Widely Acknowledged Professions, Essay Example

Most professionals, especially those who work in  widely acknowledged professions have to make decisions based on company policies,  recommendations, and their ethical principles. The way decision making processes considering the short-term goals and long term consequences of the actions are usually labeled professional ethics. Professionals have the responsibility of making judgments, using their skills and making well informed decisions in a manner that any other person in the general public cannot. The majority of professionals receive ethical training before they get operational licenses, however, turning principles into actionable ethical guidelines is challenging.

Today’s business environment and the education system are both charged with the responsibility of training and developing students and workers who can generate positive business outcomes. They, however, still need to keep their personal and the company’s principles of ethics in check. Almost all scholars covering the topic of improving business and education performance mention the importance of work ethics. It is, however, still debatable whether or not work ethics can be taught, as it involves a lot more than just acquiring skills from the lecture halls. Ethical norms are based on individual preferences, culture, and the expectations of the society. However,  modern ethics developed from the Aristotelian tradition and were influenced by Christianity. Most authors agree that ethical principles need to be individually assessed for every case.

Upholding professionalism while being ethical can be a challenging task, especially in situations when there is a conflict between acting professionally and acting ethically. This situation is often referred to as an ethical dilemma. This means that one has to make a judgment call based on the information available to them.  If the work ethic would compromise the quality of a person’s work, then they are left in a dilemma. Most professionals, when faced by such dilemmas, do not know how to handle them. A good approach recommended by several authors is to try to predict the impact of each solution on the company’s stakeholders: employees, shareholders, customers, and the business environment. The aim should be create as many benefits, and as little harm as as possible. Since there is no standard way of teaching ethics, every other person has their own way of handling such situations just like they learned in their ethics class.

When facing a work ethics dilemma, I would assess all the facts and document them if possible. I would consider the ethical issues and ask myself the question: what are the consequences of each action? How will stakeholders benefit or become disadvantaged if I chose that solution? I would also consider the legality of the matter so that I do not end up breaking laws. Identification of affected key principles would follow. I would then identify the parties affected by this dilemma. The next action would be to come up with a work plan taking into consideration the chances of either internal or external escalation. Finally, I would seek legal counsel while trying as to avoid being associated with the conflict as much as possible.

In my professional career, I have faced an ethical dilemma, which made me wonder how great managers’ responsibility is. When I was a student working at a family owned company as a secretary. This business board was mainly occupied by family members, and the managing director was occupying an executive position. The chair of the board, the mother of the executive family member passed away and there have been disagreements concerning her will. The board agreed to have her pension payments transferred to a non-executive member of the board, who also happened to be the brother of the managing director. This was agreed upon by majority of the board members but the managing director instructed me not to make the payments. While the  decision was made by the board, and according to company policies, it is also important to note that in this case, the board members were looking after their own interest, instead of the company’s future. If they looked after stakeholders’ interest, they would have considered creating a charity fund, or re-investing the amount of pension into the business.