Applied Business Ethics: Ethical Dilemmas and Leadership

This report delves into the realm of business ethics, focusing on ethical dilemmas that arise within organizations, particularly the issue of individuals taking credit for work not their own. It explores the complexities of decision-making in such situations, highlighting the conflict between ethical and unethical choices. The report examines the ethical implications of such actions, considering the utilitarian perspective and the importance of ethical guidelines. It discusses a case study of credit-taking, analyzes its impact on organizational culture, and provides recommendations for prevention, including the role of human resource management, organizational leadership, and employee training. Additionally, the report includes a reflective essay on a seminar debate concerning ethical leadership within a shareholder-focused economy, exploring different viewpoints on leadership styles and corporate social responsibility. The report also discusses the importance of creating an ethical workplace environment to foster employee engagement and prevent unethical practices.

RUNNING HEAD: BUSINESS ETHICS
Title: ethics and organisation
Name of Student:
Name of University;
Author Note:

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Ethical Dilemma issues:
The idea of ethical dilemma in a business situation is referred to the problem in the
process of decision making and the choosing of one option between an ethical and one unethical
perspective. Though it is easy to state that the choice of the ethical ones will be the best and the
clear solution, such is not the case in real life since the choices can be confusing at times. Thus,
ethical dilemmas are the complicated challenges in a business situation (Ehrich, Harris,
Klenowski, Smeed & Spina, 2015). The problem of ethical dilemma arises when there is a
conflict between the rightness as well as the wrongness of a decision that has to be taken keeping
in mind the goodness or badness of the situations. One of the major issues in the ethical dilemma
is the taking of the credit of workers as the work of self. It is often seen that the effort of an
individual is credit for the work which is not done by him. This ethical dilemma is a persistent
one in the process as the deserved candidate is devoid of the reputation and recognition he is
deserved of. it is often argued that the habit of taking the credit of ones work is a habit that is
generally generated by the mentality of escaping a punishment or taking extra credit that will
make the person appear more worthy than he is. The utilitarian source of ethics is of the opinion
that the generation of the greater good for the greater mass is the ultimate idea behind the
implementation of laws and legal consequences. In the possibility of taking the credit of others
work will not implement this equality or the equal benefit (Jerolmack & Murphy, 2019). Ethical
guidelines are however there in the organisations to manage these situations. Still, in most of thes
these cases the guidelines seems to have been overlooked as the company is often found to be
passively promoting this factor.

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Discussion of Situation
The global business environment is getting increasingly competitive due to a variety of
factors operating within the internal and external scope of the organizations. The competition
faced by the members of the organization in the internal environment pertains to their
professional performance and hierarchy within the structure of the organization. One of the
ethical situations often faced by individuals operating within a business organization is that of an
individual or group of individuals taking credit for a work that they have not done themselves.
The contribution of each member of the business organization in innovation and creation
is considered to be a part of the knowledge capital or intellectual asset of the organization. These
individuals are often rewarded by the organization for valuable contributions in the form of
promotions or incentives. In this regard, there often exists a severe competition among the
employees in terms of their performance and contribution to the growth and development of the
business organization. Such severe competition often prompt the employees or the members of
the organization to indulge in unethical practices that may enable them to be rewarded by the
management or authority without having to work hard for it. The case of individuals or groups of
individuals taking credit for work done by others is one such scenario. This behavior is prompted
by an interest to receive rewards and benefits without earning them in a proper manner.
This situation can be regarded as unethical from a utilitarian approach of business ethics.
According to the ethical theory of Utilitarianism states that a certain activity can be regarded as
ethical it provides utility, benefit or favorable outcomes for the majority of people involved in
the situation. In other words, the judgment of ethics can be made by evaluating the costs and net
benefits to all the stakeholders of a business organization (Slade, & Prinsloo, 2013). If the
activity produces least amount of harm to a majority of the members of the organization, then it

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may be regarded as ethical. From this approach, the act of taking credit for others’ work may be
considered to be unethical. It is so because, in performing this activity of taking undue credit,
only the individual himself or herself faces a positive outcome of receiving rewards in the form
of promotion, incentives or the like. However, the majority of the stakeholders do not receive
any positive outcome from this activity as the individual has not made any significant
contribution to the growth and development of the organization. In this regard, it can be said that
the organization ends up wasting its resources on an employee who cannot perform up to the
expectations or requirements of the organization. Furthermore, the employee who has actually
worked hard or contributed significantly is not given their due rewards, thereby causing
employee dissatisfaction. Such dissatisfaction can further cause conflicts and challenges in the
organizational activities, thereby hampering effective and smooth conduction of business
operations. In extreme cases, the company may also end up losing such valuable and talented
employees due to their dissatisfaction.
Thereby, it can be observed that the act of taking undue credit can cause harm to not only
the employee who deserves recognition and rewards but also the organization as a whole. Such
unethical practices within the organizational scope further leads to the harming of a healthy
organizational culture and environment. While professional rivalry and competition among the
employees is healthy and necessary to a certain extent, unethical practices may lead to conflicts
and discrepancies, thereby hampering the productivity and profitability of the organization.
Furthermore, such unethical practices within the scope of the organization also leads to the
reduction of the rate of retention of skilled and valuable employees, thereby increasing the
employee turnover.

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Recommendation
There are certain identifiable ways in which the act of taking undue credit for work done
by others can be prevented within the scope of a business organization. From the perspective of
the individual who has actually contributed to the organization, the solution that can be identified
pertains to the role of the human resource management system present in the organization . The
individual must first approach the human resource department of the organization and
communicate to them about the individual or group of individuals who have taken undue credit
for his or her work (Hafernik, Messerschmitt, & Vandrick, 2014). In an ideal scenario, the
individual may be able to provide a proof for the fact that he or she has indeed performed the
task himself or herself. In case of an absence of any proof, this issue must be raised by the
individual to the human resources management department so that they may scrutinize the work
of the person who is guilty if taking undue credit. In case the act has been done within the same
team or department, the individual may choose to communicate with the leader of the team so
that they may analyze the work of the accused individual and attempt to look into the matter.
To prevent such unethical cases within the scope of the organization, the management
must play a major role in depicting the organizational culture and ethics that are to be maintained
in the workplace. Severe penalties must be issued for individuals who engage in such unethical
practices so that they may be effectively prevented through example. A regular evaluation of
work must also be conducted so that the organization and its management may receive an idea
about the potential of each individual instead of basing performance incentives on singular tasks
(Schwartz, 2013). Regular sessions must also be conducted among the individual employees and
human resource management department of the organization, so that the employees facing such
problems may be able to discuss them easily, without any hesitation. The human resources

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department may then take strict actions against the defaulters in the form of punishments or
suspensions.
The leader of the organization also has an important role to ensure that unethical practices
are prevented within the scope of the organization (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2016).. The leader
must motivate and inspire the employees and other members of the organization to uphold the
values and culture of the organization. The leader must also promote a healthy competition
among the employees so that they may strive to improve their individual performances without
harming the performance of others. Changes in the reward structure by the leader can further
motivate the employees to work harder and prevent the unethical practices of taking undue
credit.
Furthermore, the organization may also indulge in the conduction of regular seminars on
a bi-annual basis so as to train the employees regarding workplace ethics, work life balance and
handling of stress. If the employees are able to balance their work lives, they might not be
motivated to indulge in unethical practices in order to secure their position in the organization. A
clear understanding about workplace ethics will also provide an idea to the employees of the
business organization regarding the things that should or should not be done and how unethical
practices can harm not only their professional lives but also the organization as a whole.
Seminars on stress management will enable the workers and employees of the business
organization to not indulge in taking short routes towards success by taking credit for work done
by others. Efficiency in stress management will help the employees and workers to improve their
overall performance and thereby reduce unethical practices within the organizational scope.

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Portfolio B
1. Reflective essay on Seminar 4:
The debate that was motioned in the seminar was for and against the possibility of the ethical
leadership in the shareholder focused economy. The four debaters who came for the debate were
Mike, Jan, Mei hua and Deshi, all of them had a strikingly different viewpoint about ethical
leadership that shaped the discussion. According to Mike, a strong leadership in the ethical poin t
of view will be able to make a strong influence on the organisation that will build a good
organisational culture and will accelerate the fairness in the dealings and in the taking up of the
equality approach towards all the members.. this will encourage an environment of moral
righteousness and the positivity of the organisation. Moreover, an organisation needs to have a
climate that is called as the OCTOPAC which means the openness, competencies,
trustworthiness, patience, accountability and confidence. Mike is on the point that these
environment helps in gaining a positive attitude towards the organisation on the part of the
employee and the engagement is higher. However, the desired openness and confrontation can
happen only when there is the optimum ethical leadership in the organisation. According to Jan,
however, the ethical leadership means the taking up of the corporate social responsibilities. She
considers that the organisation is not only based on the profit and the monetary well being of the
employees who are working in the organisation (Yukl, Mahsud, Hassan, & Prussia, 2013). The
company also needs to focus on the corporate social responsibilities of the society and not only
of the stakeholders associated. The concern of the social leadership will help the individual to
grow their senses and develop themselves as the social human being that will according to Jan
will be the actual development. this kind of ethical believes according to me is a reflection on the
theory proposed by Rousseau as the common good for the common being. The idea in this case

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is that the betterment for the mass is ethical and steps required to achieve the common good is
also ethical. Mei Hua on the other hand regards the ethical leadership as the following of the
strict codes of conducts and moral obligations and the set rules by the organisation. According to
her, the unorthodox methods which falls within the legal guidelines as completely ethical. This
kind of ethical believes comes from the belief that by the means of abiding by the laws will
accelerate the effectiveness of the leadership process and the team work bonding. Finally Deshi
comes with a viewpoint that is extreme which suggests that there is absolutely no requirement of
ethical leadership and as a matter of fact she has no belief in the same. She gives an insight on
how subjective and inconsistent the expectations can be .she is on the argument that the code of
conduct or set framework are laid down by the organisation itself what they think to be ethical
and moral. However, according to her, the idea of morality varies from organisation to
organisation and from perspective to perspective.
Reflecting the whole idea of the debate, I came to the understanding that the ethical
leadership is an idea that have different perspectives and cannot be implemented as a whole.
However, I feel that the leaders in the organisations can foster ethics in the organisation in order
to foster an environment that will be fair and have the equality in treating the employees.
moreover, in a business, profit making is not the ultimate version. Thus, the company needs to be
careful about concerning the social responsibilities and ethical responses so that it safeguards the
rights of the shareholders.
Reflection on the Case Study: Appendix B.
According to me, Borries reflects the character of a consequentialist who relates to the
Bentham’s theory of Utilitarianism as an action is morally right if the result yielded is about the

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greatest good for the greater mass (Yidong, & Xinxin, 2013). The manager actually feels that the
greatest happiness will yield more positive result in the business and the involvement of every
individual. The dilemmas identified from the case can be identified as follows:
The work life dilemma is going on between Borries, Manager and client. The personal dilemma
is working in between Borries and his girlfriend Swan Lee. The friend’s dilemma is working on
between Borries, Marcus and the other friends in the company. The consequentalist theory can
be applied to Borries on the fact that he cancelled the plans for his holiday though it was an
important one and even though he had been working for a long time. Borries was in dilemma
whether he would choose the holiday and meeting her girlfriend or whether he would chose the
meeting. The meeting was an important one as he is the main stakeholder who will understand
all the issues and will be helpful in understanding the needs of the clients. On the other hand,
Marcus was shown to be the non consequentialist who does not conform to the idea of Borris. O
the other hand he suggests that the Borries must go to the holiday else it will reduce the chance
of a good relationship. The dilemma of Swan Lee and Borries lies in the fact that whether Swan
Lee will live up to the dream of introducing her to her parents or will she let leave him to attend
the meeting. The dilemma is more a egoistic as well as a moral one in the case. She is right in her
claim that since Borries has given most of the time to the office, now she deserves some of his
time as well. In conclusion, Borries had the option go on holiday or to not go on holiday and
upon making this decision he should have consulted his manager in whether an employee could
have been able to cover for him whilst he was away, rather than assuming he had to cancel his
plans (Yidong & Xinxin, 2013). This could have made the situation easier to handle because
Swee Lan and his friends might have been more under stable as he would have had a suitable
reason to cancel.

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According to my opinion all the candidates are defending and working according to their
beliefs of ethical standards. While Borries is working on the basis of the greater good for the
greater mass, his girlfriend had been offering the idea of work life and personal life balance.
Conclusion: Appendix C:
Team working had been very effective in the process of analyzing the seminar in the case
as well as understanding the case study. Team work had made us realized that there are various
perspective from which the leadership and the ethical approaches can be analyzed. In the process
of analysis, however, we also learnt that there are various approaches to the identification of the
ethical dilemma issues in the business situation. We were of the opinion that the violation of the
ethical codes only are considered to be the unethical issues. In the course however we learnt that
the dilemma is actually the confusing if choosing the ethically right option and also considering
its impact on the organization. The team building process has been essential in the case as we
had understand that even in the discussion process we ourselves were varying with each option
and thus we realized that the organizations has to confront and compile various ideas and ethical
situation so that equality is maintained effectively. To what I found out that they join in as year
2 student from the university and as for me is year 3 so the level of understanding is different. I
even have team member which was a homemaker and I was surprised that the amount of work
she put in was unbelievable. I can see the commitment which had been put in can tell. Example
for all the case study, which we have she without fail, will do it beforehand and was very good.
As for me, I can play the role of speaker as during my diploma and advanced diploma time I use
to do presentation and this will help me to boost my confidence level.

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