Ethical Issues and Operations
Ethical behavior is a corporate issue that affects the company’s bottom line. How do ethical issues impact organizations and operations? Include an example seen in the workplace, in the news, etc. that relates to real-life situations. Your initial post should be at least 200-250 words.
Guided Response: Respond to at least two of your peers’ posts and identify some common and/or popular unethical actions. Give additional advice and alternative solutions to help avoid unethical behaviors and outcomes from happening in the future.
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2. Jason.
Ethics form the backbone of the core values of an organization. As Vonderembse and White (2013) advise ethics are a sense of what is right and what is wrong that guide behavior. Setting high ethical standards impact how a company represents itself. Having an ethical culture in the work environment leads to greater results in productivity and quality in products. If a work environment does not have an ethical culture, it can be detrimental to not only the workers but also the bottom line of the company. As mentioned by Vonderembse and White (2013), product safety is a topic of ethical behavior. Having an ethical culture leads to safer products as product design decisions will be based on an ethical culture of doing the right thing. Instead of trying to cut corners to make a profit, steps will be taken to ensure product safety for consumers. It is not only important to have a safe product for consumers, it is important to have a safe work environment for workers as well. Companies that place an emphasis on safety for consumers and workers find themselves set up for long term success (Vonderembse and White, 2013). Products that malfunction and injure consumers can lead to lengthy litigation and bad pr. Bad pr leads to lower sales and consumers going as far as to boycott companies.
Working in a bank with access to personal client information, I deal with ethics and ethical behavior on a daily basis. I have access to personal client information that I could easily print out and walk out with. However, we have several training’s and place a large emphasis on an ethical work environment. I am aware of the consequences if I am caught doing something wrong. I have also been trained on what is appropriate and what is not. Safeguards are also in place to keep the information from getting into the wrong hands. I am unable to email outside email addresses is one safe measure to keep information internal. Culture and training play a much larger role. I am aware of what I can and can’t do, I am also aware of the consequences. Training include real world examples of the fines and punishments that occur when unethical practices take place.
Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
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1. Rebekah.
Ethical Issues Impact on Organizations and Operations
Ethics aligns with the values of a corporation and should focus on the mission of the organization. Many companies will have a code of ethics that provides the workforce clear expectations on what is acceptable when they are working for the organization. In my current company, the code of ethics also provides the possible ramifications of noncompliance with these practices. For instance, in healthcare, if one was to disregard the ethical obligation to protect the privacy of the patients, it can cost the organization up to 1.5 million dollars under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountably Act (“The Office of the Federal Register”, 2019). While this example is an extreme within the law, it concisely notes to the workforce the importance of ethical actions. Fines can impact the financial stability of an organization as well as affecting the culture of the workforce. Vonderembse and White (2013) noted that the impact may not be obvious as the actions that are unethical may not be publicly known. For instance, if a manager was to hide a mistake that was made in hopes that by the time the company finds out the manager has been promoted or left the company. Even if the action is not known until later, the ethical thing to do would report the known noncompliance so that the issue can be fixed quickly. If things are left to be incorrect or hidden due to unethical actions, it can lead to high costs down the road for the company.
Example from the Workplace
The ethical response to matters may not be easy to define in all instances; however, once an unethical action is uncovered the organization needs to take action to minimize the impact, which can be financial and reputational. As an illustration, a new service line was started in a healthcare facility. As part of the new service the staff that complete the coding and billing were not familiar with the correct codes to use. It was identified after several months that the bills had been noting higher rates due to having the wrong codes for the services. In healthcare, upcoding can be viewed as a form of abuse if it is related to federal beneficiaries, such as Medicare and Medicaid recipients (“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services”, 2019). If the coding was completed intentionally to incur funds that were not appropriate, it can rise to the level of fraud, which is extremely unethical and costly for organizations(“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services”, 2019). In this example, a coder had a concern and reported the matter so that it could be addressed. Luckily, if an issue is found early, an organization can correct the issue and when matters are corrected quickly, it reduces the financial risk and reputational harm. For instance, if an organization is fined for abuse or fraud in healthcare it is publicly reported, which can cause lost business from clients due to the loss of trusty. In contrast, when issues are addressed quickly it restores the trust as it shows how even when one has bad news, they own up to it and correct the problem. In my experience, when one is more forthcoming with the regulatory agencies, then one sees leniency. In addition, in an organization, if the workforce is encouraged to bring forward concerns, it supports an ethical culture as well as allowing for issues to be mitigated quickly. In summary, strong ethics in the workforce can ensure that even when an issue arises it is reported so that leadership can mitigate before it has a significant impact on the bottom-line.
Reference
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2019) Medicare fraud & abuse: Prevent, detect, report. Retrieved from https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNProducts/Downloads/Fraud-Abuse-MLN4649244.pdf
The Office of the Fderal Rgister (2019, April 30). Notification of Enforcement Discretion Regarding HIPAA Civil Money Penalties. Retrieved from https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/04/30/2019-08530/notification-of-enforcement-discretion-regarding-hipaa-civil-money-penalties
Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
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2. Jason.
Ethics form the backbone of the core values of an organization. As Vonderembse and White (2013) advise ethics are a sense of what is right and what is wrong that guide behavior. Setting high ethical standards impact how a company represents itself. Having an ethical culture in the work environment leads to greater results in productivity and quality in products. If a work environment does not have an ethical culture, it can be detrimental to not only the workers but also the bottom line of the company. As mentioned by Vonderembse and White (2013), product safety is a topic of ethical behavior. Having an ethical culture leads to safer products as product design decisions will be based on an ethical culture of doing the right thing. Instead of trying to cut corners to make a profit, steps will be taken to ensure product safety for consumers. It is not only important to have a safe product for consumers, it is important to have a safe work environment for workers as well. Companies that place an emphasis on safety for consumers and workers find themselves set up for long term success (Vonderembse and White, 2013). Products that malfunction and injure consumers can lead to lengthy litigation and bad pr. Bad pr leads to lower sales and consumers going as far as to boycott companies.
Working in a bank with access to personal client information, I deal with ethics and ethical behavior on a daily basis. I have access to personal client information that I could easily print out and walk out with. However, we have several training’s and place a large emphasis on an ethical work environment. I am aware of the consequences if I am caught doing something wrong. I have also been trained on what is appropriate and what is not. Safeguards are also in place to keep the information from getting into the wrong hands. I am unable to email outside email addresses is one safe measure to keep information internal. Culture and training play a much larger role. I am aware of what I can and can’t do, I am also aware of the consequences. Training include real world examples of the fines and punishments that occur when unethical practices take place.
Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
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Required Resources
Text
Vonderembse, M. A., & White, G. P. (2013). Operations management [Electronic version]. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu/
• Chapter 1: Introduction to Operations Management in a Global Environment
• Chapter 2: Gaining Competitive Advantage through Operations
Recommended Resource
Multimedia
July, E. (Producer) & Rodrigo, J. M. (Director). (2003). Business is blooming: The international floral industry (Links to an external site.) [Video file]. Retrieved from the Films On Demand database.
• Watch the following segments:
o Flowers, Auctioning, and Stock
o Flower Business Explosion
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Could you please respond to 2 classmates’s discussions. 1. Rebekah and 2. Jason.
You may start : “ Hi Rebekah, I agree with you because ….”. ( for example).
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