Trust in Business Is a Means for Greater Business Efficiency Essay Example
In all businesses, efficiency and effectiveness are essential goals. Although self-interest and competition are typical in a capitalist economy, collaboration is also necessary for enhancing productivity and efficiency. To succeed, a business must foster relationships between its members and externally to facilitate collaboration. The foundation of these relationships is trust, which is the dependence on the character, integrity, or competence of a person or entity.
Ensuring trust is a crucial facet of upholding and advancing business effectiveness. Nevertheless, from the perspective of business ethics, trust serves the sole aim of promoting business efficiency. The purchase of products by customers and the community is an indication that trust is reposed in businesses and their techniques. Fiduciaries that collaborate with businesses to acquire their skills are also trusted.
The establishment of employee-employer relationships within a business relies heavily on trust. Employ
...ees must have faith that they will be compensated fairly for their efforts, whether it be after specific time durations or upon reaching certain output targets. Failure to maintain this trust can result in damaged relationships and decreased productivity. Unfortunately, there are instances where managers and employers abuse this trust by manipulating their employees. This manipulation may involve elevating an employee's job responsibilities beyond their capabilities under the guise of "trust," only to later blame them for any problems outside of their control.
Emphasizing the significance of cultivating genuine and favorable connections between employers and employees, Anita Superson highlights the importance of keeping employees informed about possible health and safety dangers in the workplace. Deliberately subjecting workers to detrimental or poisonous substances constitutes a breach of trust by employers that is both disingenuous and harmful.
Although employers are not required t
disclose working conditions, keeping information about hazardous environments from employees is unethical and can affect their decision to continue working. This behavior is ultimately harmful to a business's profitability in a capitalist economy. On the other hand, creating a workplace culture that promotes trust between employers and employees and encourages awareness of working conditions leads to increased productivity and efficiency. Conversely, lacking trust between employees and employers can decrease productivity, harming overall business efficiency.
Joanne Ciulla believes that work serves not only as a way to make money, but also as a means of finding redemption and divine favor. This viewpoint is similar to Renaissance workers who found pride, fulfilment, and chances for improvement by being diligent in their jobs. Present-day employees also share this attitude towards work, valuing the trust they cultivate within the workplace as an essential component of their personal lives beyond work. According to Solomon, executives can achieve success by keeping a realistic perspective of themselves, their role in the company, and the world outside of it.
According to John Orlando's research, fostering trust among employees is crucial for enhancing business efficiency within capitalist economies. Trust can result in a more productive work environment and prevent employees from feeling like expendable units in the corporate structure. While loyalty cannot be easily measured or appear on financial records, it does impact a company's overall performance.
Trust is essential for loyalty and improved company performance, which can be achieved by treating employees respectfully. This results in a quantifiable measure of trust in a capitalist economy. Lying is detrimental to trust, as companies that provide misleading information about their products in advertisements or state
obvious falsehoods diminish the trust established among customers and the community.
For instance, a blatant lie would be if a deodorant enterprise declares that using their product would lead to attracting women. Dishonesty is morally unacceptable since it damages the trust that makes truthfulness valuable. If everyone lied about their actions, trust would crumble, and the commerce realm would collapse as businesses couldn't rely on each other's services. Even applying for a loan to support a business activity would become impossible.
The reason why banks may not trust a business to repay a loan in a capitalist economy is because repaying a loan would not align with the business's self-interest. Consequently, this would result in business operations coming to a halt, leading to lowered productivity and efficiency. Secrecy is also important in maintaining trust in a business environment. According to Sissela Bok, secrecy is crucial for preserving human relationships and is distinct from lying as it necessitates justification. To maintain positive relationships with individuals or businesses, it is vital to avoid disclosing secrets, as revealing them can cause the other party to feel betrayed.
Anita Superson suggests that if relationships necessitate secrecy, privately owned companies may experience decreased productivity in the event of a breakdown in these relationships. This is due to employees sharing confidential information, like the Coca Cola recipe, which breaches the company's trust and exposes valuable information to competitors. In financial services, where fiduciaries are responsible for acting in their clients' best interests, maintaining trust is vital.
Although fiduciaries are crucial, their reliability is compromised if they benefit personally from a decision. The offer of greater commissions by a brokerage firm
for selling in-house mutual funds creates a conflict of interest, as the broker may prioritize their own profit over the client's wellbeing. These breaches of public trust result in significant consequences for companies, including decreased efficiency. According to Solomon and Flores, trust and efficiency are not inherently interconnected.
According to some, treating trust as a mere tool for business efficiency shows a lack of understanding of its true nature as an emotional skill that fosters relationships. However, in a capitalist system, self interest is crucial and relationships are often developed for the purpose of improving business practices. This view is challenged by the concept of whistleblowing, which involves exposing internal wrongdoing for the benefit of society. Whistleblowing can be seen as a breach of loyalty toward one's own organization.
When a whistleblower reveals "private information" to the public, they may breach their team's trust but gain the public's trust. Although it could harm their own company's efficiency, the whistleblower protects those who would suffer if the disclosure had not been made. Nonetheless, some contend that exposing unethical practices improves business efficiency by thwarting future negative outcomes. Conversely, there are opposing views on insider trading where an insider trader imparts nonpublic knowledge to unauthorized individuals.
Confidential information, including takeovers, is shared within a company with insiders who are trusted to keep it private. However, trading on this insider information is deemed unethical as it creates an imbalanced market where some parties have privileged access. This perception of unfairness can harm ordinary investors who lack this advantage and may result in loss of confidence in the market or withdrawal of investments. It should be noted that non-disclosure of confidential information
promotes equality in the market rather than enhancing business efficiency, which contradicts the primary argument.
Overall, trust is frequently cited as a means of enhancing business efficacy. Private companies adopt trust as a means of improving overall efficiency. Creating trust between employers and employees, developing employee loyalty both to the company and to colleagues, and maintaining confidentiality are all methods of ensuring that business efficacy is maintained or increased in a capitalist economy. In my view, trust in business is simply a road to an end because companies and individuals recognize that no one can function alone and therefore must rely on others to achieve efficient results. Bibliography Solomon, Robert C. and Flores, Fernando "Building Trust."
Within the book "Honest Work", Anita A. Superson discusses the nuances of the employer-employee relationship and the importance of the right to knowledge, specifically in sections 91-94. Meanwhile, Joanne B. Ciulla explores the concept of work and how it has evolved throughout history, touching on its transformation from something seen as a curse to a calling in her piece featured from pages 26-29 of the same book.
Honest Work: 5-9 by John Orlando discusses the ethics of corporate downsizing. In Honest Work: 30-33, Robert C. Solomon elaborates on why ethics matter. The same book, Honest Work, also includes a section by John Solomon titled "The Ethics of Corporate Downsizing" on pages 136-138.
Bok, Sissela's article "Defining Secrecy – Some Crucial Distinctions" can be found in Honest Work on pages 72 to 75. Additionally, Robert C. Solomon's "Is It Ever Right to Lie?" is also featured in Honest Work on pages 69 to 72.
Within the text "Honest Work," John R. Boatright delves into the
ethical considerations of finance, while Sissela Bok explores the notion of whistleblowing and the associated professional responsibility.
Within Jennifer Moore's article "What is Really Unethical About Honest Work," the author addresses ethical concerns related to work in the specific range of pages 398-402.
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