CPS: Acceptance Post
My group chose to explore the topic “business ethics” and I was assigned to study the subcategory “public influence” and how that plays into business ethics holistically. I enjoyed completing my part of the morphological analysis and diving deeper into the positive and negative “hows” that public influence has over business ethics, including accountability and honesty (+) as well as defensiveness and reluctance (-). Accepting to participate in this project and to personally explore public influence has been beneficial thus far because I’ve been able to defy my assumptions around the effect that public voices have over company considerations. Prior to this project, I put business ethics and social responsibility in the same category. I didn’t understand that business ethics involves knowing what is right or wrong for the company and its employees, whereas social responsibility is about understanding the impact one’s business is making in society. Moving forward, I better understand how public influence affects how companies either defensively justify their actions, versus how they seek accountability and own up to their decisions after being questioned by the public. Having business ethics lays the foundation for strategic decision-making and allows stakeholders to participate in the process. This is beneficial to me, especially as I navigate my professional career, because workers and leaders of a business are often characterized by their ethical behavior and socially acceptable decisions. Moreover, the incorporation of business ethics helps build and maintain reputation and relationships. Putting all business aside, maintaining strong morals and prioritizing my relationships is a high priority in my personal life. I think putting an emphasis on ethics in my professional life will further how I inclusively and effectively make decisions for the greater good and for myself too.