How to Recognize Ethical Issues in Business

A recent study found that 78.2% of small businesses have not designed or implemented an environmental management system. However, it should be noted that small businesses have reasons not to implement environmental management systems. These reasons include the financial burden of changes, complications that can arise when implementing changes, lack of guidance on how to go green with the business, etc. How can your company avoid these obstacles? One of the biggest challenges for any entrepreneur is solving ethical problems in business. While some ethical issues in business are covered by law, the requirements for others are more vague. In these cases, it is incumbent on business owners and managers to hold employees accountable for unethical actions and, of course, to behave ethically. Each organization must maintain accurate accounting practices. „Falsifying books“ and engaging in unethical accounting practices is a serious problem for organizations, especially in publicly traded companies. It is difficult to determine the ethics of firing or disciplining workers for their behavior on social media outside of working hours. In most situations, an employee can be fired for their online behavior because there is a legitimate reason (such as a violation of your business policy) and not an attempt to cover up a company`s illegal activities.

However, if the process of determining good reason is poorly managed, it can lead to serious problems for your business. There is often a fine line between a gift and a bribe. However, the questions we just asked can help draw them, as they raise key questions for determining how an act should be interpreted: the cost of the item, the timing of the gift, the nature of the gift, and the relationship between donor and recipient. If you`re on the front desk side, it`s a good idea to reject anything that is too generous or given in order to influence a decision. However, since accepting even small gifts can violate company rules, it`s best to review the company`s policy. In most cases, when we talk about workplace harassment, the topic quickly shifts to sexual harassment. There`s no doubt that this is an ethical issue in business that should be taken very, very seriously – and if you don`t know why, then you need to read about the #MeToo movement. While we must not forget that there are many forms of harassment in the workplace, sexual harassment deserves to be fought alone. There are many ways for your business to steward the environment, some of which can be a bit expensive and others you can implement today.

Either way, you`ll want to create an environmental management system: every small business owner and business owner needs to create a business bank account. Sounds. One of the most current ethical issues in companies is the issue of employees` personal behavior on social media outside of working hours. Admittedly, there is still a fairly large gray area of situations that may or may not make it ethical to fire an employee for their behavior on social media. According to this, one of the best ways to combat discrimination in the workplace and ensure a diverse group of employees is to consciously hire people with different characteristics and backgrounds. A diverse workforce not only ensures equal representation of different groups of people, but also helps your business fight discrimination by bringing a variety of perspectives. Another ethical issue concerns the use of company-owned equipment. Employers can now monitor all employee activities on laptops and mobile phones. While it`s about checking whether employees stick to work-related activities during the workday, some employers go even further by tracking keystrokes and reading emails. The question is where to draw the line between surveillance and espionage. Before addressing some common ethical concerns that companies face, you should first understand what ethical issues mean in a business context.

Other categories, such as genetic information or retaliation, may be discussed less frequently, but they are still important. To quickly clarify, genetic discrimination in the workplace occurs when a company treats an employee differently based on their genetic predisposition to develop a particular disease or disorder (such as a family history of heart disease). As distant as it may seem, this type of ethical problem in business is becoming more common as advances in science continue to make DNA sequencing easier, faster, and cheaper. It`s important to be aware of the ethical issues you can expect in business for two main reasons. First, you can make sure that your own behavior and actions are always ethical. Second, it allows you to develop a positive company culture where employees treat each other with respect and strive to grow the company – rather than getting purely personal benefits. Whistleblowing often means professional suicide. A survey of two hundred whistleblowers by the National Whistleblower Center found that half of them had been fired for blowing the whistle. National Whistleblower Center, „Labor Day Report: The National Status of Whistleblower Protection on Labor Day, 2002,“ www.whistleblowers.org/labordayreport.htm (accessed April 24, 2006). Even those who can keep their jobs suffer painful effects. As long as they stay, some people will treat them (as one whistleblower puts it) „like skunks to a spade“; When they leave, they are often blackmailed in the industry. Paula Dwyer et al., „Year of the Whistleblower,“ BusinessWeek Online, December 16, 2002, www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/02_50/b3812094.htm (accessed January 22, 2012).

On the positive side, it is worth noting the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which protects whistleblowers under federal law. Here are some questions to consider regarding this ethical dilemma in business: The importance of ethical issues in business cannot be overstated, especially in this era of social movements and political correctness. Personal feelings aside, the fact remains that current events have reshaped current ethical issues in business and significantly increased the focus on ethics in the workplace. It is not uncommon in business to give and receive small gifts of appreciation. But when is a gift unacceptable? When is it really a bribe? If it is acceptable to give a bottle of wine to a client company during the holidays, is it acceptable to give a case of wine? If your company is trying to get a large order, is it appropriate to send a gift to the key decision maker? If it`s okay to invite a business friend over dinner or a ball game, is it okay to offer the same person a fully paid weekend getaway? Discrimination is not only unethical; In many cases, it is also illegal. Laws are in place to protect employees from discrimination based on age, gender, race, religion, disability and more. Nevertheless, the gender and racial pay gap shows that discrimination is still widespread. Other common cases of discrimination include dismissal of employees when they reach a certain age or fewer promotions to members of ethnic minorities. Solving corporate ethical issues related to social media can be challenging, especially because most situations fall into the gray area. To eliminate confusion or ambiguity for you and your employees, the best step is to create a set of rules and guidelines that clearly outline what is (and isn`t) acceptable for employees on social media.

It may be necessary to track employee activities to some extent (especially if you`re concerned about employees spending too much time on personal activities – which in itself may be unethical behavior). However, they don`t want to overdo it and create a culture of mistrust. From there, you want to make sure your company`s leaders lead by example, continually pay attention to inappropriate behavior, and provide employees with a safe and discreet way to report harassment. Also, there should never be fear of retaliation for reporting sexual harassment – victims, whether alleged or proven, should receive your full support. In the complex global business environment of the 21st century, companies of all sizes face a multitude of ethical questions.