UNIVERSITY OF ZIMBABWE

GROUP 42 MEMBERS

Cassian Chigovera R186090T

Nyakwima Starlin R1811134

Modester Nyamunda R1813888

Kudzaishe Chitado R186136J

Amanda Gumpo R1811123

Tanaka Chikanya R186086T

Question
‘Not all ethical breaches are as dramatic as those that make headlines, but all ethical
violations are wrong nonetheless’. With reference to the assertion and through practical
examples, discuss the dilemmas associated with addressing ethical problems in
organizations.

Ethical issues in business can be a difficult challenge to navigate for any business owner.
Though there are laws and statutes that exist to hold workers and employers accountable, these
alone do not entirely deter employees from behaving unethically. Ethical issues in business
encompass a wide array of areas within an organization’s ethical standards. Fundamental ethical
issues in business include promoting conduct based on integrity and trust, but more complex
issues include accommodating diversity, empathetic decision-making, and compliance and
governance that is consistent with the organization’s core values. According to the Global
Business Ethics Survey of 2019, 25% of employees still feel that their senior managers do not
have a good understanding of key ethical and compliance business risks across the organization.
In order to manage the ethical issues in business that arise in your organization, you first need to
develop a thorough understanding of what those issues can look like. Understanding how to
detect and, most importantly, deter these issues before they become a problem can ensure your
focus stays on business growth and success instead of remediation.

An ethical dilemma is a paradox that comes up when there are two or more options, but neither
of them are the best ethical or moral option. False accounting, sexual harassment, data privacy,
nepotism, discrimination—these are just some of the ethical dilemmas that happen in today’s
workplace. Many business owners and managers will deal with ethical issues at some point in
their career. For this reason, it’s crucial for every business—no matter the size—to create a code
of ethics. Not only will it establish a foundation of trust between employees, customers,
investors, etc., but it will help ensure your business is operating within the law.

Big scandals are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to business ethics. There are small,
daily decisions happening with executives, managers, and employees that all make up a
company’s ethical behavior. There are issues that the public doesn’t hear about that could be
impacting culture and performance negatively inside an organization.

As a business student, it’s important to understand how to be ethical in a company now. Making
decisions on your values and morals will help you be prepared to face ethical dilemmas in the
future. There are many ways you can be ethical, including being honest with other employees
and the public, whistle blowing on misconduct, paying employees what they deserve, not
tolerating theft, being unwilling to participate in questionable accounting, respecting the
environment, and refusing gifts from vendors in exchange for better treatment.

Ethical Issues in Business and How to Address Them

1. Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace

Harassment and discrimination are arguably the largest ethical issues that impact business
owners today. Should harassment or discrimination take place in the workplace, the result could
be catastrophic for your organization both financially and reputationally. Every business needs
to be aware of the anti-discrimination laws and regulations that exist to protect employees from
unjust treatment. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines many
different types of discrimination and harassment statutes that can have an effect on your
organization, including but not limited to: Disability: accommodations and equal treatment
provided within reason for employees with physical or mental disabilities.

Equal Pay: compensation for equal work regardless of sex, race, religion, etc.

Pregnancy: accommodations and equal treatment provided within reason for pregnant
employees.

Race: employee treatment consistent regardless of race or ethnicity.

Religion: accommodations and equal treatment provided within reason regardless of employee
religion.

Sex and Gender: employee treatment consistent regardless of sex or gender identity.
2. Health and Safety in the Workplace

As outlined in the regulations stipulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA), employees have a right to safe working conditions. According to their 2018 study,
5,250 workers in the United States died from occupational accidents or work-related diseases.
On average, that is more than 100 a week, or more than 14 deaths every day. The top 10 most
frequently cited violations of 2018 were: Fall Protection, e.g. unprotected sides and edges and
leading edges

Hazard Communication, e.g. classifying harmful chemicals Scaffolding, e.g. required resistance
and maximum weight numbers Respiratory Protection, e.g. emergency procedures and
respiratory/filter equipment standards Lockout/Tagout, e.g. controlling hazardous energy such as
oil and gas Powered Industrial Trucks, e.g. safety requirements for fire trucks Ladders, e.g.
standards for how much weight a ladder can sustain Electrical, Wiring Methods, e.g. procedures
for how to circuit to reduce electromagnetic interference Machine Guarding.

Business leaders need to work to ensure their organization is one with high morals, principles,
conduct, and ethics so that employees feel comfortable and confident there. Employees who
believe in your corporate principles and conduct and share your values are a huge asset to the
organization. Employees and management alike can work together to create businesses that have
high standards.
Unethical businesses also lose favor with consumers. 43% of consumers have stopped buying
from brands they find unethical and 71% say they carefully consider corporate values when
making a purchase. Trust is vital for consumers to feel comfortable and confident with their
purchases. Business ethics is its own set of morals and values that are vital in a workplace or
corporation. Business ethics involves the industry, their business practices, how they deal with
customers, profits, legal issues, and corporate conduct. Management needs to focus on business
ethics as an important pillar of their corporation in order to make sure customers are happy with
the appearance of their workplace..

The workplace should focus on their ethics and values so they can attract the right employees
and consumers alike. The more willing a workplace is to create a mission that demonstrates their
ethical values, the more likely the organization is to thrive and succeed. rates their ethical values,
the more likely the organization is to thrive and succeed. In fact, recent reports show businesses
that have ethical workplace cultures outperform their competitors—but especially in stock price
growth.

Ethical scandals in business can deeply hurt the look of a corporation, which can make
employees and consumers get a bad taste in their mouth about the morals of the company. How a
company reacts to ethical scandals and dilemmas that happen on a small level will say a lot about
their core practices and values. As a student of business, it’s valuable to learn from business
scandals to understand what to avoid or watch out for in business ethics of a company, as an
employee and as a consumer. Utilize your time as a student to learn from examples that can give
you a deeper understanding as you prepare for a business career.

What are Examples of Business Scandals?

United Airlines
It’s hard to forget the scandal United Airlines faced after security officers forcefully dragged a
passenger off an overbooked flight. While it’s perfectly legal for airlines to overbook flights and
equally legal for them to request certain passengers get off the flight, many consumers say they
were disappointed with how the company handled the situation. This ethical dilemma of how to
handle a consumer who wasn't cooperating showed a. lot about corporate practice for United
Airlines.

Additionally, the apology and statement from the United Airlines CEO seemed lukewarm to
many consumers. The apology seemed to back up employees, but didn’t really express remorse
or regret about the situation. This is a business ethics situation where consumers wanted to hear
that their corporate practice involved consumers and customers coming first.

This entire ethical scandal lead many customers to cut up their United Airline loyalty cards,
cancel flights, or book with another airline. Many consumers still talk about this incident and use
it as an example for reasons to avoid United Airlines, stating their business ethics aren't what

3. Ethics in accounting practises

Laws require organisation to maintain accurate bookkeeping practices and unethical accounting
practises are prone to serious consequences especially of publicly traded companies. The
legislation specifies financial reports requirements aimed at protecting shareholders and
consumers and deceiving shareholders and others with stake in the company is an offence
ethically and judicially. The penalty can be can be levied in fines, imprisonment and can often
lead to company closure. An is of Enron an American energy company that inaccurately reported
its financial statements and the auditor of its accounting firm signed off on the statements
despite them being incorrect but when the truth finally emerged both companies went out of
business leading to lose of $ 25 billion and jobs

However organisations can avoid accounting violation by

1. Having a trusted, honest accountant who check on every number to make sure the
records are correctly recorded.
2. Having an internal or external audit system for additional oversight that can help avoid
ethical problems in the business
3. Management should take part in reviewing every financial statement and reports of the
business in order to cross check the information.