Business Ethics

Business Ethics Discussion on business success in relation to employee empowerment Yemi University’s name Part I: IntroductionEthics, in general, are the moral guidelines that determine decision making they are individual’s moral beliefs about what is right or wrong in other words ethics can be described as a system of morals or rules of behavior. Business ethics is the learning of proper business policies and practices regarding theoretically controversial subjects containing corporate governance, insider trading, bribery, discrimination, corporate social responsibility, and fiduciary responsibilities. As mentioned above, every business is a corporate citizen and has a responsibility towards the society. Social responsibility means an organization’s obligation to maximize its long term positive impacts and minimize its negative impacts on the society. Corporate social responsibility is dignified in terms of businesses cultivating conditions for their employees, shareholders, communities, and environment. But moral responsibility goes more, replicating the need for corporations to discourse essential ethical issues such as inclusion, dignity, and equality. Business who follow the ethical code are considered as socially responsible and are respected. They have a positive image of customers and it helps them create brand loyalty. But, There are some negatives of following business ethics as high capital is needed i.e green equipment to reduce pollution. It can lead to high operating costs and cause lesser profits. Moreover, changes in policies are required and in the co-operate culture too. Long term benefits of following business ethics are greater and effects on the goodwill positively. The claim has great importance personally as employees are people like us and they need to be recognized, appreciated and motivated. They have their fair share in making a business successful and they should be awarded for playing their part in the success of the business. The awards can be inform of empowerment, job enlargement, promotions, fringe benefits, equal opportunities, financial rewards such as bonuses and pay increases. Employees play a huge part in the running of a business and they should be regarded for it.

 Part II: The claimThe claim that I will be discussing in this paper is that ‘employee empowering leadership is required for success in business.’ This claim is taken from Chapter 4 that is called toxic culture and is taken from the instructions paper.  Part III: The justification for the claim Employees play a great role in business without them a business cannot survive in initial stages. Employees can make a business thrive in success or fall with failure. Leadership is the role adopted by managers when guiding the goals of the organization. Empowering employees is all about putting the authority given to the manager to the employees that means that certain decision-making powers are being given to the employees and they are being given control and put on the front line. Employees empowering leadership is going to lead a business to success because it plays a great part in motivating the employees. Motivation is encouragement given to someone for improved output and can lead to the desire to perform the best. Motivation and motivated employees are beneficial for the business to elaborate this point here are some reasons explaining why motivation is needed. High motivation and motivated employees can lead to a high level of output and productivity, lower cost of production at low prices that can give a business a competitive edge and can be profitable. It helps employees enjoy their work and creates a positive working atmosphere. It can also lead towards a better quality of products, low level of wastage leading towards low costs and low level of absenteeism. Motivated employees tend to stay with a business for a longer period saving them recruitment costs and low labor turnover. Moreover, it creates a positive image of the business, can attract quality human resource and help to create better workers management relations. Employees empowering leadership can also lead to spot decisions in crises and can save a business from loss. In short, Employees empowering leadership can be favorable for the business and can confidently make a business reach heights of success.  Part IV: The challenge to, or criticism of, the claim: the counterexamples To be successful a business needs to empower employees with leadership powers. But, a business can be successful and not giving leadership authority to empower its employees. A business may not be able to give full leadership authority to the employees because it may lead to possible loss of control and conflicts in making decisions. On the other hand, business may be successful and not sufficient enough to empower employees with leadership authority. They might have provided leadership authority to the employees to empower them but the employees might have not taken up the responsibility earnestly there might be a chance that they might be demotivated due to other problems faced by them in the working atmosphere. 

 Part V. Evaluation of the claim – after considering its challenge. Achieving success in business through empowering employees and giving them leadership authority is indeed a slow process and can lead to many problems that are mentioned above. It’s a strong challenge. Success can be achieved by empowering employees through many other ways like giving them promotions, fringe benefits, and financial bonuses, etc. The counterexample of the significance of empowering employees through giving them leadership authority is very low since other factors can lead to demotivation among the employees and handing over such huge responsibility for making decisions can make them feel burdened. The claim has a great impact and has a high necessity rate, businesses do succeed due to motivated employees that are being empowered by assigned leadership authorities. Whereas, as far as sufficiency is concerned not everyone has leadership qualities and not every employee can make the right decision for the business. Some theorists argue that leadership is an aspect of personality and cannot be learned. That indicates that the claim may not be sufficient enough but when the right employees are given leadership authority then it is a necessity for the business to succeed. 

Part VI: Reflection This paper discusses the importance of employees and the effect of their input on the business. Moreover, how motivated employees and de-motivated employees can affect a business and what employees empowered with leadership authority are capable of, the impact they can have on a business. My thinking about this topic has slightly changed after the research and discussion employees do play an important in business and have a fair share in the success but they too can lead many problems that can cause failure and empowerment is not only the motivating factor. One of the most important factors in employee performance is to achieve goals. Successful employees meet deadlines, make sales and build the brand via positive customer interactions. When employees do not perform effectively, consumers feel that the company is apathetic to their needs, and will seek help elsewhere. This paper has made me realize that employees are the backbone of a business and that leadership authority can make a huge difference if it’s in the right hands. Furthermore, empowerment is a great motivator as it gives the employees an authority/power to carry out a certain task or the assigned duties and responsibilities. It gives them control over their work and can help them make on-time and most appropriate decisions and leads towards motivation. 

 "Individual commitment to a group effort--that is what makes a teamwork, a company work, a society work, a civilization work." --Vince Lombardi

References

BIBLIOGRAPHY Ahmad, A. (2016). Business and its environment . 10.

Ahmad, A. (2016). Business ethics. Business and surroundings , 5.

LaMarco, N. (2018). The Concept of Empowerment in Leadership. https://smallbusiness.chron.com/concept-empowerment-leadership-15371.html.

Lombardi, V. (2017). Quotes of success and team work. https://www.inc.com/dave-kerpen/15-quotes-to-inspire-great-team-work.html, 1.