Ethics in the Workplace: Conduct, Bribery, and Codes

Introduction: Ethics and the Professional Environment

The workplace is considered a professional environment that should be characterized, at least in theory, by a high degree of professionalism and a clear distinction between the work environment and mindset and the personal one. In cases of issues related to ethics in the workplace, the line between professional and personal can be breached and, in some cases, even broken.

There are numerous situations in which ethics is called into question at the workplace. Examples range from the private use of company resources for personal purposes to obtaining financial gains as a result of one's professional position inside a company.

Minor Ethical Breaches: Personal Use of Company Resources

The first example relates to simple and apparently non-offensive acts that most employees tend to engage in during working hours. These include using the company email for personal use — such as online shopping — or using company resources such as the printer, fax, scanner, or any other readily available resource that the company makes available to employees during working hours. Despite the fact that most employees in major corporations do this, without any clear and quantifiable effect or loss for the company, it is in fact in breach of company policy concerning ethics.

In this sense, "in most workplaces there's a principle called 'occasional use' that keeps the majority of workers from losing their jobs simply for checking their eBay auction during their break or dropping kids off at school with the company car in an emergency. Occasional use means just that — you can use company resources for personal use as long as the use is truly occasional" (Putnam, 2005). Despite this allowance for occasional use, the simple act of using a company laptop for personal reasons is technically against general ethical rules. Yet this does not affect the company or employer in a major sense; it does, however, reflect a tendency for the employee to act against the rules and procedures of the company.

Serious Misconduct: Bribery and Decision-Making Ethics

At the other end of the spectrum lie more important, significant, and damaging forms of unethical behavior in the workplace. When dealing with a severe breach of ethical conduct, this often involves high-level employees. It is important to take into account that "workplace ethics are most often related to decision-making processes. Most leaders face the opportunity to choose between alternative courses of action in their work situations and other aspects of their lives. Workplace ethics refer to choosing the option that is determined to be the moral or legal 'right' choice, even if the other alternatives are very attractive and even if you can 'get away with' the less ethical choice" (Bush, n.d.). Therefore, ethics refers to choosing between right and wrong when both options are available.

Bribery is not only a legal offense but also an ethical one. Decision-makers are in a position to influence the decision-making process through their behavior, and they also have access to processes they manage or influence that determine a certain course of action. If their behavior is unethical — and bribery or favoritism fall squarely into this category — that course of action violates not only the ethical policy of the corporation or employer but also national law.

Although some conduct may seem to lack any negative consequence — such as a dinner invitation or paying the bill for a friend who is also a company customer — when viewed through an ethical lens, catering to a customer outside of office hours can be problematic. A clear example is a decision-maker inviting a close friend to dinner during a procurement process in which the friend is also a decision-maker and the host is part of a company bidding in that procurement process. Although it may appear to be merely an occasion for catching up, it can also be interpreted as an attempt to influence the procurement process. This is precisely why most ethics codes ban such after-hours meetings or social gatherings between parties involved in active business transactions.

Conclusion: Respecting Ethical Standards at Every Level

Overall, it can be concluded that the issue of ethics in the workplace depends on several key aspects: on the one hand, the severity of the breach of ethical conduct; on the other, the organizational level at which the breach occurs (as illustrated by the example of bribery); and finally, the nature of the workplace itself, which is also significant in determining the degree to which an ethical breach is meaningful. Regardless of these factors, if a workplace has an ethical code of conduct in place, it should be respected at every level and in every type of position, as a failure to do so may ultimately endanger both one's own standing and the organization as a whole.

References

Bush, Cathy. "Work-Place Ethics." N.d. Available at http://www.chsbs.cmich.edu/leader_model/development/media/Targeted%20Lessons/workplace_ethics.htm

Hamilton, Diane. "Top 10 Companies' Code of Ethics and Conduct." 2011. Available at

Putnam, Mark. "Company Assets and Occasional Use." Global Ethics University. 2005. Available at http://www.character-ethics.org/articles/assetsandoccasionaluse.htm