Manifesto Except in a Rapacious

¶ … Manifesto

Except in a rapacious game of 'Monopoly,' and perhaps not even then -- for even the most basic game operates according to a series of rules and fair play -- a corporation must function inside a societal and legal environment of constraints. When one individual transgresses, it is tempting to look the other way. It is easy, when one sees someone making theft of company time, office supplies, or committing other ethical lapses to tell one's self that this does not matter, so long as one does one's job. I did so myself once and paid a heavy price.

But the fact is, that ethical transgressions on the part of one individual affect the morale of the entire company. This is why so many military academies around the company have honor codes that require individuals to report cheating as well as not cheat themselves. A failure of corporate duty on the part of a single employee creates a lax environment overall, that contributes to the corporate, economic decline of the organization as a whole. Indeed, reflect that corporations are 'corporations' -- corporate, that is collective environments, ultimately under collective rather than individual control.

Thus, in terms of the planning function of management in any organization, ethical as well as legal issues, will also affect the corporation's sense of social responsibility as well as the impact of legal requirements upon management planning in this organization. Management must ensure that there are methods whereby ethical infringements can be reported anonymously. This way, if the complaint is justified, qualified company staff can conduct further examination into the alleged complaint without forcing the informing individual to feel like a turncoat upon a fellow employee.

Within my own organization and in my workplace there is a standard code of ethics that simply and rather informally requires individuals to do what they feel right, not according to any letter of corporate conduct policy, but simply in a way that requires employees to morally behave towards fellow employees in a way that does not reflect badly upon the company. This stress upon personal kindness, however, towards one's fellows employees can be abused. In striving to create a non-confrontational workplace, ethical lapses occurred that cannot be excused and cry out for a more stringent code of collective, as opposed to individual personal moral conduct.

I have always striven to use sound personal judgment at all times -- but now I realize this can be difficult, however, when not all individuals in the workplace do the same. When the ethical lapses of one employee makes one feel uncomfortable, even if one is behaving ethically one's self, the entire workplace is harmed and a toxic work environment is created.

It is easy to be ethical, in some respects, when one's employers and fellow employees are always aboveboard. However, one of my coworkers used the company's stationary, computers, copiers, scanners, printers, and her employer's email for her own use. Moreover, her use was not simply personal, but for a part-time business she maintained, on the side. Many of the items she sold as part of her trade were counterfeit, including movies, music videos, clothing accessories, and handbags. But even if her business was legal, she was still stealing company time. Individuals felt freer, because of her openly excused behavior to make more personal phone calls, surf the web at work for personal reasons, and simply to stand around and chat rather than complete their assigned projects.

Because her purveyance was well-known, and her goods were, alas, of high quality and excellent facsimiles of the 'real thing,' many of her coworkers and even, yes, our boss were further inclined to look the other way, because, when hard pressed for an inexpensive yet apparently high quality gift, they could easily make use of her business. It became an office joke, to the point I was leery of saying anything negative, not wishing to hurt company morale by speaking against a coworker. Also, as my immediate superior was not only close to this individual personally, but also had made use of her illegal goods, I was afraid of getting my supervisor in trouble for what might be misread as self-interested reason. I tried to look the other way, pretending that this was 'none of my business' and tried to convince myself that what this individual did on her own time, was her own matter.

The environment at work began to spiral out of control -- even though everyone seemed to be having a good time. Until, one of the corporate Vice Presidents, the second in command, of the organization, called emergency "all employees meeting." At the meeting we were informed that the company was suffering a two million dollars deficit and twenty employees would be laid off because of poor performance. The Vice President criticized the entire work environment, and I was particularly sad to note that the twenty affected employees were not even the most egregious offenders of time theft and lax ethics.