Analyzing Ethical Factors In The Workplace: A Case Study Essay.

1. How many ethical issues you identified using the EDM (there are some subtle issues that an in-depth analysis will find).

2. You must demonstrate an understanding of the course material (lecture/chapter content) such that you can apply it in your analysis of the case study, then synthesize and evaluate these into well-reasoned conclusions.

The Importance of Ethical Conduct in the Workplace

In this paper we are looking forward to analyse the ethical factors which takes place in the given case study. The ethical code of conduct should be followed by the individual in carrying out their working culture. It is the psychological and moral conduct of the person to avoid violation, criticism, rumours, and chaos which in turn result in developing good and healthy relationship with the other colleagues and business partners (Allahbshi, 2013). The ethical values play an important role in setting moral values and principles for the person to complete their given task with efficiency and honesty. The analysis of the ethical issues helps in developing positive attitude in the individual by gaining learning from the unethical experience. The ethical code of conduct helps in developing right behaviour of the individual which should be followed at the work place which focuses on developing healthy relationship at social level. The acceptance of success and failure of life helps in increasing knowledge domain and experience of the individual for developing effective moral principles for developing creative thinking to comply with the hard times of the life. The ethical code of conduct helps in managing self-management plan to cope up with the different situation of life and emerging with effective solution in handling the assigned task with effectiveness (Australian institute of training and development, 2014). The complexity of the real life problems can effectively solved with the implication of ethical behaviour and principles. The examples from the case study help in analysing the positive and the negative impact of the ethical and unethical behaviour in different situation of life.

The analysis was conducted on the flow of events which takes place in the given case study. The case study is based on the life structure of Bridget Donovan who faces problems in completing her phases of life. She was an expertise in Cyber-security system. The psychological and the moral behaviour of the Bridget Donovan were affected due to the occurrence of unethical factors in her life.

At the age of 14, Bridget Donovan was sent to imprisonment due to unethical practices performed in the public place such as drinking below the age of 18, drinking in the public places, and doing theft. The ethical behaviour shown in the imprisonment releases her early before her imprisonment term. The case was kept confidential so as not to harm her reputation. The record of the juvenile imprisonment can create rumours which can adversely affect the life style of the Bridget Donovan. These are the legal factors which are developed by the government in relation to the ethical and the unethical behaviour followed by the individual (Baines and Taylor, 2013). In the given situation, the unethical behaviour shown by the Bridget Donovan sent her jail due to the implication of legal obligations whereas good behaviour in the imprisonment reduces her imprisonment time. The positive outcome can be gained by showing ethical behaviour in following rules and regulations of the government to omit the legal obligations in completing the assigned tasks.  

Analyzing the Ethical Issues in the Case Study

Bridget Donovan is working for Insurance Company as security Expert. One of his colleagues spread rumours about his Juvenile imprisonment which makes the Insurance Company threated about their reputation. They asked her to resign or they will terminate. She resigned from her job because she does not share his past with them. She deny from her past of imprisonment which shows the feeling of dishonesty towards the organization. It was legally mentioned in the term and contracts with the company that employees showing dishonesty in their work and towards the organization can be terminated from their job. This comes under professional factor not the legal factor because it occurs when the employees shows unethical behaviour in their working plan (Singh, 2015).

The organization should not terminate Bridget Donovan on the basis of her past, the present working and her loyalty towards the organization should be taken under consideration.  This is against the professional ethics. On the basis of rumours, the employees should not be fired. The organization should collect evidences and have a word with the victim before the direct termination. Firing of the employees on the basis of rumours and threats comes under the professional ethical factors.

The Bridget Donovan had lost her job due to the unethical behaviour shown by her colleague Jamie, in spreading rumours about her past. The employees should show loyalty among working partners so that they can build good and healthy relationship at workplace and strong bonding which makes them comfortable to share their grievances about the company. It helps in minimizing conflicts, chaos, and distraction among them. The loyalty among the team members is the social factors (Leonard, 2018).

Bridget Donavan was not awarded with the communication platform where she can present her past freely and the complexities which she had faced in her life span. The complexities of the working employees can be resolved with the good communication platform where they have a right to present their views and opinion. It helps in preventing rumours which spread in the working culture of the organization (Gilman, 2013). The organization has shown an unethical behaviour without having words and communication with the Bridget Donovan they have directly asked for resignation or termination on the basis of rumour. Without having communication allows the termination of the employees comes under social ethics.

Rogers, who was a senior sales officer in the company wants to change his relationship with Bridget Donovan from professional to personal. This is because she was a good security expert and can be beneficial for the organization to achieve long term sustainability of the company. The emotions and personal feeling of Bridget Donavan were used for professional advantage is the personal factor. It is unethical to use the feelings and emotions of the individual for gaining competitive advantage in the professional word (Giorgini, Mecca. Gibson, Medeiros, Mumford, Connelly, and Devenport, 2015).

Factors Affecting Ethical Conduct in the Workplace

The Bridget Donovan was a good security expert on knowing the big security hole in the organization she had not taken any respective action and leave it on the department to tackle it with their own. This shows that she is does not like to solve these business problems intentionally. The steps which are taken against of organization growth intentionally comes under the category of intrinsic factors.

The analysis and prioritization of the ethical factors helps in taking ethical decision for resolving the complexity. The weightage should be given to the ethical and unethical practices which are performed at work place. The ACS code of conduct should be followed for taking effective decision in rationalizing the problems and issues which exist with the working culture of the enterprise (Tuffley, 2015). The focus should be given on the professional and legal issues to be solved at top priority because it can affect the productive working of the employees due to the feeling of demotivation generated. The rumours should be avoided at top priority because it can affect the employee image which can directly affect the mental and the psychological state of them. The employees should be provided with an open forum of discussion where they feel free to present their views and grievances on the company and other employees. It helps in managing employee distraction and conflict easily. The training and development program should be arranged for guiding the employees with the ethical code of conduct which they should perform at work place to develop a healthy relationship at work place (Hussain, 2011). The activity performed by the employees should be in public interest without harming the image and reputation of the other colleagues. The feeling of trust and confidence should be generated among the working employees. The quality of the productive work from the employees can be enhanced (Lang, Macfadyen,  Slade, Prinsloo, and Sclater, 2013).

During the course plan of analysing and prioritizing the ethical behaviour of the employees at work place helps in initializing ethical behaviour in me. I have learned ethical tactics which should be performed at work place to develop good and healthy relationship with the colleagues. I have learnt that the activities which are performed at the work place should be in public interest. Loyalty and honesty should be followed with the colleagues to avoid social and professional issues. The integrity with the working principles of the organization helps in minimizing the professional risks which are associated with the organization.

Conclusion

It is concluded that the professional and the legal issues in the working culture of the enterprise should be given preference. The fair treatment should b e conducted with the working employees which helps in increasing the capabilities of the employees which in turn increases the productivity of the enterprise. The training and development program should be arranged for guiding ethical code of conduct which should be followed by the working employees at work place.

References:

Alhabshi, S. (2013). The role of ethics in towering personality development. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://www.scribd.com/document/6213053/Role-of-Ethics-in-Towering-Personality-Development  

Australian institute of training and development. (2014). Code of ethics and professional practice. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/acer/Downloads/CODE+OF+ETHICS+AND+PROFESSIONAL+PRACTICE.pdf 

Baines, J. and Taylor, N. (2013). Principles for ethical research involving humans. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14615517.2013.850307 

Gilman, S. (2013). Ethics code and code of conduct as tools for promoting an ethical and professional public service. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://www.oecd.org/mena/governance/35521418.pdf  

Giorgini, V, Mecca. J., Gibson, C., Medeiros, K., Mumford, M., Connelly, S, and Devenport, L. (2015). Researchers perception in ethical guidelines and codes of conduct. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4313573/ 

Hussain, T. (2011). Are ethical and moral values are important for personality development. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://www.indiastudychannel.com/forum/75702-Are-ethical-moral-values-important-for.aspx 

Lang, C., Macfadyen, L., Slade, S., Prinsloo, P., and Sclater, N. (2013). The complexities of developing  a personal code of ethics for learning analytics practitioners. 1^st ed. Retrieved from https://oro.open.ac.uk/53751/7/Slade.pdf 

Leonard, K. (2018). Workplace values and ethics. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/workplace-values-ethics-4887.html  

Singh, C. (2015). Importance of morals and ethics and values speech in our lives. 1^st ed.  Retrieved from https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/importance-of-moral-ethics-values-in-our-lives  

Tuffley, D. (2015). The ethical technologist. 1^st ed.