Business ethics act as a guideline for a business to achieve its goals and objectives ( Trevino, Linda & Klebe , 2017) . It is easy for businesses to go about making profits without putting ethical considerations in what they do. Such actions often lead to an ethical crisis and, in some cases, may even cost the business financially. As such, it is important that every business identifies its mission, vision, and a code of ethics that guides all stakeholders in achieving the mission and vision of the organization. By so doing, a business stands for something that it believes in and works towards achieving its set goals and objectives based on solid values and practices. Businesses in medical such as health care facilities, are faced with many ethical issues that need to be addressed in regards to treating the patient, operating the business, interactions between employees and other stakeholders. Having a guiding code of ethics for such businesses allows them to serve their clients ethically while maintaining quality standards in their services hence satisfying the clients.
Johnson (2019) in his study, discusses some key elements of cultural change in an organization to ensure that a business or company runs on a set code of ethics. Promoting a culture of ethics in a business ensures that the business is guided by certain ethical standards and morals in its operations and that all employees and stakeholders understand the standards and their role in following the same. One such element is integrity, which implies that all employees and stakeholders are expected to maintain a certain level of integrity and honesty in their work. Integrity starts from an individual and reflects at all levels of a company. For the business to attain such, it has to implement a model that allows it to recruit people with integrity through interviews and background checks.
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Johnson also discusses customer focus as another element. The customer is the most important element of a business and the reason why the business exists. Therefore, customer satisfaction should be the main goal of the business. For the business to attain desired levels of customer satisfaction, then certain ethical standards such as quality of goods, good customer care practices as well as external evaluations to collect customer feedback and hence understand their needs and complaints should be followed. All business employees should understand the value of the customer and the importance of attaining customer satisfaction with the business. When this is done, all employees and stakeholders put efforts towards customer satisfaction, which translates to better customer experience and, in turn, an increase in revenue for the business.
The balance between maintaining ethical standards and focusing on the operational success of the business contributes to the success of the business. Managers and employees are often faced with conflicting ethical situations, such as making more money for the business and losing ethically. An example is a situation where a business has to incur costs relating to environmental conservation through proper waste disposal. A manager may be required to make a choice between polluting the environment and saving the company money or using the money and resources for proper waste disposal hence losing money and doing what is ethically correct, which is to conserve the environment. Such decisions require critical things and moral values that guide both the business and individuals within the business.
The other element discussed in regards to ethics is honesty. A business that is founded on honesty gives true facts to its clients and stakeholders. Such actions lead to transparency in other different aspects of the business hence allowing the business to nurture an honest business environment for itself and other businesses in the industry. A business that runs honestly and does not engage in illegal and unethical businesses promotes a competitive business environment for all other stakeholders in an industry leading to growth of the industry and hence the economy. It is hence important that businesses run honest and transparent activities to make profits as opposed to canvasing under legal business to promote illegal trade. Honestly starts with individuals in the organization and should hence be the responsibility of all employees and stakeholders to give accurate and true information when needed.
Brooke (2020), discusses ethics in relation to courage. According to her, courage can be practiced, and hence every person is able to be courageous. The relationship between courage and ethics stems from the fact that most ethical people find it difficult to speak out in cases where they spot unethical incidents in their places of work or around them. Being ethical hence requires courage. Such fear often leads to wrongs in the society hence affecting a business or its stakeholders. When ethical people are faced with challenges that make it difficult to do what is right and ethical or stand by their beliefs, then unethical people in a system take advantage of the fear of doing unethical things. An example is a situation where the tendering process in a health care facility is not done fairly hence giving a supply of materials, medicine, and equipment to unqualified suppliers. The result is the delivery of poor-quality services, substandard equipment making it difficult for medical practitioners to render their services and failed health care systems.
Brooke advocates for the practice of courage and inducing it from the point of fear hence allowing an ethical person to speak up when they cite such vices. In her opinion, ethics stem from a person’s inner intention (Brooke, 2020). A person has to have a deep conviction and a sense of consciousness for them to be ethical. It is hence a choice that all people can make to make things for everyone. Being ethical among unethical people or in systems that are led by corrupt leaders can be challenging and, in some cases, even pressure one to give in. She hence suggests the practice of courage and its application in real-life scenarios that are likely to compel one to give in. Like Johnson, Brooke argues that ethical cultures and practice have an impact on all members of the society both directly and indirectly (Brooke, 2020). The main difference between Brooke’s argument and Johnson’s is the fact that Brooke insists that ethics and values come from an individual and even if businesses come up with a set of conduct, it is up to individual people to implement the code hence determining whether the business is ethical or not.
Autonomy is one of the ethical elements that I have come across in my practice as a medical practitioner ( H ope, T ony , D unn & Michael, 2018) . It is a subject that is often debated upon, and the line between when a patient has been disrespected has always been in question. Autonomy refers to how a medical practitioner respects a patient. This is not limited to the practitioner's attitude towards the patient but also his or her efforts in ensuring that autonomous actions towards the patient are promoted within the health care system. It is hence an ethical duty for the practitioner to respect the patient and work towards ensuring that patients are respected by the system in all aspects. This responsibility includes speaking on behalf of the patient where they are disrespected, or their rights are violated.
Medical practitioners are faced with different challenges in regards to respecting the autonomy of a patient. In some cases, patients' beliefs and preferences may come cross lines with the medical obligations of the practitioner. An example is a patient whose religion does not believe in blood transfusion. If such a patient requires blood transfusion in a life-threatening situation, it is the responsibility of the practitioner to inform and explain to the patient the medical benefit of blood transfusion and have them made a decision on what is best for them. In most cases, if patients are well informed and have a will to live, they may choose blood transfusion as opposed to their religion.
Medicine, as a practice, is founded on beneficence and n onmaleficence . This refers to actions intended to benefit other people or the moral obligation of people involved to promote the good of others. The implication is that businesses going into medicine have to be founded on acts of mercy, charity, kindness, and the goal of promoting the well being of others. The vision should be to ensure that patients are treated well through ensuring maximum benefit for the patient based on compassion and care for others. Nonmaleficence , on the other hand, refers to the act of not doing any harm to a client, whether intentionally or unintentionally. In certain cases, medical practitioners have had to make decisions on prolonging death and causing more pain and suffering to a patient or letting them die, especially in cases where a patient is terminally ill, old and stands slim chances of healing.
Johnson discusses integrity as an element of ethical culture and cultural change . The concept of integrity, though, is broad and can be applied in many contexts , such as personal integrity versus professional integrity ( Johnson , 2019). Integrity is also an important virtue of health ethics as a health practitioner is expected to be persons of high integrity due to the nature of the tasks they perform. It is important for medical practitioners to get a balance between personal integrity to that professional integrity. In the current world pandemic, covid-19 , some nurses could choose to be out of work because they chose not to get exposed to the virus hence infecting their families. The question of what is best hence depends on the individual practitioner and the balance between personal and professional integrity for them .
As discussed by Johnson, ethics plays a very crucial role in business operations. Some ethical standards are unique to certain industries, while others are based on the values of the business (Johnson, 2019). In some cases, the government may require businesses to have a minimum ethical requirement in terms of environmental conservation, minimum wage, and corporate social responsibility. Ethics affects all stakeholders in a business defining how they conduct themselves both within the business and outside as well as how they interact with each other and with other business stakeholders such as suppliers, customers, and even the community around the business.
In leadership, business ethics play a key role in how the management team makes decisions regarding the business. The standards set the tone for the entire business allowing all people involved to know what is expected of them and how they are supposed to react to different business situations and challenges they face on a day to day basis. For leaders, business ethics is the philosophy by which they lead the organizations. Key business decisions have to be made in line with what is ethically acceptable by the business standards, even when the benefits are less or non-existent. Building a business on foundations of ethical behavior has a long-term positive impact on the business. One such advantage is the fact that a business that upholds certain codes of morals attracts and retains highly talented and moral employees hence helping drive the business agenda in the right decision.
A business that is run ethically has stronger teams as people work together towards achieving the company’s goals and objectives while maintaining and upholding the beliefs of the business. The implication is increased productivity from all employees and better business outcomes such as increased customer base, increased profits, and increased market shares. At the same time, integrating the elements of ethical, cultural practices discussed by Johnson ensures that the business has a good reputation in both the community and the industry it operates. Such a business is likely to increase its customer base in the community hence increase sales and wealth for the shareholders.
Different professions and businesses have different ethical behavior in which the practitioners involved have to adhere to. The purpose of ethics and code of conduct is to ensure the practitioners carry themselves in a professional manner that respects their clients and their workmates ( Trevino, Linda & Klebe , 2017) . Ethical challenges in different fields allow one to think critically and involve his/her conscience in solving the ethical challenge in the best way possible while putting into consideration other people involved since some challenges could present a situation that is morally right but ethical wrong. C ritical thinking in handling a difficult situation of ethical importance is key , and all employees in a business have to be taught to think critically so that the code of ethics and morals stipulated work for the benefit of the business and all the stakeholders. Implementing ethical practices discussed by both Brooke and Johnson hence leads to better business practices that translate to success for the business in different aspects.
References
Brooke Deterline. (2020). Creating ethical cultures in business [Video]. Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzicXbnmllc
H ope, T ony , D unn & Michael (2018). MEDICAL ETHICS: A very short introduction . Place of
publication not identified: OXFORD UNIV Press.
Johnson, C. E. (2019). Organizational ethics: A practical approach .
Trevino, Linda & Klebe (2017). Managing Business Ethics S traight . H oboken: J ohn W iley.
