Workplace Ethics: How to Maintain Ethics in the Workplace

Stakeholders 

The organization that will be analysed in this case is Facebook. Over the recent past, the company has been accused of checking not only its employees' messages and confidential information but also that of its clients. The stakeholders involved in this case are employees, clients, the community at large, and all the people involved in routine operations. It is worth noting that stakeholders for this mogul media company are many and have a huge concern when their information is exposed by the company's administration. By checking employee emails and videotaping their emails, employees (as the major stakeholders) feel threatened and less appreciated since they cannot handle their routine operations in private ( Ayaburi & Treku, 2020). Clients have also complained of such practices since they feel it is largely unethical for a company in the stature of Facebook to check into their emails and videotape their emails and check their routine dealings. 

Concerns of Stakeholders 

Employees sometimes need some privacy when handling company operations. It is against the ethical principles to delve into an individual's emails minus attaining authentication. It should be noted that employees sometimes use their emails to safeguard some private data that should not be shared with others. For instance, employees might be keeping confidential information including passwords to bank accounts and other confidential details in their email addresses. This means that checking private email addresses entails a violation of privacy, something that is largely against ethical practices in the place of work ( Proudfoot et al., 2018) . Additionally, videotaping offices denies employees the chance to endeavour new practices. It should be noted that employees sometimes try experimenting new things, but when knowing they are being videotaped, they might opt to work according to what is available and this denies the chance to be creative. Therefore, employees, as major stakeholders of a company should be allowed some freedom to handle whatever they feel is essential for their routine practice. 

Reasons for Picking this Issue and its Importance 

The issue of Facebook videotaping their offices and reading employee emails has been addressed for some time. I chose this issue because compromising the global ethical principles is largely detrimental. A company might be thinking its safeguarding its interests not knowing it is losing its market value. Employees are the major stakeholders for any corporation, which means they can make or break the entity at any point in time. This Facebook issue of eavesdropping into its employees' emails has over the past few years irritated its workforce making many people quit to other companies in the media sector or other related industries ( Ayaburi & Treku, 2020). Ethical principles in any industry require that all companies respect their stakeholder's personal information. This is because the corporations require people not to share information to the outside world since this will dampen their reputation and hence enhance the degree of competition. 

The Current Relevance 

In the current times, there are numerous lawsuits concerning the disclosure of personal information. From the health care industry to business and engineering, numerous people and companies have found themselves in court battling cases concerned with disclosure of unauthorized information. For instance, earlier this year, Zoom Video Communications was sued by a user who claimed that the renowned video-conferencing entity illegally disclosed personal information leading to losing work in a certain company. It should be noted that checking personal emails and videotaping offices might amount to some precise form of irreparable harm that might harm a company's reputation. Facebook has been accused in several instances, and despite the management promising to address the situations, nothing of the sort has been done yet ( Proudfoot et al., 2018) . Employees require companies that assure them not only of permanent employment but also security and wellbeing. It should be noted that privacy is key to effective performance since people need some time to practice what they think will benefit not only them but also their companies. 

Media Spotlight 

In March 2018, the Guardian posted an article titled ‘Internal post shows Facebook workers condemning leakers and fearing spies’. In this publication, the company’s employees called for a crackdown on suspected leakers while questioning whether spies had infiltrated the entity. The accusations were after leaked internal posts that suggested Facebook's administration was leaking employee details to the outside world. this and many other cases have infiltrated the social media giant threatening to ruin its reputation and continuity. In numerous occasions, Mark Zuckerberg, the company's chief executive officer and other officials have been questioned on such matters. Zuckerberg, in particular, is renowned for defending his entity calling the accusations false ( Ayaburi & Treku, 2020). There are numerous other instances when Facebook has been tasked with responding to accusations videotaping offices and reading employee emails. Despite denying a majority of the claims, numerous incidents point to the fact that Facebook is largely on the spotlight on matters of privacy. 

Public Attention 

In the recent past, companies across the globe have suspended their trading partnership with Facebook over privacy issues. For instance, the Cable News Network (CNN) confirmed in March that Microsoft had suspended its advertising on Facebook because of the numerous privacy concerns surrounding the corporation. There are also reports of numerous employees who have quit the company in the recent past because of issues connected with eavesdropping on private emails and videotaping offices while handling routine operations ( Proudfoot et al., 2018) . The issue is largely in the limelight because employees feel threatened and less comfortable when being monitored when handling routine organizational activities. It should be noted that this is one of the most pressing issues facing Facebook at the moment. 

References 

Ayaburi, E. W., & Treku, D. N. (2020). Effect of penitence on social media trust and privacy concerns: The case of Facebook.  International Journal of Information Management ,  50 , 171-181. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijinfomgt.2019.05.014 

Proudfoot, J. G., Wilson, D., Valacich, J. S., & Byrd, M. D. (2018). Saving face on Facebook: Privacy concerns, social benefits, and impression management.  Behaviour & Information Technology ,  37 (1), 16-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2017.1389988