In an increasingly uncertain, turbulent and contested world, ethics plays a crucial role in enabling professionals to conduct their affairs, make decisions and interact with others. Indeed, ethics is essential to free enterprise, democracy and the functioning of a fair society. Yet despite the good intentions, the establishment of ethical thinking and reflection within responsible management practice seems a long way off. A 2018 survey by the Institute of Business Ethics in eight European countries reveals that 78% of employees say their organisation always or frequently acts with honesty. The values range between 69% in Germany to 88% in Ireland. Employees seem more likely to speak up about misconduct, with 54% responding positively in the survey overall, ranging from 67% in the UK to 49% in Portugal. However, one in three employees have been aware of misconduct at work, with 46% recognising that people have been treated unethically, 35% misrepresenting hours worked, and 30% reporting safety violations. Pressure on workers is also intensifying: 16% of respondents felt some form of pressure to compromise their organisation’s ethical standard, with the figure rising in every country. Conversely, just under a quarter of participants (23%) feel incentivised to act ethically. SO, WHAT IS ETHICS? The Cambridge English Dictionary defines ethics as a system of accepted beliefs that control behaviour, often predicated on morals. Ethics is derived from the Greek word ethos, which means a way of living, and typically encompasses the customs of a particular group. Moral systems and principles can be viewed as the surrounding climate of ideas which dictate how we view the world and guide our actions and the harms that they may cause to others. Ethics can therefore help in making moral and professional judgements about how we ought to live and guide and manage our actions. Many books and commentators position ethics as the choice between right and wrong, often relating it to fairness or to some kind of acceptable standards for human behaviour and conduct. Indeed, it would be reassuring to be able to reduce ethical conflict and professional decisions to rights and wrongs. However, this is an overly simplistic representation offering the wrong starting point. Right versus wrong situations imply a relatively straightforward resolution, a choice between black and white. Ethics becomes more arduous when we encounter grey areas, where managers must choose between right and right as conflicting perspectives and different shades of grey come into play. Ethical challenges also arise in situations where the right course of action is somewhat obvious, but constraints related to business competitiveness, institutional pressures, political concerns, internal priorities, conflicts of interests and even personal gains and promotions may be applied. Many organisations respond to the challenges by establishing codes of ethics and training programmes to guide employees. However, an ever-growing succession of corporate scandals indicates a need for further reflection and professionalism. Undoubtedly, cynics may point to such initiatives as insurance policies against corporate liability, intensifying the pressure on individuals to respond to perceived challenges and ethical inaction. 32 |
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