1. Take a look at the chapter 3 and 4 functional department. Think about which of the following departments you think has the greatest ethical problem. Why?
The functional departments are the areas or fields that fall within an organization’s structure. This includes the finance, sales, marketing, finance and development departments. Each of these departments has their own objectives within an organisation. Ghillyer (2012). I found that all departments face ethical problems in different ways after analyzing 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.
The HR department faces similar challenges. The HR department must also ensure that employees are not hired on the basis of references but merit. When HR professionals must hire from unethical sources like poaching, the problem is exacerbated. HR is faced with an ethical dilemma when a company faces financial hardships that force them to cut their workforce. 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 shareholders and investors are confident with their investments, the finance department has many ethical challenges. Sometimes, the financial position of a company may not be in balance. It is a moral dilemma for finance not to disclose the truth to investors. 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. This is why the financial section will most likely face ethical problems.
2. Please give three examples of unethical behavior that you have seen in your workplace or at work. What were the consequences of your behaviour?
Unethical conduct refers to morally questionable or inexcusable behavior. Each day, 120 million people go to work. Half report that they have witnessed various kinds of misconduct in the workplace.Schwartz (2015) These are examples of unethical conduct I observed at an organization where I worked.
Manipulation power
Supervisors and managers misused the power that came with their positions to disrespect and abuse subordinates. The company didn’t have an ethical policy. After receiving complaints from the HR department, the company updated its ethics code to warn employees about this behaviour. The revised ethics code stipulated that managers who received more than five complaints per month about them would be suspended until further investigation is conducted.
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. This is shocking because employee theft has been shown to outperform shoplifting. Many thefts are accompanied with fraudulent behaviors such as altering cheques or manipulating refunds. One example is a salesperson who didn’t keep proper records about sales in order to not be repaid. 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 to 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). More than 50% of workers regularly visit non-work related websites (Conner 2013,2013). 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. For work not done or poorly performed due to internet distractions, an employee can be paid. It is just as harmful as taking long lunch breaks and arriving late to work.
My manager expressed concern about cyberloafing during a work meeting. My manager raised concern about how much control employees have over their social media usage. 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. Social media abuse was hard to determine due to employees using the internet in their professional and personal lives. Employees were required to answer emails promptly and to stay informed about consumer trends by sales personnel via social media. It was difficult to define the line between normal and abusive usage. 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. Through presentations, the policy was presented to employees in a workshop. The policy was designed to emphasize the importance of communicating with employees in order for them to agree on acceptable internet behavior. Internet usage policy
Managers lie
When the employer didn’t fulfill promises, my workplace lost trust. This was raised after employees reported that managers and supervisors had failed to be honest with them. These complaints were referred to supervisors or managers who were instructed not to answer them.
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. They are often used to gain fraudulent reporting. Such practices can have the effect of inflating the company’s value by keeping old balance records. To ensure that receivables balances reflect the correct amounts, 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.
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