Term Paper on "Grundstein-Amado (2001) Stated That Usually the Codes"

Term Paper 6 pages (2169 words) Sources: 1 Style: APA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Grundstein-Amado (2001) Stated That Usually the Codes of Ethics in Public Service Organizations Are Designed to Serve Three Purposes:

to provide solutions to existing ethical problems, to make public the mission of the organization, to foster an ethical climate in the organization.

The primary role of professional associations' codes of ethics has been to establish their status as a profession, to regulate their membership and actions and therefore prove to the general public that they deserve to be self-regulating. It has been stated that the essential social function of such codes is to put forth in a clear and formal way standards of conduct, or principles that define a certain professional group from an ethical point-of-view (Kremer 1993).

An example of such a Code of Ethics is given below, by taking into account the American Society of Newspaper Editors Code of Ethics. The Society presents the code in the form of a Statement of Principles "as a standard encouraging the highest ethical and professional performance." The principles refer to core values directed towards the actors and beneficiaries of the journalistic act. The principles refer both to journalism practitioners' obligations and to the right of people to be informed accurately.

The first principle included in the code is responsibility. By mentioning responsibility reference is made to the large public, therefore implying that the major target of the organization's ethical behavior is the people who need information. The American press adopts the role of independent scrutiny of all parties or forces of society and the behavior of state officials. Unethical behavior from this point-of-view is abuse the power given by the professional role. The second principle is the freedom of the press. The principle encompasses again the public as a measure of determining that public business is conducted in public. Journalists themselves must be alert at all times to protect the press from selfish purposes. Independence is another guiding principle of ethical journalistic activity and refers to impropriety and conflict of interest avoidance. Ethical behavior consists in avoidance of any activity that might compromise their integrity. In order to be able to rely on good faith from the reader, which is the measure of good journalism, truth and accuracy are vital. In order to attain truth and accuracy in press the news content is free from bias, accurate, while all sides are represented fairly. Any errors or omissions undermine the standards and credibility of the individual and profession. It seems that all principles are interrelated, supporting values that interact and are completed with new ethical behaviors in each principle. For instance Impartiality, reflected in Article V has been tangentially discussed above. However, as a distinct principle it refers to the clarification for the reader of the news and opinion, in that the reader should be able to identify the personal interpretation of facts on the journalist part. Fair-play refers to the people involved in the news. Standards of decency, the recognition of their rights, and the provision of the opportunity to respond publicly when accused must be taken into consideration when considering fair-play in journalism. A related value included in this principle is confidentiality regarding news sources. All in all, all behaviors and values stated should strengthen a bond of trust and respect between American journalists and American people.

The example above illustrates the necessity of Codes of ethics for a professional association, that of American journalists. The purpose of such a Code which makes its existence necessary is given above - to state the core values or principles which guide ethical behavior of public professions. However, in other business settings the Code of Ethics contains even policies and procedures which guide workplace behavior and activities. A very good example from this point-of-view is the U.S. Bank Code of Ethics and Business Conduct. There is a section inside the code that refers to the types of transactions employees deal with. Moreover, in a business context, the compliance of employees to a Code of Ethics has bilateral advantages in that the respect towards employees is explicit and work relations are developed on a fair basis. U.S. Bank for instance and many other successful companies include respectful relations in the Code. From this point-of-view equal employment opportunities are considered, as well as the employees and customers with disabilities, offensive behavior and harassment, substance abuse etc. Such guidelines in a code of ethics and conduct - if employees comply to them - may become organizational norms. Ethical norms of conduct reflect upon the reputation of the entire organization for the external customers and competition. In the end, it may even impact the success of the organization.

Nonetheless, one important issue when it comes to why are the codes important in companies, associations and institutions is the diminishing and/or elimination of the conflict of interests. A conflict of interest arises when the person involved in a position of authority, usually, has concurring business or personal interests. A clear example of how conflicts of interest may appear in the business setting is extracted form the U.S. Code of Ethics: "Employees and directors of U.S. Bank may not engage in any employment or activity which: is in competition with any business of the Company; conflicts with the fiduciary obligations of any other department; or creates a conflict of interest with the employee's position or department." This is an example for how the code imposes principles at individual level, and not as a group.

In conclusion, Codes of ethics are important whether for professional association or other types of organizations because:

They are an expression of commitment and integrity;

Are sources of ethical behavior;

Present the core values that guide behavior in the workplace or for a specific profession;

They are a means of educating employees about the standards of the company and appropriate work activities, creating therefore norms and opportunities to ask questions or communicate concerns;

Help reduce conflict of interests between individual and company (group);

Increases credibility and good reputation if the ethics is assumed as the company's mission.

Facilitates success and may become a competitive advantage;

Is a vehicle for occupational identity.

Taking into consideration the assumptions stated above and the discussion of the Code of Ethics of the American Society of Newspaper Editors a system of inquiry regarding organizational practices such as decision making, problem solving and behavior is based on several questions (adapted from MacDonald): What is the purpose of the code - to regulate behavior? Is the document intended to guide people or to set out requirements? Are the values made explicit in such a document? Does the code list aspirations of the organization or rules or principles to which the members are expected to adhere to? Who is involved in the process of creating the rules? A small group or only those affected by the code? How are the needs and beliefs of the organization identified? How are the principles made public? And among the most important questions is what are the steps that may be taken in order to ensure that the values of the code are implemented in organizational practices.

Grundstein-Amado R. (2001) argued with respect to internalization and implementation of Codes of Ethics that the process is more likely to occur under two conditions: when members of an organization clarify, articulate, and establish integrated values systems; and when the ethical code is formulated and adopted as a consequence of a participatory democratic process. When there is a positive relation between the members' value systems and the code, a greater commitment and compliance follow as a result.

The efficiency of a Code of Ethics may be validated by the construction of a system of inquiry. The system of inquiry determines the values on which the code of ethics relies on. Moreover, it is important take into consideration the actors involved - to whom are directed the principles stated in the Code. For instance, the American Society of Newspaper Editors Code of Ethics relies on the following values which the articles of the code draw upon: objectivity and responsibility, honesty towards the parties involved in situations that the public needs to be informed about; another important value stated in the code is transparency - keeping what is public matter open for the public to be able to judge by themselves; integrity and independence are other values that help avoid conflict of interest on the part of the journalist; truth and accuracy are values that need to be reflected in every journalist work; impartiality is related to the former values and relies on the right of people to information that is clear, relevant and accurate. Fair play is a corollary of journalist activity and seems to be an assumed mission. A particular situation is the respect given to sources of information, especially by providing the accused with opportunities to express their view. All in all, the values identified are: objectivity, accuracy, truth, trust, respect, confidentiality, transparency, equality.

The values, as it has been showed above, refer both to professional conduct - in… READ MORE

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