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A Study Of Ethics: General Conduct

© Lincoln Bittner

Many businesses say that they are proud of their ethical standards, and that they are among the few who maintain superior business ethics. When I was a new manager, I heard the party lines just as I am sure you are hearing them now. The company managers say something like, “We value our track record as an ethical company, and will only hire someone who maintains the highest level of personal integrity.”

The questions that I have been asked by those employees that I manage are: what are ethics, how are these companies interpreting the word ethics, and what are the principles of conduct that they are conforming to?” This turned out to be quite a challenging question. It seems that many companies are attaching their own definition to this term. Some are even waving it as a banner to disguise what they are really doing. This series of articles will discuss ethics in three different areas of business. These areas will be your conduct as a manager, ethical hiring practices, and ethics in compensation for current employees. These are the topics that you as a new manager should be the most familiar with, however there are many other areas of business that ethics can have an impact on.

The term ‘Ethics’ is defined in two ways. First is ‘Ethic’ which is defined by Webster as “a system of moral values.” Second it the action term we most commonly hear about, ‘Ethical’. Webster defines the term ‘Ethical’ as “conforming to right principles of conduct.” This is where most companies are able to insert their own interpretation of the term, and where some have gotten into trouble. As a new manager, you need to know that ethical conduct is the act of maintaining honesty in your professional performance.

There are two ways that you can fail to be honest. The first is withholding information that someone needs to perform to the best of his/her ability, or that someone needs to make a fully informed decision. I have seen this tactic used many time by managers who want to get rid of a subordinate who they don’t care for. The manager will purposely withhold some of the information that this subordinate needs to complete the task properly. The subordinate fails to do the job and the manager terminates them because their performance is not up to company standards. It was not the subordinates fault, however he/she suffers the consequences of the unethical managers actions.