Reflection on the Ethics Assignment

For our ethics assignment, Casey and I looked at a memo written by Adolf Hitler to the Nazi party speakers, which were basically the party leaders that made public speeches. He was addressing them regarding their membership to a church. In the memo, Hitler explains to the speakers that they should immediately leave the church because their only loyalty should be to him. He says in the memo that leaving the church would be "voluntary," however, if you've ever read history about the Nazi regime, you know that nothing was "voluntary." If the party leaders refused to leave the church, they most likely would have been punished severely by the Nazis. It is amazing to me to read historical memos that are so unethical, yet influenced so many people. Hitler had so much control over his people that he basically told his party officials that they could not go to church to worship a God that is more powerful than him. They could only worship him. Ultimately, it is seen in history how successful Hitler was at manipulating people into following him. It is evident in his writing that he was a mastermind of controlling others. He was able to convince the entire Nazi party that the extermination of the Jewish population would lead to a greater Germany.

Response to "Ethical Lapses Distract US Workers"

This article was a shocking article in my opinion. It is disappointing to read that 73% of Americans who are employed full-time report encountering ethical lapses on the job. Ethical lapses cause problems in the workplace that make it difficult to interact or communicate with coworkers. Ultimately, this dissonance in the workplace is distracting and can decrease a company's productivity. This article stresses the importance of having shared values in the workplace. It is important to educate workers on these values and the company's expectations regarding compliance with these values. The article also describes the importance of creating a corporate culture with a value system so that workers can be encouraged to engage in appropriate conduct which will ultimately result in increased performance. I also found it interesting when the article said that one in three workers who dealt with ethical lapses said that these ethical lapses happen at least once a week. Workers lose motivation to be productive in the workplace when inappropriate behavior is occurring around them. Another issue that the article addresses is the fact that not only do ethical lapses decrease productivity in the workplace, but also workers lose satisfaction with their jobs. It is difficult to be motivated to do well and be productive in the workplace when you are not happy with your job. The article also spoke about the distraction for workers that comes from disagreeing with coworkers on how to handle the ethical issues. The main argument is whether they should handle it themselves or report it to company management. When workers are having to spend their energy on how to deal with ethical issues, they are wasting time in the workplace in which they could be productive. I found that this article was very important considering the alarming statistics involved with encountering ethical lapses in the workplace. It is commonplace to find these ethical lapses in the corporate environment. Therefore, businesses should address these issues at the beginning in order to create an environment that is focused on ethics.

Web Writing

Writing for the web has become a very important way of communication in the business world. The accessibility and speed of the internet is necessary in today's rapid paced, modern business world. Writing on the web is similar to writing on paper in many ways. Both have distinct purpose and a specific audience that they are trying to reach. Written work on paper and on the web both require research to back up ideas. It is important that both are written without grammatical errors so that they can reach their audience in a more professional manner. There are also differences between Web writing and written work on paper. Web writing is for fast paced readers. Web audiences want to read the information quickly. Web writing also uses a more simple style and is written more concisely. Although web writing tends to be more informal, it is important to remember that web writing is representative of your business and product. The web also uses hyperlinks to get to other pages of content. Because web writing is for fast reading, headings, subheadings, and bullets are used to break up information and make it easier to read.