Running head: ETHICS IN THE WORLD OF BUSINESS

Ethics in the World of Business

Madelyn Ochoa

International College of the Cayman Islands

BE/SO-425: Seminar on Business and Society

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Introduction

Entrepreneurs who are focused on their businesses, every day try their best to make a profit.

They should focus on their employees ethics. Ethics are an individual beliefs, principles, values

and social concept, in which it vary as for age pass or among people, culture, religions, and

situations. Similarly, business ethics refers to employees with ethical and unethical behaviors

toward their coworkers, shareholders, customers, suppliers, and society.

This essay explains what ethics in the world of business is about, how this topic is

essential for business and society today and Caymanian society. What is the company

Automotive Arts long-term goals, mission statement, organizational chart, and related ethics

questions in the world of business. Further, how the Seminar field trips are related to ethics in the

world of business. How I have changed as the result of the Seminar field trips experience. How

has ethics in the world of business and the Automotive Arts Company influenced my

understanding/appreciation of ethics in the world business and the company in general.

Finally, I will do an overall summary and conclusion of my thoughts about ethics in the

world of business. It is important to recall that ethics is the fundamental key for a business to

grow and make profits. On the other hand, individuals who follow unethical behaviors should be

punished by country laws or a company itself. Companies should be prepared for immoral

behaviors presented by its employees because different people will have various manners. Rules

of proper direct that are used in regular daily existence do not resolve business inquiries, and

issues emerge when moral contemplations strife with practical business concerns.

Immanuel Kant, a famous scholar of ethics, suggests we should only act in ways that we

would want everyone else in the same situation to act. We should also consider anyway that we

can improve our moral life to make society better (McCartney & Parent, 2015).
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Ethics are the moral and values of a person who is mindful of whats right and wrong or

good and bad. In other words, ethical behavior follows to a person beliefs and social norms about

whats right and good. In contrast, unethical behavior it does not conform to customarily

recognized social standards regarding beneficial and harmful actions from an individual (Ebert &

Griffin, 2009). For example, workers who are caught in lies by their managers hurt their

chances of progress within the business and may risk being fired (Hill, 2017). Business ethics

refers to an employees ethics and unethical behaviors at their workplace. Hill (2017) state that

being ethical in a workplace refers applying good conducts of honesty and fairness to

relationships with coworkers and customers.

Consequently, individuals, instinctively know that it is good to have moral and act with

integrity, but different cultures and spiritual behaviors might influence peoples ethical

behaviors. For further explanation, according to McCartney and Parent (2015), there five reasons

to be honest and integral these are included as follow. Firstly, makes society better, when people

help make society better, people can be rewarded with also making better lives and the lives of

their families and friends. Secondly, without moral conduct, society would be a miserable place.

Treat everyone equally, should be a place where all individuals are afforded the same rights.

Thirdly, secure meaningful employment, often employers will look at a person past behavior as

a predictor of future behavior. Someone who has a history of immoral behavior will have

difficulty securing employment in a meaningful job, as that person may not be trusted

(McCartney & Parent, 2015).

Fourthly, succeed at business, if a person is employed in an occupation in which it must

rely on others, it moral conduct will determine the degree of goodwill that it receives from others

(McCartney & Parent, 2015). Lastly, lessen stress, when people make wrong decisions, they
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tend to feel uncomfortable and concerned about their decision making. Making the right moral

choice, or taking a principled perspective on an issue, reduces stress.

Now a days, it is difficult for an individual to follow ethical behaviors as people develop

personal codes depending on their beliefs and culture. However, a company depends on its

employee ethics behaviors because from their norms a business can grow, make its profits, and

keep their shareholders, suppliers, and customers will do more business with the company. To be

considered ethical, a business must draw its thoughts regarding what is appropriate conduct from

indistinguishable sources from every other person in the society (Lawrence & Weber, 2014).

Furthermore, businesses should promote a high level of ethical behavior, to meet

demands of business stakeholders, to enhance business performance, to comply with legal

requirements, to prevent or minimize harm and to promote personal morality (Lawrence &

Weber, 2014). Employees behaviors toward employers involve ethical issues in such areas as a

conflict of interest, confidentiality, and honestly (Ebert & Griffin, 2009). A conflict of interest

happens when an activity may benefit the person to the detriment of his or her managers.

Similarly, a companys reputation for excellent ethical behavior can have several

benefits. For example, they can be a top one business in the marketplace, which can bring in new

customers, and honest employees through word-of-mouth referrals. On the contrary, a

reputation for unethical relations damages the companys image. Also, they can have chances to

lose good customers, particularly in this age of social networking when unsatisfied customers

can rapidly post information about the negative experience they had in that specific company

(Hill, 2017). On the other hand, it is challenging to keep honest employees as we live in the real
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world and businesses will face dishonesty coworkers at any point, owners and managers should

be prepared for this situations.

Additionally, many companies develop ethics codes to emphasize critical ethical

principles (Valentine & Barnett, 2003). A code of business morals, for the most part, doesn't

remain solitary. It works in conjunction with an organization's statement of purpose and more

particular strategies about guidance to give employees, consumers, merchants, and outsiders a

thought of what the organization remains for and how it's individuals should act (Spiro, 2017).

So, the extent that ethics codes cause employees to believe that the organization's norms

and values are congruent with their own, they may also lead to higher levels of organizational

commitment (Valentine & Barnett, 2003). Moreover, a business can develop codes of conduct

for employees and managers. Most companies establish these codes by making employees have

integrity, teamwork, respect, innovation, and client focus (Peterson, 2016). For example, when

sales professionals (or for that matter, any employees) know that their company they work for

has an ethics code, they will create more favorable insights of the businesss ethical values

(Valentine, Sean, and Tim, 2003). However, there is two key to code implementation, first,

communicate codes through the right channels. Second, explain why theyre essential and

integrate codes into the organizations practices and back it up with enforcement (Peterson,

2016).

In fact, it is not an easy task for business owner and managers to keep honest employees,

some of the coworkers will have unethical behaviors. Business owner and managers can deal

with employees who act unethically by leading by example. As an employee, we always look at

the leader behaviors to have an idea what we want to become in the future. Thus, as business
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owners, they need to make ethics-based decisions. Also, by reinforcing consequences, show

employees appreciation, welcome an ethics speaker, create checks and balances, hire employees

for values and ask ethics question on employee first interview (Brookins, 2017).

Importantly, ethics in society is the key for a country to grow, attract companies to invest,

attract people to visit the country and ethical person to live and work. In the Cayman Islands

society, native people keep their culture and heritage as the principle ethics. The Cayman Islands

maintain a high reputation in the areas of financial, accounting, and customer service. Also, its

government along with the police officers do a great job by taking care of the society for any

delinquency or shooters around the community. Likewise, the government does ethics programs

or seminar for their public sector. Conolly (2013) detailed that medical workers attended a

packed forum hosted by the Health Services Authoritys Ethics Committee last week to hear

about and discuss the types of difficult ethical questions that face them, sometimes on a daily

basis. The HSA Ethics Committee aims to deliver care and advice to all healthcare dealers

and patients and their families if desirable when challenged with an ethical problem

(Conolly, 2013).

Caymanians have likewise safeguarded their calm Christian morality and their

understated comical inclination and thoughtfulness. Sunday remains an uncommon and holy day

as dancing, and live music are not allowed in bars. Individuals go to church frequently, and many

make willful critical commitments with time. The feeling of family, culture and national pride is

steadfast (Cayman, 2017).

Even though in Cayman society today there are about more than 100 nationalities living

or working in the islands. The majority of the foreign keep ethical behaviors, if a foreigner act
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unethical, they will face problems with the Cayman government, and they might not have the

opportunity to visit or remain in the island again. Although, the islands still retain a distinctive

Caymanian flavor that many people are working hard to preserve (Cayman, 2017). I believe,

when an individual does not hold a status in a country, there is no need to act unethically. As I

said previously, individuals who perform unethically can have its disadvantages which include,

not re-enter to the nation, can leave a bad personal reputation, the country can deport them

straight to their native country, or the country can have the authority to send them in jail to their

native country.

Nevertheless, the ethical disadvantages the Cayman Islands society faced are the

monopoly companies such as Cayman Airways and CUC. If residents experience unethical

behavior from a customer service or the price of the products is too high, residents will not be

able to do anything as there are the only companies who deliver that specific product in the

island.

Automotive Arts Chosen Company

Automotive Arts is a franchise company, is the Caribbeans largest auto-care retailer of

car enhancement products and services. In the Cayman Islands, Automotive Arts is owned and

managed by a young Caymanian entrepreneur, Mr. Wayne Kirkconell. It is one of the companies

in which supply automotive products in the majority of the gas stations on the island. Its mission

statement is to provide unparalleled customer service and exceptional products, with an

outstanding value. Their long-term goals is to become a globally recognized brand by being

innovative and delivering superior service experiences to our customers. The company
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organizational chart has a four-tier chart from top management to mid-management, supervisory

and their lower tier sales and service teams.

According to Mr. Kirkconell, ethical problems occur in business, because of lack of

integrity, poor principles, too lenient management and rule enforcement conflict of interest.

There are five reasons business should be ethical, be a good corporate citizen within the business

community and adhere to practice to prevent issues from arising. Also, to meet and exceed

shareholder expectations, it is simply the right thing to do and to attract and keep top talent.

Employees who are truly religions carry high ethics which benefit an organization.

Mr. Kirkconell (2017) manages ethos for all areas of their organization including,

excellence; the service they deliver to their customers, the quality of products they serve,

fulfilling their vision and how the job is performed. His company is a learning organization,

fosters a culture of continual learning which enables them to grow their organization in harmony.

In focus on service, their existence depends heavily on their unique focus on satisfying

customers. In dealing with capacity for change, they maintain a dynamic economic environment

that is continuously evolving. Furthermore, in enforcing commitment, they act as agents of

change to nurture excellence and learning throughout their team.

Mr. Kirkconell and his employees they never give up. His company works as teamwork;

they cannot prosper through the efforts of few, their long-term success depends on having the

right members on their bus, all pulling in the same direction in harmony. After a great hard work

employees have results, at the end of the day the results of every team member, in each team,

department, and division are the foundation of their performance-based culture. The key to the

company success are trust, respect, and integrity; are open, honest and direct in dealing with
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fellow team members and customers. Finally, Mr. Kirkconell cares about the community, he and

his employees feel a sense of responsibility and contribution to society that defines their

existence.

Mr. Kirkconell (2017) stated that ethics are a challenge for a company because as they

should be, it is easy to set them aside, but doing what is right and just while challenging is also

the core of what makes a company great. He also explained if a company face unethical

performance from employees, while it is difficult if the right parameters are in place to address

the unethical performance or behavior the corrective action should be set in motion

automatically. If not dealt with it can be very damaging to any company. Lastly, managers

should be the first person to follow ethics in a company because ethics start at the top, without

managerial guidance the team will also perform in unethical ways which are a recipe for disaster.

Seminar Experience

The seminar experience where the best days to learn about business, society, and ethics. I

experienced different ethics behaviors that society faces daily. The second day of the seminar we

visited the Department of Environment (DoE) which is responsible for environmental regulations

which balance business survival and ecological suitability, as business is more likely to pursue

profits over environmental degradation. Mr. Bothwell (2017) explained that the legal catch limit

for conchs has recently been reduced and a closed season established. He is calling the Cayman

society to have ethics to protect the environment.

The other companies I visited, I am sure they deliver ethics programs or orientation

seminar to their employees. Since an organization all they want to do is provide the best

customer service, growth globally or in the same country, have the best quality of their products
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and have the best word-of-mouth from the society. Also, the experienced I had in the sister

islands were informative and ethically. For instances, the ethical experience I had in Little

Cayman is cultural. Individuals protect their image, they are respectful, they are a happy

community, sharing people, and they follow Little Cayman heritage.

Moreover, Little Cayman it is an island where you can leave in peace without

experiencing unethical behaviors from the society. Even foreign love the tranquil place, the

ethical environment, the culture and friendly people that live on the island. They deliver the best

customer service, and once they know you are a visitor, you become the first person they think

off.

Application of the Learning

Now, that I experienced several private and public sector of the Cayman Islands, I

realized that we have to take care the place where we live, respect people, do better things for the

community, and take care of the environment. Also, if we see something unethical in the

community or workplace let the leaders know about the actions people performance.

Additionally, both the company I interviewed and Business and Society topic thought me that in

life, businesses owner, society, and individuals must protect their image. All three things have a

linkage; one depends on the other.

In conclusion, individuals who follow ethical behaviors will continue to demonstrate their

honesty, respectfulness and will keep their right actions toward others. In reality, the money you

make today does not make you a better person or everyone in society will respect, but by

demonstrating ethical behaviors will do get the respect. Unethical conduct will cause an

individual lose almost everything. For example, the American Institute of Certified Public
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Accountants and other professional groups punish members or license holders for unethical

conduct (McGee & Block, 1997). Thus, is healthier to follow ethics, even though you will know

that during your path will find individuals with unethical behaviors either in your workplace or

society.
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References

Brookins, M. (2017). Ways to Prevent Unethical Behaviors in the Workplace. Retrieved from

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/ways-prevent-unethical-behavior-workplace-21344.html

Cayman Islands (2017). Caymanian Culture and Society. Retrieved from

https://www.cayman.com.ky/caymanian-culture-and-society

Conolly, N. (2013, April 18). Ethics Integral Part of Medicine. Retrieved from

https://www.caymancompass.com/2013/04/18/ethics-integral-part-of-medicine/

Hill, B. (2017). The Advantages of Ethical Behaviors in Business. Retrieved from

http://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-ethical-behavior-business-21067.html

McCartney, S., & Parent, R. (2015). Ethics in law enforcement. Victoria, BC: BCcampus.

Retrieved from https://opentextbc.ca/ethicsinlawenforcement/chapter/1-1-the-

importance-of-ethical-behavior/

McGee, R. W., & Block, W. (1997). Ethical aspects of initiating anti-dumping actions.

International Journal of Social Economics, 24(6), 599+. Retrieved from

http://link.galegroup.com.ezp-

02.lirn.net/apps/doc/A19981915/ITBC?u=lirn65641&sid=ITBC&xid=174d249f

Peterson, K. (2016, December 9). How to Develop a Company Code of Conduct. Retrieved from

https://everfi.com/develop-and-implement-an-effective-code-of-conduct/

Valentine, Sean, and Tim Barnett. "Ethics code awareness, perceived ethical values, and

organizational commitment." Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, Fall

2003, 359+. Business Collection (accessed December 10, 2017).

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http://link.galegroup.com.ezp-

02.lirn.net/apps/doc/A114090991/ITBC?u=lirn65641&sid=ITBC&xid=ce0092f0