Morality in Ethics of Corporate World

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MORALITY IN ETHICS OF CORPORATE WORLD The moral absolutism approach presumes the existence of eternal moral values and principles that are applicable at all times and at all places and circumstances. It considers that the moral quality of the action or behavior lies on the quality of the act itself (which means that something which is right is always right and something which is wrong is always wrong) irrespective of the circumstances that cause the act or the consequences that result from the act. The corporate world is beginning to understand that ethics are important. With companies like Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart Omnicom and Barron’s Bank, executives are becoming increasingly worried whether their corporations are ethical. Scandalous and unethical behavior has become so prevalent in the media that executives have realized the impact of ethical behavior on both themselves and their corporations. Corporate corruption, government investigations and excessive pay packages etc are some examples were corporate have to keep an eye on.The world has become too complex and interconnected to tolerate unethical behavior. A Good Ethical Approach Can Lead to Profitability A good ethical approach creates a positive corporate culture that makes customers happy and ultimately makes the company more profitable. “Ethical companies are more efficient.” Ethics is responsible of creating a corporate culture. Clarifying expectations is an important component of management and ethics is no exception. Spending time with their subordinates to verbalize what the company’s ethical expectations are, managers can instill ethical behavior from with the culture itself. In addition to creating an ethical forum, managers should also maintain the ethical quality, in addition to confronting any wrongdoers. [pic] Many of the existing regulations and laws concerning environmental and

Transcript of Morality in Ethics of Corporate World

Page 1: Morality in Ethics of Corporate World

MORALITY IN ETHICS OF CORPORATE WORLD

The moral absolutism approach presumes the existence of eternal moral values and principles that are applicable at all times and at all places and circumstances. It considers that the moral quality of the action or behavior lies on the quality of the act itself (which means that something which is right is always right and something which is wrong is always wrong) irrespective of the circumstances that cause the act or the consequences that result from the act.

The corporate world is beginning to understand that ethics are important. With companies like Enron, WorldCom, Martha Stewart Omnicom and Barron’s Bank, executives are becoming increasingly worried whether their corporations are ethical. Scandalous and unethical behavior has become so prevalent in the media that executives have realized the impact of ethical behavior on both themselves and their corporations. Corporate corruption, government investigations and excessive pay packages etc are some examples were corporate have to keep an eye on.The world has become too complex and interconnected to tolerate unethical behavior.

A Good Ethical Approach Can Lead to Profitability

A good ethical approach creates a positive corporate culture that makes customers happy and ultimately makes the company more profitable. “Ethical companies are more efficient.” Ethics is responsible of creating a corporate culture. Clarifying expectations is an important component of management and ethics is no exception. Spending time with their subordinates to verbalize what the company’s ethical expectations are, managers can instill ethical behavior from with the culture itself. In addition to creating an ethical forum, managers should also maintain the ethical quality, in addition to confronting any wrongdoers.

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Many of the existing regulations and laws concerning environmental and social issues in our country are lacking. As a result, it is up to the corporate community itself to implement adequate standards, so as not to later be accused by indigenous communities of immoral and unethical policies and procedures.

CORPORATE EXCELLENCE ACHIEVED THROUGH MORAL ETHICS:

In the new millennium, every element of business environment in India has been changing. This transformation may be the result of economic liberalization, privatization & globalization that has been introduced in 1991.In the process of this transformation, every organization started searching for new ways and means of achieving excellence. It is clear that mere Financial performance can't be a basis for measuring company's excellence.Corporate Excellence is defined as the ability of the company to outsmart Competitors consistently over a long period of time. In this context, successful organizations are different from excellent organizations. Success may be of one dimensions but excellence is of multiple dimensional in the

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company.business ethics and corporate excellenceIn order to achieve excellence, the companies should have basics positive values and attitudes. Ethics deals with what is wrong and what is right in various disciplines of the organization. Unethical practices may yield short term gains but organization can't be successful in the long run. The organization should develop and formulate the right approaches and strategies to excel. Because it is to be noted that being right in ethical behavior always pays off.Besides the above said elements, there are certain areas by which corporate excellence is facilitated in the modern business world. Young entrepreneurs and business mangers must pay attention to all these areas in order to see their organization excel(a) EXCELLENCE THROUGH MANUFACTURING :-In the manufacturing area, a new concept called – World Class Manufacturing ( WCM ) has emerged recently. The companies adopting WCM are able to introduce the products and services very much closer to the needs and wants of the costumer. This helps the company to be successful because WCM has the following characteristicsI). Products of high qualityII.) Products with enhanced featuresIII.) Products at the right price. (b) EXCELLENCE THROUGH MARKETING MIX :-All organizations, irrespective of the product they offer and the service they provide are always in search of achieving excellence. The basic area of concern to accomplish corporate excellence is effective management of Marketing Mix of the company. Innovation in product attributes, reasoning in prices, wide spread & easy reach in placing, the right distribution networks, objective in promotion, are the fields that a firm seeking excellence should concentrate on.(c) EXCELLENCE THROUGH HRM:-Among all the organizational resources, the human resources are the most vital and require constant refinement. Organizational objectives and strategies must match with HR strategies. Since the change is the fundamental element in achieving corporate excellence, change management is to be backed by human resources of the firm. The change can be facilitated by means of HR activity- Training. Hence the training programmes in the new age business organizations should focus on - Team work, leadership, initiation, interpersonal communication.(d) EXCELLENCE THROUGH INFORMATION :-In this present networking era, information has become a major resource after physical, financial, human resources of the organization. Proper management of information is the best way to get competitive advantage. Computer based information systems help the organization to convert raw data in to meaningful information, which helps the manger in taking effective decisions, which in term improve business performance and ultimately lead to corporate excellence. Information systems like TPS (Transaction Processing System), MIS (Management Information Systems), DSS (Decision Support Systems), ESS (Executive Support Systems) if used intelligently helps the organization to reach the pinnacle in the competition. Following are some suggestions for an ideal corporate to get Excellence in its field:

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(a) Setting up of an independent, autonomous centre for corporate excellence, with a view to accord accreditation and promote policy research and studies, training and education and awards etc. in the field of corporate excellence through improved corporate governance; (b) Introducing measures for greater shareholders participation, through multiple location meetings, or meeting through electronic media etc. (c) Introducing formal recognition of corporate social responsibility with Triple bottom Line Accounting and Reporting. (d) Clear distinction between direction and management that would ensure that the executive directors are held responsible for legal and other compliance with non- executive directors being charged with strategic and overall responsibilities. (e) Highlighting directional commitment and accountability through fewer and more focused board and committee membership, tighter delineation of independence criteria and minimization of interest –conflict potential. (f) Suggesting application of corporate governance principles to public sector undertakings, certainly in the case of listed companies and preferably even in the case unlisted companies, in terms of their board with independent directors.