The Role of Corporations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Role of Corporations - Essay Example The main aim of an organization can be anything ranging from profit to gaining market share, but the way it achieves this goal matters a lot. There are certain responsibilities and obligations that the organization has towards various groups and situations. It may be impossible to discuss every ethical obligation to a corporation because there are so many. These range from production of bad goods like tobacco to treating the employees fairly. Mark Pastin in his book, 'The Hard Problems of Management: Gaining the Ethics Edge', has attempted to summarize this by providing four principles for that are necessary in order for an organization to be ethical. The organization must interact with all stakeholders without problems, so that these groups feel that they are a part of the organization. Secondly, the organization must be very critical about fairness. This implies to everyone involved in or with the organization. It must be fair to its employees, competitors, shareholders, clients etc. Everyone in this organization must be responsible for his own actions. Lastly, the organization must operate in a way which will ensure that its environment does not suffer. (Carter McNamara, 1997) Doug Wallace also gave six characteristics that are necessary for an organization in order for it to be ethical in its practices. His characteristics have a lot to do with integrity. Firstly, everyone in the organization must realize the importance of integrity and apply it in its practice. The top management must be responsible for creating this vision of integrity. Thirdly, this vision of integrity must be applied in the way every member of the organization is rewarded. Every policy and practice must be associated with integrity. Every management decision must also be made after considering the ethical dimension. Lastly, the stakeholders in the organization might have conflict of interest and an ethical organization must find a way to solve these conflicts with integrity. (Carter McNamara, 1997) The Need for Appropriate Actions Following a code of ethic will definitely have a positive effect on the organization. It gives a good impression of the organization where ethics and values are of the utmost importance. It gives employees the impression that the organization is serious about meeting ethical standards. This promotes values amongst them. According to the National Association of Social Workers, the purpose of code of ethics is to categorize the values of what their work is based on, it also uses its ethical standards to guide how the business should be carried out, it also guides those that are new to the profession, and lastly, it tells the public who to hold accountable. (NASW, 2008) Ethical management practice does not mean that the corporation will profit financially, because more than that, it will benefit in terms of honesty and fair dealing. Ethical management practice also increases productivity. The employees of a company are a very important part. When they start to believe that they are being treated fairly, they will be positively affected and hence, they will be motivated to increase productivity. It also positively affects how the suppliers, consumers, government and various other outside groups see the company. (Answers.com, 2008) The Optimal Ethical, Decision-Making Processes In order to