ASSIGNMENT

Submitted by:
 To Evaluate Ethical issues and their
solution in society

• Components of Society to evaluate

Overview • Business
• Government
• Politics
• Judiciary

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 Business
Ethical issues in business depend on their individual
operating and decision-making styles. In addition, how
firms resolve issues can determine how morally
responsible, they are. This is why it is essential to
understand contemporary ethical issues and effectively
set policies to prevent them

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 1. Discrimination and Lack of Diversity
Ethical Issue:
According to reports, discrimination exsists in terms of disability, gender, age, race, religion, and origin amongst several factors. One of the
most significant ethical dilemma examples is that the lack of diversity and equal treatment is illegal in most countries.

Solution:

Ethical Issues
•Invest in educating and encouraging a positive work culture that could fight discrimination
•Consciously hiring people of different backgrounds, nationalities, and characteristics ensures you have a diverse workforce.
•Having a transparent recruitment system

2. Harassment
Ethical Issue:
Harassment is a serious ethics violation but remains a common encounter all around us, not just in the workplace. This includes sexual abuse, bullying,
and teasing. Sometimes a customer can also be the source of harassment.

Solution:
•Formulate a zero-tolerance policy towards all forms of harassment
•Preventative measures can also include prohibiting drug abuse, limiting alcohol at the workplace, and consistently enforcing that rules be upheld
•It is vital to keep regular checks on everyone’s behavior equally throughout your business hierarchy to foster safe working environment.
 3. Favouritism or Nepotism
Ethical Issue:
Sometimes, business owners decide to employ someone they know or are related to due to the personal connection. While, for the most part, this
doesn’t become a Ethical Issue as long as rules are being followed, some employees can see this as nepotism or favoritism
Solution:

Ethical Issues
•Having transparent hiring policies and rules
•Practicing equal opportunities based on skill and experience

4. Data Privacy and Technology Abuse

Ethical Issue:
Sometimes companies misuse sensitive data acquired from employees and customers. If this information falls into the wrong hands, it could lead to
detrimental ethical issues in business
Solution:
As an Employer:-
•Ensure you highlight all surveillance and usage restrictions on employment contracts
•Encourage open communication about monitoring company communications and browsing history
As an Employee:-
•should always read through their contracts thoroughly for what monitoring the company carries out
 Government
Ethical issues in Government: In countries today there
are increasing expectations from ordinary citizens,
business leaders and Civil Society that Governments
will establish and deliver higher standards of ethicality
and integrity in the Civil Service, agencies of
government (Ministries and parastatals), and
Government itself.

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 1. Administrative discretion: The promotion of general welfare depends on the use or exploitation
of administrative discretion

2.Corruption: In government offices, corruption is major issue. The majority of bureaucrats

maintain the high standards required by public office and are enthusiastic to promoting the general

Ethical Issues welfare. The moral standards of public officials are, however, directly related to society as a whole.

3.Nepotism: It is very common practice in government offices. Nepotism is the appointment of

relations and/or friends to public positions and consequently, overlooking the merit principle, may
lead to the declining of the quality of the public service.

4.Administrative secrecy: In government offices, another major ethical dilemmas is the secret
conduct of public business. This is especially so because confidentiality can provide an opportunity
to cover up unethical behaviour.
 5. Information leaks: It has been seen that government official are so careless that there are cases of
information leak. Official information is often a sensitive nature such a pending tax increases,
rezoning land, cost-cutting of staff that disclosure of the information can lead to turmoil, corrupt
practices or, for some individuals, improper financial gains.

Ethical Issues 6. Public accountability: Public officials have great responsibility to implement key public policies.
They ought to be accountable for their official actions to their superiors, the courts and the public.
It is however, possible for them to hide behind prescribed procedures, the cloak of competence and
even political office-bearers.

7. Policy dilemmas: Policy makers in government bodies are often challenged by conflicting
responsibilities. They have definite loyalties to their bosses, but also to society. They have liberty to
act on behalf and in the interest of others, but they must be answerable to others, their superiors and
society for their actions.
 • Effective laws which require civil servants to give reasons for their official decisions, (for

example: a Freedom of Information law);

• Management approaches which encourage all public officials and civil servants to deal

positively with corruption and unethical practice when they encounter it.
• whistleblower’ protection law to protect appropriate 'public interest disclosures' of wrongdoing

by officials; • ethics audits to identify risks to the integrity of the most important processes (for

Solution
example financial management, tendering, recruitment and promotion, dismissal and

discipline);
• New Human Resource Management strategies (which link, for example, ethical performance

with entry and advancement, and ethical ‘under-performance’ with disciplinary processes),

merit based promotion and recruitment, antidiscrimination protections;

• raining and development in the content and rationale of Ethics Codes, the application of ethical

management principles, the proper use of official power, and the requirements of professional

responsibility, and
• Effective external and internal complaint and redress procedures.
 Politics

Ethical issues in Politics: Politicians have the ability to

have an impact on people’s lives and with that power
comes responsibility. But there are some practices
undertaken by politicians which are not ethically
accepted.

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 1. Role of Money: Money play a role, in "down-ballot" races, and continually changing rules on
contributions, expenditures, and reporting, can make almost any politician appear unethical at some
point during his or her campaign

Ethical Issues 2.Promise-keeping: When campaigning for election, politicians make promises. Sometimes those
are promises that they know will be difficult or impossible to keep. Sometimes they’re promises
they hope they can keep, but keeping them ends up being hard..

3. Dishonest Campaigns: Politicians often indulge in some unethical campaigns which includes use
of liquor or money to buy votes and many other.

4. Party over law: Politicians end up choosing party over law, they are a part of such practices
which may be beneficial for their party but are not ethically correct.
 • Handling conflict of interest: Politicians are supposed to make decisions based on what’s best

for the people they serve

• Balancing outcomes and rights: Politicians are supposed to try to do what’s best for the

Solution populace, but that sometimes comes into tension with protecting rights.
• Honesty: Politicians also have to decide whether to tell the public (or the media), the truth, the

whole truth, and nothing but the truth while in power

• Transparency in Elections Process: A transparent procedure will ensure a fair and more

trustworthy election procedure.

• Third party regulations: It should be practiced to ensure fair play of all parties
 Judiciary

Ethical issues in Judiciary: Judicial misconduct breaks

down the very fiber of what is necessary for a
functional judiciary- citizens who believe their judges
are fair and impartial. The judiciary cannot exist
without the trust and confidence of the people.

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 • Conduct prejudicial to the effective and expeditious administration of the business of the
courts (as an extreme example: "falsification of facts" at summary judgment)

Ethical Issues • Using the judge's office to obtain special treatment for friends or relatives
• Accepting bribes, gifts, or other personal favors related to the judicial office
• Having improper discussions with parties or counsel for one side in a case
• Treating litigants or attorneys in a demonstrably egregious and hostile manner
• Violating other specific, mandatory standards of judicial conduct, such as judicial rules of
procedure or evidence, or those pertaining to restrictions on outside income and requirements
for financial disclosure; and acting outside the jurisdiction of the court
 • Judicial independence is a pre-requisite to the rule of law and a fundamental guarantee of a fair

trial. A judge shall therefore uphold and exemplify judicial independence in both its individual

and institutional aspects

• Impartiality is essential to the proper discharge of the judicial office. It applies not only to the

decision itself but also to the process by which the decision is made
• ‘Integrity is essential to the proper discharge of the judicial office.

Solution • Third Party judiciary bodies for ensuring the decisions taken by judges abides by all the laws

• Ensuring equality of treatment to all before the courts is essential to the due performance of the

judicial office.
• Competence and diligence are prerequisites to the due performance of judicial office.

• Implementation – By reason of the nature of judicial office, effective measures shall be adopted

by national judiciaries to provide mechanisms to implement these principles if such

mechanisms are not already in existence in their jurisdictions

 1. Assessing needs and resources so that there is no wastage as such and prevention of
compiling of extra resources which are not required as such. This will in turn reduce the

Common black market in totality

2. Establishing a strong foundation in the adoption in schools and colleges where we gain

Solutions
knowledge about ethics in the society and discontinue to persist them
3. Build a culture of integrity from top to down- instil in students and employee sectors of
the industries that culture of integrity is important in every grade of organization
4. Keeping a value focus, take decisions keeping values and ethics first
5. Re-evaluate and revise factors leading to unethical practices as and when needed