A634.7.4.RB - Ethics and Behaviors
Watch the two videos from business ethics speakers and discuss how your
organization portrays its values. Share any examples where behaviors were
portrayed positively by your leaders or an instance where someone was unethical
in your work environment.
Boeing values are posted on its
website, external and internal networks. They are:
Enduring Values
·
Integrity
·
Quality
·
Safety
·
Diversity & Inclusion
·
Trust & Respect
·
Corporate Citizenship
·
Stakeholder Success
(Boeing, n.d.)
As employees of Boeing, we are expected to live by these
values and represent our organization with pride. We actually sign a “recommitment”
pledge every year to this effect. Knowing this, and taking the training every
year, do I still see unethical behavior happening at work? Sure. Mostly in that
realm that Gallagher talked about where it’s just not good for business (Gallagher,
2013). I’ve printed out the articles we’re asked to read as supplemental to the
text book at work, using work resources. I justify this to myself because I don’t
ask for reimbursement for the textbooks used in the classes that Boeing is
already paying for. I figure 20 pages every three months isn’t going to raise any
flag, I’m not proud or self-satisfied that I do this – I’m kind of indifferent
about it. I also buy my own pens and graph paper, work more hours than I charge
for and I hardly ever take my full lunch – even if I do I eat lunch at my desk
which we all know is a bad habit. See? I’m still justifying those 20 pages. It
doesn’t make what I’ve done any more or less ethical and it flies in the face
of integrity a bit. I have seen some
bigger ethical issues, mostly in the vein of sexism and misogyny and most of
these things are not tolerated. Overt sexual harassment is definitely not
tolerated but the less obvious things like being called “sweetie” and getting
things “man-splained” to me is super unappreciated. I also have to think about
building the relationships within the teams and I don’t want to be the reason
people can’t banter or feel comfortable in a conversation. Does that make me
unethical for not reporting a joke that borders bawdy? Does that mean I’ve just
enabled that culture? Yes on both counts. We also get a weekly “Ethics Report” that is
not for public reading but from what I’ve read, the serious offenders are
either already being tracked or are already gone. I don’t have much more to add
to this. I think that the majority of us at Boeing try to be decent people. We
all have to be with each other for at least 8 hours a day and our jobs are
linked in ways that we either get along or make things harder than they need to
be. I can only speak for myself but I feel like I’d be supported if I needed to
report something to ethics. I hope most of the people I work with feel the same
way.
References
Gallagher,
C. (2013). Business Ethics Keynote Speaker - Chuck Gallagher - shares straight
talk about ethics. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gUJ00vNGCPE
Weinstein, B. (2012). Keynote speech excerpts
from The Ethics Guy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eLxbHBpilJQ
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