Ethics

The ability of an individual to orient hisher ethics towards improving the self, increasing value to others and defining a society that is better for all is critical in creating a harmonic environment for coexistence and development.  Inculcating an individuals ethics on the basis of values brings the notion of continued improvement and orientation that seeks to take people to the next higher level.  However, is this state achievable Is it possible to maintain the same high level values even when others are doing the opposite or situations present effective opportunities for self interest It is from the above consideration that I present my personal philosophy using key ethical theories, life experiences and professional case examples.

General ethical philosophy
Over the years, the demand to act ethically has been emphasized directly and indirectly at all levels of the society.  Though my ethical guidelines were at first mixed up, greater understanding of the critical role that ethics play oriented me strongly towards utilitarianism.  According to Kupperman (160) utilitarian ethics seek to emphasize the only actions that would result to the greatest good for the largest number of people.  Under this consideration, people are required to critically consider the actions they take from the viewpoint of maximizing the expected positive impacts.  In a working environment, reducing the salary of the staff as opposed to laying them off could be considered to be more ethical in that all employees would feel the concern of the company, no sense of work overload to some workers, and increase motivation to promote creativity and profitability.  At my work place, I once revealed a corruption case involving one of closest friends after he disclosed it to me.  Though I could have kept quiet and maintained our friendship, revealing the case would do greater good to a larger number of people the employees by safeguarding their jobs, the clients by creating the correct services delivery and the management by supporting their work.      

Is it important to act in an ethical manner
As a utilitarian, I belief that people should act ethically even when chances of being caught and very limited to infer the largest good to the largest number of people.  By acting ethically, Kupperman (170) concurs with psychologists that one develops particular personalities that are based on values and well being of the majority.  Therefore, even when one is not at risk of being caught, heshe is obligated to facilitate personal and corporate continued improvement. Besides, acting ethically is part of an individuals definition and therefore used for personal identity.  Under this consideration, I concur with Benthams argument that acting unethically does not show wisdom, but reflects a short sighted outlook that would have negative impacts to me indirectly and even others (Steven and Marie 78).

As Ray and Stuart (95-97) argue, acting ethically even when chances of being caught are very low indicates the sense of focus and the need for sustainability.  In a business setting, a driver who steals some of the consignment because of summation error could easily get away with it.  However, the negative effects leading to losses could easily lead to major loses for the company and its inability to operate effectively in the high competition environment.

Owing to the fast development of globalization that brings new lifestyle patterns, the need for supervision is fast being replaced by teams and team work.  Therefore, acting ethically creates a sense of responsibility for an individual and therefore preparing them for higher profile tasks at the team level or even management standards. However, acting unethically defeats the very purpose of personal development by reducing the overall teams performance and ultimately fades their possibility of better performance at higher levels.  

In the field of economics, it is generally assumed that individuals act in their own economic self interest. Thus, it is generally assumed that individuals will not act ethically if it is not in their economic self interest to do so. For example, everyone will cheat on their taxes if there is no possibility of detection. Do you think that is true

Though the above view is held by many, it is not true to indicate that all economics will cheat on their taxes when there is low possibility of being caught.  According to Kupperman (41) ethics is a personal orientation that is largely driven by personal virtues which emphasize on conviction based on the expected benefits.  The above statement is therefore untrue in that most economists act ethically in guiding their organizations towards higher profitability and sustainability both internally and externally.  Steven and Marie (102-103) explains that owing to their in-depth understanding of the role played by taxes they pay, most economists will comply to facilitate greater harmony and smoothness of their business operations.

In concurrence with Ray and Stuart (61-62) view, many peoples visions are enshrined on the need to develop and move up higher the social-economic ladder.  As depicted by Maslows theory of human needs, the higher one moves, the closer heshe gets to self actualization (Steven and Marie 93-94).  Therefore, failing to pay taxes is a consideration largely aimed at destroying the actual ground that anchor the path to self actualization.  In the finance department, not only do I strictly ensure that I pay my taxes on time, but proposed to the departmental manager to prepare a forum that would emphasize on the need for accountability in their tax obligations.  Following the September 11 terrorist attack, economists at Southwest Airlines emphasized on paying taxes to facilitate the government efforts in addressing terrorism (Grubbs-West 47).  Indeed, economists at the company considered widening the pool for tax payment to the government by maintaining their staff as other airlines shed theirs and reduced their flights.

Do you think an adult can learn to be ethical (i.e., can a college course on ethics lead someone to be more ethical) Or, is ethical behavior something you learn as a child

Though ethical behavior develops from an early age largely depending on the environment that an individual is brought up in, I agree with Melanie and Judith (59) argument that an adult can equally learn to be ethical.  In his theory of cognitive development, Albert Bandura acknowledged the limited capacity of the children to conceptualize all the critical concepts that define their personalities (Melanie and Judith 250).  As an adult therefore, it becomes easier to conceptualize the demand and need for ethics by evaluating the expected outcomes from the practical point of view.  During my college studies, the analysis of Enron scandal created a strong sense of ethical demand to me as the massive implications became clearer.   From the case, I was not just able to conceptualize the extent of the implications, but underscored the major mechanisms that could be used to reduce resilience of similar cases.

Unlike when one is a child, the repercussions of being involved in unethical and illegal actions are more emphatic when one much older.  Though unethical acts my present a major route-path to faster wealth accumulation, college studies brought out the possible risks that one was likely to get into.  In the case of Enron, Ken Lay and Jeffrey Skiing were found guilty and sentenced to 45 and 28 years in prison respectively (Collins 175-176).  Such lessons become very emphatic and therefore a basement for balancing actions at all the time.

In college, an adult person is able to dig to the basement of ethical history and therefore identify with various personalities with possibilities of taking the theoretical outlook higher.  This is made possible by not only the greater cognitive capacity, but availability of a critical platform such as other scholars and tutors.  Indeed, by critical analysis of previous ethical theorists, one develops special traits that critique their viewpoints and therefore emerge with better ethical orientation to be read and guide latter generations.

Conclusion
It is from the above analysis that this paper conclude by supporting the thesis statement, the ability of an individual to orient hisher ethics towards improving the self, increasing value to others and defining a society that is better for all is critical in creating a harmonic environment for development and coexistence. It came out from the discussion that personal ethics is very critical in guiding an individual towards acting ethically and seeking for the highest possible good.  Besides, acting ethically was further brought out to be very critical while the assumption that all economists act at their own interest came out to be untrue.  Development of ethical values also came out to be possible at the adult age due to their inherent higher cognitive capacities compared to children.  It is therefore crucial that ethical values are not just maintained but taken to higher levels to facilitate greater positive effects.