Philosophical Legal Ethics And Personal Integrity

Importance of Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI)

Discuss about the Philosophical Legal Ethics and Personal Integrity.

Ethics is demonstrating our values when faced with situations that test our moral compass. Ethics determines the choices we make and the implications derived. The ethical lens inventory is a specially designed evaluation tool that assists people to understand their core values that influence their decisions in life(Marcuse 2015, p.1260). The Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI) is critical to understand and point out individuals values in addition to how they prioritize their values when making ethical decisions. The Lens’s ultimate goal is to help students to minimize unnecessary conflict with their colleagues, make better ethical judgments and enjoy their lives’ moral values with confidence and integrity. The ELI gives an indication of strengths, gifts, temptation points, and hubris. Our personal value liking places us in a particular ethical lens that emphasizes on various secondary values.

The ELI provides awareness about appropriate moral priorities, strengths, and blind spots. The ELI seeks to create global citizens. A global citizen is a resident of a given country who sees themselves as part of a new sustainable global community. The behavior of a global citizen must support the values and practices the community upholds. Values evolve over time, and a global citizen should keep close tabs on them. The main area of concern for a global citizen is the values and issues a community stresses upon. A global citizen is an integral element in a community. Global citizens have responsibilities required of them. To become a global citizen a person has to have a knowledge of the values he upholds. These values impact your ethical decision-making ability when faced with ethical dilemmas(Marcuse 2015, p.1261). Personal ethics is essential to identify how an individual prioritizes core values when making moral decisions.

I have never been a good judge of character of other people. I always tend to see the good in people even if others are of a different opinion. On the start of the semester, I started an innovative small group whereby we offered each other creative ideas and financial assistance where possible to start a project. The group had four members including three gentlemen and one lady. Since we were all friends we had stricken a good rapport and everything was going according to our plans. Our vision was to create innovations that could help solve societal problems. Our innovative ideas were simple but adhered to environmental conservation and community economic development. One of our friends engaged in the solar lighting business. He had created a solar lamp, which would also act as a portable torch. Furthermore, the lamp could charge smartphones through USB.

The Consequences of Trusting the Wrong Person

In the middle of the semester, we encountered a problem in our finance department. The group was running out of funds, and our projects were only at the starter stage. We had to source for funds as soon as possible. We talked to our families and friends, but it was up to no vain. As we were running out of options, we decided to approach a certain businessman in the community. He was well known for his vast fortune but had poor public image due to his corrupt nature. He had made his empire through ‘fraudulent’ means. The task was to show him a glimpse of our projects and discuss on how much he would lend us and at what interest rate. As the other group members were against the idea, I went and made a deal on behalf of the group to secure the needed funds.

We plowed the money into our small business ventures and worked tirelessly to make more money and repay the loan we had just taken. Little did I know that I had just made a deal with an unscrupulous man? We were repaying our loan in bits as per our agreement but then the corrupt lender started demanding more. He started asking for more installments as he saw that our business ventures were doing well, and we could repay the loan. At the moment when he began asking for more money is when I realized that he did not lend us money to save our business. He had hopes that we would fail in repaying the debt so he could take over our companies and ideas to benefit his selfish gains.

In the end, we had to go through a big hustle to get all the remaining money we owed him and paid it in one installment. Paying him the debt at once was our only chance of cutting ties with him. I had trusted the wrong person without listening to advice from my friends. I saw the right side of the business person even though I was warned. Looking back at the whole experience, I realized I should not have trusted the man so quickly. Due to my values, I thought I made an ethical choice for everyone but in reality, I had messed up. I felt that the community was unjustly treating the businessman, and I could give him a fair chance to show his real character. Repaying the loan in one installment crippled our businesses and we had to start from scratch.

Importance of Decision Making in Business Ventures

Decision making is a very important tool in the success of a business venture. Through making the right decisions, a leader can tap into the whole potential of an organization and maximize profits (Zylberman 2015, p.862). It is not always easy to make ethical decisions knowing that you have to forego another opportunity which could be more profitable. Over the last summer holiday, I worked as a human resource assistant in a profitable organization. I had designated roles within the organization as the human resource department is ever busy. My daily duties included setting up interviews, calling the candidates to invite them for the interviews and occasionally being on the interview panel. This meant that I was part of the decision being made on the most suitable candidate to be selected for the job. During recruitment, the selection is a very critical step. It is often easy to find a good candidate to fill a position or join the firm, but it is hard to place that person in the right position and at the right time.

In the midst of the summer, a position fell vacant due to the unfortunate death of an employee. The position had to be filled immediately as it was a crucial management position. We called and invited candidates for the interviewing process. Gladly, I was a member of the interviewing panel, and we had to make a choice for the right candidate. As the final decision rests with the human resource manager, he settled on an excellent employee who proved to be better in the interview process. Unfortunately, the candidate had poor skills and knowledge in the required field but was the best in the interview. We then proceeded to hire the guy and place him in the empty position.

At first, all seemed to be well and sundry, but as the organization started facing challenges, it is when problems with the candidate’s skills and knowledge started to manifest. Assignments would be done sub standard or submitted late, and poor decisions were made. A few weeks to performance evaluation, the organization began overcoming the challenges and competition to become a market leader. During this time the performance of the new employee improved a little bit. During the performance evaluation exercise, the human resource manager evaluated his performance highly in spite of the previous dismal performances. If I were the human resource manager, I would not have employed the guy just by passing an interview. It is a very common knowledge that the best in an interview are not the best potential employees(Hill and Mulvey 2014, p.165). A person can train specifically to pass an interview even though he does not have the required skills and knowledge. The decision to employ the unsuitable candidate was a poor decision that cannot be justified by continuing to have the employee work in the organization. Global citizenship requires a person to engage ethically and productively in the professional context (Torres 2015, p.264).

The Ethics of Recruitment

Moral sensitivity and awareness are critical values to be upheld in the workplace. I worked in a particular sales company in the year 2015 as a part time sales agent. My job was out in the field, so I was in the office occasionally. I was not relevant to the culture adopted by employees especially the sales agents. After a while, I discovered that a good number of the sales agents and senior employees were overstating their travel reimbursements. They were overstating their travel expenses to increase their pay package. Fellow employees encouraged me to adopt the same values and do the same. To them, it was not a big deal, and it was a way to get payback against the organization’s management for little compensation. They urged me to be part of the unethical process, and I would become a full member of the group. They would encourage each other in spreading the vice.

This was a tough choice to make as I was being compensated a little and I needed the extra money to cater for my expenses. I had to make a decision to either adhere to the moral values of the society or adopt to the new culture of dishonesty. I had to consider my fidelity to the company, loyalty to other employees and global citizenship. Being a firm believer of the global citizenship initiative, I had to make a decision as not all values can be upheld at the same time(Sherman 2016, p.633). Since I strongly believe in my ethical values of autonomy, equality, rationality and sensibility. Because I can make ethical choices for myself and others, I had to make the best option suitable for that situation. I made a decision not to follow in the footsteps of my fellow colleagues. I brought the matter to the attention of the management. The company had to respond to the issue and respond with strict company policies to prevent any future loss. Had I engaged in the same unethical habitual behavior I would have become habituated to violating all aspects of my ethical framework. Nevertheless, I did not comprise on my personal ethics. To be a global citizen, it is only right to adhere to the moral values of the society and my core values of equality, rationality, sensibility and the virtue of justice.

Conclusion

To be a global citizen, a person has to engage in the required decent set of behavior and act professionally. Personal ethical values determine the kind of choices we make when confronted with ethical situations. Understanding your ethical lens inventory results is key to living an ethical life of moral values and becoming a global citizen. Ethics and moral values are pillars that hold a society together. A global citizen should be dedicated to teaching these values and upholding them wherever he or she goes to. Global citizenship is a community and is not controlled by any border lines. It is the moral responsibility of each individual to uphold the right moral values and help make the society a better place.

References

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