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Ethical conduct in a workplace entails 'Moral code that guides the behavior of employees concerning what is right and wrong, and what is good and evil regarding conduct and decision making. In any given organization, standards of ethical conduct should be exemplified by the organization and individual employees. When making ethical decisions, employees’ best interests and that of those who would be impacted have to put into account by the workplace. Failure to which might lead to unethical behavior which might affect the workplace negatively in terms of reputation and financial consequences.
I being as a sales representative for a medical device company that has developed an artificial knee which is cheaper than the competition and will help in reducing the healing time for patients, although has severe and potential lethal infection in a few patients, feel that the oblige to disclose this potential side effect since the company refuses to divulge. However, I signed a nondisclosure agreement, so I am worried about possible repercussions.
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Ethically, this is not right because, in any given company, the end should not justify the means, and competitors shouldn’t be treated as hostile enemies.
Dr. Richard Lucas, a Director of the White Oak Medical Center (WOMC), exhibits ethical conduct. He aims at generating investment in terms of time, treasure, and talent. Since the mission of the hospital is extending God's care through the ministry of physical, mental and spiritual healing, Lucas works with Adventist Healthcare's external community to generate advocacy on behalf of the hospital's goals and objectives.
Lucas believes that investment and aspirations of team members lead to venture in and commitment to the goals and objectives of an organization.
Lucas, being an executive director of the White Oak Medical Center Foundation, possess two ethical values which are Integrity and accountability. Concerning Integrity, Lucas believes that honesty and operating with a set of values for a foundation to good leadership. He hands for what he believes in, do not compromise his values, he keeps promises, seeks the truth, and focuses on the right thing as it is the right thing to do. Lucas claims that Integrity is an essential value in any given organization as it helps one to avoid legal and ethical pitfalls associated with leading a business dishonestly as well as Integrity helps in setting standard of excellence in all units of a company thus, earning respect from the customers, team members, stakeholders, and leadership hence, operational, rational, and business success. About accountability, Lucas always acknowledges and accepts personal liability for the ethical quality of his decisions, performance, and actions together with omissions to colleagues, organization, company, and stakeholders. He takes responsibility for both success and underperformance. For instance, it is meeting fundraising goals as well as associated performance metrics. He is also accountable for the team’s failures and success as he believes that their success or failure is his failure and success and vise eras.
A consequentialist is a person who judges the morality of an action based on the worth of a result. As long as the results are good, then the response is considered moral. According to Jeremy Bentham, the consequential Principle goes, “The greatest happiness for the highest number. That means that if a result proves happiness among many people, then, it is morally upright. More emphasize is on end rather than the means. In this scenario, consequentialism would look at the impact of the artificial knee to the society at large. Will it bring joy among many individuals? To the consequentialist’s point of view, as long as many people would be happy with the artificial kneel joint then, it is worth being sold without indicating the possible side effects. In this scenario, a consequentialist would decide to keep quiet and leave things the way they are because since the knee joint is cheaper than the competitors, it will save many people money thrust would make them happy. Secondly, since people would be in a position to acquire it earlier enough, it will reduce the healing time in patients, thus, making them happy for healing faster. Last but not least, a consequentialist would not bring to awareness the side effects of the knee as it is stated that the side effects occur among a few and on rare cases despite it being severe thus many would be happy apart from the few who might incur the infections. Therefore, a consequentialist would not disclose the potential issue as many will benefit from the artificial knee joint at the expense of a few.
A deontologist, on the other hand, judges an action rather than the consequences. According to Immanuel Kant, the founder of the deontological theory, moral rules should be adhered to if universalizing the opposite would make an impossible world. In this scenario, the question is, what if all companies decide not to disclose the side effects of their products to the public, will the consequences be bearable? To a deontologist, revealing the potential side effect would be morally right because if all companies refuse to do so, the results would be unbearable. According to the deontologist, keeping quiet about the potentially lethal infection would lead to some people suffering the consequences in as much as many would have saved money and healed early. In this case, a deontologist will encourage disclosing the side effects at the expense of their job, thus alarming people on the possible dangers of using the artificial knee joint.
Kohlberg came up with levels and stages of moral development. At every step, morality is portrayed differently. As per the following questions, various levels of cognitive moral development are described.
Which action would be most likely to serve the greater good in society? Conventional morality is represented in the question under god boy- excellent girl orientation whereby an individual judge an action based on societal roles and social expectations before him. For instance, would reveal the side effect information about the developed knee joint because I feel that doing so will be useful to the society as the society needs to know.
If I reveal this information, would I get into trouble and possibly even lose my job? The question represents a pre-convention level of morality under obedience and punishment stage whereby, in this stage, punishment is used to refrain an individual from doing an action but instead continue to obey the set laws. A person may be afraid of revealing the information because of the signed disclosure agreement, which might lead to losing a job.
Which action best aligns with my long-held belief in the Principle of justice? Post conventional morality is portrayed in this question under universal ethical principles orientation where moral reasoning is applicable as a person considers accepted ethical principles whereby a person makes a diction based on what they think is morally right. For example, I may disclose the information as i believe it is immoral to keep such vital information from the public.
What do the laws say, and what would a law-abiding citizen do? Current level of mental development is present in this case considering the law and order orientation stage. At this stage, respecting the authorities and following the rules as well as doing a person’s duty is mandatory. However, a person needs to consider the society at this stage. For instance, in this scenario, I might decide to disclose the information based on the set laws which prohibits such behavior because if at one point comes to be known that the artificial knee joint is at the market yet the side effects are not clearly stated, then legal action would be taken.
If I keep quiet, will I get some reward? The question represents the pre-convention level of morality stage two which is instrumental relativist orientation. At this stage, a person is said to judge the morality of an action based on how it satisfies the individual needs of the doer. In this scenario, the company might have decided to keep the information from the public to make more money as people would opt for a second knee joint that heals fast. If this happens, I as sales representative might be rewarded for making so many sales.
Moral Lens Inventory (ELI) is used to determine the values one can acquire. Through ELI, I can identify values obtained from my family and those that I learned later. My preferred ethical lenses the rights/ responsibility lens as I am one person who emphasizes individual rights and relies on rational, though when making decisions. I value respect so much. I do hope my work benefits others. That is why I would disclose the information on the side effects of the artificial knee joint. However, my preferred lens differs from settings like work, personal, and social. My favorite lens at work is Result lens. I am one person who emphasizes individual rights and values of own responsibility and mutual respect. However, in my social life, I prefer relationship lenses, I would emphasize the rights of the community and depend on emotion and intuition as I value justice as well as empowering the less powerful. In my private life, reputation lens is preferable as I usually emphasize the rights of a community and rational thought. Apart from that, I am always compassionate.
My core values include compassion, honesty, creativity, respect, and innovation, whereas my virtues include friendliness, truthfulness, and honor. I have seen these values and virtues play in my life. For instance, compassionate and kindness go hand in hand comes in when socializing and being able to support my friends in times of need. Honesty and truthfulness are compatible too and apply in situations where lying could be costly to me or any other person whatsoever. Innovation, creativity and are applicable in cases like entering into a business of which might be profitable or not.
My topmost values include Integrity, humility, harmony, fairness, and compassion. They are similar to my primary values and classical virtues, whereas some are different. Integrity, honesty, and compassion appear in both. Humility and harmony are mixed as I apply them in my day to day life regardless of the situation.
My blind spot is risk-taking. When it comes to some situations, I am a risk-taker based on the rightfulness of action regardless of the consequences. As long as I believe the work is morally right, I go on doing it without paying attention to the results. Might be costly at times as I may suffer the consequences. For instance, I at times break the set laws to justify an action which might lead to suspension. To avoid this in the future, I will try so hard to be keen on the consequences of an effort to. I need to be rational in that the decisions I make should be correct. Secondly, I would work within the set rules, and lastly, I should expect and accept mistakes.
Therefore, ethical lenses might be applicable in my professional life such that responsible lens is applicable in a situation that requires honest. Relationship lens can be appropriate in case of decision-making processes and meetings whereby, fairness and empowering one another is essential. Reputation lens can be of importance in situations where I need to work best to give the best results. Results lens, on the other hand, is applicable in teamwork and individual responsibility whereby we need to work as a team and ensure everyone carries out their duties diligently to achieve desired goals.
Ethical Theories, Leadership & the Ethical Lens Inventory. (2021, Feb 02). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/ethical-theories-leadership-the-ethical-lens-inventory-essay
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