business? Well,
the ethical issues have less to do with how your employees conduct
themselves on company computers, smartphones, and tablets (although
that’s super important to address!). The ethics come into play when you
decide how exactly to implement a cybersecurity plan for your
business.

What can your business do about data privacy?

To avoid the reputational and financial damage of a data breach, you’ll


want to develop a small business cybersecurity plan and put it into
action as soon as possible. The ethical questions arise around the
specific aspects that make up your cybersecurity plan. To be more
precise, when does monitoring your employees’ behavior on company
devices cross the line and become unethical? Unlike some other ethical
problems in business, this one doesn’t have legal restrictions.
Businesses have the legal right to look into your browsing history and
company email use, and they do.

8. Nepotism

Nepotism, in case you’re unfamiliar with the term, refers to a form of


favoritism for family members or close friends. While it can definitely
introduce issues into the workplace under certain circumstances,
nepotism isn’t inherently a bad thing if the family member or friend is
fit for the position and gets along well with other employees.

The problem typically arises when that isn’t the case, and you wind up
hiring someone based on your personal relationship with them and not
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on their ability to do the job. But even when they are qualified for the
position, hiring a friend or family member can still breed resentment
among other employees. That’s why you need to be extremely careful
when deciding to bring someone from your personal life to work in
your business.

What can your business do about nepotism?

Besides being very careful about who you bring into your business,
there’s not much you can do to eliminate the negative views that some
employees may have if and when you hire a family member or close
friend. Even if yours is a family-owned business, you’ll want to pay
close attention to the ratio of employees vs. friends/family. After all, as
the old saying goes, “you can’t be a boss and a friend”.

9. Theft

Last but not least, theft is one of the most common phenomena
worldwide. According to a survey by Finance Online, 39% of
businesses have experienced more than one case of employee theft. But
what exactly does that mean? Is there more to employee theft than
“just” stealing inventory? The answer is yes.

Employee theft is also about violating some other ethical issues, like
stealing time; although this issue isn’t talked about often, many
businesses are losing a fair amount of money due to false attendance
reporting of employees.

What can your business do about theft?

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Preventing theft is a process that should start at the very beginning of
the recruitment of employees. Obviously, you’ll want to be rest assured
that your potential employees are trust worthy and respectful of your
business in all ways. Make sure to conduct background checks, address
employee theft in your company policy and occasional updates, and
make the consequences of theft clear enough for all your employees.
Also, encourage your employees to raise a flag when suspicion arise.

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HOW TO RESLOVE ETHICAL ISSUES?

Ethical dilemmas in the workplace can be more effectively dealt with


if managers follow a few simple steps:

• Identify the ethical issues. Ethical issues exist, in a broad sense,


whenever one’s actions affect others. In the workplace, a
manager’s decisions might affect employees, customers,
suppliers, creditors and shareholders. These are the stakeholders
of an organization.
• Identify alternative courses of action. Every dilemma affords
more than just one opportunity. The cautious handling of
workplace ethics issues can resolve personal and business
dilemmas. By identifying the alternatives, the next step can take
place.
• Using ethical reasoning to decide on a course of action. Ethical
reasoning skills are essential to making ethical decisions. A
variety of methods exist including:
• Egoism: Egoism looks at each decision by considering the effects
of a decision only as it relates to the individual decision-maker.
Most ethicists dismiss this method because it fails to consider the
consequences on the stakeholders. For example, if a CEO or CFO
is dealing with financial statement reporting and wants the
statements to look as good as possible regardless of the rules and
effects on others, then egoism rules the day.

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• Enlightened Egoism: This method considers the consequences
of alternatives on the stakeholders but ultimately a decision is
made based on what’s in the best interest of the decision maker.
So, a manager would consider the effects on the stakeholders and
may decide that since a particular decision is harmful to the
stakeholders because manipulation of the financial statements
compromises the validity of those statements, it is in the best
interests of the manager to conform the statements to accounting
rules.
• Utilitarianism: Here the decision-maker evaluates harms and
benefits of alternative decisions using a calculus/weighting
approach. Under act utilitarianism, the decision would be to select
the act where the benefits to the stakeholders exceed the harms
(i.e., net benefits are greater than any other act I might take). The
problem here is a decision-maker might weigh the alternative to
manipulate the statements as having greater value than
conforming to the rules. An alternative is to apply rule-
utilitarianism where regardless of utilitarian benefits certain rules
should never be violated, such as always follow proper
accounting rules regardless of the consequences on others.
• Rights and Obligations: In this method the decision-maker uses
ethical judgment to evaluate the rights of others (i.e., the investors
and creditors). These stakeholders have a right to expect accurate
and reliable financial statements. Correspondingly, I, as a
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decision-maker, have an obligation to respect those rights when I
select an alternative course of action. Rights Theory follows a
universality approach in that I would ask, before deciding,
whether I would want others in my position to make the same
decision for the same reason if they were faced with a similar
dilemma. If so, my action has universal appeal and should be
taken.
• Values-based decision making can be a complimentary thought
process because the ethical values to be emphasized in the
workplace mirror the rights and obligations approach. Decision
makers should act in accordance with certain virtues of behavior,
or character traits, such as truthfulness, trustworthiness, respect,
fairness, responsibility, objectivity, and integrity. If I am a
principled person, then my actions reflect these virtues and those
who rely on my decisions expect to be treated in accordance with
these ethical values.
• Ethical decision-making in the workplace is fraught with danger
because stakeholders of an organization may have competing
demands. Investors and creditors expect to receive truthful
information while top management may believe their own
personal wealth and image is tied into putting the best face on the
financial statements. It takes courage and perseverance for
decision-makers to avoid the obstacles that may be in play and
follow their conscience

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• . Let your conscience be your guide is as true today as years ago.
Of course, we are talking about people who have the propensity
to be ethical; otherwise, their conscience may not bother them if
unethical actions are taken.

Finally, managers should avoid the proverbial ethical slippery slope


where once a decision is made that violates ethical tenets the decision
maker starts to descend the slippery slope and it is difficult to reverse
course and reclaim the high road.

Unethical decisions can lead to cover-up and more unethical decisions


down the road. Remember, ethics is about what you do when no one is
looking. In other words, you are what you do and ethical people are
motivated to do the right thing, not make a decision based on
selfishness – egoism.

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CONCLUSION

Ultimately, the way to avoid these ethical dilemmas in business is to


openly communicate about them. There’s no sense in keeping your
business’s monitoring a secret from employees. Quite the contrary – if
they know you’re monitoring, they’ll be less likely to do the things you
have warned them about.

Finally, managers should avoid the proverbial ethical slippery slope


where once a decision is made that violates ethical tenets the decision
maker starts to descend the slippery slope and it is difficult to reverse
course and reclaim the high road.

Unethical decisions can lead to cover-up and more unethical decisions


down the road. Remember, ethics is about what you do when no one is
looking. In other words, you are what you do and ethical people are
motivated to do the right thing, not make a decision based on
selfishness – egoism.

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