Ethical behavior at workplace:

Ethics and law are both important for an organization to be successful. During my tenure
as an Assistant professor in a University, the basic ethics from my view towards work was to be
updated in my field and impart the same to my students. However not many professors did
follow that basic ethics of their job. My colleagues gushed up the classes with old lecture
materials and surpassed most credit hours by just assigning self-study materials. Some
colleagues in turn ended up giving more of their time and energy towards their research and
grant writing rather concentrating on course preparation. I did not react to all the above situations
which mean I have been unethical too. The discussion about the whistle blowers in our Ethics
class made me aware of the whistleblowers act in United States. I should have reported to my
management which might lead them to put strict guidelines on work ethics.
Ignorance could be one possible reason for unethical behavior of an employee. The
unethical behavior of an individual could not only affect the business but also the society. The
responsibility of the organization is to establish strong ethical training to employees at
workplace. The availability of various avenues for smaller businesses to carry out ethical
behavior at workplace as mentioned in the paper1, was not available at University I worked. I
would suggest my ex-work place to implement the steps as mentioned in the paper. Thereby,
arranging workshops on high level oversight of ethics and continuous monitoring to ensure
consistent enforcement.
Reference:
1

Ann Marie Tracey, J.D & Paul J. Fiorelli, J.D., 2008, Ohio Lawyer, Attorneys can counsel small business management to take
steps that will enhance ethical behavior and reduce the likelihood of criminal and other penalties.

Fairness and Ethics in business litigation:

The legal system for businesses was designed to protect both the consumers and the
people, oriented with those businesses. When an ethical cycle is disturbed legal issues arise. The
overview of the whole legal system makes sure that ethical cycle is not mostly unobstructed. The
law makes sure the wellbeing of each and every citizen and his living in this democratic country.
The litigation issues faced by various organizations stated as examples in the class are a result of
ethical cycle disorders.
For example in POM Vs Coco Cola litigation as explained in the class, the legal issue
arose only when the coco cola greedily tried attracting consumers with false representation and
improper labelling1. This greed bothered the ethical cycle and made the competitor, POM
Wonderful to file a lawsuit. Should a legal issue arise when I am in charge, firstly I would not let
the unethical behavior of my own company and I would have tried reporting that to the higher
officials. But even when some unethical things happen by mistake, I would apologize on behalf
of the organization and take responsible corrective measures. I hope that is why arbitration was
introduced. Arbitration gives a chance to apologize for the unethical behaviors of one and
provides a space to take effective measures for the mistake without being directly sued over the
court and thereby ensures the restoration of the ethical cycle.

Reference:
1

. Barnes, R. (2014, June 12). Supreme Court says Coca-Cola can be sued over juice drink label. Retrieved February

2, 2015, from http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/supreme-court-says-coca-cola-can-be-sued-over-juice-drinklabel/2014/06/12/20e42536-f240-11e3-914c-1fbd0614e2d4_story.html