Ethics is defined as the moral principles that govern a person's behaviour or the conducting of an activity. In simpler words ethics is a system of moral principles. Ethics define the right way of living life for us by establishing rules, principles and values.
Business ethics
Ethics is an important part of our life. Basically it is what discriminates us from animals. It works by providing us a code of conduct which we can follow and become more acceptable and respectable in our society. Just as ethics is applied in every other field of our lives there are certain ethics which should be implemented in our business too. Business ethics is a form of applied ethics that oversees ethical problems that can arise in a business environment.
Businesses throughout the world are focusing and trying to use more ethical ways of doing business so that they can satisfy their customers and also increase their profits. Similarly the business we chose which goes by the name Islamabad Diagnostic Centre or ‘IDC’ is one of the best and most trusted diagnostic centres not only in twin cities but throughout the country. Just as any other business, Islamabad Diagnostic Centre works hard to make sure that everything it does is well in between the ethical boundaries of our society and makes the society accept and trust this dignified organization even more.
Policies
In the field of keeping the environment clean and hazard free, Islamabad diagnostic centre has many different policies which were told to us by the Director Operations in our recent interview with him. Some notable policies were as following
The waste was classified into different categories. All of these were dumped in separate bins and then were treated by the certified waste authorities through different methods. So as different waste objects need to be treated differently at different temperatures and by using different methods, this step made sure that no waste was left untreated.
Secondly, all the waste that was produced by the Islamabad diagnostic centre was kept away from the main building and was completely covered so that its smell and the germs do not spread until it was taken away by the waste authorities.
Thirdly, Islamabad Diagnostic Centre has an agreement with a waste management company which is certified by the Government of Pakistan, to pick up and treat their waste. This company makes sure that the waste is disposed of properly by using different techniques such incineration etc.
Management
It is true that employees are the building block of an organization. But they are also the face of the organization. What they do is what represents the company in the eyes of the public. So employees should be well trained and well aware of the organizations ethical codes and they should make sure that they implement these codes while performing their duties. At IDC, management is considered really crucial. IDC values its employees very much but also expects good result and behaviour from them. While interviewing the director operations told us multiple benefits some of which are as following:
Firstly, all the employees of IDC can use the medical services free of cost. This includes blood test, X-Ray and any other medical service that they need.
Secondly, employees are granted interest free loans to meet their expenses or if they ever met a crisis and needed money above their pay check and affordability on an urgent basis.
Thirdly, employees are also provided with donations if they or any of their family members gets involved in a bad accident or god forbid if any of their family members dies. Furthermore, the director told us that for the sake of employee welfare, IDC also pays the transportation cost of dead bodies of their employees loved one’s and as well as pays other burial expenses. But this all is done off the record to show their employees that IDC stands with them in their moments of sorrow.
These are the benefits that IDC provides but in return as mentioned earlier, it requires some things to be followed by employees. The most important thing is the rules and principles set by the organization should be completely followed and this includes the ethical code of conduct. The director said that any employee who is found violating these policies and codes will be referred to the discipline committee which has the authority to impose strict punishments including firing the employee from the job.
Reporting
Every organization has a particular structure and is being run according a particular process. There is a particular chain of command in every organization through which reporting is done in a hierarchy, from lower level to higher level. But according to the director operations of IDC they follow ‘FLAT ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE”. A flat organization refers to an organization structure with few or no levels of management between management and staff level employees. This elevates the employee’s level of responsibility in the organization, improves the coordination and speed of communication between employees and encourages and easier decision making process among employees etc. This all helps IDC to carry out smooth operations within their organization and make their employees more loyal and make them follow their ethical codes and other principles more strictly as they have a greater sense of responsibility and this allows IDC to satisfy their customers, the society, do good for the environment and make healthy profits.
References
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/flat-vs-hierarchical-organizational-structure-724.html
https://managementhelp.org/businessethics/index.htm
https://idc.net.pk/