Fundamentals of Organisational Communication, Essay Example

Integrity first, service before self and excellence in all we do, these are the core values of the United States Air Force.  These pillars guide and direct the actions of those that have taken the opportunity to serve the United States and perform their duties to the best of their abilities. When a person or group of people decides to interpret the values there becomes a dilemma which could result in unethical actions, behaviors and activities. Values and ethics are the epicenter of each person’s moral fiber. Those two aspects of humanity have guided leaders to greatness and caused entire empires to crumble. Values are those things that have a certain value or importance to someone. They embody what the person stands for and are the basis for their behavior. Values provide the foundation for judgment about what is important.  Ethics or to behave ethically is to act in a manner consistent with morally based actions of the society in which the person resides. Ethics is a set of principles of a culture or by a particular class or group of society (Barsky 29). The complexity comes when determining the relationship between values and ethics as well as how they balance individually as well as in a group.

Ethics encompasses decisions between polar opposites and can be summated down to a decision of right or wrong.  Ethics is a universal concept among a group of people in which a broad notion is accepted and is not up for interpretation or variance from central focus.  Values although an important input to ethical behavior is held by the individual at the lowest level in which a decision is made.  Values are not determined solely by a committee or group but by the individual and gravitates its basis around feelings, religious beliefs, societal influences and personal experience. In reality, ethics and values are somewhat confusing contexts due to the ambiguity and gray areas of decision making. Values relay up to ethics but ethics do not necessarily influence values.  For example it is not ethical to commit murder.  Committing the crime of murder is unethical and impacts a universal group. Values come into play when determining right or wrong on the issues of abortion.  The interpretation on whether abortion is murder or it is not is based on the individual’s values.  This is an extreme instance of values, what core concepts are worth to an individual, and ethics, what is right, and how they relate to each other.

Within the case in which the procurement officer is extending a potentially benign offer to the Boeing Corporation, there are inherent risks of crossing policies, procedures and ethical lines.  By promising favorable representation for future contracts in exchange for employment opportunities, the procurement officer is using her position and the position of the United States Air Force to gain leverage for financial and career gains indirectly for her family members.  This ethical dilemma is based on trying to lead with her heart to mitigate a hardship her family is facing by using her career as a leverage point.  From the procurement officer’s perspective, the request is harmless potentially because Boeing is such a large company and they would probably get the contract anyway.  The overall scheme of the matter is that the promise of employment may or may not have any direct impact on the contract award.  From the perspective of other governmental officials, the procurement officer is directly impacting a fair and unbiased selection process by making promises in exchange for financial gain.  The rationalization of the procurement officer could be based on the internal knowledge that the Boeing Corporation may have already been selected or that they were already not selected and her negotiations has little to no impact on the selection process.  Utilizing the Justice Approach outlined by Aristotle, the basic foundation is founded on a basic question.  Does it treat everyone the same way and/or has it shown favoritism as well as discrimination?  In this case, it does show discrimination against all other companies vying for the contract; it does treat other differently for both those bidding on the contract as well as those other individuals trying to fill positions at Boeing.  The procurement officer has crossed the ethical lines and took advantage of her position.

Values become part of a complex and evolving attitude which influence a person’s behavior and interactions with others in their society.  A key aspect of values is that it guides personal choices but also determines a person’s self-worth and the worth of others in their culture.  This is a judgment of a personbased on his or her sole actions in relation with the values held by the person viewing and interpreting the other person’s actions.  An example of this could be a jury member on a panel in a child abuse case.  The individual’s personal experiences create a predisposed position based on the person who allegedly committed the crime.The person’s values against harming children influence their perception of the defendant’s worth.  Ethically the society or culture knows harming children is wrong.  Values measure the importance of the action and ethics represent the judgment of right or wrong (Shockley-Zalabak48).

The relationship between values and ethics are interconnected but not necessarily bi-directional when it comes to interpretive areas.  Values are held by each individual and are based upon the inputs and influences of their experiences.  Ethics are what are right or wrong held by the culture or society.  Values motivate a person to act a certain way and ethics constrain the activities of that same person.  In conjunction they push a person to achieve their values without overstepping the ethical bounds of their society.

Works Cited

Barsky, Allan Edward. Ethics And Values In Social Work, An Integrated Approach For A Comprehensive Curriculum. Oxford University Press, USA. 2009. Print.

Shockley-Zalabak, P Fundamentals of Organisational Communication: Knowledge, Sensitivity, Skills, Values, Longman: New York.1999. Print.