To have peace and order in the society or any place where there is a conglomeration of working undertaking or living therein, there are laws and ethics which govern the place. There are differences in law and ethics as laws can be defined as the legal system which comprises of principles and rules which are set by the governing authority to govern the affairs of the community concerned (Gostin, 2011). On the contrary, ethics are defined as the moral guidelines which are put forth by the society and followed by it or the individual.
In a general term, ethics are the moral compasses with which a person makes some specific personal choices and resolves to abide by them.
Laws can be viewed as the system which comprises of principles and rules which govern the society (Twiss & Lauritzen, 2010). Therefore, there is a sense in which ethics are derived from the good will of the law, but they ussually differ completely on the purpose, basis, and foundation.
In any job industry laws ussually govern the functionality and the essence in which businesses are conducted therein. In many cases, laws and regulation can have a positive aspect in the working environment and gauge on what has been happening; one can determine that some laws have been job-killing. For example, there are costs which are imposed by firms, and they are then passed along to the industry informed of the high cost of prices by the industry. In turn, consumers start buying less and looking for alternatives supplies. This reduces sales, often leads to the industry invoking the process of lay off hence causing eventual loss of jobs.
Due to the factor of climatic adaptation and mitigation programs, regulations have resulted to the enactments of laws which are for pollution abatement and other upgrades to combat climatic change. This is in the manner that it can either create jobs or have a situation where some jobs are lost in the sense of creating avenues for climatic mitigation. Also, firms incur more operational costs due to the aspect of buying new facilities for climate adaptation and switching to a green economy and clean energy.
Regulations on some of the products and services which are offered by certain industries can influence a substantial change in consumer buying patterns. In this case, changes in the buying patterns ussually have a negative impact on the annual turnover of sales of the industry’s leading to financial crunches. It is evident that many of the laws and regulations which are given are done for the benefit of the consumers. However, many are times when they have a negative impact on the functionality of services and jobs as they are offered by the industry.
Ethics are essential in the workplace because they are some of the factors which contribute to the protection of the assets of the workplace. Employees who abide by the workplace ussually have a high affinity to respect and protect the assets of the business. There is a sense in which workers are more able to protect the property of the company if the atmosphere of the workplace treats them with respect and dignity (Calder, 2012). For example, it would make some employees desist from making long calls for personal reasons using the company business lines. Good ethics in a workplace would increase the pride of the employees which would result to them desisting from stealing workplace supplies and equipment.
Another issue makes the ethics integral to the workplace is that they increase productivity and team work. This is because of it forester the alignment of business values with those of the employees in the work place. Good ethics of a business is fundamental because it enhances the integrity, openness, and sense of community among the employees (Calder, 2012). This increases motivation which improves the performance of the employees and teamwork. In this case, ethics will ensure that productivity of the company only if they are well aligned with the values of the workers.
Good ethical choices are critical in the building of a strong public image which can make one earn a lot of respect. For example, the corporate social responsibility, in this case, can be increased if the company was to have a plan to reduce the waste discharges and a sustainable waste disposal. In this case, the public can view the business to be operating in integrity and honor because it values the welfare of the citizens more that profits (Calder, 2012).
Having some strong ethical values will build a good public image which would result in earning of more clients and services and products being well received in the marketing. Therefore, customers would develop a higher level of trust in the business and lead to its growth and expansion.
In any organization, it is normal to have disagreements and disputes among the employees themselves and between the employees and the employer or between the company and the clients.
According to Brett (2015) Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is one of the mechanisms which can be used by companies to resolve conflicts. There are several of them which include, mediation, arbitration, natural evaluation and settlement conferences. Mediation is used when the parties have a relation to preserving and which involves an impartial mediator to reach an agreement. Arbitration is when an arbitrator hears arguments from both sides and then gives a verdict on the matter. Natural evaluation is when the there is an expert in the problem where he or she gives an opinion of the weakness and strength of every side (Brett, 2015).
In the company, since it is a professional entity, major conflicts are resolved using the natural evaluation. This is in a sense there will make enough conviction of resolution since an expert will have the upper hand in the resolution process because of expertise. The other commonly used ADR is mediation. This is essential because it caters for the minor conflicts which are among the employees themselves. Typically, the mediator is ussually someone in the management who comes to assist the conflicting parties to reach an agreement. The other one which is ussually to the employees and the employer is majorly arbitration which involves a panel which seeks to arbitrate between conflicting parties.
To conclude, laws and ethics are critical for the functionality and profitability of the company. In this sense laws and ethics are different in which a person should do or what he must do. In a for profits entity, laws and regulation can have a detrimental effect if they invoke drastic changes in the operations of businesses especially if they are made for the benefit of the society. However, ethics are essential because they influence the conduct of the employees in the manner that if they are well intentioned, they will increase profits and the client base. Alternative conflict resolution mechanism is critical for the better functioning of the company since it will influence the bond in which the people will share in the long run.
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