Management: Honesty in Ethics - To what extent is honesty the main component of ethics?

Thèmes abordés

Honesty, confidence, trust, politics, daily life, communication, business, philosophy, management

Résumé du document

The purpose of this essay is to discuss the topic in question "Honesty" and to analyze how much of a crucial part it plays as component of ethical policies. As a class we were asked to express our opinions on they key components of ethics and how we should apply it to our everyday lives, especially in business. That considered we were then faced with the questions "Is it possible to function today in a world without ethics?" and "Can we move away from this behavioral science that establishes criteria to act freely and make choices in respect of ourselves and others?"

Ethics has become an essential part of establishing a business; today consumers are more caring about values relating to others, social welfare and the world around them. Due to this increased consumer awareness, companies must apply certain policies regarding these issues in order to keep customers happy. It is crucial for companies to apply CSR policy to their business, and to be aware of the increasing responsibilities while continuing to show respect to all areas of concern for their business. CSR policy involves care for the environment, consumers, employees, communities, stakeholders and all other members of the public sphere. Businesses with a high regard for CSR policy actively promote public interest by encouraging local community growth and development, in an attempt to become even more ethically aware.
Ethics are composed of several different values. We later discussed principles that are built on the idea of well being such as the set of attitudes, respect of the others, autonomy, self determination, equal opportunities and other areas of relation. It should also be noted that ethics can also include respect, courage, openness, justice, and so on, in and out of the workplace.

Extraits

[...] When a man is unfaithful, he is immediately considered to be a bad guy. Even though it is not possible to punish him legally, adultery is condemned by the public opinion. Thus, we cans see that honesty is a key element in our social behavior. It is important in relationships and generally speaking in our daily life. This value of honesty has always been held in high regard, hence why it continues to be relevant to ethics in business and management. [...]

[...] Being intelligent means, in a way, understanding what others think in order to know what they are thinking. If we know what others are thinking, we can adapt our behavior to prevail over some things, which is everything but being honest. This demonstrates in fact how difficult it is to be honest. You should not adapt yourself; as soon as you do, you are certainly intelligent, but not honest because your reaction will not be the one you would have done if there was nobody around you, if you were completely yourself, if you were completely honest. [...]

[...] In today's business world, it is very rare that you find a company without an established code of ethics upon which the company bases its practice. Honesty is a fundamental ingredient for all business ethics, without which it is extremely difficult to be successful. Other components of business ethics such as corporate social responsibility, tolerance, and compliance are all contingent on whether or not there is an honest manager that adheres to what is written out in a company's code of ethics. [...]

[...] Also, we should ask ourselves, should they have to be honest with us in regards to politics as well as in their private life? Here, there is a huge debate. It can be assumed that if they are not honest in their personal life, they will probably not be able to easily manage a country with honesty and ethics. This logically explains the fear in people when they hear about a scandal such as the one involving Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky. They often lose their trust and are more suspicious about the politician's promises and actions. [...]

[...] Honesty and Communication The main theme that runs throughout this essay is what extent is honesty the main component of ethics?” I am now going to analyze and discuss how communication plays a vital role in complementing honesty as the key ethical approach. In order to do this successfully I will first outline and compare the definitions of both honesty and communication. Honesty quality of being honest is a value which can be defined in multiple ways. In the context of human communication, people are generally said to be honest when they tell the truth to the best of their knowledge and do not hide what they know or think. [...]