The Civil War
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Several paralles can be drawn between I believe the majority of human beings are born with a clear sense of what is right and what is not right, ethically speaking. Now, assuming that we are all “born” with this sense, and that our ethical beliefs develop over time and with life experiences, I do not believe it would be appropriate for an organization to make attempts to alter a persons ethical “make-up”. I also believe that most organizations understand this, and have steered clear of trying to define what should be the standard regarding ethical behavior in the workplace. I think many people make the mistake of equating ethics to legality. This misguided (although understandably natural) comparison is the cause of a great deal of confusion.
2. Because I personally believe that what is unethical and what is illegal are distinctly different in their respective meanings, I probably would not take any action against an entity, whether it be an individual or an organization in the event my personal ethics were challenged. Ethical beliefs can deviate from one person to the next. Inevitably in your lifetime your ethical beliefs will clash with someone elses. We all perceive right and wrong in different ways. In my view, my superiors have acted unethically in the past. The only action I felt necessary was to make sure I understood how they may have perceived their actions to be ethical, and take steps personally to make sure the issue didnt occur again. Unethical behavior at a university would probably be a situation in which a professor treated a student unfairly regarding academics. Education is serious business, and a student cant afford for a professor to grade them more strictly than other students. I would report any such activity to university officials.
3. I think it is certainly possible to operate a business in an ethical manner and be successful at the same time. I would estimate that the majority of Fortune 500 companies try, at the very least, to conduct their businesses ethically. Its also very probable that some companies engage in practices that are unethical and have success in the process. I believe it is possible because acting unethically, doesnt necessarily mean that something is illegal. I think its extremely important to understand that ethics vary from person to person, if there was a clear definition of unethical and ethical it