Business

The place of ethics in any working environment remains to be highly regarded by all organizations. This has, however, been affected by certain practices by a few employees who engage in behavior that leaves a lot to be desired as far as organizational culture and ethical performance is concerned (Gilliland, 2007). This essay discusses a case of unethical behavior by a company executive, and the dilemma that one employee under him is faced with. It brings to the fore the nagging question of the extent to which ethics can get personal.

Discussion
The first dilemma that Valerie is faced with is that of reporting the bad and unethical behavior of her boss. The boss is obviously out of order by engaging in personal dealings with other companies without the companys knowledge (Gilliland, 2007). Ethically, it is not right to have such private deals with other companies while transacting official business. As such, her boss is wrong and appropriate action needs to be taken against him. The other dilemma is whether or not it is right for her to keep what she knows secret because of fear of being kicked out of her job. In essence, she has to choose between losing all she has gained at the company and in the country, and acting ethically. The last ethical issue Valerie is faced with is whether or not it will profit her anything by reporting the matter. It only appears that this is a matter which does not affect her anyway and so she should just ignore it and act as though she knows nothing. After all, her reporting might be more costly to her than it will be beneficial. Therefore, she has to choose between taking matters personally and acting for the right cause even if personal issues are involved.

Valerie is in a hard position and it is difficult to make a decision. If I were in her place, I would seek the protection of the companys topmost management in protecting my identity so that my revelations would be kept secret. In essence, my giving out of any information would entail getting an assurance of job security. It would be pegged on a promise from the company of confidential treatment. If that is not possible, I would do the reporting in secret, by handing in the evidence to the police for investigations and consequent action. Since Valerie has not told anyone as yet about the discovery, this would be the best way to go and then act as though nothing happened. It will then be upon the police and the company to investigate further and act accordingly.

The main stressors that Valerie is facing are of thee kinds, or come as a result of three sources. The first one is that she is stressed by the feeling and thought of having to leave her friends with whom she has formed a very close-knit and loving relationship (Seaward, 2006). She is resenting the idea of having to forego all this comfort if she reports the matter concerning Mr. Waters. That aside, Valerie is being stressed by the feeling that she is likely to be kicked out of her job and subsequently the country for lack of a job. This is a feeling which, although subtle, actually causes a lot of stress to her. She is also stressed by the thought that she is withholding very critical information from the company which, if reported, would greatly help improve its performance (Seaward, 2006). She finds it difficult to forgive herself for this, and with each passing day, the resentment she has for her boss grows, adding more stress to her. It is almost natural for a person to experience a state of dissonance when one is being torn between opposing decisions to choose from. In making these considerations, Valerie gets herself stressed because the feeling is very uncomfortable (Seaward, 2006).

The conduct of Waters is of the kind that leads to employee dissatisfaction and is most likely to result in unrest. As he is openly opposed to the proven principles of organization behavior that are critical to the success of the company, Waters is likely to run the company into worse problems in the long run. Given that he grossly violates ethical considerations while dealing with both the employees and the business of the company, he has little regard for either (McDaniel, 2004). He is the kind of manager who works only to enrich himself at the expense of all other people and all other company business.

Conclusion
The dilemma of this company was brought about by the culture of mixing business with friendship, and failure to separate matters that are official and work-related from private ones. Another organizational culture responsible for the dilemma is the absence of teamwork and
good relations between leaders and their followers (Alvesson, 2002). The management and the other employees seem to be in different worlds, each doing what is best. The culture of an organization together with the conditions of work at the organization has great impacts on the performance of the employees. The leader will never expect to be exceeded by the followers (Schein, 2004). Rather, it is what heshe does that will determine how those under himher will perform. Culture, on the other hand, forms the basis of all actions by an organization. It is what has come to be the practice in the organization and depending on whether or not it is good, the employees will perform better or their work will become dismal as in this case.