INSTITUTE OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND MANAGEMENT

UNIVERSITY OF SIERRA LEONE

TOWER HILL
FREETOWN

FACULTY OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION & ENTERPRENEURSHIP

COURSE: BSC IN BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

YEAR 2

MODULE: ETHICS AND RESPONSIBILITY

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Lecture note 004

ETHICAL CHALLENGES IN THE WORKPLACE

In managing people in an organization, you cannot rule out the likelihood of having
to deal with issues bothering on ethics. T

This is because managing people means manging emotions, attitudes all of which
have ethical considerations;

Most unethical behaviours include: sexual harassment, conflict of interest, corruption

etc.

WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Sexual harassment’ is any form of unwelcome sexual behavior that’s offensive,

humiliating or intimidating. Sexual harassment is against the law. This experience
affects people in different ways.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual behavior that’s offensive, humiliating or

intimidating. It can be written, verbal or physical, and can happen in person or online.

Sexual harassment is a type of harassment involving the use of explicit or implicit

sexual overtones, including the unwelcome and inappropriate promises of rewards in
exchange for sexual favors.

Sexual harassment includes a range of actions from verbal transgressions to sexual

abuse or assault.

Anybody can experience sexual harassment, regardless of their gender.

When it happens at work, school or university, at home, within our various communities,
sexual harassment may amount to a form of discrimination.

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 WHAT DOES SEXUAL HARASSMENT INCLUDE?

Sexual harassment can include someone:

• touching, grabbing or making other physical contact with you without your
consent
• making comments to you that have a sexual meaning
• asking you for sex or sexual favors
• leering and staring at you
• displaying rude and offensive materials so that you or others can see it
• making sexual gestures or suggestive body movements towards you
• cracking sexual jokes and comments around or to you
• questioning you about your sex life
• insulting you with sexual comments
• behavior on a phone call that makes you feel uncomfortable
• indecently exposing themselves to you
• sexually assaulting you.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND SEXUAL ASSAULT?

SEXUAL HARASSMENT is a much broader term than sexual assault, and refers to a
wider variety of inappropriate sexual behaviors. Sexual harassment can include
sexual contact - like unwanted touching, hugging, or kissing.

Sexual harassment doesn’t have to include sexual touching or contact. It can also
include sexual comments, inappropriate jokes, or showing offensive material to you
or others.

SEXUAL ASSAULT is when you are forced, coerced or tricked into doing some sort
of sexual activity, including touching, kissing, sexual acts, or penetrative sex.

Some cases of sexual harassment can also constitute sexual assault. For example, if
your boss or colleague forced you to kiss them, or touched you inappropriately
without your consent, that could be a case of both sexual harassment and sexual
assault.

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 HOW SEXUAL HARASSMENT CAN AFFECT YOU

If you’re being sexually harassed, you might:

• feel stressed, anxious or depressed

• withdraw from social situations
• lose confidence and self-esteem
• have physical symptoms of stress, such as headaches, backaches or sleep
problems
• be less productive and unable to concentrate.

WHAT CAN YOU DO?

No one deserves, or asks, to be sexually harassed. Everyone has the right to work
and live in an environment that’s free from harassment, bullying, discrimination and
violence.

IF YOU HAVE BEEN SEXUALLY HARASSED, HERE ARE SOME THINGS YOU CAN DO:

TALK TO THE OFFENDER

You can try resolving the situation yourself by explaining to the person who is
harassing you that their behavior is unwanted. However, this is only recommended if
it’s something you feel safe and comfortable doing.

TELL SOMEONE

Sexual harassment isn’t something you need to deal with on your own. In the
workplace, it might be worth talking to a HR person, who will be able to help you
decide what to do. You might also want to talk to a trusted friend or family member
about what's going on.

BE INFORMED

If you’re being harassed at work, school or university, find out what their policies and
procedures are for preventing and handling sexual harassment. They may have
processes in place already to deal with these situations and support you.

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KEEP A DIARY

Document everything that happens, including when it occurred, the names of any
people who saw what happened, and what you've done to try to stop it. It can be
really useful to bring these records when talking to a manager or HR person so that
they know exactly what has been happening, and when.

SAVE ANY EVIDENCE

Keep text messages, social media comments, notes and emails. This evidence can also
help if you make a complaint.

WHAT IS SEXUAL EXPLOITATION

Sexual exploitation and Abuse (SEA) represent a fundamental failure of protection.

It brings harm to those we are mandated and it jeopardizes the reputation of an
individual or institution.

Sexual exploitation is the actual or attempted abuse of a position of vulnerability,

power or trust, for sexual purposes, including but not limited to, profiting monetarily,
socially or politically from the sexual exploitation of another.

SEXUAL ABUSE is the actual or threatened physical intrusion of a sexual nature,

whether by force or under unequal or coercive conditions.

ACTS OF SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND ABUSE INCLUDE:

• Sexual assault
• Demanding sex in any context or making sex a condition for assistance
• Forcing someone to engage in prostitution or pornography.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST

A conflict of interest occurs when an entity or individual becomes unreliable because

of a clash between personal (or self-serving) interests and professional duties or
responsibilities.

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Such a conflict occurs when a company or person has a vested interest—such as
money, status, knowledge, relationships, or reputation—which puts into question
whether their actions, judgment, and/or decision-making can be unbiased.

When such a situation arises, the party is usually asked to remove themselves, and it
is often legally required of them.

In business, a conflict of interest arises when a person chooses personal gain over
duties to their employer, or to an organization in which they are a stakeholder, or
exploits their position for personal gain in some way.

A conflict of interest in business normally refers to a situation in which an individual's

personal interests’ conflict with the professional interests owed to their employer or
the company in which they are invested.

A conflict of interest arises when a person chooses personal gain over the duties to
an organization in which they are a stakeholder or exploits their position for
personal gain in some way.

Conflicts of interest often have legal ramifications.

COMMON TYPES OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

SELF-DEALING is the most common type of conflict of interest in the business world.
It occurs when a management-level professional accepts a transaction from another
organization that benefits the manager and harms the company or the company's
clients.

GIFT ISSUANCE is also a very common conflict of interest. It happens when a

corporate manager or officer accepts a gift from a client or a similar type of person.
Companies normally circumvent this issue by prohibiting gifts from customers to
individual employees.

FAVORITISM, the hiring of, or showing favorable workplace treatment to, a relative
or spouse—known as nepotism—can result in a potential conflict of interest.

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 EXAMPLES OF CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AT WORK

ü Hiring an unqualified relative to provide services your company needs

ü Starting a company that provides services similar to your full-time employer
ü Failing to disclose that you’re related to a job candidate the company is
considering hiring
ü Posting to social media about your company’s weaknesses
ü Offering paid services on your time off to a company customer or supplier
ü Working part-time at a company that sells a competing product or service as
your full-time employer
ü Accepting payment from another company for information about your
employer
ü Failing to investigate a subordinate or coworker’s wrongdoing because they
are a friend
ü Sharing confidential information about your employer with a competitor
ü Dating or having a romantic relationship with a supervisor or subordinate
ü Making a purchase or business choice to boost a business that you have a stake
in
ü Owning part of a business that sells goods or services to your employer
ü Reporting to a supervisor who is also a close friend or family member
ü Doing business or work for a competitor
ü Accepting consulting fees and providing advice to another company for
personal gain
ü Sharing information in an interview about your employer’s activities or plans
ü Taking advantage of confidential information learned on the job for your own
benefit
ü Cashing in on a business opportunity that your company might have pursued

STRATEGIES TO PREVENT CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AT WORK

Unfortunately, employees aren’t always able to recognize or know how to deal with
conflicts of interest at work. Many times, the situation seems innocent or they don’t
realize what’s happening is against the code of conduct.

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To provide employees with sufficient conflict of interest policy examples and teach
them what to do when a situation arises, there are several different strategies you
can use:

DEVELOP BUSINESS STANDARDS

Your company should have a code of conduct or employee handbook conflict of

interest policy that addresses ethical situations an employee might come across. For
example, it can address how employees should respond to issues concerning bribery,
data protection, confidential information, and social media.

BUSINESS ETHICS TRAINING

Properly defining conflict of interest in business ethics training reiterates your code of
conduct in a way that helps employees retain the information. With training, you can
provide scenarios to guide employees in making the right choice when a conflict of
interest arises.

FORMAL REPORTING PROCEDURES

Even if an employee is aware of a conflict of interest, they still need to be encouraged

to disclose it to your company. Creating formal reporting policies allows employees
to have an open channel of communication where they are able to ask questions.

CORRUPTION

Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a

person or group of persons or an organization which is entrusted with a position of
authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse of power for one’s personal
gain.

Forms of corruption vary, but can include bribery, lobbying, extortion, cronyism,
nepotism, patronage, influence peddling, graft and embezzlement.

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 ELEMENTS OF CORRUPTION

The general offense of corruption includes three elements: namely, a giver, an

accepter and a gratification (indulgence, satisfaction, pleasure, fulfilment, delight,
enjoyment). As such, a person giving a gift to another would be guilty of an act of
corruption where the purpose of the gift is to induce the other party to do or not to
do anything which is not authorized.

FRAUDULENT ACTIVITY

Fraud is an intentionally deceptive action designed to provide the perpetrator with

an unlawful gain or to deny a right to a victim.

Fraud involves the false representation of facts, whether by intentionally withholding

important information or providing false statements to another party for the specific
purpose of gaining something that may not have been provided without
the deception.

Fraud involves deceit with the intention to illegally or unethically gain at the expense
of another.

In finance, fraud can take on many forms including making false quotation claims,
cooking and identity theft leading to unauthorized purchases.

Fraudulent activity can be carried out by one individual, multiple individuals or a

business firm as a whole.

Fraudulent activities cost various economies billions of dollars each and every year,
and those who are caught are subject to fines and jail time.

WHAT IS A BRIBE

The definition of bribery is offering something desirable or something of value in

exchange for getting something in return. Offering money to a lecturer in
exchange of a pass is an example of a bribe.

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Bribery is a criminal and corrupt practice where an entity offers something of value
to a corporation or public official in exchange for their cooperation in influencing a
decision-making process, committing or allowing fraud against the official’s
organization, or otherwise violating their official duties.

Bribery is the act of offering, giving, or receiving something of value to influence a

certain action or decision.

Bribery occurs when a person offers something of value to another person in order to
receive something in exchange.

For instance, your mom might bribe you into coming home for the holidays by offering
to cook your favorite food. The food is what she is offering, and your attendance is
the exchange.

A bribe is an illegal; act in which a gift (for example money) is given with the goal
of influencing an outcome.

GIFT

A gift is an item that's given without any expectation of payment — it's a present.

A gift may be the present you receive on your birthday, anniversaries, weddings etc.

A gift or a present is an item given to someone without the expectation of payment

or anything in return.

TIPS
A small present of money directly to someone for performing a service or task,
gratuity, token, bonus etc.

He gave a waiter a dollar as a tip.

THANK YOU………………………………….

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