...Ethics and Morals The words “ethics” and “morals” are very similar in their nature. They are sometimes used interchangeably. When one hears these words they might think of rules or principles that give life a generally favorable and “right” balance. One might think of someone whom they look up to when they hear the word “morals” because they consider that person to be respectable and trustworthy. The words “ethics” and “morals” encompass all of these things. However, they are indeed two different words with two different, yet similar, meanings. We will begin with “ethics”. When you begin a new job you may receive a standard operating procedure or manual which explains the employer’s policy and expectations, as well as your duties and what you may expect of the employer. More often than not there is a disciplinary policy included in the manual stating the employer’s rules and the consequences for failure to adhere to said rules. This manual is an example of “ethics”. It is a compilation of rules, expectations, principles, and consequences that uphold the company’s or employer’s “morals”, which brings us to that word—“morals”. The word “morals” is the more personal of the two. It is up to the individual to define his or her own morals. What is right or wrong? What is considered acceptable in one’s own mind and heart? Would taking a certain action go against what is right in one’s opinion? When one answers questions such as these for themselves they are defining their...
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...Week 1 What is the difference between morals and ethics in the workplace? Might something be ethical but immoral? What about unethical but moral? Which is more important to an organization, to be ethical or moral? Why? Morals and ethics relates to individual character, ethics, and morals but also applied in business world. Ethics stresses a social systems to which application of morals that influences ethical behavior at work whereas morality consists of rules of human behavior and specifies that certain behavior or actions are wrong or immoral and others are right or moral (De George, 2010). The decision’s one makes, whether it is for personal or professional reasons falls into either an ethical or moral decision making category. Morals define personal character. Moral decisions are based upon the beliefs of the individual while ethical decisions are guidelines, standards, and laws that affect the business professional’s decision-making process. In an ethical climate, people are held accountable and decisions are made based on what is in the best interest of the company or its employees and not what nets the greater financial gain for an individual at the expense of the company’s ethical fiber. Issues that arise in business can sometimes be ethical but immoral or vice versa. Business organizations face ethical and moral decisions daily. Ethics in business are central in the organization as it provides standards that form the moral integrity of the company. Effective leaders...
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...Morals and Ethics in Society Kalob Lisk Rasmussen College Author Note This paper is being submitted on July 14, 2016, for Thomas Santangelo’s B406 Business Law and Ethical Behavior course. Morals and Ethics in Society Morals and ethics in society play major roles in our lives and our work environments and I am more than happy to write this research paper to help explain the similarities and its key differences. And this research paper will also include where both morals and ethics derived from and what can cause both of these. How can ethics or morals affect the work atmosphere and even outside of work. And with ethics and morals the key difference is that ethics comes from the social system and can be an external factor, while morals can be derived from the individual and is an internal factor. Ethics can be linked back to the Greek word “ethos” (Diffen, 2016) meaning “character”. And according to Merriam-Webster the full definition of ethos “The distinguishing character, sentiment, moral nature, or guiding beliefs of a person, group or institution”. (Merriam-Webster, 2016) Ethical behavior can be motivated by self-interest, or some intuitive sense of right and wrong and this can stem from our social system which I briefly describe in the first paragraph is an external factor. And consequently there is no clear-cut blueprint of ethics that you can use to project your business’ reputation and well-being of your employees and customers (Small Business, 2016)...
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...Moral and Ethics Name of the Student Institutional Affiliation Morals and Ethics Two of the most influential ethical theories that have been studied in this module include Mill’s Utilitarianism and Kant’s duty-based theory. The aim of this essay is to weigh each of these two ethical theories. The analysis conducted will then be used to determine which of the two theories is applicable in day-to-day life. An explanation for the belief will also be presented. Utilitarian theory of J. S. Mill Utilitarianism was initiated by John Stuart Mill. It refers to an essay that supports utilitarianism as a moral theory. It also responds to the various misconceptions that individuals have concerning utilitarianism. According to Mill, the principle behind utilitarianism is that actions are only right if they are aimed at bringing happiness and wrong if they result in the opposite of happiness (Mill, 2009). In his regard, Mill claims that happiness exists in the presence of pleasures and absence of pain. Pleasure differs in terms of quality and quantity. Some of the ways that count as one’s happiness include achievement of personal goals and virtuous living. Mill also claims that utilitarianism is a result of the various sentiments that are caused by the social nature of human beings. As such, a society that embraces utilitarianism as its ethic standard would be bound by such standards and morals that...
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...Isaiah Gonzalez Luna May 13 2014 Period 6 Morals and Ethics To Kill a Mockingbird is the story of morals being challenged and ethics found, the ability to defend a man who is innocent but by the color of his skin is convicted, or the learning of right from wrong by growing up in the world rather than sitting in school. These ideas of morality and ethics show the indignant and almost transforming ways of the kids living. As for Atticus finch he has morals already, his ideas to set examples for his children and be open minded is a quality that rubs off on his children. The kids throughout the book have to understand right from wrong and assess situations that make them have to grow up sooner than most. Starting with the kids they were the ones who over the course of the book were exposed to the most eye opening situations in which they themselves had to grow up to understand and also consider their ideas and thoughts based on what some other peoples situations are. Scout imp articular in the opening stages of her moral stage has an encounter with Walter Cunningham, “He ain't company, Cal, he's just a Cunningham” (26). Scouts ethics about people based on what they say, or how they act or even there living situation was wrong. Calpurnia is the character other than Atticus who teaches the kids right from wrong. Cal has to set scout straight when scout reacts wrong to Walter Cunningham., "Hush your mouth! Don't matter who they are, anybody sets foot in this house's yo' comp'ny...
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...The meaning of moral and ethics may be the same to most individuals. However, the meaning of ethic is a standard set by society. It is how others views on what is right or wrong, whether it is nationally, socially, or in a workplace. Morals are independent to the individual. Moral comes from ones belief, religion, and choices. It is making the right or wrong, honest or dishonest, fair or not fair decision that impacts the individual’s belief or religion. The differences in virtue, utilitarianism, and deontological theory: virtue theory deals with one’s character not by their duty, one to be driven by excellence. Whether it is by moral or immoral behavior, one should adjust their practices on being excellent so others can value them. The utilitarianism theory is morally good for the popular vote. If the number consensus that it is morally right by a large group then it must be a good decision. The deontological theory is right by the duty. For one to act upon what is ethically right by their duty to serve. Team work is very important in my workplace. I work for a corporation in the financial division, where accuracy is very vital part of my job. I oversee the company’s finances in order to accomplish certain goals in the company. In order to reach the company’s goals, we work as a team. Each team member has different responsibilities to complete company’s financial statement. We depend on each other’s work to complete each task. By working with a large group of people...
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...“Ethics are the principles and values an individual uses to govern his activities and decisions. In an organization, a code of ethics is a set of principles that guide the organization in its programs, policies and decisions for the business. The ethical philosophy an organization uses to conduct business can affect the reputation, productivity and bottom line of the business.” (Kelchner, 2014) Having morals and ethics are based on the importance of ethical values. Senior Lifestyle is an organization that based their core values on CHART (caring, honesty, appreciation, respect, and teamwork). The ethical values of this organization based on the aspect of empowering their employees to deliver excellent services and care for their residence and families. Their aim is to work together, looking out for one another, and treating everyone how we want to be treated. It is easy for people in the community to work with a company that has the same type of ethical values and ideas. Everyone one values and wants respect, honesty, be cared for and appreciated, and it all can be accomplished with good teamwork. Caring: to have an inclination, liking, fondness, or affection, which I value in showing people every day to show how much you care for them. Honesty: “refers to a facet of moral character and connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, straight forwardness, trustworthy, loyal and fair.” (Wikipedia.org). Honesty is the best policy, is what I go by, or...
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...Samuel Robinson Ethical and Moral Issues in Business 10-29-12 Ms. Patricia Anderson Differentiating ethical and moral issues have been repeatedly debated throughout years in politics, classrooms, upon peers and so forth. The ultimate difference is ethical issues are the majority consideration, or what is beneficial to majority. Moral issues deal specifically with personal values and what we value as individuals. It may involve family values, traditional heritage values or just own individual values. But these two simple words are a lot in common and often compared between each other. Business ethics and personal ethics have somewhat in common also. Personal ethics mostly deal with what you moral feel is ethically right towards others and how you conduct yourself and your belongings in that matter. Also dealing with how you expect things in return as well. Business ethics look on the majority consideration, Laws and Government regulations and also a Liability standpoint. Once these views and points are considered a business or organization usually comes up with their own code of ethics or code of conduct to regulate their employees. I believe it is more so considered and persuaded from a liability view when deciding the current ethics for each individual business. Since employees direct actions cannot be controlled, if one shall conduct themselves in unethical conduct in harms of someone else the company can be held liable. Common ethical issues a business can encounter...
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...I believe that there are many factors that contribute to how I make my moral decisions. When making a decision I consider all the possible outcomes that could be the end result of my decision. The way I was raised by my parents taught me right versus wrong. For example, if I disrespected my parents, wasn’t honest, or did something they told me not to do, I would be punished for my actions. I always use my manners, which was taught to me as a child. My conscience plays a big role in how I uphold myself in life. When making crucial decisions, I ask myself if I could live with what I have just chosen. If I cannot live with and be happy with the decision, then it was not the right choice to make. Another contributing factor to my morals is doing the right thing. I try to think of what is the best interest for others rather than what is more beneficial to me. These decisions can be tough because they may not be what I want but in the end it will create happiness for another. I enjoy seeing others happy and I like to play a part in that happiness. Lastly, social norms play a big part in not only my morals, but the morals of society. I know that it is not right to wear a bathing suit to a job interview, but it is acceptable to wear one at the beach. As a future health care professional, it is important to establish a foundation of morals that you can abide by. Your patient will always come first before your own professional gains. If in a situation where the patient has a disease...
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...Ethics, Morals, Values and Beliefs Personal Ethics and Life David J. Graves Business Ethics Ottawa University Professor Donald Dunn July 7, 2013 This paper explains and defines my personal ethics, morals, values and beliefs, which will continue to grow as my maturity grows. My personal ethics in life stems from my family, my parents and from the continuous mistakes and accomplishments that I have made in my life. A famous philosopher, Frederick Nietzsche once said, “That which does not kill me makes me stronger.” I try to live my life by this principal, as difficult as it may be. This paper does not pretend to provide definitions for complex terms such as morality or ethics; it is merely a means to orient the reader in understanding my personal ethics in life. One of the most important characteristics of moral judgments is that they express our values. Not all expressions of values are also moral judgments, but all moral judgments do express something about what we value. Expressing one’s personal grasps of ethics and life may not always be understood in the context of the world at large, the environment or amongst the others in the household. This is usually due to the every person has some difference, small or great, in the development of their belief systems. Belief systems are established early in life through the environment of home, church, school or other social gatherings which help mold or shape their belief. Most of these beliefs and patterns of behavior are established...
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...MORAL LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS By: Mary Catherine Miller Why Ethical Leadership is Important: Ethical leadership is the backbone of any successful corporation. When an organization exercises an ethical value frequently, it becomes ingrained in the culture of the business. As a leader of this company you are expected to display the stated core values of the company and uphold the vision of the company overall. The first step in abiding by a code of ethics is understanding the expectations of the company. This section of the handbook, we will discuss the vision of the company as well as the mission statement. We will identify the four core values and define them in regards to the behaviors we expect our employees’ to exhibit. This section of the handbook is not an exhaustive code of conduct; rather it is a guide for the moral and ethical behavior that is expected of our employees at all levels of the company. What it Means to Our Company: The leadership of this company actively engages employees’ in activities in which they can use the stated values. By committing resources that encourage the behaviors of the value and reward the behavior when it is exhibited we believe that all employees will be more engaged and readily exhibit the moral leadership desired by the company (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin, & Cardy, 2010) A strong code of ethics should address the four most common elements that lead to unethical decision-making. They are; the absence of transparency, unwarranted...
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...Morals VS Ethics Shelby Blaylock MGT/216 April 25, 2011 Dan Capps Morals Vs Ethics Morals define a person’s character, while ethics are stressed by a social system in which morals are applied. An individual’s “moral code” is usually unchanging while the ethics they practice can be questionable. Ethics point to standards or codes- moreover behavior that is expected of you. Morals consist of conduct that differs in intention and actions, while ethics addresses such questions as is this right or wrong, am I good or bad? What is the difference between moral and ethical issues? Moral issues are those that involve a specific kind of experience, i.e., a special kind of feeling. These feelings differ intuitively from other kinds of feelings such as religious or aesthetic feelings. (Some people think they arise from a conscience.) On this hypothesis, such feelings are a kind of satisfaction, shame, or guilt Sociopaths or psychopaths for example have no such feelings. | | | | "Antisocial personality: A personality disorder characterized by a basic lack of socialization and by behavior patterns that bring the individual repeatedly into conflict with society. People with this disorder are incapable of significant loyalty to individuals, groups, or social values and are grossly selfish, callous, irresponsible, impulsive, and unable to feel guilt or to learn from experience. Frustration tolerance is low. Such individuals tend to blame others or to offer plausible...
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...Moral Leadership and Ethics The current business environment has a major dilemma; moral and ethical leaders are becoming more difficult to find and identify. According to a research study conducted by the Watson Wyatt group, 44 percent of the employees surveyed said that the top management within their company was not honest (CNNMoney, 2004). In order to fully appreciate the conclusion for the above survey one must understand what ethics and morals mean in today’s business communities. Ethics are defined in today’s business communities as acceptable guidelines for behaviors within a group or company, and morals are defined as a particular individual’s values of right and wrong (DuBrin, 2010). So how can our company ensure that our leaders are being moral and ethical leaders? Well according to The quest for moral leaders: Essays on leadership ethics, we can start by ensuring that our leadership always abides by the principles of ethical and moral leaders (Ciulla, Price, & Murphy, 2005). There are five principles that an ethical leader should always abide by and they are: 1) always be honest and trustworthy; 2) be attentive to all of their stakeholders; 3) work to build community; 4) always respect each and every person; and 5) they should accomplish silent victories. Each of these principles provides a key element to having ethical and moral leadership as well as having a successful company since one must have the other. Principle one says leaders should always be honest...
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...Ethical and Moral Issues Cynthia Crawford MGT 216 January 6, 2011 Frederick Pringle Today’s business world is experiencing changes concerning ethics. This paper will give an overview of the differences between moral and ethical issues pertaining to the business world and review differences between personal and business ethics. Finally, I will give real-world examples of common ethical problems past and present in the business world. According to DeGeorge, “Morality consists of rules of human behavior and specifies that certain actions are wrong or immoral and that others are right or moral” (p. 6). Issues of morality are often linked to religion. Moral issues can have serious or immediate effects. Moral issues deal with personal values established by individuals’ upbringing and background. Moral issues are also dependent upon ones social background. Moral views are on a broader level than ethics. According to Shaw and Barry, “Business ethics are mainly concerned with morality in the narrow sense.” Etiquette can have an interaction with morality depending upon the situation. Ethics is refers to a philosophy dealing with values relating to human conduct, with respect to the rightness and wrongness of certain actions and to the goodness a badness of the motives and ends of such actions (Gale, par 1). Ethical issues generally deal with the breaking of laws and rules established by a governing board for an organization. Ethical issues have become more complex...
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...Ethics and Moral Issues in Business Whether personal or business, ethics and morals are expected within any type of relationship. Businesses are expected to conduct a standard level of ethics that shows their community and consumers that they hold a certain level of principles and values. People are also expected to live by strong ethical and moral values by which they live and practice daily however; those morals may differ from person to person. Ethics and morals are feelings that people have that tell them whether something is right or wrong that may be affected based on different things. “An ethical issue is when there is a conflict between two or more parties where one is benefiting at the expense of another.” (Philodialogue.com) There are many things that can lead to an ethical issue. Difference in culture, religion, the law and how someone was raised all play a part. One main ethical issue that has been known throughout the United States is the selling of addictive products such as tobacco. In the beginning stages of this controversy, everyone witnessed the tobacco companies stating that their product was not addictive. Also their ethical standards were questioned when certain advertisements seemed as if it was geared towards children. Many questioned their ethical standards and moral commitment while the tobacco companies rushed to change their ads and overall image. “Moral issues are those which involve a difference of belief and not a matter of preference...
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