Course: MBA Non-Thesal

Subject: Philosophy of Business

ANALYTICAL RESEARCH PAPER:

Part 1: Articulation

Our world today is filled with a lot of activities, transactions, and

interactions with other people and the way we handle it will hugely matter.

Being honest, being trustworthy, doing what is right, and others are just few

examples of traits that are valued by other people, and it positively impacts

our relationships and transactions in life. Whether if we are at home, or at

school, or at work, or at the gym, or at the church, or at the grocery store, or

at the park, and others, our conduct and ethics will matter and could influence

other people or transactions. When born into this world, as a child we know

nothing about anything, but we only depend on our role models and what was

taught to us throughout our lives. As we grow up, we start to learn or know

what is right, what is acceptable, what the Bible tells us, what our parents

show us, what our school would teach us, what our friends and neighbors

would share with us, and others. Depending on how each of us would

process all the information gathered, the surrounding environment that we

lived, and the experiences that we have been through, these are all elements
that could affect and influence us and on how we will conduct activities and

interactions in life. Each one of us are unique and have different opinions and

perspectives in life, which is a result of the unique experiences and

environments that we have been through. As a result, some of us become

people who are compliant or obedient to rules, and conducts, others would

become violators of the law, others become neutral and non-cooperative, etc.

The Bible also tells the story of Jesus who was a good example of a

sinless and good “person” while he was still living with the humankind in the

world. He was a living example of the phrase “walk the talk”. Jesus preached

and taught the people many things about how to become a good person. The

Ten Commandments was given to us by God as an instruction of what we

should do and not do in order for us to live a good life in this world. Also,

there are many other teachings in the Bible that tells us about being good or

ethical like for example in Romans 13:1 it states that “Let every soul be

subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from

God, and the authorities that exist are appointed by God”. This verse tells us

that we should respect people in authority because this is a way of showing

respect to God. Being respectful is an example of being ethical. Additionally, I

think our current laws and regulations are molded from the Bible as well. Like

for example, the sixth commandment in The Ten Commandments states that
“You shall not murder” which is also prohibited and punishable under the

Philippine law.

The code of conduct is normally viewed as part of the organization like

for example the policies and rules that must be followed by the employees. It

is like a set of rules of what the employees should do and should not do, what

are the things or behaviors that are acceptable to the company (like for

instance do not sleep during work hours or wear decent clothes at work, and

others), etc. On the other hand, ethical standards are the morals or principles

that the company holds or are the basis or guidelines on how to behave

accordingly. One example of ethical standards includes being honest, which

is very crucial to all but most especially in banks, in court trials, in hospitals,

etc. Without ethical standards, it is hard to negotiate with other people since

trust and confidence is lost. The application or compliance these two, code of

conduct and ethical standards, depends on the person. Although these are

the correct ways of life however, it is difficult to 100% implement it since not

all are willing to apply it, or not all believes in it, or for some it is a

disadvantage to them because of their specific hidden motives especially if it

is driven by profits. All of these boils down to what a person believes in life,

the attitude or character that was built up from childhood, the past

experiences, and other influential factors. The home is one of the main

influential factors that could greatly affect a person’s life.

from and started living in this world. Also, the homes are mainly responsible

for the children's education and upbringing, as well as establishing citizenship

values principles and belonging in the society. As the phrase goes, “The

youth are the future of the nation” which I agree with since the next or future

generation of leaders are the children of today. I believe that the home is a

huge contributory, although not at all times, of how the destiny of most people

will become in the future because what the child has been through with their

family especially with their parents, as well as the environment that surrounds

them will be implanted in their minds and sometimes becomes their current

reality. More often, current behavior or attitude of the children as a result of

their upbringing at home is sometimes a determinant of their future behavior

as well. For example, children from divorced homes have greater behavioral

problems or issues than children from intact families, according to parents

and teachers (Rodrigues et al., 2012). The point of this is that how people

view and apply ethical standards and codes of conduct is sometimes

dependent on our personal behaviors and attitudes where these could

possibly be the outcome as well of our history from childhood to present.

In corporations, code of conduct and ethical standards is a hot issue.

One concrete example is the Enron scandal where Enron reported fake

profits and misused special purpose entities. What Enron did was deceptive
and fraudulent which as a result, they lost the trust of their investors and

creditors. Also, the domino effect of dishonest reporting done by Enron and

their accounting firm resulted to unfair financial dealings, very low share

price, higher government intervention, financial crisis, unpaid debts, loss of

employment, etc. This scandal has adversely affected many people, all

because Enron and its accounting firm did not apply ethical standards and

codes of conduct in financial reporting. Moreover, due to this scandal, the

United States created the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 to enforce heavy

penalties for the destruction, modification, or fabrication of financial records.

In the Philippines, there are several codes of conduct and ethical standards

published for the government like for instance the Republic Act of 6713 which

is the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and

Employees” to promote a high standard of ethics in public service by the

government employees.

Part 2: Argumentation

Before stepping into the real world, we first go to school from nursery,

elementary, high school, and finally to college. In the Philippines after

college, most of the students are now assumed to be ready to face the real

world and will apply for a job to enhance their careers as professionals.

Hence generally, the phase right before entering the real world for most
Filipinos is in college. Students can be influenced at school due to several

factors like university culture, the composition of students, the faculty, the

university’s reputation and system, the location etc. Although this is not a final

determinant on how the students will work as an employee in the corporate

world or anywhere else, but somehow there is a chance that the school or

university does has an impact to them. As stated by Rezaee et al., (2001), a

college code of conduct can aid in the elimination of unethical activities, the

resolution of ethical challenges, and the demonstration of a commitment to

ethical behavior. Nonetheless, it must be fairly enforced, and participants

must agree on what constitutes acceptable behavior and how deviations from

that behavior should be punished.

I witnessed and realized that indeed ethical standards and code of

conduct is important while working in a private corporation. Like for example,

as we prepare and provide financial reports for the management, we base it

on actual transactions and contracts to ensure that the reports are accurate

and correct. We also prepare the working papers and file taxes on time

based also on actual transactions reported in the books. This builds trust,

confidence, and is helpful for the management in making business decisions

for the company. Whenever the management or our department head has a

question about the reports, we can immediately provide answers by

example we show them the details contracts, the email thread where the

instructions were made, the attachments like bills or receipts, the working

papers, etc. Another way of being ethical at work as an employee is by being

honest like for example, only presenting the actual receipts used for work

purposes and allowable for reimbursement as per company policy, by

rendering and reporting overtime hours for actual work done, by not steal

company assets like cash, laptops, etc., by keeping important company

information confidential, by obeying company policy and rules, and others.

As claimed by Gilman (2005), when it comes to specific groups of

people, such as public workers and doctors, codes are the final word or the

main reference. They serve as the foundation for all professions.

Professionals often utilize codes to declare that they are "professionals," and

they are frequently the founding text for a profession, such as the Hippocratic

Oath. While not all such oaths are codes, they are frequently incorporated

into oaths or other relevant procedures associated to becoming a

professional. They are used in the ordaining of religious leaders in various

faiths, as well as the swearing-in of numerous political leaders around the

world.
 Schwartz (2005) suggested on how we can tell or determine if a

company's code of ethics is ethical in terms of content. Establishing

underlying universal moral values upon which business codes of ethics can

be ethically developed and evaluated could be an important first step. A set

of universal moral norms is derived from three sources: corporate codes of

ethics, global codes of ethics, and the literature on business ethics. Six

universal moral qualities for corporate codes of ethics are offered based on

the convergence of the three sources of standards: trustworthiness; respect;

accountability; fairness; caring; and citizenship. The ramifications of the

proposed set of universal moral standards are examined, as well as the

substance of corporate codes of ethics.

According to Wood and Rimmer (2003), in a corporation the creation

of an ethics code indicates that a company is considering corporate ethics.

However, that is about all one can say with certainty. Having a code does not

reveal intentions or methods in place to help a code be used to its full

potential to improve ethical behavior in businesses. If the action is motivated

by a "me-too" mentality, the code may be detrimental. From NGOs to

professional associations to major conglomerates with international business

dealings, ethics and conduct rules can be found everywhere.

conduct is one representation of corporate executives' and boards of

directors' look for ways to ensure proper employee business actions. The

label may differ from firm to company: ethical practices statement, employee

conduct guidelines, corporate ethics policy statement. The effectiveness of

standards of behavior is the most critical question to be investigated. Do they

influence how people act? What are the most effective code designs,

administrative procedures, and other practices in terms of behavioral goals?

The existing literature says very little about these crucial issues. If ethics

codes are to be followed, much remains to be learned about developing and

running them so that they might serve as more than just window ornament

and encourage ethical practices among business personnel. Furthermore,

Erwin (2010) asserted that corporate codes of conduct are a typical tool for

governing employee behavior and establishing a socially responsible

workplace culture. The effectiveness of these codes has been extensively

debated on theoretical grounds and experimentally examined in a number of

previous studies that directly compare companies with and without codes of

conduct. Multiple auxiliary elements, such as the quality of code content and

execution, which are removed from analyses based merely on the existence

or absence of codes, may explain the conflicting results found in empirical

research.
 There are corporations which have a diverse employee workforce

just like in the company that I currently work for, we have expats from

Australia, Singapore, etc. I observed that there is an interplay of different

cultures and is fun because we get to share different ideas and expertise

from different professionals in different countries. Cultural diversity has

become normal to me, but the concern now is the application and acceptance

of the universal code of conduct and ethical standards despite the existing

diversity in the workplace. According to Tamunomiebi and Ehior (2019),

diversity and ethics are part of any civilization, and they're a huge difficulty

that's transformed into a lose-lose situation for everyone involved, resulting in

organizational demoralization. Many people believe that, when properly

handled, societal diversity and ethics are essential for company efficiency.

Employees in every organization have a wide range of beliefs, cultures,

religions, ages, genders, and educational backgrounds. Managers and

executives need to know what ethically suitable or incorrect behaviors to do

in their everyday work conditions. Also, they pointed out that the manner in

which people differ in an organization can have an impact on the employees'

tasks and relationships. While ethics is the study of moral obligation, or

differentiating right from wrong, it also involves behaviors such as ethical

decisions and acts of social responsibility. This research focuses on

nature descriptive study. Secondary data was gathered from books written by

various scholars and researchers, articles published in various journals and

periodicals, conference papers, working papers, and websites that evaluate

literature in the field of organizational diversity and ethics.

Part 3: Analysis

At first glance, we think that code of conduct and ethical standards

are the same and sometimes we use these terms interchangeably. We

cannot deny though that the two are quite similar in terms of the goal to

achieve appropriate attitude or behavior from the people or from the

employees. Technically, there is a difference between the two phrases.

Amanda Nieweler (2014) asserts that decisions are governed by an ethics

code, while acts are governed by a code of conduct. They are two popular

strategies for businesses to self-regulate. They are frequently connected with

major corporations and provide direction to staff as well as a public image of

good behavior, both of which are beneficial to organizations of all sizes. Any

firm, large or small, public or private, would benefit from having a set of

defined rules in place that is recorded or documented that employees and

other stakeholders can refer to verify they are doing as the company expects.
 Amanda Nieweler (2014) further claims that code of ethics functions

as a "company's constitution" with basic ideas to assist guide employee

behavior and is sometimes referred to as a value statement. The document

lays out a set of guidelines for making decisions. If an organization is devoted

to environmental protection and "going green," the code of ethics will declare

that each employee faced with a problem is expected to adopt the most

"green" solution. It works on the principle of "treating others the way you want

to be treated." On the other hand, the real meat of the code of ethics is the

code of conduct. A code of conduct is a document that applies the code of

ethics to a variety of scenarios. A rule in the code of ethics may indicate that

all employees must follow the law. Employees must follow various specific

regulations relevant to different sectors of organizational operations or

industry, according to a code of conduct.

Another set of terms that are similar and is usually used

synonymously is morals and ethics. Looking at the two terms somehow tells

us that it relates to something positive or good. First let’s talk about the

origins between the two terms. Ethics came from the Greek word ethos which

means character. While morals came from the Latin word moralis which

means customs. Now let’s dive into the distinction between the two terms.

According to Walker and Lovat (2017), there is a difference between the two

terms where the word ethics has been defined as "a zone in which there are
truths that are incompatible with each other". It can also refer to one's

personal perspective or personal sense of good and evil. Morals, on the other

hand, refers to principles governing human behavior that apply to all

members of a community, is a perspective that considers other people, the

shared communal norms about which actions are right or wrong, and thus

refers to "a code of conduct that is put forward by a society a public system,"

and thus refers to "a code of conduct that is put forward by a society a public

system." As stated by Harper (2009), ethics refers to a more individual

judgment of values as being comparatively good or relatively terrible,

whereas morals denotes a more communal and intersubjective assessment

of what is right or just for those affected in these selected understandings. To

put it another way, ethical convictions are self-centered, whereas moral

principles are concerned with others.

Part 4: Synthesis (gathering together different ideas with a single and unified

vision)

The code of conduct and ethical standards are important to each one

of us, to the organizations and businesses, and ultimately to the country as a

whole. Both have positive goals that seeks to attain favorable or good

behavior from people. In the point of view of the corporation, regardless of

the rank or position, the code of conduct and ethical standards must apply
fairly to everyone to ensure utmost compliance from all regardless of how

insignificant the breach is. Furthermore, having both of these in the

organization shows that the management as the initiative to become ethical

or wants to appear as being ethical. Moreover, it helps enhance the

reputation of the company especially to the investors and the press. In reality,

it is difficult to apply 100% compliance to everyone because there is no such

thing as a perfect system, and we cannot always control the people. It is also

helpful to document and record the code of conduct and ethical standards so

that it is easier for the employees to understand it and to use it as reference

in case of doubt.

References

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Content and Quality on Ethical Performance. Journal of Business Ethics

2010 99:4, 99(4), 535–548. https://doi.org/10.1007/S10551-010-0667-Y

Gilman, S. C. (2005). ETHICS CODES AND CODES OF CONDUCT AS

TOOLS FOR PROMOTING AN ETHICAL AND PROFESSIONAL

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