Ethics Case

Ethics is how an individual basis a decision like being able to determine what is right from what is wrong. A person becomes knowledgeable of their ethical views from family, society, and experiences. The views include right from wrong, culture, beliefs, law, and religion. Personal ethics is what an individual basis most life decisions off of. There is a difference between personal ethics and business ethics. Just like an individual should keep personal issues separate from the work place. The same rule applies when you consider the topic of ethics. Agreement should exist between personal ethics and business ethics in order to create a work and life balance. "As the world's attention to business ethics is increasing with today's dilemmas, companies are realizing that they need to earn the respect of their customers in order to be successful."(Olivia) The leaders of todays growing companies must consider an employees ethics along with keeping their personal ethics separate from business ethics.

I had the opportunity to interview a couple different people in the C-Level position. I also have the opportunity to work in the management level myself. I wanted to get the ethical view of someone in a similar position in order to compare him or her to myself. The person I chose to interview is the director of a Christian Montessori School in Costa Mesa. I found the position to be very interesting and to require the use of business ethics vs. personal ethics most. The director also has to deal with many different situations depending on the parents, age of the student, and the problem. The director of a school is responsible for a lot including the vision, structure, accountability, and advocacy of the school. All these tasks require a code of ethics for the school itself and the director has to work along side these ethics plus their own. Mrs. Cecile Maida is the Director of a Christian Montessori School. The school has five different locations, one in Costa Mesa, Irvine, Las Vegas and one in Newport Beach. I had the opportunity to interview her and spend a couple days volunteering at the school. I was able to gather a lot of information on the school's code of ethics along with the Director's person ethics and business ethics.

The mission statement of the school addresses all the areas of concern when it comes to an education. "Our mission is to provide an atmosphere of learning that is LOVING emotionally, physically and spiritually SAFE." (INTM) A person's personal ethics is important when it comes to being a leader. Mrs. Cecile's personal ethics is one she strongly believes in and she has found a balance between personal and business ethics. I began gathering information by asking Mrs. Cecile Maida some questions about her childhood. Both her mom and dad in Orange County raised her. When I asked her to describe her father, she stated he was a loving man and a hard worker. She feels like most of her personal ethics comes from the experiences she had as a child. Part of her personal code of ethics is to be responsible, which she learned from her hard working father. Mrs. Cecile also had two siblings; she mentioned, "Having a younger brother or sister is a big lesson in responsibility."(Cecile). She remembers having to make dinner, clean, and help babysit at times. Integrity is first on the list on Mrs. Cecile's code of ethics. She has always believed in being honest, sincere, and reliable in everything she does. She has realized the importance of this throughout life and from her mother. Since she is a school Director Integrity goes side by side for her Business ethics also. This would be important to me if I were choosing a school to send my children too. Having someone you can trust and you know is honest can be hard to find. Along with these two personal ethics the list continues with; willingness, caring, respect, wisdom, ambition, and patience. I have noticed how important some of these ethics can be when an individual is around children all day. When it comes to keeping her personal ethics separate from business ethics Mrs. Cecile Maida does a great job. She explained how her business ethics are similar to her personal ethics. She does find a couple things need to be kept separate like feelings. Some of Mrs. Cecile's personal ethics that carry into the work place directly are honesty in the work place, respect for others, understanding others, and taking responsibility for her actions. Having to hire teachers is the first challenge she faces as the director. Mrs. Cecile does not judge anyone by the way they look but she has to make some choices when it comes to hiring a teacher. The application for employment and face-to-face interview do require her to deny some because their ethics just do not belong there. This is where her personal and business ethics clash. Her personal ethics say she is to be understanding of others and treat others fairly. Unfortunately when it comes to hiring someone who will be working with children means some circumstances lead her to deny them. She shared with me a time when one individual came to apply for a job and on the application they had a past criminal history. Although the individual had a clean record for some time now, changed their personal ethics, and seems to have a great heard she was not able to hire that person. Mrs. Cecile's personal ethics say she understands and she wants to give the individual a chance but the risk is too great. She shared with me that "childhood is a very important, school plays a major role in shaping an individual besides their home."(Cecile) I agree with this because most kids spend more time at school then they do at home. Since being a director requires her to interact with many diverse groups Mrs. Cecile struggles the most when having to understand one persons ethics over another. There are times when parents and teachers have disagreements and the director is left to solve the problem. This is difficult because Mrs. Cecile is knows she is honest and her teachers have shown to be honest but she does not want to judge the parent in any way. She then has to find some mutual ground in the conflict with out disrespecting anyone. Sometimes she finds this hard to do because