1. Take a look at the chapter 3 and 4 functional department. Which department do you feel has the highest ethical issues? Why?
These are functional departments, which refers to all the various areas within an organisation. This includes the finance, sales, marketing, finance and development departments. Each department has its own goals and functions within the organization. Ghillyer (2012). I found that all departments face ethical problems in different ways after examining the literature. In order to deliver unique products to customers, the research and development department is constantly under fire. Sometimes, engineers and scientists are forced to sacrifice the quality of the products they produce for their customers. This can pose a problem in the ethics sphere.
HR departments face similar problems. The HR department must also ensure that employees are not hired on the basis of references but merit. This problem can arise when HR professionals have to recruit people from unsavoury sources such as poaching. When a company is facing financial problems, HR must confront an ethical dilemma. In the production sector, there are two options: make low quality products at a lower cost or create high-quality products that are better than competitors. The ethical dilemma in marketing and sales is also present when it comes to selling the products to customers.
Finance covers ethical questions such as capital investments and money management. Because it is responsible for ensuring that investors and shareholders are confident with their investments, the finance department has many ethical challenges. Sometimes, the company’s financial position is out of balance. Finance must tell investors the truth. This is an ethical problem. This will result in the loss of clients and reputation if the finance team reveals the real situation of the business to anyone outside. If they refuse to disclose the truth, fraud can be committed. The financial department will be most vulnerable to ethical issues.
2. Three examples of unethical behavior that you have seen in your workplace or at work. How did your behavior affect the outcome?
Unethical behavior is any conduct that violates social norms or standards. Every day, nearly 120 million people visit a work place. Half report that they have witnessed various kinds of misconduct in the workplace.Schwartz (2015) Here are some instances of unethical behavior I witnessed at work.
Manipulation and manipulation of power
Managers and supervisors used their power to harass and discredit subordinates. The company didn’t have an ethical policy. Following several complaints received from HR departments, the company changed its ethical code in order to warn workers against such behavior. According to the revised ethics code, if there are more than five complaints about a manager each month, they would be fired until an investigation can take place.
Use of company time inefficiently
This was done in the form of altering time sheets or covering up for a colleague’s late arrival to the workplace. It was also possible to conduct private business in the office hours. The front desk assistant was an example. She used her office phone to call her husband and other close friends. The management was alerted to this problem after customers complained about the busy front desk. This behavior was a red flag for the manager who warned him to quit or face discipline.
It is outright theft
Studies have shown that some employees steal directly from their bosses. The shocking reality is that shoplifting can be outperformed by employee theft. Fraudulent behavior, such as manipulating reimbursements or altering cheques, is common in theft. An example of this is the sales person who did not keep detailed records to prevent being reimbursed. This behavior was found to be a gross violation of the company’s ethical code and the employee was placed on indefinite leave without pay as a punishment.
Violations against company Internet policies
Cyberloafing is when employees surf the web instead of work. It results in huge cumulative losses for companies to the tune of millions of dollars when considered collectively (Lim & Chen, 2012). A study found that more than half of employees visit websites not connected to their work each day. (Conner, 2013). Employees may find it difficult to report violations of internet policy. Cyberloafing on social sharing sites results in wastage of the company’s working time. In essence, it amounts to two violations – misuse of company time and disregard for company internet policy. Employees are paid for unfinished work or poor performance due to internet distractions. This can be as serious as taking too long lunch breaks or arriving early at work.
My boss raised concern over the widespread use of cyberloafing in a workplace meeting. Concerns were raised about employee control of social media use. It became apparent that the company’s ethical code was lacking in matters relating to the use of technology. It was impossible for the company to monitor what employees saw on their screens. This made it even more obvious. It advised employees to exercise self control and not engage in cyberloafing. But, IT recommended that all social media websites be closed down. It was hard to put in place because social media sites are used for business and marketing purposes. Employees have access to technology that could help them solve the problem. Due to widespread internet usage in both personal and professional life, it was difficult to identify social media abuse. Employees were required to answer emails promptly and to stay informed about consumer trends by sales personnel via social media. It wasn’t easy to determine the boundary between abusive and normal use. The HR department was responsible for establishing these limits. The legal department embarked on a revision of the company’s ethical code to include a comprehensive and clear policy for acceptable internet use. The company’s policy was made clear to all employees by using presentations in workshops. The policy stressed communication as a key element in reaching workplace agreement on acceptable internet use behavior. Internet usage policy
Managers lying
The employer’s failure to deliver on their promises caused a significant loss in trust at my workplace. Employees complained to their managers or supervisors that they were not being honest. This issue was brought up. Supervisors and managers were told not to reply to these complaints.
What are “Creative bookkeeping techniques”? Please give three examples.
These are creative bookkeeping techniques, which interpret and make accounting policies falsely to circumvent accounting regulations. This is done to make a profit on fraudulent reporting. Such practices can have the effect of inflating the company’s value by keeping old balance records. To ensure correct balances in receivables accounts, ethical accounting practices dictate that any uncollectible balances be charged off. Making old accounts appear recent is as well as devaluing company assets or profits are also examples of “creative bookkeeping.” In order to save tax the company can do this. They may improve the company’s bottom line for a while before being detected by external audits but the practices are gross violations of stakeholders’ trust and fall outside the boundaries of ethical accounting.