Scriptural or Biblical principles and experience
BUSI 675
Introduction
Ethics and morals are what keep communities from self-destructing. They provide standards and guidelines for behavior and action regardless of religious or nonreligious affiliation. They are a basis for safety and health within a community and produce the opportunity for justice. Ethics and morals are important to maintain as an individual and as a group. Something that many companies seem to struggle with in the modern world is maintaining high standards of ethics and morality for their employees and their business decisions (Saha et al., 2019). This struggle stems from a lack of ethics and morals from both leadership and individual employees. Both are necessary in order to influence and hold each other accountability in order to provide a fair, just, and safe environment for employees and customers.
Personal Experience
My first ever job was a huge learning experience for me when it came to ethical and moral decisions. I worked in a very popular fried chicken restaurant for two years. Despite this restaurant’s excellent reputation for religious ethics and morals in how they ran their businesses, during those two years, I saw countless instances of very unsafe food handling and distressing treatment of employees. Everyone that I worked with was properly trained, supervisors had been managing for years, and the location had been owned and run for decades by the same family. However, the owners were entirely focused on draining every single drop of money that they could out of the business. They did this by treating employees who were not their favorites horribly and by cutting a lot of important corners when it came to handling food. It is a miracle that our customers were not terribly ill all the time. When state inspectors came, the managers immediately cleaned and corrected everything to how it should be. It was incredibly frustrating to see the restaurant run safely for the day that the inspector was there and then to see it go right back to what it was like previously after he was gone.
Like everyone else in the restaurant, I served food and drinks that had been contaminated by raw meat, unclean and ungloved hands, bugs, and more. Looking back, even though I was very young and inexperienced, I knew that it was wrong to serve our customers food and drinks that would very likely make them sick. I did it anyway because that was what I was told and pressured to do. None of my coworkers ever seemed bothered by it. Eventually I began to try to stand up for how my coworkers and I were treated and for the safety of our customers. I was promptly fired. This is something that I will always be proud of. I went on to be food safety supervisor at my next job and experiencing all of the difficulties of my first job helped teach me that right decisions are rarely easy ones to make.
Consequences
My coworkers were very influential when it came to my decision to start pointing out the issues at my first job. I believe I was very influential for them as well. The minute someone finally voiced their frustrations and concerns, others began to speak up too. I likely would have spoken up sooner if someone else had done so before me. Management and the owners were obviously never receptive to change as it would mean more effort and less money for them. It was good to see my coworkers finally feeling encouraged and confident enough to speak up for themselves and our customers. I think this is very indicative of how important it is for everyone to be involved in upholding ethics and morals within a company (Saha et al., 2019). While leadership plays a vital role in instituting these aspects, it is also necessary for everyone, no matter what level of authority, to be passionately invested in creating an ethical workplace.
Something in particular that I noticed, especially once I left that job, was how much happier I was when I was not actively involved in serving people unsafe food. While I was not necessarily involved in any a great evil, what I was doing was still wrong. It noticeably affected my demeanor, attitude, emotions, and more inside and outside of work. God did not create us to do wrong, but to act with kindness (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2018, Ephesians 4:32). Additionally, another consequence of my and my job’s actions were that certainly many people got sick, missed work, events, and experiences. It is important to note that even small unethical actions have a great effect on someone’s life. This is why it is crucial that we apply the same level of ethics and morals to everything, no matter how important or unimportant it may seem.
Suggestions
There are countless verses in the Bible that could encourage someone on how to act when faced with an ethical dilemma. However, the following three are my favorites. In the New Testament, Jesus tells the disciples that that which they give to other will be returned to them (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2018, Luke 6:38). Our actions always have consequences. If our actions are wrong and unethical, then our consequences will have the same bitter and negative affect on us. However, if we strive to make ethical decisions, God will reward our faithfulness with same goodness that we try to impart unto the world. A very well-known verse, but still precious to me, is Jesus’ commandment that we love one another as much as we love ourselves (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2018, Mark 21:31). Truth is often very simple. Most of us would probably not make an unethical decision that would negatively affect us. If we would not want to experience what our decisions could do to other people, we should not make that decision. Lastly, the book of James tells us that while we bless God, we curse people who are made in His image (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2018, James 3:9). Unethical decisions, I think, often go hand in hand with the dehumanization and discrimination of people. Everyone, no matter their gender, race, religion, orientation, or ethnicity, has been made in the image of God. Everyone deserves to be treated in an ethical and respectful way.
Conclusion
Ethics and morals should be considered every time a decision is made, whether it be at work or at home. This applies to everyone, no matter their religious or nonreligious beliefs. However, Christians have specifically been called by God to be examples of righteousness to the world (English Standard Version Bible, 2001/2018, 1 John 2:29). Above everyone else, Christians should be the first to uphold what is true and good. Even the smallest of decisions can have massively impactful effects on countless people. Ethics and morality belong in every conversation, every decision, and every action made.
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2018). Crossway Publishing (First published in 2001)
Reece, B. L. & Reece, M. (2017). Effective human relations: Interpersonal and organizational applications. (13th ed.). Cengage Learning, Inc.
Saha, R., Shashi, N., Cerchione, R., Singh, R., & Dahiya, R. (2019). Effect of ethical leadership and corporate social responsibility on firm performance: A systematic review. Corporate Social-responsibility and Environmental Management, 27(2), 409–429. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1824
Discussion Assignment Instructions
The student will complete 3 Discussions in this course. The student will post one thread of at least 400 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Thursday of the assigned Module: Week. The student must then post 2 replies of at least 300 words by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of the assigned Module: Week. For each thread, students must support their assertions with at least 1 scholarly citations in APA format and incorporate Scriptural or Biblical principles and experience.
Each reply must incorporate at least 1 scholarly citation(s) in APA format. Any sources cited must have been published within the last five years. Acceptable sources include the course textbook, the Bible, or peer-reviewed journal published within the past five years. Include clear topic sentences for each paragraph, supporting sentences, and a conclusion sentence/paragraph.
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