Consider the arguments for and against this control-oriented position.

In today's world it is all too prevalent to see more and more people hungry to gain success at an ever-increasing rate. Modern culture can and indeed is labelled 'greedy' and 'thoughtless'. Through my relatively short time spent in business, I have encountered many of these types of people. But who are they hungry for? Who benefits from their thoughtlessness, and why do they do what they do? More importantly, who is to blame when things don't go according to plan?

These are all questions asked constantly in the business domain, questions that often seem to include the word 'ethics' in their answer. Whether we look to consequentialism and always consider the outcome of a particular action, or conform to a more deontological form of ethical thinking and focus on always acting in a manner that seems 'right', I believe that a person cannot always be 'ethical', all of the time. If it were that easy, ethics would be a very small area of study.

So what does the word 'ethical' mean? To me, it is to take into account every aspect involved in any given situati

Velasquez, M. G. (1983) 'Why corporations are not morally responsible for anything they do', in Beauchamp and Bowie (1979), Ethical Theory and Business. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Conversely, the autonomy paradigm, present in some organisations' ethical policies, is put in place to promote individual critique through their moral thought and judgement. It emphasises a feeling of a 'moral community', seen before in Kant's work, and from which Kohlberg developed his post-conventional level, that allows people to apply their own reasoning to daily situations. As Durkheim suggests and with which I agree, individuals submit to the environment in which they work and how others have previously cast out norms and values. This applies to general situations and therefore the majority. At other times, in more complex situations, an individual would then be left to choose their own actions.

So why do some organisations take this control-oriented approach? I'm sure that with some it is simply to keep the power in their own hands; these people think they need to have power in order to be successful. However, I think a more pertinent reason as to why some organisations take this approach is to hide behind the organisation themselves. Many individuals within organisations are scared of the book stopping with them so they create a 'code of ethics' which, in terms of blame, is large enough to hide behind. Surely then, with the control-oriented approach the organisation should be responsible?

Do many organisations simply issue a code of ethics because it is the 'done thing', a reactive gesture rather than a proactive exercise? Is it the case that they are only acting merely not to appear unethical? This certainly is the case in many organisations in my opinion.

Having looked into the two different styles, therefore, I think that to control someone's moral and ethical thinking with the ultimate aim to enforce them to acting in a particular way is wrong. Each individual, unless impaired by disability, has the power to determine what is right for them in a certain situation and therefore should have the opportunity to act accordingly. A person should not be told what to think simply for the corporate 'good'. "If we are to deter corporate wrongdoing and be assured that corporate members will comply with our moral and legal norms, our blame and punishment must travel beyond the corporate veil to lodge with those who knowingly bring about the corporation's acts" (Velasquez, 1983). In conclusion, if we as individuals want the power to think and judge for ourselves then we must accept the consequences of our own actions. Organisations should give us this choice.

This is certainly not the case, as more and more organisations in the business world develop codes of ethics t

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