Ethical and Unethical Behaviour at Workplace |

Ethical Behaviour Within the Work Place:

Ethical behaviour is behaviour that is appropriate. It is based on morals. Ethical behaviour is the right way to behave. It is choosing the right and good. Ethical behaviour is when someone is being on his or her best behaviour. All of their actions and words are following good moral principles.

                       


People enjoy being around others who have a good ethical behaviour. It is the behaviour that is morally accepted as ‘good’, ‘right’ in a particular setting.

They have set out the rules and regulations that need to be adhered to by those in their employ. This is mainly because an individual’s conduct can affect the relationships within an organization, thereby taking a negative toll on the overall performance of an organization.

Unethical Behaviour Within the Work Place:

Unethical behaviour is any action that is aimed at taking advantage of another without their knowledge or consent. It can also be defined as manipulating someone without his or her permission.

                    

Unethical behaviour is a way of acting that society disapproves of. It is the behaviour that is ‘bad’; ‘wrong’ in a particular setting. Profuse languages, acting violent towards others are some examples of unethical behaviour.

Examples of Unethical Behaviour at Workplace:

Unethical behaviour in the workplace can take many forms.

Some of the examples are:

a. Some employees may pass off the work of others as their own.

                 

b. Others may misrepresent themselves as a way to convince others to buy a product or service that they are selling.

                 


c. Others may lie about their expenses in order to get a larger

reimbursement check from their employer every month.

Wal-Mart unethical Business Practices

Wal -Mart ,the big giant,the place where a lot of people usually do their shopping for the low prices and variety of products was founded by Sam Walton. In fact Wal-mart is considered  to be the biggest company in the U.S. and it has stores worldwide.
According to PBS "Wal-Mart employs ,ore people than any other company in USA outside of  the federal government , yet the majority of its employs with children live below the poverty line "
Wal-Mart has been subjected to criticism by various groups and individuals. Labour unions , community groups , grassroots organisations , religious organisations protest against Wal-Mart , the company policies and business practices, and Wal-Mart customers.

                                                                       

 As a matter of fact , the big giant is facing significant amount of controversy for unethical business practices . In fact, some of these unethical business practices include the following :

Unfair treatment of employees :-

Wal-Mart has been accused of discriminating against women . Women had been denied training and promotion opportunities that are offered to men .  In addition women are underpaid . That is men are paid more than women . There are over seventy percent of women working at Wal-Mart but only a small amount of them are mangers . In addition  " Wal-Mart is the nations  employer of women but unfortunately they are being treated without dignity and respect " . So it seems that discrimination is a big problem at Wal-Mart.
                                                               

Use of illegal workers 

Wal-Mart has benn accused of allowing illegal immigrants to work in its stores . In this case , federal investigators say Wal-Mart executives knew that contractors were using illegal immigrants as they had been  helping the federal government with an investigation for the previous 3 years .  Some critics said that Wal-Mart has directly hired illegal immigrants , while Wal-Mart claims they were  employed by contractors who won bids to work for Wal-Mart.

Working Conditions :-

Wal-Mart has also faced accusation's involving poor working conditions of its employs
For example , a 2005 class action lawsuit  in Missouri asserted  people who were forced to work of off-the-clock  , were denied overtime pay , or were not allowed to take rest and lunch breaks 
Wal-Mart has also been accused of ethical problems . It is said that Wal-Mart employs are gender discriminated when trying to be hired and treated in the work area . The men and women not being created in the work force is what Wal-Mart has been doing and what they should essentially and not be doing .



Allegations of Predatory pricing and supplier issues:
Wal-Mart has been accused of selling merchandise at such low costs that competitors have tried to sue it for predatory pricing (intentionally selling a product at low cost in order to drive competitors out of the market).Wal-Mart  has been accused of using monophonic power to force its suppliers into self defeating practises.          

 Harm  to Endangered  Species:

The furniture sold in 2007 at Wal-Mart was made from wood which had been illegally logged in protected Russian habitats for Siberian  and other wildlife . Wal-Mart promised to stop selling products that used wood from  those areas , but not until the year 2013 . 

Conclusion :

The companies that survive are the ones that can spot ethical issues and correct them before they become problems   .
In this case Wal-Mart failed to acknowledge those potential problems and they are  probably  going to pay for  it. Thus , Wal-Mart 's unethical business practices have hurt its company's reputation .

Unethical Marketing Practices Of Diet Coke

An increasing trend these days is diet drinks, some of which are lower in calories than regular soft drinks or even calorie-free altogether. However, just because these drinks have the label “diet” on them, does not mean that you should jump to the conclusion that they are healthier for you.

Loaded with aspartame, cyclamates and saccharin, artificial sweeteners in diet drinks have been determined to cause cancer in laboratory animals. Diet Coke is an example of unethical marketing where the company, Coca Cola is making false advertising claims. One particular marketing campaign that Coca Cola launched was endorsed by Karl Lagerfeld , the Chanel designer who claimed to have lost 80 pounds on a diet composed mainly of Diet Coke. Karl says “I drink Diet Coke from the minute I get up to the minute I go to bed … I drink nothing else.”

By using stick thin models and fashion designers who are obsessed with body image only makes the situation worse because it is giving women, especially young women, the wrong message. They are being told that obsessive dieting is acceptable and that Diet Coke is the key to being thin and beautiful. This is very detrimental to young girls as it has negative impacts on their self-esteem and body image.
                                             

Coca Cola should not be using Karl Lagerfeld’s radical dieting ways as a means of promoting their product. Rather, they should limit such extreme statements and use regular everyday people in their ads so as not to give the wrong message about Diet Coke being directly correlated to a “healthy” body.