1. Summary Paper
Edwanna Gillespie
BUS670
Professor Donald Barbee
April 23, 2012

2. Have you ever thought about owning your own company? Being your own boss? Well, I’m
sure the thought has crossed everyone’s mind at some point in their lives. I have to admit that
the thought has crossed my mind several times, wondering how it would feel to have to answer
to myself. How successful my business would be, who I would cater to, and what rules, ethics,
and values I would require my employees to have. One must understand that in order for an
organization to be successful, it has to the right ethical structure. I will discuss the how
important it is to display or teach ethics in an organization, if you want to be successful.
There are many known companies that have displayed unethical and socially irresponsible
behavior. This brings me to a recent situation today, the Secret Service sex scandal. I believe
that you cannot believe everything you see on television or you read in the newspaper or online.
But, I find this situation to be very sad and quite disturbing. It makes me wonder about their
ethical views, values, and the oath they pledge to uphold. Yes, everyone is entitled to have a life
outside of work, but their behavior left six Secret Sevices Agents unemployed ant the others
were placed on administrative leave, with their security clearances revoked. Those Agents
displayed unethical behaviors which lead to them being fired. I would say that this displays
unethical behavior and some form of betrayal to your company, country, and President.
According to Rep. Peter King, chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, told "Meet The
Press" that "anyone who is found to be guilty" of misconduct ahead of President Obama's trip to
Colombia last weekend will be fired (Stableford, 2012). I believe that that would be the best
answer to this situation, because there is no excuse that can justify behavior. I am sure that this
is not the first time that something like this has occurred, but it is the first time that it has made
the news and so many agents’ lives have been ruined behind this incident. What is very that it

3. was Secret Service agents committing these crimes. We are all human and all fall short, and I
believe that this incident proves just that. But, I do believe that there is some form of or breach
of duty with this situation. They were there to do a job, and simply forgot about that for a few
moments, to enjoy their lives. One solution to this problem would be to hire more female agents.
According to, Sen. Susan Collins, ranking member on the Homeland Security Committee, and
Rep. Carolyn Maloney of the House Oversight Committee suggested having more female agents
could help avoid such scandals (Stableford, 2012). I have to say that, I do not believe that this
would be a real good solution to the problem.
I believe that, it was just a bad situation that the agents put themselves in and should
definitely be punished for it, but I also feel that they new agents need to know their ethical duties
and responsibilities. The United States Congress, employees, investors, and other critics of the
power held and abused by some corporations and their management have demanded that
corporate wrongdoers be punished and that future wrongdoers be deterred. Consequently
shareholders, creditors, and state and federal attorneys general have brought several civil and
criminal actions against wrongdoing corporations and their executives (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers
& Langvardt, 2010, p. 91).
Ethical issues are a major concern in organizations for many reasons. In organizations,
ethics maintains the unease of corporate social responsibility and the importance of those
concerned. There are state, federal, and local laws associated with ethical practices within an
organization. Were as good leaders strive to create a better and more ethical organization for
their employees. Organizational behavior, commonly referred to as OB, is an interdisciplinary
field dedicated to better understanding and managing people at work. By definition,
organizational behavior is both research and application oriented. Three basic levels of analysis

4. in OB are individual, group, and organizational (Kinicki, & Kreitner, 2009). Overall, it’s
important to study business ethics to make better decisions and ensure that you will hire
employees that will make the right ethical decisions.
Ethical behavior can be influenced by your surroundings. Discussions about ethics in
organizations reflect only the "individualistic approach" to moral responsibility. According to
this approach, every person in an organization is morally responsible for his or her own behavior,
and any efforts to change that behavior should focus on the individual. When facing such
dilemmas, the weights we assign to certain values will sometimes lead us to choose those
organizational policies or actions that will promote the common good. At other times, our values
will lead us to choose those policies or actions that will protect the interests and rights of the
individual.
Perhaps the greatest challenge in discussions of ethics in organizations is to find ways in
which organizations can be designed to promote the interests of both (Brown, 2008). Having
self discipline when dealing with ethical behavior is important, to ensure that the rules are being
properly followed. Instead, it is important for you to recognize that people’s ethical values can
be as diverse as human culture. That is why no amount of argumentation is necessary when
appealing to theories you accept, it is likely to only influence someone who agrees with a
different ethical viewpoint. This means that if you want to be understood by and to influence
someone who has a different ethical underpinning than you do, you must first determine his
ethical viewpoint and then speak in an ethical language that will be understood and accepted by
him (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers & Langvardt, 2010, p. 93).

5. Understanding ethical theories helps to emphasize unusual aspects of an ethical problem and
lead to the most ethically correct resolution. These theories focus on the consequences of a
decision that are teleological ethical theories. Other theories focus on the decision or action
itself, irrespective of what results it produces. Theories that focus on decisions or actions alone
are deontological ethical theories (Mallor, Barnes Bowers & Langvardt, 2010, P. 93). There are
four parts to the ethical theories they are right theory, justice theory, utilitarianism, and profit
maximization. Each ethical theory plays an imperative part of the decision-making process.
These ethical theories help us to make the right decisions in our lives.
A code of ethics is a set of guidelines which are designed to set out acceptable behaviors for
members of a particular group, association, or profession. Many organizations govern
themselves with a code of ethics, especially when they handle sensitive issues like investments,
health care, or interactions with other cultures. In the business world, many organizations tend
to use a code of ethics to ensure that their employees act in a responsible manner. An
organization with a code of ethics may also be viewed more favorably by members of the public,
which means that a code of ethics is a sound business decision (Smith, 2010). It’s essential for
businesses to adapt a code of ethics to help deal with the employee’s behavior. Many large
corporations and several industries have adopted code of ethics or code of conduct to guide
executives and other employees. Better corporate ethics codes make clear that the corporation
expects employees not to violate the law in a mistaken belief that loyalty to the corporation or
corporate profitability requires it. These codes work best, when an organization gives its
employees an outlet for dealing with a superior’s request to do an unethical act (Mallor, Barnes,
Bowers & Langvardt, 2010, p. 99). The effectiveness of these codes of ethics depends on the

6. extent to which management supports them with sanctions and rewards. As long as managers
should clearly explain what is needed and expected by employees to enforce this process.
The intent of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to protect investors by improving the accuracy and
reliability of corporate disclosures made pursuant to the securities laws, and for other purposes.
The Sarbanes-Oxley Act created new standards for corporate accountability as well as new
penalties for acts of wrongdoing. This changes how corporate boards and executives must
interact with each other and with corporate auditors. It also removes the defense of , "I wasn't
aware of financial issues" from CEOs and CFOs, holding them accountable for the accuracy of
financial statements. The Act specifies new financial reporting responsibilities, including
adherence to new internal controls and procedures designed to ensure the validity of their
financial records.
The US Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in the wake of a myriad of corporate scandals. What
these scandals had in common was skewed reporting of selected financial transactions. For
instance, companies such as Enron, WorldCom and Tyco covered up or misrepresented a variety
of questionable transactions, resulting in huge losses to stakeholders, people losing their jobs,
homes, and a crisis in investor confidence. Sarbanes-Oxley aims to enhance corporate
governance and strengthen corporate accountability (www.sox-online.com). This law has been
put in place as a means of controlling corporate misdeeds. Lawmakers usually assume that
corporations and executives are rational actors that can be deterred from unethical and socially
irresponsible behavior by the threats law presents. Those threats are fines and civil damages,
such as those imposed and increased by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. For deterrence to work,
however, corporate decisions makers must know when the law’s penalties will be impose, fear

7. those penalties, and act rationally to avoid them (Mallor, Barnes, Bowers & Langvardt, 2010, p.
103). Ethical and socially responsibility is the main purpose for encouraging their employees to
do better.
Avoiding making bad ethical business decisions will help limit the risk of being unethical.
There are times when it may be hard to avoid making ethical decisions, but you have to think
about how your decisions and actions will not only affect you, but your employer as well.
Helping employees to recognize and understand the negative consequences of their behavior is
important. Managers who motivate with incentives and the power of their vision and passion
succeed only in energizing employees who want to be motivated. A manager cannot motivate
intractable employees. Instead of pushing solutions on problem employees, the manager should
pull solutions out of them by creating circumstances in which the employees can channel their
motivation toward achievable goals. This makes the employee feel as if they aren’t being
singled out, but being appreciated. That means addressing any obstacles that might be hindering
the employees from reaching their potential and helps them to work harder to be more
productive. This method demands that a manager take charge of a difficult situation and resolve
it (Nicholson, 2003). Managers should lead by example, meaning do not do anything that is
unethical and expect your team members, to not behave the same way. That is why it is
important to provide the right training for all new and old employees.
Providing ethical training for employees will help limit unethically and socially irresponsible
behavior. You give the people under your charge tasks to complete, supervise their work, help
them complete the tasks, and provide motivation and feedback to ensure that the current job will
be done well and that future work will be done better. No one can lead ethically who does not

8. attempt and mostly succeed in behaving ethically in her business and personal life (Mallor,
Barnes, Bowers & Langvardt, 2010, p. 119). Providing feedback is needed to motivate and
encourage employees to continuously improve. It’s necessary for mangers to lead by example,
that the other employees will know what behavior will be accepted and what will not tolerated.
You can’t expect your employee to do something that you aren’t doing yourself, therefore doing
the thing which is right is always the best choice. There may be situations where, the employer
has to do something that maybe unethical to its employees, but if it will help save the company,
then there should be an exception.
In conclusion what makes an organization successful and keeps clients coming back, is
good ethical standards, as well as goods and services. If one believes that an organization has all
things that they’re looking for, but lacks ethical values, then they will take their business
elsewhere. Learning how to properly run a business/organization ethically is important to the
success of the business. Organizations can influence ethical behavior by enforcing continuous
process improvements and by promoting those employees who display this behavior. The
Sarbanes-Oxley Act created new standards for corporate accountability as well as new penalties
for acts of wrongdoing. Also that Sarbanes-Oxley Act is to enhance corporate governance and
strengthen corporate accountability. Effective organizational culture deals with the issues of
ethical behavior and by providing ethical training to employees is beneficial to maintain this
variety of behavior measures. Ethics is a very important part of our everyday lives and helps us
to make decisions that will not just affect our lives, but others around us as well. Providing
ethical training for employees will help limit unethically and socially irresponsible behavior and
help them to make effective decisions. When, I think about the Secret Service sex scandal, I have
to ask the question, of “Where are your ethical standards?” I also understand that everyone is

9. entitled to live how they chose outside of work, but something’s are just commonsense. I believe
that the actions that are being taken against these agents, are appropriate and to let others know
that this behavior is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. Bringing in more female agents can
make things better, to some point, but can also make the situation worse. When in cases like the
Secret Service sex scandal, I believe that the agents have to think about what is most important
and always keep the ethical prospective in mind. What would be the ethical thing to do in any
situation and how it will not only affect you, but the people in your life as well. There is an
ethical standard that all employees are to up hold. Once, they deter from that, then that is when
all the problems come in things begin to go wrong. Overall, it is important to have ethics in your
organizations in order to be successful and keep loyal clients and new clients. Ethics help us to
make sound decisions in our lives that will not only affect us, but those around us as well.

10. References
Brown, M. (2008) Ethics in Organizations Saint Clara University. Retrieved April 23, 2012,
from http://www.scu.edu/ethics/publications/iie/v2n1/
Kinicki, A. & Kreitner, R. (2009). Organizational key concepts, skills & best practices (4th Ed.).
Boston: McGraw-Hill.
Mallor, J.P., Barnes, A.J., Bowers, T., & Langvardt, A.W. (2010). Business Law: The
Ethical, global, and ecommerce environment (14th Ed.). New York: Irwin/McGraw
Hill.
Nicholson, N. (2003, January). How to motivate your problem people. Harvard Business
Review, 81(1), 56-65. Retrieved April 23, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document
ID: 272453461).
Sarbanes-Oxley Essential Information. (2003-2006). The Vendor-Neutral Sarbanes-Oxley Site.
Retrieved April 23, 2012 from http://www.sox-online.com/basics.html
Smith, SE. (2010). What is a Code of Ethics. Retrieved April 23, 2012, from
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-a-code-of-ethics.htm
Stableford, D. (2012, April). Secret Service sex scandal: Congressional members call for wider
probe, more female agents. ABC OTUS News. Retrieved April 23, 2012, from
http://news.yahoo.com/secret-sex-scandal-congressional-members-call-wider-probe-
003639735.html