Analysis of Ethics and Values
Value shows what is right and what is wrong whereas doing what is right or wrong is determined by ethics. When one says that behave ethically, they mean behave in the right way. (Portman, 2010). By ethics we mean certain standards of conduct that shows how one should behave and fulfill the duties and responsibilities
Professional Values and Ethics
Professional values and ethics refer to set of standards of conduct that supports the prestige of various professions that exist in the society. These set of principles indicate that how a particular professional group should behave in the society and what personal qualities they need to develop and in what way they are supposed to communicate at the workplace as well as with others in the society. For example for scientists moral principles involve integrity and patriotism. Justice and sincerity are the ethics for judiciary. Professional ethics become an important part of an organization because it increases the productivity of the organization as it indicates the way people should communicate with each other and the way they should carry out their responsibilities.
Ethics for Military Organization
Everyone agrees to the fact that integrity, honesty and moral conduct are important elements in a good human being but what people dont agree is that these standards are applied equally for both personal and professional lives. An employee thinks that as long as his task are fulfilled, his employer should not care about his private conduct and he has all the rights to drinks, cheat take drugs or whatever he wants to do in his personal life. This may be true for the civilian sector but in the military there is different view. They do not tolerate drugs or alcohol. They do not allow sexual involvement with others in the workplace and severe punishments are given for dishonesty. Senior leaders say that for them private and public line are erased they cannot do what they want to do even in private as they answerable for the entire act that they do in private life as well.
Military Ethics and Ethical Concepts
Military ethics refers to the code of conduct of military personnel while performing military activities. This concept of military ethics revolves around three sub concepts. The first concept refers to suitable behavior of individual for their profession, proper understanding of their standard mission and the assignments given to them and the right manner through which they can achieve their missions.
The second concept underlines the suitable conduct of the military which is based on the fact that military members belong to a specific profession. The third concept specifies proper conduct of military members as a citizen of a free society where people are expected to respect the dignity of humans and adhering to the values of the democratic society.
Professionalism Concept
Military ethics is based on complete professionalism which identifies the military members as professionals. Just as all other professionals are expected to perform their duties in a certain manner the same military members are also required to adhere to the values and principles of the society.
Conception of Owing
There are three Os on which the military ethics rely. These include owing, ordering and to ought. Military officers are indebted to a lot of people such as country people, their families and comrades therefore they should realize that it is a selfless service.
Conception of Ordering
Concept of ordering is also very important in military ethics. It is about priorities and moral structures. For example a top ranking officer knows that there is certain defect in a weapon that military requires badly, should the military officer reveal this information to the committee which is analyzing the weapon or he should withhold this information and go ahead in getting the weapon for his men. Here the question of ethics and priority comes.
Conception of Obligations
This means what military members ought to do. According to military ethics, soldiers are expected to obey all the orders of the seniors promptly. But sometimes this happen that these orders raise ethical question therefore the military men are usually stuck between obeying the command or doing what is right and needs to be done.
Core Ethical Values of Military
The paper examines some core ethical values that are followed in the military organization. These include
Honesty this means that the military men should be truthful and avoid lying as it affects their image in the society. However any lies for selfless reason is resented in the service.
Straightforwardness military officers should be frank and confident as this leads to clarity and thus no confusion arises.
Candid military ethics requires the military personnel to be candid and thus provide the information without being requested. If military personnel withheld certain information and stay quiet then this is regarded as dishonesty.
Loyalty loyalty refers to faithfulness and devotion. Military soldiers are expected to be loyal with their profession, their country and their seniors. Loyalty doesnt mean that they blindly obey what they are told to but it is a balance between different interests and principles and thus creating a harmony together.
Fairness military personnel are expected to be fair and open and should not be biased. They should treat everyone equally and their decisions should not be arbitrary.
Respect military personnel have to deal with diverse people in the society therefore they are required to treat people with respect and dignity
Promise Keeping keeping promises enhance trust and cooperation therefore soldiers should commit what they can deliver so that there is no loss of commitment from their end.
Caring This code requires the military men to be kind and compassionate with those whom they serve and also with the workforce.
Accountability military personal should take the responsibility of their decisions and they should know that they are accountable for all the duty that they perform.
Distinctive Culture of Military
The military culture is very much different from that of civilian culture. Their traditions, dresses and rituals are distinguished to a greater extent from that of civilians. Their physical and social space is separated as they are usually located in isolation. Cadets receive their training in different schools where they get their education in a unique way. Military organizations require a lot from their workers as the workers have difficult and long working hours and even their leaves are subject to cancellation
Vision of Military Organization
The vision of military is to form a force that will continue to give more strategic flexibility and will strive to become strategically dominant to fully support all operations. The objective is to form a force which has war fighting capabilities and is more responsive, lethal and versatile (Evany, 2002).
Training in Military Organization
The training and education in military organization is controlled by the organization itself in a very specialized manner. Specialized trainings are provided to the cadets. Military itself determines the education format for the cadets. All the contents and methodology are planned by the military. There are colleges that have been set up to train the junior officers and develop them to become future senior officers. These training programs give the juniors knowledge and skills and also a sense of responsibility towards their duties and their country. Military culture and values are provided to them from the very beginning of their training program. Military ethics are also taught to them by specialized instructors. They are taught that military is not a job but it is a way of life and they are expected to love their life in adherence with the standard code of conduct as they act as a symbol for the other civilians of the society (Robbert, 2010).
Personal Values as a Manager
To have a clear set of personal values is important as it helps in building up trust that facilitates leadership. Leaders that have a clear set of values are more successful as their followers would follow them blindly once they are able to understand their values. Therefore it is important that one should take time to list what is most important for them in life. Once they have listed their values, it is time for them to act upon it.
My personal values that would guide me as a future manager includes
Trustworthiness honesty and integrity are the most important elements for trustworthiness. If a manger is honest and loyal then the subordinates would folle the manager blindly as they know they are in the safe hands.
Respect as a manager it is important that all the subordinates are treated with dignity and respect. Acceptance and tolerance are the most important elements that would enable managers to respect their subordinates.
Responsibility as a manager it is important to realize that they are accountable for they do therefore their responsibilities and duties should be met properly as they set an example for others to follow.
Caring it is important that managers are caring and compassionate with their subordinates as such relations increases productivity and creates an environment that is friendly and peaceful.
Justice and fairness a manager should take the responsibility of all his decisions and should be biased. Justice and fairness affects the credibility of the manager therefore he should treat everyone equally.
Personal Code of Ethics to Guide a Manager
My personal code of ethics that would guide me a future manager includes
Conflict of interests. A conflict of interest arises when the private interest of a person interferes the interest of their organization. These conflicts also come when one misuses his position in the organization to favor his friends or families. I believe a manager should avoid such conflicts that stop him to work effectively for the organization.
Corporate Opportunities
Managers should not use the opportunities that they get from the corporate properties or position without the consent of the Directors. If they do this then it is regarded as a cheating.
Fair dealing
Managers should deal with everyone honestly and ethically. Secret information and confidential matters should be taken care of and should not take unfair advantage of people or information.
Changes required in the military organization
Changes are required in every organization from time to time so that the organization can cope up with the environmental changes. Bringing about change in an organization is a great challenge for leaders as it requires effective leadership and management skills to implement change.
It seems that bringing a change in military organization is quite easy because of the commanding nature of the seniors. But this is not true because even in military organization if the change is not implemented effectively, it will reduce the productivity of the soldiers.
Military leaders should understand that even if they bring the change on the bases of their authority, still they need to asses the change through follow up assessments so that they know if the change is successfully implemented.
The changes that I believe should be taking place in the military organization include the following
The military leaders should understand that in todays time there is an utmost need that their management styles should change. In older time infarct even nowadays the management style in military organization is such that authority of command lies only with the seniors and they very harshly communicate those command. Such attitudes of the seniors would not be successful in todays world. A change is required in this area so as to create an environment that increases the morale of the soldiers and helps in making them more productive and dedicated towards their duties.
It is really important that leaders of the military organization are such who understands the mission of the organization and their roles completely. These leaders should not only try to achieve these missions but also take care of the welfare of the members of the organization. Usually what is seen in these organization is that leaders are so much focuses on achieving their missions that they often neglect the welfare of the members which should not happen especially in military organization because military is not just a job but it is a selfless services therefore motivation of the members is of utmost importance (Kelly, 2008).
Military leaders need complete training about the organization and also the members should understand the change management that is an important requirement for the organization. Code of conduct and ethical principles of the military organization should be communicated properly to the soldiers and such an environment should be created where these principles are followed without being imposed on the military men. Roles and responsibilities of individuals should be clearly stated so that the duties are carried out in the most appropriate manner (Kelly, 2008).
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