In recent times, public officials have come under fire due to unethical acts whi

Question

In recent times, public officials have come under fire due to unethical acts while in the public service. Governor Elliot Spitzer of New York, Governor Mark Sanford of South Carolina, and Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger of California, to name a few. In your opinion, what kinds of wrongdoing do these activities constitute? What kind of message does this kind of behavior send to the public about the honor and moral compasses of the folks who are entrusted with the highest public offices in their respective states? What about those public officials who reverently speak publically about “God’s Laws”, but then violate them in private? Support your answers.

Explanation / Answer

I would like to explain this with an example of a corporate ethical dilemma situation.

An organization where to determine how much you would request for your meal reimbursements where your company policy on reimbursement for meals while traveling on company business is that you will be repaid for your out-of-pocket costs, which are not to exceed $80 a day. You don't need receipts for these expenses - the company will take your word. When traveling, you tend to eat at fast-food places and rarely spend in excess of $ 20 a day. Most of your colleagues submit reimbursement requests in the range of $ 55 to $ 60 a day regardless of what their actual expenses are.

Here there is a clear ethical dilemma one would go through as the individual is also influenced by the colleagues who are submitting reimbursement requests in the range of $ 55 to $ 60 a day regardless of what their actual expenses are. Since the company has mutual trust enabled with its employees as they go by what employees say, it is extremely imperative to follow the fundamental ethical and moral principles. Hence, I would submit the reimbursements for the actual expenses incurred and not the inflated amount of other colleagues.

Inference: When we classify such office offenses as Ethical violations, it is very much applicable for For people who are in public service who publically speak about 'Gods Laws' but they violate them in private.

Potential consequences of engaging in an unethical behavior:

Following are the potential consequences of engaging in such unethical behavior. Legal Issues for the overall business, Employee Morale and Performance Impact, Employee Relations, Organizations credibility, Future prevention of such unethical behavior, Customer disorientation, Brand Reputation, Harms Productivity and interruption to the overall supply chain etc.,

Stakeholders might be harmed by engaging in an unethical behavior:

All stakeholders starting from CEO of the company, Business Unit Head, Department Head, Manager and of course the specific process and the end customer. The Brand reputation will be at stake if such malpractice comes to light when the company audits the situation with the help of CCTV camera to identify the 'as-is' scenarios. This holds good for both people who work for Private and Public sectors.

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