Whistle Blowing Essays (Examples)

However the problem occurs when the person purchasing at the shampoo at supermarket becomes a reseller and offers it with a small discount to the elite buyer. This kind of price discrimination is common but it can become illegal if it violates the pricing laws of the country in which discrimination occurred (Ferrell et al. p. 288). It is also illegal if segmentation is not possible in the market where discrimination occurred or if the cost of exporting was higher than the price of the product in a foreign location. Sometimes a manufacturer would sell its products at a higher rate in his country while offer them at a lower price in foreign markets. This kind of practice is called dumping but it creates ethical issues because some buyers are paying a higher price for the same product.

ANSWE 8:

Bribery is a common practice and is often known as…

Whistle-Blowing

The question of the responsibility and/or ethical duty of an employee to blow the whistle on an employer have been the subject of much discussion. Some would argue that there is an ethical duty to respond and 'blow the whistle' when an employee becomes aware of apparent unlawful behavior on the part of his or her employer. One definition of whistle blowing as posited by Dandekar, 1991 is the motivation or desire to prevent unnecessary harm to others. Garde (1992) identified characteristics of whistle blowers, determined in scholarly research to be altruistically motivated and intend for their actions to benefit those that have been wronged; are utilitarian; possessing an increased level of moral development and are driven by a sense of social responsibility and integrity. This definition and the characteristics that follow seem to be in line with the utilitarianism that "requires a decision maker to maximize utility for…

For example, Cannon USA, and the entire Cannon Corporation worldwide was already known for its commitment to corporate social responsibility and to environmentally friendly policies and practices long before environmentalism global responsibility became high-profile social values in the United States. Those very general ethical concerns far exceeded any legal requirements and lie wholly outside the scope of the organization's actual business and manifested an independent corporate culture valued by the chief executive officer and the Cannon board of directors. The converse is equally true in that unethical business practices can generate a corporate culture that violates ethical standards as well as legal standards (Halbert & Ingulli, 2008).

One significant difficulty in changing corporate culture relates the fact that corporate values usually originate at the highest levels of the organization from those who possess the most influence and power in the organization. To a large degree, violating established elements of corporate…

Alma Joseph's case study, "The Dilemma Public Service Department" Public Performance & Management Review, Vol. 24, No. 3, March 2001, pp. 285-287-Attached pdf This case study analysis paper approximately 3 full pages (double-spaced, 1" margins, 12 pt font), address issues: In terms administrative responsibilities, mind case: honesty, malfeasance, misfeasance, nonfeasance, accountability, competence, .

Honesty is certainly one of the primary concepts that come to mind when considering Alex and the way he chose to approach the problems he came across. While his attitude is certainly praise-worthy, it is difficult not to think about how he is somewhat naive in this situation. A more experienced public official would have probably given more thought to the situation he was in and would have focused on addressing the problem in a way that causes as little harm as possible. The main idea is that the respective problems were not necessarily new and it…

Whistle-Blower Case Study Based on Oklahoma Law

It may appear common-sense that Janet and Darla are whistle-blowers; they saw something wrong at their workplace (another employee potentially stealing drugs and committing fraud), and notified their employer. However, while they may have effectively blown the whistle on potential fraud, they are also working in a state with "at will" employment laws, which states employers can fire employees for any reason (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2014).

When the Federal court looks at the appeal they will need to assess whether or not Janet and Darla have met the requirements to be classified as whistle-blowers, and assess whether or not their dismissal could be seen as retaliation for whistle-blowing (Bennett-Alexander & Hartman, 2014). If classified as whistle-blowers they would be protected from retaliation by the employer. The case to consider is that of Groce v. Foster, 880 P.2d902 (Okla. 1994), which gave five exceptions…

orldCom: The Ethics of histle-Blowing

In recent years, it has not been easy for employees to completely trust the corporations for which they work. Accounting scandals have made the average employee question business practices unlike before. The large corporate American framework built in culture; vision, core values, accountability and self-worth seem to have gone out the window with a certain degree of worry. Is it risky to work for a big business corporation? Has greed, ambition, the threat of globalization, lack of competition, poor leadership and the new technologies to make all this seem seamless, changed the rules for corporations and governance? hat has happened to the days of trust and inspirational role models of the self-made every man? Has the bottom-line or the need for the last dollar put a shroud upon the business operation standards in this country?

There are no guarantees in life or big business. Michael…

Whistle lowing

Introduction and History of Whistle lowing

Whistle blowing is the revealing of immoral, illegal or illegitimate deeds to authorities. The authorities may be insiders or from outside the affected organization. Many cases of whistle blowing involve people revealing information to outsiders especially media organizations or pressure groups about an act they consider to be irresponsible, irregular or illegal (Robbins, 1993).

Cases of whistle blowing have increased dramatically in the recent past but the practice began way back in the 1970s (Shimabukuro & Whitaker, 2012). Scandals involving big corporations and that have led to the collapse of such organizations such as WorldCom and Enron among others come to mind (Minks, 2010). The U.S. Federal government has since enacted several statutes tailored at dealing with the problem.

This paper therefore aims at discussing these laws. Three whistle blowing cases involving the government and another three involving corporations will also be…

Counseling

The Ethical Dilemma -- histle Blowing

The ethical dilemma I faced occurred just after I graduated from high school, in the summer before I started college. I was hired as an "orderly" at a county facility for elderly people (sometimes called a nursing home). It was called a county "hospital and home" for the very frail and elderly in our community. Most of them had been placed their by families due to the difficulty those families experienced in providing good care for them. Some families visited on Sundays; but many of the patients never received any visitors. It was quite sad, and just outside the day room windows everyone could clearly see where they were headed -- to the cemetery.

I was given no training relative to the real issues these older people (all individuals in the ward I worked in were male) were facing. My job was basically…

Whistle-Blowing and Sarbanes-Oxley

The relevance of whistleblowers in an organizational setting cannot be overstated. As a matter of fact, whistleblowers have in the past helped bring about the much needed changes in organizations. They can, therefore, be referred to as guardians of public accountability. It is, however, important to note that whistleblowing does have its own unique challenges. This is particularly the case given that whistleblowers risk isolation, ridicule, loss of employment, etc. once they go public with certain information.

In essence, a whistleblower, in an organizational setting, is an employee or any officer or representative of the firm who lifts the lid on issues or undertakings within the firm that he or she deems illegal, dubious, or generally harmful to the interests of various stakeholders (Holt, 2007). In general terms, whistleblowers possess specific characteristics. To begin with, in addition to being brave, whistleblowers are typically morally upright. To lift…

Though still worthwhile if it leads to an improvement in nursing or medical standards, whistle-blowing can be damaging to the profession (Fritko & Jackson 2005).

Whistle-bowing can also empower nurses, however, with successful instances of whistle-blowing potentially inspiring others that had noticed wrongdoing and remained to afraid to speak out. A large part of the importance of whistle-blowing in the nursing profession stems form the fact that the cultures of many medical institutions and personnel seem to inhibit the pointing-out of misconduct, especially when it is nurses that try to call issues in operations to others' attention, and thus whistle-blowing is specifically the most needed where it will be the most actively discouraged and punished (Jones & Hoffman 2005). The more whistle-blowing occurs, the stronger and more empowered individual nurses will be in making the decision to point out issues in care provision and general conduct, and though this can…

There is an increasing recognition of this not only among investigators and regulators, but also among businesses and employees alike.

Clearly, the general attitude of employers and employees towards whistle blowing is changing with time. Generally, this is the result of consequences generated by corporate wrongdoing, and also by the increase of importance attached to ethical business practices. Corporate responsibility in terms of both society and the environment has seen great increases over the last decade. For this reason, the importance of whistle blowing is also increasing. Indeed, it can be seen as the ethical responsibility of employees to disclose activities when they have suspicions regarding certain practices.

By making whistle blowing a standard ethical element of business, the corporate world can ensure that businesses work for the mutual benefit of employers, employees and the public they serve.

eferences

BBC News. (2003, Oct. 8). Coke pays off whistleblower. etrieved from…

A suggestion within the company, or a well-spoken word can often end the problem before going public with it is necessary ("Ethical Dissent," n.d.). The thought behind this is that whistle blowing, or drawing public attention to an issue, actually makes a problem worse, when privately addressing could make it better. In addition, those who condemn the practice may also mention the negative professional consequences, such as firing, that often occur along with whistle blowing, in addition to personal retaliation.

Thus, the issue of whistle blowing is something that all must face in the professional world, whether they are in the public or private sector. In the end, whistle blowing is a personal decision on the part of an employee, and it can be admirable when done to right something that is inherently wrong.

eferences

"Blowing the Whistle." (2009, May). etrieved July 14, 2009, from http://whistleblowing.org/

"Ethical Dissent." (n.d.). etrieved…

Issue 11: Is Employer Monitoring of Employee Social Media Justified?

Summary of Sides

The rise of social media and the near ubiquity of its use has led to an increasing trend of employers screening potential hires and monitoring existing employees through their social media activity on sites like Facebook and Twitter. The ethicality of such monitoring has been questioned by ethical scholars Brian Elzweig and Donna K. Pepples argue that employers have a responsibility to their organizations to ensure that employees are not negligent in their actions that directly affect the company or that might negatively reflect upon the company. More to the point, these authors argue that there is no real expectation of privacy on social networking sites and that employers could not be violating any such expectation, as "a general expectation cannot be relied upon just by using the privacy settings" (p. 195). Employers are upholding their duty…

blow the whistle" on what you heard in the garden? If so, how will you blow the whistle? If you decide to blow the whistle, what are your reasons for doing so? Your discussion should reflect knowledge of what Boatright says about issues, problems and justifications for whistle-blowing. Also, in discussing the answers to these questions you should include the following: 1) you should evaluate real and potential conflicts of interests that confront you in your decision 2) you should explain how your reasoning is consistent or inconsistent with the three following moral theories: Kantian moral theory, utilitarian moral theory and virtue theory.

The situation

Our MBA is not really aware of what is going on; all he has is assumptions, guesses. He has no actual proof. In the first case, he has had suspicions of several transactions -- their accounting practices seem suspect - and he has pointed out…

Cho, Y., Song, H. (2015). Determinants of whistleblowing within government

agencies. Public Personnel Management, 44(4): 450-472.

Cho and Song (2015) examine the determinants of whistleblowing behaviors in public administrative positions in their study by basing their approach on the work of Miceli and Near, who "argued that proactive personality, less co-worker invalidation, and leverage in the specific situation lead to whistleblowing" (p. 450). However, in their research, Cho and Song (2015) find that the determining variables behind whistleblowing in public are complex and many relevant variables remain unexplored. The purpose of their study is to examine some of these variables more closely and open the door for further investigation into what causes public administration whistleblowers to go public with their information. The thesis of the researchers is that the factors leading to this activity are dynamic, interacting, complex and personal.

The methodology of the study is to test for several…

Business Ethics

A corporate ethics officer is a relatively new position in terms of modern corporate structure. However, in an age of such ethical uncertainty, this position is becoming more necessary than ever thought of. Overall, the ethics officer has three major roles in the corporation: company security, counselor, and compliance officer.

First and foremost, ethics officers are a major part of any corporation's security force. Essentially, "an ethics officer is the first line of defense for the firm as it relates to company security" (Stanwick & Stanwick, 2013, p 243). From this position, ethics officers must have both technical and business experience to be able to understand security issues as they arise and respond with swift and efficient actions. Breaches in security and ethics are thus tied in the modern work environment. Thus, "the ethics officer is responsible for making sure that appropriate actions are taken if unethical activity…

According to Moberly (2007) "during its first three years, only 3.6% of Sarbanes-Oxley whistleblowers won relief through the initial administrative process that adjudicates such claims, and only 6.5% of whistleblowers won appeals through the process... administrative decision makers strictly construed, and in some cases misapplied, Sarbanes-Oxley's substantive protections to the significant disadvantage of employees" (p. 65).

Legal questions also arise regarding an employee's duty to speak out against a legal infraction. This is an especially complex subject for professionals such as accountants who are bound by confidentiality. ule 301 of the AICPA's Code of Professional Conduct states that all accounting information is confidential unless the client gives written permission for it to be released. This provision was a serious issue in the case of United States v. Textron Inc. And Subsidiaries [507 F. Supp. 2d 138 (D..I. Aug. 28, 2007)]. In this case the IS was asking Textron's accounting firm…

Also, an employee may wish to reveal the conduct of his superior who did something legal, but ethically not clean (let's say he decided to resize the company, laid off a good number of employees forcing the market value of the corporation's shares to rise and sold his stock right after that, knowing that in a short while the market value of the company's shares would fall down). One man won, a lot of people lost - shareholders, employees, their families, the local stores etc. Obviously, the deed is done, nothing can be repaired. Therefore, the person may choose not to speak. ut, in the long run, an exposure could produce positive consequences: a warning for other people doing the same kind of controversial acts, a warning for the public to be more careful etc.

Companies have been created with the goal of fulfilling customers' needs. As a consequence, people…

Creating reporting agencies that know how to deal with such information in a proactive manner is necessary, rather than relying upon the media to publicize the negative information.

The lack of protective legislation is another problem. However, there is often great difficulty in generating legislative and popular support for protections to be accorded to whistle-blowers. Historically, many whistleblowers are like Daniel Ellsberg, who revealed the true nature of the war in Vietnam to the American public -- they have embarrassed organizations or companies with powerful interests in Congress. Other whistleblowers seem to have mixed motives for doing so, like whistle-blowing executives who testify against a corporation solely to protect their own skins in light of a coming financial debacle or ethical scandal.

Q3: What impact has it had on the standard of living and worker productivity?

In some ways, it has vastly improved the lives of workers -- workers can…

The reality was that a company which aspired to be "the No. 1 stock on all Street" was instead steadily bleeding money while claim growth in the billions.

The pressure placed upon accountants at ordCom was reflective of the pressure facing accountants throughout the economy during this period of widely absence securities oversight. Indeed, the relationship between regulation and accounting is essential, and this diminished link would have catastrophic implications for the profession as a whole. Such is shown by the Scott text, which tells that "efficient securities market theory has major implications for financial accounting. One of these is that supplementary information in financial statement notes or elsewhere is just as useful as information in the financial statements proper. Another is that efficiency is defined relative to a stock of publicly known information. Financial reporting has a role to play in improving the amount, timing, and accuracy of this…

Cooper's Ethical Decision-Making And The Case Of Corcoran State Prison

The Situation

The situation at Corcoran State Prison was one in which prison authorities were staging gladiatorial type combats between prisoners, baiting prisoners by exploiting poor race relations and tossing them into the "yard" during the recreation hour at the prison (Dryburgh, 2009, p. 162). ival gangs were put into the yard at the same time on purpose so that "matches" could be held by the guards. Guard Steve igg attempted to stop this policy but was unsuccessful. Moreover, guards were needlessly firing into the crowd of inmates in order to break up fights that they themselves helped to instigate. Guards were then prompted by other guards to falsify reports in order to cover-up any wrongdoing. It was in this situation that the inmate Preston Tate was shot in the head accidentally by guards following one of these fights among…

omen and men are inherently different and are going to see things in different lights. Men and women have different societal expectations in regard to how the act, which plays a role in how they see and respond to things. omen and men are brought up to not only expect different things from the world; society sees each as contributing different things as well. omen tend to be seen as nurturing and family oriented and men as doing things strictly by the book. hen considering the idea of whistleblowing, I think these things lend to the idea that women think about the consequences or implications of their actions and men worry about losing money or getting caught and less about what the consequences of their actions might be.

orks Cited

Devore, Sherry, and Martin, Barbara N. "Ethical Decision-Making: Practices of Female and Male Superintendents." Advancing omen in Leadership Journal 25.1…

In this case the affair did not have any apparent effect on the business. In fact during the time of the nearly two-year affair profits actually rose. However the whistle blower believed that the affair was morally wrong, particularly because the boss was married with children.

The whistleblower believed that ultimately the affair would be detrimental to the business so he blew the whistle. He believed that the affair was an indication that the boss was a poor decision maker and that this poor decision making would ultimately cause the business some harm. Some people believed that he was not obligated to tell of the affair. However, others argued that it would be just a matter of time before the decisions that he made in his private life would affect the manner in which the business was run. In this instance the idea of preventing harm encompassed a broad scope.…

Whistleblowing." It explains and analyzes the term "whistleblowing" and takes a look at the various different issues related to it.

Whistleblowing

The term "Whistleblowing" is any revelation of information by an employee or candidate for employment which the employee or candidate rationally believes evidences one of the following:

violation of law, rule, or regulation gross mismanagement gross waste of funds an abuse of authority substantial and specific danger to public health or safety provided that the disclosure of information is not exclusively prohibited by law or the information is not specifically required by Executive order to be kept secret in the interest of national defense or the conduct of foreign affairs. ut this term has been defined in various different ways by different people. According to some whistleblowing "refers to a warning issued by a member or former member of an organization to the public about a serious wrongdoing or…

Whistle-blowing can have many adverse effects on the person doing the whistle-blowing and there are definitely feelings of loneliness that can arise when a whistle-blower decides to make some noise. Cooper gives some prime examples of whistle-blowing cases in chapter six, but he insists that there are still many who have "gone away quietly" (202), which may appear to be the safest option for the individual, yet that means that the public will never know the truth about what was going on -- and so, the individual really does have a moral responsibility to the public so that unethical behavior isn't allowed at any level as it will eventually seep into the very core of the organization and back into society.

Whistle-blowing, no matter what way it is looked at is "risky," according to Cooper (203). People who blow the whistle not only face scrutiny and alienation, but they may…

Ethical Behavior Theory in Organizations

This analytical research report discusses the debatable issue of the much-needed ethical behavior in working milieu. The research paper highlights the fundamental characteristics, a well-drafted research design, a separate section of suggestions; a orks Cited an appendix featuring important data and relevant diagrams pertaining to the organizational behavior theory and the underlying ethical issues. The orks Cited nine sources in MLA format.

ETHICS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Ethics and ethical behavior: a challenge for organizations

UNETHICAL BEHAVIOR IN ORGANIZATIONS

Reasons for unethical behavior in organizations

Prevalent justifications of unethical behavior

Results from Baucus and Near's research model

Part Three

SOCIAL SYSTEMS AND BEHAVIORS

Part Four

NEED FOR ORGANIZATIONAL BEHAVIORAL THEORY

hat is organizational behavior?

Purpose of organizational behavior

An overview of organizational behavior and its cardinal components

Basic models of organizational behaviors

Part Five

PRAGMATIC SUGGESTIONS FOR AMELIORATION

Part Six

FUTURE DIRECTION

orks Cited

APPENDIX

Ethical Behavior…

False claims act contain 'qui tam' or whistleblower provisions. This work will discuss the pros and cons of being a whistleblower and to ask the question of if one were aware of the fraudulent issues in the healthcare organization why would they not report the issues?

In 1975, in the case (NLR vs. Weingarten, Inc. 420 U.S. 251, 88 LRRM 2689 the U.S. Supreme Court established the rights of employees to have a union representative at an investigatory interview and this rights are known as Weingarten Rights. The investigation interview happens when a supervisor questions the employee for the purpose of obtaining information that could be used in a discipline or conduct complaint against the employee. In the event the employee believes that they result negative outcomes from what they have to say the employee under the Weingarten Rights has the right to request union representation at the hearing. Once…

hile U.S., New Zealand and Denmark have many differences, they are basically capitalist, consumer economies. To combat the corruption inherent in such a system, we need to protect and nurture whistle blowing. Certainly, the more eyes there are on a situation, the more transparent it is, both in government and in business.

The corruption that the recent recession revealed in the U.S. banking system is simply a part of the bigger problem. As the Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell text puts it well, "The ability to recognize and deal with complex business ethics issues has become a significant priority…" (Ferrell, Fraedrich, & Ferrell, 2009). Enforcement takes human observation to fulfill this priority. There is not enough police to go around. However, the common citizen, armed with legal protections, will provide this.

orks Cited

Anti-corruption. (2006, November 8). Retrieved 11 August 2010 from http://www.um.dk/en/menu/developmentpolicy/anticorruption/

Caslon analytics guide secrecy and accountability. (2008, February).…

Basically, she is confronting the issue of role ambiguity. Is it really her job to monitor corporate ethics and compliance or should she simply wait until her manager hangs himself through his own carelessness? This introduces another stressor that she faces, that is, one of career development. Turning her boss in jeopardizes her upward mobility.

Ambiguity and threat to her career are big factors. The interpersonal relationships she has developed after the department down-sizing have become that much stronger and she feels that she may be putting her group members in jeopardy as well as herself. They have become so close partly because of the job conditions where they have had to operate independently of their mostly absent manager.

Conclusion:

In summary, what makes this case so pertinent is that it really happened in the recent past. The ethical issues are genuine and are faced on a daily basis by…

Satyam -- The Enron of India," involves its former chairman amalinga aju, who admitted to years of corporate fraud in 2009. At the heart of this fraud was the way in which aju handled the accounting reports of the company. An initial attempt to cover up the company's debt culminated in the necessity to fabricate an increasing amount of revenue. This ultimately culminated in 94% of the company's assets and cash being fabricated.

This type of corporate fraud is an unfortunately frequent occurrence in the world of business today. The problem involved in fraudulent activity is that it cannot continue perpetually. Even years of fraud will eventually, of necessity, be revealed when accountants or interested parties notice a discrepancy between what is reported and the cash flow that is in fact available. Furthermore, revealed corporate fraud tends to tarnish a company's reputation in the eyes of the public it serves…

The ethics committee is also being used increasingly to provide training classes of ethics along with protection of internal whistle-blowing system. The ACCC have boosted the ongoing change by launching a system of supportive codes on ethical disagreement using third party arbitrary services. Professional institutes also are adopting code of ethics that may be used by all members of the family.

The change in trade is spreading over various professions. Around 30 institutes are providing learning course and research on ethics in Australian industries. A joint research project of U.S. And Australia suggests that social responsibility and strict adherence with proper code of ethics provides an average positive economic benefit. The aforementioned research used statistical analysis.

Some universities and educational institutes are also providing courses in business and professional ethics. The ethics centers also engage the teachers and staff providing research and consultation works. There are many other universities where…

He sat on the issue until he was able to retire and then brought the unethical actions into the light. In the meantime, the government through the NSA was amassing significant information about the Internet usage of American citizens. No matter the justification for this action, it cannot be supported ethically. As individuals, we may have nothing to hide, but the erosion of civil liberties and privacy is a dangerous precedent to set. The information gathered today could easily be used against American citizens in the future, should some new justification be conjured up. It is crucial that unethical it behavior is rooted out at every possible opportunity. Only by speaking out against illicit behavior can we operate in the it world with clear consciences.

orks Cited

Gibbs, Mark. "iretapping, histle Blowing and it Ethics." Network orld. 9 Nov. 2007. 28 Nov. 2007 http://www.networkworld.com/columnists/2007/110907backspin.html.

Office Memo

Sub: comment on John's claim as a whistle blower against PharmaCAE and the ethical and legal implications of the case

As a member of Dewey, Chetum, and Howe you asked me to find out suitable ethical and legal implications that John's case could bring for the firm and for John himself. Detailed in the report are the issues regarding:

The Ethical issues relating to marketing and advertising, intellectual property, and regulation of product safety in relation to PharmaCAE

Business ethics can be defined as the art, system, method and the discipline that is applied to along with ethical principles to solve complex business issues and dilemmas. It defines the actions that are taken that tries to reach a balance between the organization achieving its business and economic obligations and social obligations (Moon, 2001).

One of the ethics that is applicable in this case is related to the advertisement…

The defects will be the concern of the local manufacturer and not that of the business. This, again, will mean savings on waste, labor and shipping. As a desirable consequence, outsourcing will boost the host country's economic condition by providing affordable products to the citizens. This enhances consumer spending (Marie).

Outsourcing manufacturing, however, encourages dependence on the outsourcing partner (Marie, 2010). This is a disadvantage on the side of the contractor if the partner goes out of business. Fortunately, this can be offset if the parts for manufacturing are distributed to different contractors and all the elements sent to a final contractor to assemble the finished product. Cost and time other disadvantages. Tests will require more time for fine tuning before distribution. These processes cannot be avoided. However, strategic planning with the right outsourcing partner may prevent or eliminate the risks of outsourcing manufacturing internationally (Marie).

Ethics and Social Responsibility…

In their examination of whistle-blowing practices -- i.e. instances where the code of silence was willingly and voluntarily broken -- in law enforcement agencies, othwell & Baldwin (2007) identified several factors that appear to have a large effect on individual officers' adherence to the code of silence. Surprisingly, tenured officers are more likely to report misconduct to superiors and others, largely because they have less to fear in the way of occupational and career-affecting reprisals (othwell & Baldwin 2007).

At first, this appears to be an encouraging sign -- officers that hold higher positions within the various law enforcement agencies are more likely to ensure that their peers and the officers underneath them adhere to the ethical practices expected of them. Yet these findings also show that younger or less tenured officers still perceive the code of silence as a way of getting ahead, suggesting that this code still provides…

There are a couple of reasons for this. One is that outcomes are what the public sees. Therefore, it is the potential outcomes that should be the guiding ethical principles. Ethics are mainly a problem in business when a company is perceived as unethical. Monsanto is a great example - few people have any ethical problems with this company, so their lack of ethics does not impact their business prospects.

The other reason why outcomes should be the guiding principle is because one of the most significant sources of ethical problems for companies is front-line managers. These low-level managers face strong pressure from above, but are generally not the firm's best decision-makers. As a result, they make poor decisions in response to pressure. If these managers were guided by duty as their main ethical principle, they would respond to pressure by doing whatever they feel senior management wants them to…

The enactment of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act has brought exponentially higher costs of operating to every organization that must comply to its requirements. As many organizations are already quite lean in terms of headcount to minimize costs, many outsource compliance and the resulting business process management (BPO) activities to outsourcing organizations. Ironically legislation meant to bring American companies into higher levels of compliance continues to be one of the most lucrative businesses globally for outsourcing companies. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) continues to accelerate as organizations spend heavily to gain access to expertise they do not have the funds to hire or the resources to fully take advantage of. The costs of compliance and governance and the risks associated with it paradoxically create higher levels of risk for organizations the laws were meant to protect and infuse with stability. Yet for all the costs of compliance, the benefits to organizations have already…

King Jewels: Ethical Leadership Case

Leadership style may have contributed to unethical behavior because:

a) There was no leader providing guidance and keeping a watchful eye on employees for last three years.

b) Andy Wong had been busy travelling and expanding business and hence failing to provide the much-needed guidance and supervision

c) Company had become overly ambitious and leadership was more interested in excessive expansion and big plans than in checking quality,

d) Ho like most other Chinese and Hong Kong leaders mainly had a dictatorial style of leadership. He would dictate terms without engaging in meaningful dialogue with his key personnel

e) Setting huge sale targets without consulting employees had led to this unethical behavior by Clement Tam

Excessive meshing of duties and responsibilities was one of the key reasons for generating such wrongful behavior. Proper segregation of duties could have prevented this problem. This is because division…

histleblowing

Businesses today are faced with a number of challenges, and one of the biggest is unethical or illegal practices by their employees. It is important to examine why whistleblowing should be encouraged to prevent irreparable damage to the company.

Understanding histleblowing

histleblowing is defined as "an exposure of fraud and abuse by an employee. This is a straightforward enough definition, but one involving complex issues. For the intending whistleblower, the decision to expose illegal or unethical practices within his or her organization carries it own pitfalls (Gurmeet)."

Conflicts

There are conflicts an employee may face such as "loyalties-personal, organizational, and social, which may be a collision more than he or she is willing to bear (Gurmeet)." The employee may also worry about retaliation from the company, and view it as "David and Goliath, where the little guy confronts the mighty company (Gurmeet)."

Risks and Moral Obligations

hile there are…

disobedience between individuals and it deals with unjust authority. An experimental scenario was set up by the authors in order to see -- from a group of 149 individuals -- how many of them would obey an "unethical request" and how many would not obey, and would instead blow the whistle on the request.

The authors did this study because they believe that there has not been enough research into the "nature of disobedience to unjust authority," and the bottom line it seems is this: who are the whistleblowers and how are they different from those who go along with unfair, immoral, or unjust demands?

Summary of the procedure used by the authors: The authors explain on page 37 that the whistleblower doesn't get off just because he revealed a situation that is wrong or unjust; rather, the whistleblower must expect to have "future involvement" with the authorities that he…

ITT Technical Institute, Sylmar Campus, Computer and Electronics Engineering Technology (AAS), 15-MA-04 / 05-MA-06, Electronics and Communications Engineering Technology (BS) 13-MA-06 / 02-DEC-07

Department of Education,

This letter will describe my experiences at ITT and why I believe I was misled by the school and the victim of fraudulence. As a result of these experiences and the facts that have come to light regarding ITT (enclosed in the Appendix), I am seeking a forgiveness on my federal loan based on current events that made me realize that what ITT did was a completely wrong to not only myself but to countless other people.

While I understand that my satisfaction of the school is not a foundation for the fraud, however, the promise that ITT gave me regarding cost, job, value and experience of my education is what is fraudulent. They created an expectation of job security and financial future that…

Though the concepts of professional values and ethics are relatively simple and straightforward, the effects that the choices made with different values and ethics have are quite far reaching and complex. No matter what specific values or ethical systems are being applied to a given situation, there are certain limitations to the actions and behaviors that can be taken and the choices that can be made. For instance, the case of price fixing between two major soda manufacturers and distributors could have been handled in two ways, each with its own set of short- and long-term effects on te careers of the individuals involved. The decision to engage in price fixing led to the imprisonment of at least one of the men; though the short-term effects lived up to the promise of a more lucrative career, security for the executive's family, and other benefits, in the long-term his career was…

Madoff Investment Securities LLC (BLMIS) committed one of the greatest financial frauds in U.S. history. Investigations revealed that Mr. Madoff operated an elaborate "Ponzi Scheme" that started operating in 1980s.Even though Madoff was initially supposed to invest all of his clients' money in the securities markets, he never did so. Instead, he deposited the whole amount in a certain bank account that he held with the Chase Manhattan Bank. He therefore fulfilled his client's redemption requests using his own money. The fraud value was estimated at $50 billion and became a matter of public knowledge only after Madoff confessed to the crime. It can be regarded as the biggest financial fraud in U.S.'s history and it affected a large number of investors.The financial industry blamed the investors as well as regulators for neglecting the various warning signals that enabled Maddoff to continue with the fraud for several decades.

The Board…

Shattered Glass

Stephen Glass, the protagonist of the film, played by Hayden Christensen, works for The New Republic as a reporter. His use of colorful stories to draw attention from readers earns him a solid reputation amongst his peers and his employers. Michael Kelly, an editor that backs Glass' eventually discovered false stories, gets fired for standing up for himself. Glass then writes a hacker story that he himself did not check and is therefore caught in the first real instance of the movie of corruption. A reporter, wishing to earn or maintain a good reputation, fabricates a story.

How it was discovered, was when Charles Lane becomes weary of the so called, "credible sources," of Glass' piece. When he discovers that Glass never went to the restaurant he said he did and never went to a hacking convention, and only relied on online, false sources, Glass gets suspended. Many…

On the contrary, for Kant, to live a moral life is to live a life that is lived almost completely because of obligation (Moran, Rein & Goodin 2008, p 354). Someone can still do something that is their duty, but that doesn't mean that what they do isn't immoral. A simple example would be if a person owed money: in Kantian morality, if a person paid back the money simply because they owed it and they felt it was their moral obligation to do so, this would be moral; however, if a person paid back money only because they thought that it would help them out if they ever needed to borrow money again, this would be immoral.

Kantian morality -- or the ethical system that we call "deontological" (luhm & Heineman 2007, p. 26) -- has to do with whether or not "its rules do not allow us to…

There are many examples of this throughout the company's history, all pointing to the fact that employees who have a strong sense of ownership and wiliness to sacrifice for the greater good. Southwest's ability to translate cultural values into financial performance while embracing, even attacking change, in their industry is what fuels their profitability. Through the worst recession in 40 years, Southwest has been able to generate positive eturn on Investment (OI), eturn on Assets (OA), and eturn on Equity (OE).

Sustaining and Strengthening the Culture Given Strategic Decisions Made

The case study shows that while Southwest excels with their culture from a purely customer service standpoint, their leadership and management of maintenance, repair, overhaul and support has been a weakness that in 2007 became a liability. Southwest had failed to create a culture of transparency and accountability to the point of whistle-blowing in its maintenance organizations. As a result…

e can see that minority status has far less to do with population size, and instead seems very much to be inclined by race, ethnicity and political power instead. This label of minority status is in many ways used as a tag by which certain groups are detained from political unity or effectiveness.

To a large degree, this is a condition which relates to the nature of the Hispanic demographic, which in spite of its cultural diversity, is typically perceived by the larger American public as a single unified entity. This is both untrue and reflects the ethnocentric qualities of the white American political body that have tended to relegate the Hispanic population to representation that is not proportional to its true presence here. Indeed, "although Mexican-Americans continue to be the largest group within the Latino population, increasing immigration from other Latin American means they are perhaps the most culturally…

For the law firms, a multi-point ethical program can address some of the shortcomings of their employees.

Fraud is a unique ethical case, since there is no ethical dilemma, only outright criminality. To an extent, fraud is a situation where it is garbage in, garbage out. Thus, hiring becomes the first step in building a strong ethical program. This is especially true in an M&A division, where workers will be exposed to insider trading opportunities on a near-daily basis. The firms must incorporate ethics testing and other techniques to improve the ethical quality of their new hires.

New hires should be subjected to an intensive ethical training program. Company standards must be made clear, along with the consequences of breach of those standards. The ethics training program should be reinforced with follow-up programs, to make sure that the high ethical standards become part of the corporate culture. The program should…

This theory states that crime emerges in the absence of control and shrinks in the presence of control. Corporations therefore can take many steps to encourage moral responsibility, by exercising control at certain points. If employees receive steady encouragement, this is the presence of control on behavior. At other times, the absence of control can be used to promote positive actions. The absence of punishment for whistle-blowing or consideration of moral elements of corporate decisions can promote such activities. hen these activities flourish, the corporation will be fulfilling the second action. Corporations must thus be cognizant of the ways in which they can use the presence of absence of control mechanisms to attain ethical goals and encourage moral responsibility. Fraud can occur when an employee acts in self-interest or what he or she perceives to be the interest of the corporation. However, the presence of anti-fraud controls and the absence…

In 2003, he resigned both posts as news of the twin scandals emerged. The Air Force froze the contract that Druyun had negotiated, precipitating Condit's resignation and retirement.

Condit had joined Boeing in 1965 as an engineer and moved into management in 1973, working on marketing the 727. He completed an MBA at Sloan in 1975 and returned to Boeing, progressing rapidly up the ranks. By 1983, he became VP and General Manager of the 757 division before moving on to other VP posts. In 1996, he moved from President to CEO and a year later was named Chairman.

There is little to indicate that Condit himself was a significant contributor to the governance problems at Boeing. Although he was an engineer by training, he spent much of his time at Boeing in marketing. The hiring manager, Bill Erskine, who had hired Ken Branch in the first place, had just…

But when the conditions that caused the dissatisfaction cannot be changed, or seem like they cannot be changed, employees lash out in other ways. These can be passive, as they physically withdraw from the organization. Of course, the employee can leave his or her job or transfer, but some employees simply come to work later and later, take more sick or personal days, leave work earlier, take long lunch breaks, and find reasons to be out of the office. hen the employee is there, he or she psychologically withdraws -- daydreaming, using the Internet to do non-work related business, and simply not making a true investment in his or her work. An employee may proceed in a rote fashion, and even get all of his or her job tasks done mechanically, but he or she is not really making an investment in the organization, and the organization is not deriving…

Addressing this issue is a matter of policy, and difficult to address at the management level. However, extensive recruiting procedures in diverse communities may help to combat the continued disparity of advantages for many minorities. In addition, social representation can be achieved by promoting educational and employment opportunities in a variety of socio-economic settings. The use of internships can also create exposure both of public agencies and of the diverse emerging workforce.

5) There are many different variables that contribute to achieving productivity in the workplace. Research shows that employee satisfaction with their work is a major factor in determining employee productivity. Satisfaction can be improved with increased benefits, including increased wages and salaries, but another very important factor in job satisfaction is the employee's interest in their work and the belief that they are necessary. Promoting a workplace that shows how much it values its employees is essential to…

A capitalistic society that provides open and free competition did not bring about Enron and similar debacles. It was the second part of Friedman's statement: "without deception or fraud" that led to such situations. It was the greed of several individuals who misreported their profits to get a larger part of the pot. Unfortunately, there will always be individuals like this -- it is human nature. That does not make the whole system corrupt. One can say that the competition inherent in the capitalistic enterprise encourages such behavior. Hoarding by one of the cave dwellers would never work. The hope is that lessons are learned from situations such as these -- that nothing works perfectly.

ichard E. Hattwick, professor at Western Illinois University and co-founder of the American National Business Hall of Fame concludes:

competitive market situations encourage the reasonably high standard of business ethics called the ethic of justice.…

He believed asylums should be planned to encourage work, both physical and mental. To get away from the stress and turmoil of the city, an asylum should be erected out in the country where there was space for patients "to work, walk, and congregate. He called for plenty of large windows, one central building, separate buildings for the genders, and separate wings for wards" (Haller & Larsen, 2005, p. 262).

The Kirkbride asylum had a central administration building with a dome that was flanked by two wings of tiered wards. esidents were separated according to sex and the symptoms of their illnesses, with "excited patients" on the lower floors farther away from the administrative center. Well-behaved, more rational patients were placed on uppers floors closer to the administrative section. Fresh air, natural light, and scenic views of the park-like grounds were available to all wards.

Kirkbride asylums were designed to…

As oversight staffing budgets are reduced and redundancy is addressed, many states will follow Pennsylvania's lead.

Concept Discussion

In our current setting, healthcare organizations are legislatively driven to follow strict disclosure polices in order to shield patient related and other protected data yet still these facilities and staff will be required to provide superior customer service. Thus, the information age has strained governmental legislation bolstering individual patient's privacy. "In the past decade, we have undergone a dramatic transformation in the way we shop, bank, and go about our daily business -- changes that have resulted in an unprecedented proliferation of records and data." (Soloye)

This vast amount of information that has been created or has suddenly become available now requires all new regulations regarding disclosure of medical information. The nursing profession has obviously been affected.

For example, nursing staffs often must get written permission to disclose, discuss or review a…

Ethics Training for Employees

"ecently we have become aware of massive fraud and abuses that are tolerated and even encouraged by executives in large and formerly reputable organizations" (Lee, 2004). The Enron scandal sent ricochets through corporate America, causing literally thousands of people to lose their jobs and sending a major city into a deeper recession than that experienced by the rest of the country. Even seemingly minor corporate scandals have had a tremendous impact on both corporate America and on consumer confidence in corporations. One need only look at the recent media fury surrounding Martha Stewart's recent release from prison to realize that corporate misbehavior is the hot-button issue of the day. As evidenced by the abundance of "Free Martha" t-shirts, the negative impacts of corporate ethical issues are not always apparent on the surface. However, the fact is that abusive and illegal practices that have been permitted, and…

Business Fraud

In the wake of scandals such as Enron and others, corporate fraud still appears to be prevalent across the business world. The reasons for this can be many and varied, although greed and a sense of hubris appear to be two of the common role players. In other cases, desperation could also be a factor, where a business is in danger of failing and its owners or managers see little choice but to cheat or sing with the boat. In many of the fraud cases, questions regarding regulation also abound, where regulatory authorities appear to be unable to either identify fraudulent activity or to sufficiently monitor the actions of those involved. This appears to be at least partly the case as far as ussell Wasendorf Sr. is concerned, who recently confessed to have committed fraud as the owner of his brokerage for 20 years Huffstutter and Polansek, 2012).…

anking and financial services includes such firms as investment banks, commercial banks, brokerage firms, and credit card institutions. The common it pulse throughout the daily operations of these organizations involves utilizing systems to communicate between branches and subsidiaries, establishing operations throughout the world, communicating with the end customer in order to facilitate transactions, and analyzing customer and market attributes in order to reduce uncertainties in such aspects as pricing policies" (p. 24). Some of the more salient issues affecting the financial services industry today are described further in Table ____ below.

Table ____.

Examples of utilization of information technology in order to enhance efficiency and productivity by the financial services industry.

Area Impacted

Description of Impact

Credit card institutions store, retrieve, and analyze vast amounts of demographic customer information enabling them to more accurately target potential markets for new products and also identify less-attractive, credit-risk customers.

This allows them to…

tension between businesses interests in maximizing profits and the public's interest in receiving complete, truthful, and non-misleading information about products that they purchase.

The dangers against greenwashing are that consumers will have no confidence in the products or services they are buying. This means that they will not purchase specific items. As they feel they are being deceived and cheated through false labeling / misrepresentation. At the same time, there is the possibility that a firm could face penalties from government regulators who feel that they are engaging in false advertising. This will have a negative impact on the image of the organization and their ability to address the needs of customers in the future. ("Six Sins of Greenwashing," 2007)

For an executive; it is advisable to not practice these kinds of policies. The reason why is because it will hurt the brand image of the products they are selling…

size) Case Study #1: Nancy worked Stay Healthy Hospital 17 years a physical therapist position.

Advising H how to handle Nancy

Under the Americans With Disabilities Act, businesses are required to make reasonable accommodations for employee disabilities. "This includes job restructuring and equipment modifications. If necessary, employers must make some changes to enable the qualified job applicant with a disability to perform the essential functions of the job."[footnoteef:1] However, Nancy's difficulties are currently transcending the boundaries of 'reasonable accommodations' and are hampering her ability to perform her duties. The hospital has allowed her to take leave to help manage her illness but her performance has not improved. The hospital should document patient complaints; note the repeated attempts to accommodate Nancy's illness and produce documentation to indicate how Nancy's repeated absences have inconvenienced staff members. [1: "ADA," OIC, 2012 Mar, [4 May 2013] http://lifecenter.ric.org/index.php?tray=content&tid=top253&cid=16]

Simply taking leave is no longer suitable…