Introduction
Business ethics refer to the ethical principles and problems that emerge in a business environment. It applies to the individuals in an organization and the organization itself. Individuals who act ethically in an organization retain their integrity and the integrity of the organization as a whole. There are ethical principles and laws that are applied in many organizations and help in maintaining the integrity of the organizations. Personal ethics refer to the values of an individual that assist him or her to act ethically in whichever position that he or she occupies in an organization. Organizational ethics on the other hand refer to the organization’s workplace values that help in maintaining the integrity of the organization to all the stakeholders. L-3 Vertex Aerospace is an organization that has many stakeholders and all expect to be treated in an ethical manner. Since the company provides services all over the world, it is important that the organization and its employees be willing to act ethically without much supervision. This would help ensure that all the stakeholders get their fair share of investment. I have worked with this organization for a number of years and my ethical values have helped me in all my working years. Individual’s values in the organization and the organization’s workplace values have helped the organization achieve great success. This paper will seek to analyze my personal values and the organization’s workplace values that have helped the organization achieve great success.
Personal Values
My personal values have helped me perform excellently in all my responsibilities as an employee of L-3 Vertex Aerospace. I am a self motivated and hardworking individual with the ability to organize and prioritize work. I always direct my personal goals so that they help the organization to meet its organizational goal. In the absence of the managers or supervisors, I always remind individuals that it is the responsibility of each and everyone of us to act responsibly. I need not be supervised to do my work because I have a high sense of responsibility and integrity. I have always been honest in dealing with the customers, fellow employees, and the management in the organization. This has helped increase the trust of our customers in us. My capacity to keep information private allows me to keep up with the laws that govern employees in the organization. I am a fast learner and whenever some new trends emerge, I am the first to attend the training given on the merging trends. My vision is to be the best in the organization and to act responsibly for the benefit of the organization. This is achieved by always acting ethically regardless of what other employees might say and following the code of ethics as I am required to do. I have always been an example to others.
As an employee, I have responsibilities that the organization’s code of ethics expects me to perform. I take it as my responsibility to enquire from the management for explanation on any part of the code of ethics that is not clear to me. Keeping up to the code of ethics is likely to help me achieve my goal of becoming a manager in the near future. I work closely with the management so that I can learn some skills that I will apply as a future manager. Each employee’s job in the organization has certain standards. The training given to employees is aimed at providing an individual with these standards. The organization gives employees regular training so that the employees can keep up with the emerging trends. So that I can learn all the trends, I work with my manager to identify the necessary training needs. I am always responsible for my conduct and as a result, I am not in a position to mislead another employee to violate any of the ethical codes in the organization. I always work hard to build a high dignity and maintain it. I believe that as a manager I will create the best environment for the subordinate employees who will be working under my supervision.
L-3 Vertex Aerospace Workplace Values
The organization has different stakeholders ranging from employees to the community where it performs its operations. The organization takes it as its responsibility to provide customers with quality products and services. This is likely to create customer loyalty by improving the organization’s relationships with the customers. The organization works in collaboration with other organizations. It treats these individuals from these other organizations with dignity, courtesy and fairness (L-3 Communications, 2009, p.7). The focus is on the final goal and not the individuals who are working to achieve this goal. For those who have invested in the organization, the management always ensures that they have returns on their investment. Suppliers are treated with respect, honesty, and fairness. There is no partner who is more special than the other. The business partners are also requested to maintain the standards of the organization as they conduct business on behalf of the organization. The organization performs its operations in different parts of the world. Obeying the laws in different countries where the organization has branches allows us to be good corporate citizens. It is our responsibility to preserve the environment in places where we operate. The managers in all departments ensure that individuals receive regular training so that they can always provide the best services to customers. It is also the responsibility of the managers to keep on reminding employees of the importance of following the ethical laws. Creating a free environment helps employees to raise any issues of concern. This in turn helps in improving the organization’s ethics.
The organization is committed to meeting the needs of the customers. To achieve this, the organization ensures the personal goals of each and every employee are excellent (L-3 Communications, 2009, p.10). The employees in the organization strive to ensure that each job is done right the first time. This is achieved through organized and detailed research and proper training to the employees. The reports by the organization are prepared accurately and completely which encourages investors into the organization. When the organization enters into a contract with another organization, the organization ensures that it meets the specifications of the contract. The organization in its operations only uses those materials that comply with the quality specified in the contract, not unless the customer writes to them in advance. The charges for contracts depend on the contract itself. The organization does research, manufacturing, and marketing so as to improve customer relationships. Customers are always told the truth concerning products and services.
Organization’s Social Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of the organization to ensure that all stakeholders are treated in a fair manner. This is achieved by creating an environment where all individuals will utilize their full potential. Each and every party in the organization must create a climate of respect and trust. One of the social responsibilities is fair treatment and non-discrimination (L-3 Communications, 2009, p.12). The organization has a diverse population of employees and other stakeholders. All individuals from different backgrounds such as race, ethnic groups, gender and others are treated equally. The organization uses diversity to achieve unique abilities. No employee is discriminated against in any issues. When hiring employees, the human resource department uses the qualifications of an individual for the available vacancy. The employees that have been performing excellently are the ones that get promoted whenever a vacancy in the management. All individuals working in the same level receive equal amount of salary regardless of the background. All forms of unlawful discrimination are prohibited. Unlawful discrimination is not only prohibited on employees but on all stakeholders. Customers and suppliers are treated equally. All employees from the management to the subordinate employees treat each other without discrimination.
The organization prohibits all forms of harassment. This creates an environment of respect and trust (L-3 Communications, 2009, p.12). An employee is not allowed to harass a fellow employee, a costumer, a supplier or any other person who is doing business with L-3 Vertex Aerospace. The individuals in the management are also not allowed to harass other employees regardless of what they have done. Harassment affects the work performance of employees in the organization. It also creates an intimidating and hostile work environment where employees are always worried about what will be said. Other individuals will harass to lower the dignity of others. Disciplinary action is taken on any individual who is found harassing another. The organization is also charged with the responsibility of ensuring that all employees are healthy and safe. All individuals should comply with the organization’s safety rules and regulations. No individual is allowed to use illegal drugs in the organization. This is to avoid serious safety risks. A supervisor or manager is not allowed to supervise an individual with whom he or she has a romantic relationship with. This is because individuals might perceive that the other person is receiving special treatment. This might eventually lower the morale of employees working under such a supervisor or manager. The organization has a responsibility of keeping employee information private. Every employee should avoid engaging in activities that might lead to conflicts of interest with L-3 Vertex Aerospace.
Ethical Analysis and Training Programs
L-3 Vertex Aerospace has employees who act ethically for the benefit of the organization. Employees are given training so that they are aware of the code of ethics that they are supposed to observe, and frequent meetings are meant to remind them of their responsibilities. In order to achieve higher success, the management in the organization trains the employees so that they can direct their personal goals to the overall goal of the organization. The organization recognizes that in order to achieve great success, the employees must act ethically and create an environment of respect and peace. The managers in the organizations act ethically so that they can act as an example to the subordinate staff (Manuel, 2005, p.36). The behavior of a manager or a supervisor plays an important role in an organization. A manager or supervisor with unethical behavior cannot tell the employees under him that their behaviors are unethical. The manager or supervisor also creates an environment that is conducive for application of the code of ethics. The strength of the L-3 Vertex Aerospace is that it has individuals with the ability and willingness to observe the code of ethics. This increases their competitive advantage in that they win customers loyalty when they treat all of them equally. The problem that could be there is the fact that quite sometime could be wasted in training the employees on how to deal with stakeholders ethically. This time could be used doing other business in the organization.
Moral Philosophies and Ethical Principles
The L-3 Vertex Aerospace Communications has many ethical principles that are observed by employees in the organization. Most of these ethical principles are fair. For example, an individual should not be discriminated against if he or she has the qualifications for a job in an organization. A manager who dismisses an individual because she is pregnant should be punished for such an act. The act is unethical and may lower the loyalty of the customers to the organization. Keeping sensitive information private is also important. Such information should not be revealed to even family members. Others cannot be really termed as unethical. For example, telling a supplier the price of a competitor so that he or she lowers his or her price according to me is not unethical.
Changing the Organizational Culture
Although diversity has been mentioned, the level of diversity has not reached a climax where it can be used to benefit the organization. Hiring employees from different races, ethnic groups, genders, class, and others would lead to more innovation. These employees should then mix so that each branch has employees from different cultural backgrounds. Employees should also not spend a lot of time in any one branch (Seglin, 2003, p.219). Transferring employees will help in that they will not get used to each other and the management. This is because if they get used to the managers and the supervisors, they will not listen to them. Diversity not only leads to innovation but also opens room for wider markets.
In order to implement my plan effectively, I would wait for vacancies to appear. If for example there are a few women in a certain branch, a future vacancy can be given to a lady who will be qualified. Individuals from other minority groups can also be given such opportunities. The individuals will then be transferred into different branches after a given period of time. This will increase customers and competitive advantage of the organization.
Conclusion
The ethical principles and problems that occur in a business environment are referred to as business ethics. L-3 Vertex Aerospace is an organization whose individuals have acted ethically and are guided by a set of ethical principles. The organization itself has carried out its operations ethically and this has led to great success. My personal attributes that have allowed me to be very successful in the organization include honesty, responsibility, integrity, self motivated, hardworking, and others. The organization ensures that all the stakeholders are treated in a fair manner. All individuals are treated equally and there is no individual who is special than the other. The organization prohibits discrimination and all forms of harassment. Most of the ethical principles in the organization are very efficient.
Reference
L-3 Communications. (2009). Guiding the way: Code of Ethics and Business Conduct. Web.
Manuel, G. V. (2005). Business Ethics Concepts and Cases, (6th Ed). India: Prentice-Hall, 32-47. Print.
Seglin, J. L. (2003). The Right Thing: Conscience, Profit and Personal Responsibility in Today’s Business. Spiro Press, 213-226.