Ethics and moral issues in contemporary society

Business Ethics

Every individual is constantly presented with both moral and ethical issues in society and the workplace. This paper will address the difference between ethical and moral issues as well as the applications of each in the workplace.

In determining the proper course of action, each individual must access and apply both his personal ideals and the rules of the societal system in which he lives. These two systems used to determine appropriate action illuminate the subtle difference between morals and ethics. Morals are a personal code of right and wrong that defines one's character, while ethics point to standards of behavior expected by the societal group to which the individual belongs (Desnoyer, 2010). This difference can create conflict because a person's moral code is often unchanging (having been developed though the course of the his lifetime), while the ethics he practices are dependant on the applicable group to which he belongs (national, familial, business, scholastic etc.) and such points are likely to exist where these two systems diverge.

Such conflicts between personal morals and societal ethics can at times lead to positive change. For example, consider slavery. Until the late 1800's it was socially acceptable and nationally ethical to own slaves in America. However, as a growing number of individual's personal morals recognized the harm that such accepted slavery caused to may people, the anti-slavery movement gained strength and the eventual result was that slavery was no longer considered ethical and became outlawed by the 13th Amendment to the U.S., constitution.

However, a discussion of slavery requires a more detailed description of individual differences in personal moral philosophies. Forsynth gives insight to help one understand more clearly how some individuals did not find slavery morally reprehensible, while others were so revolted by the concept that a civil war was eventually fought to determine whether slavery would continue to be a socially acceptable action. According to Forsynth (Forsyth, 1980) such differences are due to the concepts of idealism and relativism. Idealism, describes the degree to which an acting individual is affected by the consequences of his action on the welfare of others. High idealistic individuals believe that it is always unnecessary or wrong to harm others, and that moral actions should and do lead to good or positive consequences. A low idealistic individual believes that harmful consequences may sometimes be necessary to produce a greater good (Forsyth, 1980; Forsyth, 1992). Relativism, describes the degree to which an individual rejects universal moral principles. High relativistic individuals feel that moral actions depend on the nature of the specific situation and the circumstances of the individuals involved. Low idealistic individuals base their ethical decision making process on universal moral criteria (Forsyth, 1992). Thus high relativistic individuals and low idealistic individuals were likely to view slavery as a necessary evil to accomplish the goals set by society, while high idealistic individuals were perturbed by the harm that slavery caused to the slaves.

The concepts of relativism and idealism apply in business setting as well. Business ethics can be defined as written and unwritten codes of principles and values that govern decisions and actions within a company. In the business world, the organization's culture sets standards for determining good and bad behavior.

Ethical dilemmas arise when an employee's personal ethics, his morals, conflict with the business ethics set by an organization. For example situations have developed where doctors refuse to give abortions because it conflicts with their personal beliefs about terminating a human life. Alternatively, a judge may follow the law and impose the death penalty even though he or she may be personally opposed to it.

Such conflicts can be mollified by an organization's culture, and the effect it has on personal idealism and relativism. Ziegenfuss et al. (1994) found that personal moral philosophies can be influenced by the ethical environment in an organization. Douglas et al. (2001) suggested that organizational ethical culture may modify personal ethical philosophy to conform more closely to the organizational code. High idealistic employees the most likely to experience conflict between personal and business ethics based on any harm that they believe may be caused by the organization's standard for action. However, Jackson et al. (1994) indicated that a well-managed organizational culture could reduce conflict among its employees based on an employee's perception of it's ethical quality. Thus, organizations that have a highly ethical code of conduct and give incentives for conformity with such code of conduct can reduce conflict between an employee's personal ethics and the organization's code of conduct.