Ethical behavior

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June 16, 2022

 Ethical behavior is characterized by fairness and honesty in academic, professional and

interpersonal relationships. Those who demonstrate ethical behavior follow a specific set of

values and a moral code. Ethics applies to supervisors, team leaders and all employees in an

organizational setting. They have to engage in ethical behaviors. This paper explains four guides

to ethical behavior and three things that organizations can do to manage ethics.

Guides to ethical behavior

One of the guides of ethical behavior is treating everyone with respect. Ethical executives

should treat all employees with respect. They should demonstrate respect for other people’s

interests, rights, privacy and autonomy (Wotruba, 2020). Other employees should also respect

one another. They should not respect other people because of their class or education level.

Respect should be granted to everyone regardless of their national origin, race or sex.

Employees and business managers can show respect by listening to others properly. They

should practice transparency, politeness and common courtesy. Managers should give their

employees time to share various ideas. They should respect cultural diversity. Respect helps to

reduce conflicts, stress and other problems at the workplace (Wotruba, 2020). It also promotes a

culture where employees feel motivated and happy.

Another guide of ethical behavior is demonstrating the value of honesty. Employees and

managers should be honest in their actions and communications. Honesty makes it easy for one

to gain trust. One should be forthright, truthful and candid. Business managers should not

deceive or mislead the customers or employees (Stead et al., 2020). They should avoid selective

omissions, partial truths and overstatements.

 Organizational members can demonstrate honesty by keeping to their word. They should

always fulfil their promises. Keeping commitments can help one to gain the trust of other people.

For example, one should arrive on time whenever there are meetings (Stead et al., 2020). They

should admit their mistakes and stand up for what is right.

Individuals should maintain personal integrity. Integrity is about the character of a

person. One can demonstrate integrity by doing what is right and adhering to ethical principles.

Integrity can be demonstrated by ensuring that there is consistency between actions, words and

thoughts (Wotruba, 2020). To maintain integrity, one should have moral courage and the inner

strength to do what is right.

A significant guide to ethical behavior is striving to be just and fair. Managers should

have rules that promote fairness. They should strive to be fair and just in their dealings.

Managers and employees should not play favorites. They should avoid blaming other people

unjustly and carelessly (Stead et al., 2020). It is important to take only one’s fair share and take

turns. One can practice fairness by avoiding favoritism in all their activities.

Being caring is also an essential guide to ethical behavior. Individuals should ensure that

they demonstrate compassion. They should show a genuine concern for other people. It is

important to be kind, benevolent, compassionate and caring. One should not be involved in

activities that hurt other organizational members (Stead et al., 2020). They should avoid using

abusive language. Employees can demonstrate care to their fellow workers by offering help and

doing something good.

Three things that organizations can do to manage ethics

 Organizations can manage ethics by creating an ethical code. The ethical code would set

out the best practices and ethical guidelines that should be followed by all employees. It would

help organizational business to demonstrate integrity and honesty. The ethical code would help

to explain the expected professional behavior for the organizational members (Stead et al., 2020).

When organizations develop an ethical code, they help the employees to behave ethically by

clearly explaining what they should do, and what they should not do.

Organizations should communicate their ethical expectations to the employees. Having a

code of ethics can help to eliminate ethical ambiguities. The code of ethics can explain the

ethical rules and primary values of an organization. Managers have to embrace the ethical code.

After developing the code of ethics, it should be communicated clearly to all employees (Weaver

et al., 2022). All employees should have copies of the ethical code. The ethical code should be

communicated through employee newsletters or through the company’s website.

It is important to punish unethical behaviors and reward the ethical ones. Organizations

can have punishments for employees who engage in acts such as bribery and sharing of

confidential information. They should also punish employees who discriminate or harm others.

Employees could be suspended or disciplined for their unethical behavior. They can also have

their contracts terminated for failing to adhere to ethical rules (Weaver et al., 2022).

Organizations should enact reward systems to manage ethics. They can offer prizes and

incentives to employees who demonstrate honesty, integrity and fairness.

Organizations should offer ethics training to their employees. They should set up

workshops and seminars to train their employees about ethical behavior. Training sessions

should cover the acceptable and unacceptable behaviors. Organizations could provide
explanation of their ethical codes to new employees (Cox, 2021). They have to inform their

employees to always keep workplace ethics in mind whenever they are performing their duties.

The four guides to ethical behavior include acting with honesty and integrity, being

caring, striving to be just and fair, and treating everyone with respect. It is important to avoid all

forms of discrimination and favoritism in the workplace. Organizations can manage ethics if they

develop an ethical code, offer ethics training, rewards and punishments to employees due to their

ethical or unethical behaviors.

 REFERENCES

Cox, D. J. (2021). Descriptive and normative ethical behavior appear to be functionally

distinct. Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis, 54(1), 168-191.

Stead, W. E., Worrell, D. L., & Stead, J. G. (2020). An integrative model for

understanding and managing ethical behavior in business organizations. Journal of Business

Ethics, 9(3), 233-242.

Weaver, G. R., & Agle, B. R. (2022). Religiosity and ethical behavior in organizations: A

symbolic interactionist perspective. Academy of management review, 27(1), 77-97.

Wotruba, T. R. (2020). A comprehensive framework for the analysis of ethical behavior,

with a focus on sales organizations. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 10(2), 29-

42.