Values Often a Company\'s Mission

Values

Often a company's mission statement or code of ethics provides a framework for employees to base difficult decisions. In many cases, employees from various backgrounds will ascribe to an organization's code of ethics not necessarily because it corresponds to their personal beliefs, but more so because decisions can be easier with clear rules and guidelines. However, tricky situations such as those discussed in the text require an employee to incorporate his or her personal values into the decision-making process. A code of ethics is not always enough and cannot possibly cover all ethical conundrums. The examples given in the text did not change my personal values but they did make me more aware of what my personal values are.

Keeping Information Confidential" illustrates the clash between personal ethics and corporate ethics. If I were aware of possible layoffs affecting friends, I would definitely inform them, even if it meant betraying company confidentiality policy. This is because I value the bond between friends more than the bond between employee and company. I feel that if a company holds the right to withhold information from their employees that the relationship is already imbalanced. Employees have the right to know about possible layoffs and any other decision that could potentially affect their lives. The example given in the text, in which Patrick Marshall and Steve McCurdy may get laid off, poses a dilemma, though. Clearly, telling Patrick would be within my ethical framework because I consider him to be a personal friend. However, Steve McCurdy is not so much a friend as he is a valued colleague. Nevertheless, if our relationship was amicable and I really did feel that he was a valuable employee I would probably let him know the truth. Even though I would be violating the company's code of ethics, I feel that a higher ethical code guides one's responsibilities toward friends and respected colleagues. I would hope that my friends and colleagues would do the same for me if they were in a similar situation.

The "Safety First" scenario is even less cut-and-dry for me. If a company wants to increase its profit margin and include a high-end line of clothing, then it has the right to do so. I do not believe that a company can prevent or control crime through its pricing strategies. Shoplifting is not necessarily related to the presence of luxury goods. I feel that crime is a reflection of overarching social, economic, and political problems. As long as the company is acting ethically in other respects, then I don't see the problem with offering the high-end jacket. Offering a low-cost alternative to the high-end jacket in my opinion is not the best solution in this case either, because it undervalues the more expensive article of clothing and could prevent people from buying it. Instead, a win-win situation might be to firmly decide that the Daze line would become high-end and that Shout could start marketing that line of clothing differently. My personal values did not change cased on this simulation but I am now more aware of how I feel about a company's right to create different pricing strategies to maximize profits.