Ethics are what we consider to be right and wrong. Although sometimes we think ethics are black and white, or something is completely right or wrong that may not always be the case. There are many different views or models of ethics that people follow that can alter what they think is ethical. One of these perspectives is the principle of long-term self-interest. This model emphasizes on the importance of doing what is right for you or your organization. Another aspect to consider about this model is planning for the future and considering the best way to achieve your long-term goals rather than focusing on the short-term, small picture. A different ethical model is the principle of government requirements. This model focuses on following laws because these are the set standards that we can be held accountable for. This means that even if good can come out of breaking a law, we shouldn’t break it because these are the minimal moral standards of society and to break them would cause chaos and would result in punishment. Another ethical model includes the principle of individual rights. The focus of this model is to allow others to keep their rights intact. If you don’t want someone else to impede your ability to exercise and enjoy your rights, you should not impede someone else’s.
Personal Perspective
The model of ethics that I associate myself the most with is the principle of individual rights. I think that it is important to respect others and not get in the way of other people’s rights because I value my individual rights and don’t want other people to affect mine. This is especially important because these rights are typically agreed-upon rights and it is unfair to make an agreement and then fail to hold up your end of the deal. I like having the respect of others and to know that other people’s words are meaningful and that there is honesty behind them. When people don’t follow the principle of individual rights it makes me feel like people are dishonest and don’t deserve my trust and I don’t want anyone to look at me in that way. One of my values is respect, and in order to give and receive love, I feel like there has to be a base of trust.
Ethical Dilemma Recognition and Analysis
An ethical dilemma is a situation where you have to make a decision knowing that the decision could cause harm to others or result in negative consequences. An ethical dilemma that I face regularly is related to school. Oftentimes, I am overwhelmed and feel like I don’t have time to complete all of my required homework assignments, work, participate in organizations and study for exams. This leads me to the ethical dilemma of looking up my homework questions online and trying to find the answers instead of working through the problems on my own. When looking at this dilemma from the principle of long-term self-interest, it would make sense to look up the homework online so I could focus on more important activities such as focusing on tests that affect my grade and overall grade point average (GPA) more. Another ethical view is the principle of government requirements. Not doing homework assignments is not against the law, so someone who follows the principle of government requirements wouldn’t say this is unethical and it would be fine to do. The last perspective is the principle of individual rights. A person who follows this ethical model would say that it is wrong to look the answers up online because it disrespects the teachers who put time and energy into the homework assignments. Agreed upon rights between professors and students include a standard of respect and that professors will facilitate learning and encourage questions and growth of knowledge. As students, we agree to respect our professors and do the assigned activities to grow as professionals and succeed in the class. This breaks the agreed-upon standard of respect by not participating fully in assignments that are meant to help us. The dilemma is resolved by only looking up questions online when I am unable to understand the material after looking through the book and notes taken in class. The implications include how well I will do on the test if I don’t understand the homework assignments. The limitations include that other people with different ethical opinions could chose a different answer based on their ethical model. People also could have different opinions within the principle of the individual rights model. People could see looking up homework questions online as not affecting the professor’s rights and therefore it wouldn’t see it as unethical.
Ethical Leadership and Corporate Social Responsibility
I think that it is crucial for organizations to be ethical. They make up a huge part of our economy and culture and oftentimes set an example for individual households. If a large organization puts no emphasis or effort into recycling, this could send the message that being environmentally friendly is unimportant and individual households could follow this example and not recycle in their homes. Additionally, in this example, if a company participating in recycling or other attempts to be environmentally friendly, it means it cares about the community they’re based in instead of focusing solely on profits. I think that organizations do have some responsibility to give back to the community they are located in because their community is what supports their business and allows in to thrive and be profitable so in return they should give back to the community as well. I think that organizations should adopt a strategy somewhere in between an accommodative and proactive strategy. An accommodative strategy can be seen when businesses will accept responsibility for mistakes and put their best foot forward by putting all the needed time, energy, and resources into resolving the problem. A proactive approach is seen when a company plans for and anticipates responsibility before a problem arises and goes above and beyond to acknowledge the problem and set an example for other organizations. I think that a mix of these two corporate social responsibility strategies would be the best plan of action. It is important for a company to care about their community and be responsible and acknowledge mistakes and what they can improve it, but there should still be focus on other organizational objectives as well. A proactive strategy could take away from profits or quality of the quality and services offered if too much time and energy is spent on it which harms not only the organization but all the stakeholders as well.