Morale in Business, Research Paper Example

Business is conventionally considered to be devoid of ethics and morale, which is surely not groundless. People actively involved in business strive to receiving as much profit as possible, and it stands to reason that at times the rules of fair competition and free market are neglected. However, it is hard to say that business is immoral; taking into consideration the modern face of business, the number of stakeholders participating in the business process, and reputation considerations, one can admit that modern business complies with a set of moral norms and principles. They need a detailed review to prove their existence and power over businesspeople.

Initially, the existence of business morale is closely connected with the accountability and transparency principles of contemporary enterprises. The issue of accountability has come to the fore only recently, when major breaches of moral, ethical and even criminal laws were detected, posing both shareholders and customers under threat. The examples of Ahold, Enron, Nestle etc, show how immoral actions of accountants, chief executives or top managers bring grave consequences to all categories of stakeholders concerned. The fact that such scandals acquire international publicity has two implications: that morale is not an empty word in the business world, and that more attention is now paid to morale than before.

Morale is generally perceived as pertaining to an individual, not an entity; however, businesses are groups of people who interact with other people on the basis of some regulations, so their actions can also be classified as morally wrong or right. So, what is the morale for a business? Hall states that morale for a group of people involves “that attitude which results from the mobilizing of energy, interest and initiative in the enthusiastic and effective pursuit of a group’s purposes” (as cited in Strong, 2007). Hence, it is possible to suppose that a moral right for the company is to use all its resources to achieve the accomplishment of its mission and vision.

However, it is also evident that only commitment to one’s work duties is not enough for being morally right, as an employee may commit some immoral actions in order to bring some benefit to his/her company. The positive result for revenues has been achieved, but morality has not been observed. Consequently, morality needs another angle of approach. The right approach is found in the Damon’s (2004) review of business functions. One of them is empathic and is characterized in the following way: “Empathic morality is an approach to business relationships that reflects the Golden Rule principle of treating others as you yourself would like to be treated. It fosters trust, collaboration, understanding, and communication” (Damon, 2004, p. 49).

So, as one can see from the following considerations, a business action can be considered morally right in case it takes into account the interests of all stakeholders and general public. Some moral rights of a company like the Logistics and Services Company can include some ecologically-friendly technologies usage. Some of them will be considered further.

For example, a moral right for a Logistics and Services Company may be the reduction of pollution by means of using non-fossil fuels (Stakeholders and Business Ethics, 2010). In case the company adopts such an ethical policy, it will be possible to assure that the community living in the neighborhood will appreciate the effort of the company and will preserve its positive reputation for customers and stakeholders. Usage of ecologically safe technologies is extremely widespread nowadays, with the ecological deterioration observed in all corners of the world. Hence, saving one’s health from unhealthy emissions follows the Golden Rule principle – the company employees also want to live in healthy surroundings, and by means of preserving the environment for others they may do it for themselves as well.

Another example of a moral right for the company is sponsorship of charity organizations (Stakeholders and Business Ethics, 2010). Such a step towards the global social problem will first of all attract investors and customers to the company, as participation in charity organizations is always encourages and approved of by the public opinion. In addition, employees of the company, as well as the company’s administration, will surely get some reciprocal help and privileges from organizations they sponsor, thus ensuring the creation of long-lasting and firm relationships in the business world.

Nonetheless, one should also remember that there are some moral wrongs that the company can exercise towards the global community, customers or the environment. They usually result from the attempts to save money and to gain more profits for the owners. One of such practices includes unfair trade with developing countries or some unfair outsourcing conditions (Stakeholders and Business Ethics, 2010). Labor in developing countries costs very little, and some companies deprive native citizens of the work, first of all, and discriminate the labor of citizens in developing countries as well. Such practices are considered morally wrong – it is enough to remember the scandal with Nike paying miserable salaries for making exclusive shoes in a country of the third world.

Another moral wrong in business is described by Snyder (2009) – it involves unreasonable ‘price gauging’, especially after some disasters. The companies try to get the most of the crisis or chaos that comes after a drama; they expect that troubled people will not pay attention to the price increase because they have more serious problems at that moment. Hence, it appears immoral to take an advantage of the human grief and use it for making profit in any form.

Summing everything that has been said up, one has to admit that the business morale still exists and is rather strong nowadays. The major publicity of companies obliges them to adhere to a set of rules protecting the rights of shareholders and customers. Nonetheless, there are many unfair and immoral business practices that result from the passion for profit and breach the fundamental human rights or use the unfair methods of raising money.

References

Damon, W. (2004). The moral advantage: how to succeed in business by doing the right thing. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers.

Snyder, J. (2009). What’s the Matter with Price Gouging? Business Ethics Quarterly, the Society for Business Ethics. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://www.societyforbusinessethics.org/images/Documents/Articles/beq227snyder.pdf

Stakeholders and business ethics (2010). The Tutor2u Site. Retrieved September 3, 2010, from http://tutor2u.net/business/gcse/organisation_stakeholders _ethics.htm

Strong, E.K. (2007). Psychological Aspects of Business. Vancouver: Read books.