Ethics: A challenge for future business and public leaders
TO BE ethically sound and ethically reputable individuals is a challenge common to business leaders and public servants today. Recent news associating government officials to unethical public doings and businesses engaging in ethically condemnable activities connotes the need for strong ethics reinforcements among aspiring public leaders and business managers.
As future public and business executives, Master in Business Management and Master in Public Service Management students of the Capitol University Graduate School organized a seminar on Philosophical Issues and Ethical Standards in Business and Public Service Management, as summer class ender. The seminar was held at Dynasty Court Hotel in Cagayan de Oro City on May 12 for the philosophy class under professor JAF’s instruction.
The seminar is deemed significant avenue for graduate management students to appreciate ethics and embody it their respective professions.
Juve Ladesma, an MBM graduating student said this kind of seminar comes handy in broadening students’ knowledge of management making them a better person in their field.
“Having this kind of seminar helps us to broaden our knowledge by exposing us to the different aspects of business and public service management. Through this seminar we are able to identify ourselves with ethical issues in management, thus helping us to rationally address these issues coming across them,” Ladesma said.
As a teacher Ladesma admitted this seminar goes a long way helping her to impart additional knowledge to her students particularly on management ethics.
The seminar resource speaker, Rey Raagas, is a well-respected law practitioner and professor. A passionate and highly learned lawyer, Raagas ardently shared his extensive law practice experience substantiating the essence of ethics both in public and corporate organizations.
“Business ethics is otherwise known as corporate ethics. It is a form of applied ethics. It is so in a sense that it has to be practiced. Business ethics is not just something that you learned. It has to be applied in business operations,” Raagas stressed, urging the graduate students to put into action what they know of ethics.
In the course of the seminar Raagas emphasized numerous legal and ethical principles substantial to business and public service management. He contextually articulated the impact of moral degeneration to economic development.
“Moral degeneration and poor economic development, they always come together. In our country aside from desperation we are facing another issue which is corruption….. There must be a collective effort for us to address corruption. No one person can solve the issue alone. The first thing we have to do is to strengthen our government,” he answered when asked how corruption is eliminated.
Significantly Raagas is positive that Philippines is becoming better, coming at par with its Asian counterparts.
“Our economy is going to be better. We have young population that can drive economic growth for the country, which other Asian countries fall short at,” he convincingly shared.
In his parting note he reminded the graduate students to choose capable and trustworthy leaders to be seated in government positions.
“If we choose trustworthy leaders, chances are little they will resort to corrupt practices,” he concluded.
Ethical issues in corporate and government organizations are critical concern potentially affecting the welfare of the people. Unethical business leaders and corrupt public officials will bring nothing to the table but deprivation and stagnation.