Scenario
You patiently wait at the checkout line while the clerk slowly rings up customers. It is your turn. You hand the clerk a $10 bill. He mistakenly gives you change for a $20. What do you do?
Seems minor right? Maybe, but as we've learned over the past 20 years of corporate history, it is often the small things that add up to the large things.
Scary stats
- A Stanford University report cited that in a 1940 survey of high school students, 20% of respondents admitted to test cheating. In a recent similar study over 75% of respondents admitted to cheating. Students were said to view cheating as a means to a profitable end.
- A 2012 report issued by the Ethics Resource Center on business ethics also reported some surprising statistics: 45% of employees have witnessed misconduct with 65% indicating they reported the misconduct they saw. 22% of those reporting the misconduct indicated they suffered as a direct result.
- The number of companies with "weak ethics cultures" was reported as 42%. 42% of respondents felt it was ok to complain about their companies on public blogs. Other stats include 34% of employees said their managers do not display ethical behavior; 13% of respondents feel pressured to bend the rules; sexual harassment is at 11%; stealing is at 12% and health and safety violations are at 13%.
Today's Ethics
In 2012 and 2013 I facilitated an ethics e-workshop for the Institute of a Internal Auditors (IIA). The workshop focuses on difficult ethical issues faced by internal auditors. Experienced audit managers served as panel members. They analyzed and responded to various ethical scenarios. Responses included the proper procedural response but also the "reality" of what the
Whether a person is able to execute on the proper ethical alternative is dependent on several variables. Those include corporate culture,
Ethics Evolution
We tell children not to lie, but is fibbing ok? We say not to steal, what if the act is "borrowing" but you forget to return the item? Have you heard the saying "No harm, no foul?" The legal system attempts to ensure fairness but we've seen many time that "just because it's legal doesn't mean it's ethical".
The Personality of Ethics
Ethics is a personal and imbedded value. An individuals view is greatly impacted by many variables encountered during a lifetime which forms their own internal value and belief system as well as morals. Some theorists cite that the evolution of ethics in recent years has moved towards abdication of responsibility due to a heightened expectation of individual entitlement. If that is true, we need to relearn child rearing techniques. Assuming this concept has some validity, surely it is propelled by the ongoing evolution of cultural society,
Where is your a Ethical Line?
The choice between right and wrong or virtue and vice may be clear in some instances. But that is not always the case. People come from varied backgrounds, family values, religious and cultural beliefs. What may seem like a very black line to one person could be viewed as gray by another. Educators debate whether the topic of ethics is teachable. It is clear that the concepts are teachable but just like "you can't drag a horse to water" there are instances where you can't make individuals believe or do something they have inherent personal issues with.
Ethics will continue to be an important topic. The world will continue to evolve. If the topic is not openly discussed and debated, silence can act like a type of acceptance of poor behavior.
By Lynn Fountain, CGMA, CRMA, MBA