Ethics and Sustainability Report: Future Workplace Behavior Analysis

This report delves into the ethical considerations within the workplace, using the ANZ Bank as a case study. It begins by summarizing the ethical issues faced by ANZ, including white-collar crime and unethical communication, and identifies relevant ethical frameworks such as Virtue Approach and Utilitarianism. The core of the report is a reflection on how these issues and frameworks inform future workplace behavior. It explores how ethical management of issues influences personal conduct, how ethical frameworks like Utilitarianism and Virtue Approach might alter behavior, and how professional ethics, senior management conduct, corporate governance, and organizational culture shape actions. Furthermore, the report examines the role of ethical codes of conduct in creating an ethical organizational culture. The analysis considers how ethical considerations can mitigate misbehavior and promote ethical decision-making.

Running head: ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Introduction
Business ethics implies the idea of ‘taking the right course’. Thus, for organizations
acting ethically considers all the factors of operating a business (Quarshie, Salmi &
Leuschner ,2016). Following to the completion of Part A of the assignment in which few issues
experiencing by ANZ bank have been highlighted such as outsourcing, workplace diversity and
human rights in addition to white-collar crime and corruption. The essay will reflect on my
understanding of future workplace behaviour by considering insights gathered in part A of the
assignment.
Discussion
Part A explicitly highlighted its issue of fixing its bank-bill swap rate further identified as
a white-collar crime leading to financial scandal. Furthermore, Tacadena (2018) has noted a
significant lack of liability from ANZ bank towards its stakeholders that led to doubt the
organization’s credibility level. However, such an issue can be addressed by an ethical
framework of Virtue Approach whereby an ethical behaviour of an individual must be
dependable with virtues of life rather than focusing on particular situation. Furthermore, another
issue has been highlighted whereby ANZ bank reportedly has been showing unethical and unfair
approach in their communication with rural families during their economic suffering (Taylor,
2017). The ethical framework of Utilitarianism must address such an issue of unethical decision
making of ANZ. This type of ethical framework will raise its level of enthusiasm while engaging
in actions that will generate constructive outcomes and sustain the interest of its clientele (Letts,
2017).

2ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Delving into the ethical framework of Utilitarianism, I have understood that fundamental
purpose of morality to enhance life by raising the amount of superior factors of life related to
pleasure and happiness in the world and further reducing the amount of unconstructive factors
such as suffering and discontent. Moreover, critically learning about utilitarianism has helped me
understand that in utilitarianism, consequences of our actions are identified as factors, which
primarily determine the accuracy or inaccuracy of the actions. Furthermore, rather than
essentially focusing ethical judgments, the ethical framework of utilitarianism tends to assess
acts which are primarily based on their capacity to produce the most superior factors for majority
of people (Quarshie, Salmi & Leuschner, 2016). Thus, Utilitarianism judges focuses on neither
the good nor the people who benefitted.
While, obtaining insights of Virtue Approach has shaped my ability to understand ethical
decisions. As per my understanding, virtue approach turns individuals’ attention to the elements
of individuals’ character as well as disposition, which tend to deepen our humanity and further
engender individuals associations with others. By learning about virtue approach in Part A of my
assignment, I have understood that virtue approach is identified as qualities, which facilitate
individuals to respond as per their higher selves. Moreover, such an approach to my
understanding has caused individuals to as pose queries whether a given action tends to be
reflective of the kind of a person we are or desire to be.
At this juncture, I must shed light on the way professional ethics tend to shape individual
behavioural patterns. Shanker, Bhanugopan, Van der Heijden, and Farrell (2017) have noted that
professional ethics are incompetent in mitigating unethical behavioural patterns. For instance, if
an employee understands that a specific course of action will violate or cause severe disruptions
to his or her organization’s ethical code, he or she will show a tendency to consider whether the

3ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
individual should pursue the specific course of action. Furthermore, it is imperative to note that
behavioural patterns of managers tend to influence the conduct and behavioural patterns of the
subordinates (Farooq, Rupp and Farooq 2017). By gathering insights of the ethics and
sustainability, I have realized that manages are likely to cause employee morale to rise to
unprecedented levels. Shanker, Bhanugopan, Van der Heijden, and Farrell (2017) have noted that
individuals engaged in senior management roles typically converse with employees in a sociable
manner and facilitate them to successfully attain goals and further motivate individuals with
rewards and incentives. Moreover, after reading a number of academic resources on ethics,
culture and sustainability I have realized that, workplace culture that stimulates and encourages
training and development enhances the motivation of employees and thus shaping their
behaviour as well as approach towards the company. Murtaza, Abbas, Raja, Roques and Khalid
(2016) have mentioned that individuals who work in isolation have a tendency to be overstrained
thus resulting to high level of frustration, apprehension and criticize co-workers as well as
managers. During such scenarios, I suppose promotion of effective communication will serve a
contributory role at workplace. Through successful effective communication, employees should
be able to cooperate with each other and share their experiences as well as develop innovative
solutions. On the other hand, authors have claimed that as organisation relies on ethics and
values of its employees, thus successfully increasing an ethical culture is important. It is essential
for organizations to share information of organizational responsibilities to its employee base to
avoid any form of misinterpretations. Such an ethical approach is required by organizations
while employing new recruits in order to guarantee their accessibility within the organization.
Moreover, an effective Human resources management is required by modern organizations to
ascertain a well-established code of ethics, which will include examples, scenarios as well as

4ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
illustrations that relate to the company's detailed line of business. Drawing relevance to these
factors, Kaptein (2017) has noted that ethical challenges distinctive to the business or
circumstances that may have the tendency to take place can aid employees understand through
challenges which they can encounter and to better comprehend aims and objectives of their
company. Furthermore, to my understanding modern organizations must frequently make costs
in order to sustain standards particularly offering concessions or free products for any case of
company’s mistakes or wrong doings and thus upholding ethical approach of the organization.
Conclusion
Hence, to conclude, after delving into several academic resources for writing both the
assignments, I have understood that organizational culture that efficiently sheds light on ethical
approaches gain the ability to successfully reduce any form of mis-behavioural patterns of the
organization. Thus, contemporary leaders and managers are proficiently working on promoting
ethical ideas and perspectives through their performances with a moral extent while dealing with
any sorts of ethical dilemmas.

5ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
References
Farooq, O., Rupp, D. E., & Farooq, M. (2017). The multiple pathways through which internal
and external corporate social responsibility influence organizational identification and
multifoci outcomes: The moderating role of cultural and social orientations. Academy of
Management Journal, 60(3), 954-985. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2014.0849
Kaptein, M. (2017). The living code: Embedding ethics into the corporate DNA. Routledge.
Retrieved from
https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Muel_Kaptein/publication/275831683_The_Living_
Code_Embedding_Ethics_into_the_Corporate_DNA/links/59dfc653aca272386b63332d/
The-Living-Code-Embedding-Ethics-into-the-Corporate-DNA.pdf
Letts, S. (2017). ANZ, NAB agree to $100 million settlement of swap rate rigging case. ABC
News. Retrieved from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-11-10/anz-nab-agree-to-$100m-
settlement-of-swap-rate-fixing-case/9138796
Murtaza, G., Abbas, M., Raja, U., Roques, O., Khalid, A., & Mushtaq, R. (2016). Impact of
Islamic work ethics on organizational citizenship behaviors and knowledge-sharing
behaviors. Journal of Business Ethics, 133(2), 325-333. DOI 10.1007/s10551-014-2396-0
Quarshie, A. M., Salmi, A., & Leuschner, R. (2016). Sustainability and corporate social
responsibility in supply chains: The state of research in supply chain management and
business ethics journals. Journal of Purchasing and Supply Management, 22(2), 82-97.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.pursup.2015.11.001

6ETHICS AND SUSTAINABILITY
Shanker, R., Bhanugopan, R., Van der Heijden, B. I., & Farrell, M. (2017). Organizational
climate for innovation and organizational performance: The mediating effect of innovative
work behavior. Journal of vocational behavior, 100, 67-77.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jvb.2017.02.004
Tacadena, G. (2018). ANZ owns up to unethical and unfair practices. Retrieved from
https://www.yourmortgage.com.au/mortgage-news/anz-owns-up-to-unethical-and-unfair-
practices/251676/.
Taylor, P. (2017). Governing the global commons: an ethical-legal framework. Policy
Quarterly, 13(1). doi: 10.1111/joms.12214