Ethical dilemmas in business Essay
In the contemporary business environment, we often confront numerous ethical dilemmas, which make us taking hard decisions. In this regard, we should take into consideration ethical norms and consequences of our decisions to maintain the effective communication within organizations and to preserve positive interpersonal relationships with our colleagues, subordinates and managers. In actuality, I would focus on two major dilemmas: the fair representation of our abilities in the course of employment and the communication behaviors related to money – whether general salary information should be available to all employees or whether salaries should remain confidential to individual employees. In fact, both dilemmas are difficult to solve and the decision to be taken can affect consistently not only my position in the organization but also my interpersonal relationships with people I am working with.
In actuality, the fair representation of our abilities in the course of employment is extremely important because employers need well-qualified employees, who have significant potential to grow professionally. At the same time, often we have to emphasize our strengths and best professional qualities and abilities and underestimate our weaknesses. In such a way, we attempt to create a positive image to persuade an employer that we match the required position perfectly. However, this is exactly where the dilemma arises because the gap between what I can represent of my abilities and what abilities I actually have can affect my position in the organization, where I am eager to work. If I overestimate my abilities and get employment, I will not be able to perform the tasks and functions my employer counts for because of the lack of my professional abilities, which I have overestimated. On the other hand, I may fail to get employment, if I underestimate my abilities or just represent them absolutely fairly. At the same time, it is obvious that I cannot always judge about my abilities objectively and employers should make the decision whether I match the required position or not. In such a context, I would recommend choosing the effective strategy, which is grounded on the fair representation of my abilities but emphasizing my strengths and revealing my full potential. What is meant here is the fact that I should recognize that I may be imperfect in some aspects of my professional work but I am conscious of my weaknesses and I have both abilities and potential to grow professionally. What is more, I should communicate my eager desire to develop my professional skills and abilities. In this regard, I should demonstrate my potential employer that I am success-oriented that is very important for the professional development. At this point, it is worth mentioning the fact that employers are very concerned with the employment of professionals, who have a considerable potential because well-qualified employees with well-developed professional skills and abilities are expensive to employ, whereas prospective employees with great potential are much cheaper but they can bring considerable benefits to the organization revealing their full potential and developing their abilities in the course of their work. In addition, my employer and colleagues would definitely appreciate that I was fair while representing my abilities. In this regard, the reading of chapter 4 helped me consistently to understand all nuances of this dilemma and basically my solution is close to the recommendations provided in this chapter.
Another dilemma that may arise is closely intertwined with the communication behaviors related to money. In fact, the dilemma is whether general salary information should be available to all employees or whether salaries should remain confidential to individual employees. In this regard, I would not accept the solution suggested in chapter 4. Instead, I would recommend developing a new approach to the solution of this dilemma. To put it more precisely, I would recommend taking into consideration the cultural background and environment in which the organization, where such a dilemma arises, operates. In fact, contemporary organizations operate in diverse cultural environment, whereas different cultures have different approaches to the solution of this dilemma. For instance, some cultures appreciate transparency in relation to the salary of employees, whereas other cultures prefer confidentiality of the salary of employees. In such a situation, organizations cannot develop a universal strategy to solve this dilemma. Instead, organizations should match cultural norms and traditions of employees and the cultural environment, in which they operate. This means that, if organizations operate in the cultural environment, where the salary transparency of employees is welcomed, then they should admit the publicity of the salary of employees and availability of this information. In contrast, if organizations operate in the cultural environment, where the salary level is confidential and the individual matter, then organizations should keep this information in secret. In such a way, organizations will match needs and expectations of employees and solve the dilemma.
Thus, taking into account all above mentioned, it is important to place emphasis on the fact that ethical dilemmas that arise in the organizational communication are often difficult to solve but each dilemma needs individual solution grounded on organizational specificities.
