MMC 640: Ethics and Decision-Making Week 8 Blog Entry

As the course proceeded to divulge a plethora of decision-making data, a few things stood out that initially caught my attention.  First, Common Biases (Chapter 2), Fairness and Ethics in Decision Making (Chapter 7) and Improving Decision Making (Chapter 11) seem to be the common denominator in any decision-making process.  Regardless of the leadership and management styles that you choose to employ, these three subjects can be universal and easy to apply.  I feel that they are the core to any successful organization and the people who manage it.

Next, I learned that although you may be in charge, there’s always room to grow.  A lot of people have too much pride that will eventually blind their thought process.  It’s okay to admit when you are wrong or when you need help.  People will always judge you but there’s no need to give them ammunition against you.  Your thought process will reproduce the ideas you intended to conjure up in the results of the decisions that you make on a daily basis.  I feel this is critical in the decision-making process because our lack of or too much emotion can cause us to make bad, possibly unethical choices.

Finally, I always apply the phrase “knowledge is power” to my thought process when making business declarations.  After reviewing all the information in our text and assignments, I realized that the smartest person is not always the most educated person in the room.  It may be as simple as the person who applies the most simple, ethical and common ideas but makes better choices.  I’m constantly reminded about this when I come to work.  There are people who will try to impress people with their rank or positions within their corporations but will end up making a fool of themselves.  After seeing both sides of good and bad leaders, I remind myself to stand for what you believe in and realize that everything will come full circle eventually.  Always remember that “you don’t have to be sick to get better.”

MMC 640 Ethics and Decision-Making Week 4 Blog Entry

Although some people may disagree, I feel the Seven Layers of Integrity can be applied to any profession and be successfully executed within any organization.  Since we are almost halfway done with the Ethics and Decision Making Course, the first four weeks have had a huge impact on the overall decision-making process. 

Week One focused on laws at work and how they impact our performance and ability to accomplish our mission.  It seems like today’s employers and some individuals are willing to break the law in order to make an extra buck.  I’ve learned that these actions will have a domino effect on not only their employees but the economy/community as well.  Which is worse, the laws being broken or code of ethics being violated? 

Breaking the law means you probably violated some form of ethics.  The same could be said for disregarding ethics to breach the law.  Professionalism must be administered and exhibited regardless of the location and type of job.  The more people, coworkers and friends respect you, the more they will do what’s right on a regular basis.  Maybe it will take a few people to stand up and say something during bad business ethics because thy can quickly spiral out of control.  The Enron Scandal is a classic example of what can happen when professionalism, ethics and laws are all disregarded. 

Despite the fact that these are all just bad choices, we all have to be accountable for our actions.  The fallout affects our families as well.  How do you explain to your children and other family members that you broke a lot of rules and were a bad example for your peers?  What do you expect them to say?  Maybe people should think about these questions prior to going through with any decision.