Ethical Standards: Issue of Behaviors for Success and Profitability

ETHICS is defined as ‘the discipline dealing with what is good and bad and with moral duty and obligation’ – Webster’s 9^th New Collegiate Dictionary. In the organizations, ethical standards are set mainly as the guide for good ethical behaviors. It is aspired that by upholding the ethical standards, organizations will prosper for the benefits of the people.

Anyhow, as the issue of power and politics are common in the organizations, there are people of interest that frequently putting aside the ethical standards. In their attempts to climb the desired ladder of success, or maintain their positions, or bring up their organizations to a higher level, they may skip normal procedures of accomplishing tasks and not adhering to the ethical responsibilities.

Success and profitability, either individually or organizationally aimed, are among the causes that lead people to neglecting the ethical standards.

In the governmental organizations, for example, lower and middle managers are often not presenting to the knowledge of the upper managements about the real problems within their responsible units. Presenting the truth might encapsulated their deficient in the managerial capabilities, thus would affect their opportunities for promotion and other future prosperities. While at times, the upper managements themselves are often making critical and self-beneficial decisions, which they likely claimed are for the benefits of the organization, without considering the welfare of the employees.

Whether these managers are conscious or not about their ethical behaviors, but those attitudes are having some relation with the issues of seeking or maintaining certain power, or complying with the organizational politics, meant for individual success.

As for the business organizations, particularly in competing to lead the market, some would skip the ethical standards. Dumping the less quality or fake products in the market is considered unethical, but in doing so, besides the selling power they could achieve, they also gain great profitability. In other circumstance, some companies would rather give bride to the government officials in return of securing the project awards. The many reported cases of improper disposing of hazardous waste products (such as the toxic waste) by factories in attempts to avoid the normal disposal cost, is another example where ethical standards are being neglected for the reason of profitability.

Thus, among the many that are safe-guarding their integrity, there are common that some organizations, governmental or business, do frequently skip the ethical standards for certain benefits. And behind it, the reality is the people in the organizations – how their ethical behaviors are associated with the desired success and profitability.

Five Potential Benefits of Strategic Alliance

NOWADAYS, strategic alliance has become a common strategy to businesses. Two or more enterprises choose to form a partnership and work cooperatively to achieve their mutually beneficial objectives.

In a plain view, strategic alliance just reflects the desire of enterprises to achieve their independent business objectives cooperatively. But, in the true fact of today’s globalizes and complex market place, there is the need to make such a business arrangement in order to gain competitive advantages among the fierce competitors in the market place. 

Enterprises that enter into strategic alliance usually expect to benefit in one or more ways. Some of the potential benefits that enterprises could achieve are such as:

i.          Gaining capabilities

An enterprise may want to produce something or to enquire certain resources that it lacks in the knowledge, technology and expertise. It may need to share those capabilities that the other firms have. Thus, strategic alliance is the opportunity for the enterprise to achieve its objectives in this aspect. Further to that, in later time the enterprise also could then use the newly acquired capabilities by itself and for its own purposes.

ii.         Easier access to target markets

Introducing the product into a new market can be complicated and costly. It may expose the enterprise to several obstacles such as entrench competition, hostile government regulations and additional operating complexity. There are also the risks of opportunity costs and direct financial losses due to improper assessment of the market situations. 

Choosing a strategic alliance as the entry mode will overcome some of those problems and help reduce the entry cost. For example, an enterprise can license a product to its alliance to widen the market of that particular product.

iii.        Sharing the financial risk

Enterprises can make use of the strategic arrangement to reduce their individual enterprise’s financial risk. For example, when two firms jointly invested with equal share on a project, the greatest potential that each of them stand to loose is only half of the total project cost in case the venture failed.

iv.        Winning the political obstacle

Bringing a product into another country might confront the enterprise with political factors and strict regulations imposed by the national government. Some countries are politically restrictive while some are highly concerned about the influence of foreign firms on their economics that they require foreign enterprises to engage in the joint venture with local firms. In this circumstance, strategic alliance will enable enterprises to penetrate the local markets of the targeted country.

v.         Achieving synergy and competitive advantage

Synergy and competitive advantage are elements that lead businesses to greater success. An enterprise may not be strong enough to attain these elements by itself, but it might possible by joint efforts with another enterprise. The combination of individual strengths will enable it to compete more effectively and achieve better than if it attempts on its own.

For example, to create a favorable brand image in the consumer’s mind is costly and time-consuming. For this reason, an enterprise deciding to introduce its new product may need a strategic arrangement with another enterprise that has a ready image in the market.

AS a conclusion, strategic alliance is beneficial and it can exists in many forms. As mentioned above, cooperation in the sharing of production facilities, combining of knowledge, skills and technology, marketing of each other’s products using existing distribution networks and co-funding of projects are the collective forms of strategic alliances.

Inefficient communication flow

INEFFICIENCY in the communication flow can cause serious problems, but whether we realize or not, it is a common phenomenon exists in the organizations. In our daily work-life, we often stumbled upon the situation whereby important messages sent has taken unreasonable long time to reach the receiver. At times, the message becomes worthless when it is already obsolete by the time we received it, or even worst when the message just disappeared and untraceable.

There are many of such inefficiencies that you might have experienced, and they lead to poor performance and other unwanted consequences to the organization. A few common cases are such as: 

• Receiving the invitation for attending meetings in the last minute. The meetings would had been more effective should you were acknowledged earlier that you would be more prepared. Imagine the situation when the meeting requires you to make decision on certain important matter, but you have not properly study or not having enough information about the subject. Bad decision endangers the future.  
• Receiving the request for supplying certain products with abnormal time left. For example, the normal time needed to provide the product is 7 work-days, but now it is only 2 work-days to go. Since that is a directive, you still have to ‘by hook or by crook’ make the supply ready. But the consequence is the quality might not arrive to the specified standard.   
• Not receiving the notification on new policy or rules or procedures concerning the management or technical matters in the department. By that, you are not aware of the changes and tend to commit mistakes in managing the relevant activities.  

Then you found out the poor part of the mentioned cases. The formal letters of invitation, request and notification were actually had been sent out for you with ample time should the flow was efficient. But, most of the delays were due to the high hierarchical steps and the poor attitudes and habits of the concerned managers in responding to process the letters to the next authority in the line. What a depriving practice if a product request letter with a date line took much longer time in traveling through the hierarchies and left with very little time for the production staff.

Those are only few common cases that might have happened repetitively. In fact, there are many more and similarly experienced by other staff in our organizations.  

Efficient communication flow is important to facilitate a smooth process of activities. Whether the message is verbal or non-verbal, downward or upward, they must arrive at the target receiver within a practical time. For this purpose, each organization should strive on developing its own compatible method of efficient communication flow.  

Nevertheless, no matter how good the technique and technology we used, but more importantly is to improve the attitude and habits of the people in dealing with the communication flow.