ETHICAL DUTIES.pdf

Abstract

Customer care is of the upmost importance in regards to a company's success. Customers

are the root of a company's growth and progress, or failure. In order to grow a business, the

people in which are being targeted, need to feel a sense of importance. As a representative of that

company, it is the employee’s job to make sure the customer is completely and 100% satisfied.

Without consumers, inevitably, the company will fail and ultimately destruct. The ethics

involved in customer service, play a large part in continuing business and happy consumers. The

purpose of this research is to identify the importance of ethical decisions in relation to customer

service.

Ethical Duties

In order to examine ethical duties, first, the ethical duty definition must be evaluated.

According to the textbook, “Business Ethics: Ethical Decision Making,” Ferrell discussed the

exact definition of ethical duties by saying, “The first step in ethical decision making is to

recognize that an ethical issue exists, requiring an individual or work group to choose among

several actions that various stakeholders will ultimately evaluate as right or wrong (Ferrell, O.

C., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. 2017).” He then goes on to say.” Ethical awareness is the ability to

perceive whether a situation or decision has an ethical dimension (Ferrell, O. C., Fraedrich, J., &

Ferrell, L. 2017).” Often, major issues can in fact be avoided if the person or people, are self-

aware and contain the ability to perceive a future outcome. Basically, one should try to think

about every action, and the possible reaction that decision will have on others.

The book then goes on to discuss ones individual role in the upholding of values amongst

society saying ,” When people need to resolve issues in their daily lives, they often base their

common principles that guide (or should guide) our actions (Arvidsson, A. 2011)." The author

goes on to say, “In an economic, text, the question of values largely translates into questions of

disruptive justice (Arvidsson, A. 2011).” The question one must ask is, does the action cause

positive outcomes for not only ones self, but the community at large, or, does it disturb the

general justice in which is appointed to all mankind?

The author then says, “First, ethics, or the creation of affectively significant relations, can

form, however transitory, a set of common values which can confer a particular ethos, or shared

sense of purpose or direction on a diffuse and otherwise loosely connected network of social

production (Arvidsson, A. 2011).” He list the second as, “The more a company, brand or other

organization relies on productive input that can neither be commanded nor paid for (because it is

located outside of the wage relation that ensured the ability to command the productive process

in industrial capitalism), the more it needs to rely on voluntary offerings of productive input on

the part of participants (Arvidsson, A. 2011).” The author is basically saying, in order to have

success, the corporation or individual must have constructed an ethical code for functioning with

in the business/economy.

He then states, “In the singular, value is understood as the relative worth that a society

confers on an object or practice (Gold is more valuable, for example then water). How such

can acquire generally recognized forms of exchange value (Arvidsson, A. 2011)." The article

then applies the system of values to the ethical economy faced today. The author says, "So the

goal of ethics in the Aristotelian sense was to the construction of those virtuous social relations

that allowed on approximation of the ideal of eudaimonia and within the polis. This implied

ability to balance one's passions and affects to those of others and to develop the character and

on them. In today’s society, this is rarely the case. People tend to feel a sense of self entitlement

and are consumed with fulfilling their own desires regardless of the outcome on others.

consumers. The author states, "Good ethics are a cornerstone of sustainable marketing. The

sustainable marketing goals of long-term consumer and business welfare can be achieved only

through ethical marketing conduct (Mohamed, K. 2013)."

Then the author goes on to list a formula for making all ethical based decisions. This is as

follows,” W.D Ross, a Scottish philosopher, amended Immanuel Kant's works by formulating a

list of duties in order of importance, which he delivered necessary to live by. Ross believed that,

in order to live within a duty -based means, people should: “1. Tell the Truth. 2. Right the wrongs

that one has done to others. 3. Act Justly 4. Help others in respect to virtue, intelligence, and

happiness. 5. Improve oneself with respect to virtue and intelligence. 6. Give thanks 7. Avoid

golden rule, do unto others and you would have them do unto you. Treat everyone with respect

and kindness, because inevitably, one receives what one is willing to give, or so it should be.

In the textbook, “The ethics of management: A multidisciplinary approach,” the

The author list these points as such, the first being, “The resulting principle can be

expressed in modern times as, "Never take any action that will bring immediate benefits to you

now, but that is likely to provoke adverse reaction in the future." This role is now referred to as

"enlightened self-interest” (Hosmer, L. T. 2011, p.12).”

The second being The principal, then, can be expressed, again in modern terms as,

“Never take any action that is not honest, open, and truthful, and that you would not feel pride to

see reported widely and national newspapers and on network news cast (Hosmer, L. T. 2011,

p.12)."

The third listed as, “The principal, then, can be expressed as never take any action that is

not kind and compassionate, and that does not build a sense of community, a sense of all of us

The fifth, “This rule is often summarized as greatest good for the greatest number though

in reality the society, not the majority, has to benefit. The principle can be summarized as never

take any action does not result in greater good than harm or the society of which you are a part

(Hosmer, L. T. 2011, p.12)."

The sixth principle is stated as, “Never take any action that you would not be willing to

see others, faced with the same or closely similar situation, also be free and even forced to take

(Hosmer, L. T. 2011, p. 12)."

The seventh duty described in this text is,” The principal, then, can be expressed as never

take any action in which the least among us will be harmed in anyway (Hosmer, L. T. 2011,

p.13)."

The eighth and final principle of the code of ethical decision making in business relations

is described as, “The principal then can be expressed as "Never take any action that will interfere

with the rights of others for self-development and self-improvement (Hosmer, L. T. 2011 p.13)."

The author of this book distinctly describes the actions in which each individual person “should”

apply when handling basically any and all situations in life.

In an article written on, “Ethics and the quality of care,” the author Leah L. Curtain, a

nurse in the health care field, documents her journey to her current position and the lessons in

words, our moral primer back in the days before ethics courses (Curtin, L. L. 2013).” She then

list the taught expectation as follows, “The primary words I refer to were courtesy, kindness,

respect, accuracy, duty, loyalty, commitment, justice, honesty, diligence, compassion, and

discipline (Curtin, L. L. 2013).”

This article is in conjunction with this paper to prove that ethical duties apply in all

different aspects of employment. This is written from a nurse in the health care field, who is

faced with ethical decisions daily. She goes on to say, “From there we moved into Principles and

Practice of Nursing by Harmer and Henderson, first published in 1939 and reissued again and

again until 1968, (our old-fashioned nursing "Bible"), learning what the nurse does for the

patient (what he would do for himself unaided if he could), the importance of aseptic technique,

our social role and proper professional deportment (Curtin, L. L. 2013).” Considering ones social

role, it is imperative to make decisions in which will benefit ones society, not condemn it.

Customer care is an essential part of any and all organizations. Again. It is at the core of

the company and its livelihood. Customers want to be cared for, feel needed and important, and

also given as sense of significant personal worth to the company. Customers who are given this

type of treatment are the customers who will be returning. In the article, “Impact of Customer

Orientation, Inducements and Ethics on Loyalty to the Firm: Customers’ Perspective,” the

authors state, “Customer orientation is critical for developing long-term relationships with

customers, gaining competitive advantage, and business success (Valenzuela, L. M., Mulki, J. P.,

any company.

Without customers or consumers to purchase the product, no organization or

establishment would continue to exist. This is why customer care is essential for the firm to

establish from the beginning, and continue to uphold throughout the sustainment of the

organization. As the article discusses, going the extra mile, will in fact pay off in the long run. By

making the consumer feel like the employee has gone above and beyond their expectations, the

business in turns wins over their personal voice to many. Word-of-mouth is a powerful factor in

today’s world. With social media at the fingertips of any and all, what people have to say, could

possibly now be viewed by millions. Another reason why customer care is essential, if one

customer is unhappy, his or her reaction can have long lasting effects on the company’s progress.

In the article, “Customer care and service: A case for business ethics,” the author says,

“The importance of service quality matched against consumer expectation in financial services

has been established in the marketing literature (Lewis, 1989a) as a key consumer differentiation

in the satisfaction and the continued use of a financial service provider (Gibbs, P. T. 1993).” This

is all too true as time and time again, studies have found a correlation between high customer

satisfaction and high return rate. The article goes on to say, “The consumer's primary relationship

is with his personal supplier of financial services and most likely the individual with whom he

deals regularly. Because of the nature of the transaction, this relationship is built on trust. It is

In regards to ethical decision making in customer care, a lot can be learned from the word

of God. He says in Ephesians 4:32, ESV, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one

another, as God in Christ forgave you.” Again He speaks in 1 John, 4:20-21, saying, “If anyone

says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom

he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him:

whoever loves God must also love his brother. “God is commanding mankind to love one

another and to honor the word of God, it is man’s responsibility to do so. People must love and

genially care for one another as a brother or sister. He speaks in Philippians 2:4, “Let each of you

look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.” In Mark 12:31,” The