ETHICS AND DECISON MAKING IN TODAYS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS

Recent events such as the Lehman Brother and Amber Gold scandals reflect an
absence of ethics training among many business leaders. But what factors have led
to this dilemma? It may appear that unethical business leaders are rewarded more
than people who follow high principles, which makes it easy for us to be cynical
about taking ethics training seriously. This should be avoided. If we think that the
only way to economic success involves occasionally cutting corners, we are setting
a very dangerous precedent. This article will consider the following questions: which
biological, psycho-social, and educational factors contribute to ethics development
and pro-integrity behavior? Also, what is the current status of ethics training in
supplier environments of business professionals?

Integrity can be described as the use of inner principles to do what is good for
others, regardless of threat. In Identifying integrity, important are the notions of
consistency of actions and recognition and application of a normative set of values.
So, following this premise, an employee in a private housing development firms may
refuse to issue illegal eviction notices to residents, even though she is told to do so
by the firms owners, who wishes to make a profit by selling the units for
redevelopment. Her decision puts her at risk of losing her job but she maintains her
own personal integrity. Therefore, we can see that in these types of situations there
is a dimension of internal conflict within the individual

Ethics can be defined as the methodology designed for a code of conduct. Ethics is
a branch of philosophy that addresses questions of morality through a set of
behavioral guidelines. The relationship between ethics and integrity is a mutually
dependent one. It involves decisions being made that are based upon ones ethics
in order to solve a problem. In the business world, these decisions must be made in
an organizational context that is ethically difficult. Hence, integrity issues have
practical goals and integrity cannot develop without the existence of a code of
ethics in individuals.

So if ethics involves the adoption of a code of conduct, where are the sources of
these rules? Well, according to academics researching the development of ethics,
there are two main sources to consider, that of our personality from which we draw
information to make decisions and features in our environment which are defined by
rules and regulations about behavior codes in our culture. With respect to the
former, we may consider family values, religion or other sources of spiritual
inspiration. Biophysical factors may also affect decision-making.

For instance, according to Brower and Price, who studied the apparent relationship
between neuropsychology and moral development, characteristics in the prefrontal
part of the brain are associated with differing degrees of social behavior related to
decision-making. Acknowledging that the prefrontal cortex is connected with
emotional responsiveness and empathy, their longitudinal studies on several
subject who had lesions in this section of the brain revealed that these individuals
more likely to act in an impulsive way when making decisions, than those who did
 ETHICS AND DECISON MAKING IN TODAYS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS

not have prefrontal brain lesions In other words, they reacted to problems
instinctively and were less concerned about the consequences of their decisions.
People without such damage were capable of moral reasoning to the extent that
they could make decisions sacrificing themselves for the good of a larger group. But
can we claim that determining ethical decisions is as simple as assessing brain
physiology? It would seem not. The principles that underlie ethic codes have
evolved from a uniquely Western series of business philosophies which guide the
decisions of manager in business organizations. For instance, the Friedman Doctrine
established that satisfying the needs of shareholders of a business was the most
important ethical consideration, while concerns for the average Joe within a given
organization were subordinate to its owners needs; it is easy to see how harmful
consequences could occur if this code if fully adopted. The Western model of
Utilitarianism has affected business ethics. Under this approach, the potential
benefits of a decision should outweigh the existing costs. Therefore, decisions such
as massive layoffs, which harm many individuals but allow the company to continue
to exist, can be justified. Hence, adaptations of Utilitarian philosophy in business
ethics may have consequences in the international arena that are questionable and
even potentially self destructive for the organizations. The Kantian Approach has
supported the idea that it is important that businesses treat people with dignity and
respect. Hence, when business leaders make decisions to award compensation to
employees for injury or unfortunate circumstances, they are adopting an ethics
fabric originating from Kants ideas put forwards over 200 years ago.

So weve considered some possible origins of ethics. Now lets look at some
pragmatic examples and consequences of ethical (and non ethical) decision
making in todays business environmental. It may seem that behaving selfishly is
occasionally acceptable. If we list some of the most typical unethical behaviors in
business management- such as rounding up of hours, bribery, nepotism in
procurement and poor safety standards it appears that many view winning in
the business world as synonymous with breaking the rules. However, there is a
growing acceptance in both the international business community and in
educational settings that prepare future business leaders that are developing good
ethics in business actually enhances profit. This is because profit must be
considered in the long term and must take into account the ability of people to
recognize and value quality.

There are a number of proactive means by which adherence to ethics can be

supported. For example, Duncan and Jones studied the emergence of values as a
primary motivator for a business career. They determined that organizations can
take concrete steps to reduce the tendency of fight or flight responses that can
lead to poor decisions. For instance, business manager can lead assertiveness
training workshops that help their staff to deal with bullies and to recognize
themselves as autonomous moral agents who can act independently when authority
figures breach ethical codes. By instilling these values all levels of employees can
 ETHICS AND DECISON MAKING IN TODAYS BUSINESS ENVIRONMENTS

gain the moral courage that is needed to act with integrity. Also companies can
recruit trainees from institutions that have mandatory ethics courses, there can be
rewards based on sound more reasoning and not on profit margins and adequate
protection for employees who report unethical behavior. In fact, the acceptability of
whistle-blowing could be one of the key features of a healthy business organization.
As Peter Odrakiewicz, a professor of business at Poznam Univeristy College of
Business, put it, in the case of observing clear wrongdoing, employees should feel
that they can go to a superior; its actually no easier, but, if people are aware that
there is a whistle-blower always present, it is reassuring. Business walks a very
fine line sometimes, the whistler-blower can be pointing the company in the right
direction. Today many business leaders recognize that placing empathy as the
central component around which business practices revolve will enhance the
business organizations ability to succeed. Empathy goes hand in hand with rational
decision-making and can even enhance quality. It has been a key to the success of
my business, states Amir Amin the owner of a Polish educational firm Premier
Consulting Group, that we operate with an awareness of the danger of greed and
not with a fear of going out of business

So which learning activities can prepare future business leaders for following ethical
codes of conduct? Students can engage in role-playing scenarios where they face
ethical dilemmas. It is crucial to go beyond simply studying cases or providing
examples. There is gr owing popularity in implementing high ethical standards. By
emphasizing that sound ethics are something that every organization struggles with
but can successfully utilize leaders of companies as well as curriculum
implementers in training institutions will help to prevent corrupt practices. These
issues ( integrity and corruption) were around hundreds of years ago and nobody
will openly criticize ethics training imperatives., but now we know that a broader
and more innovative application of ethics principles is necessary in order to
facilitate integrity: the key is successful implementation of these ideas.

Although it may be difficult, its not impossible. We have numerous examples of

business success stories where companies which focus on making decisions base
on their codes of ethics proved to be both successful supporters of community
growth and profit making organizations. As the positive correlation between ethics
implementation and profit becomes increasingly crystallized among young business
leaders, an ethical infrastructure that supports decisions making based empathy
and rationality will become the norm, not the exception