We have established earlier that business ethics is about what we ought to be doing and not what we are doing and also applying ethical principles into business decisions and actions. The next question is, should a manager of an organization accept gift? What kind of gift can a manager accept? Remember, ethics is about reflection of your actions so that you should know what to do. Acceptance of gift arise in a situation where a manager of an organization accepts gift from suppliers or clients of his organization.
Fiduciary Relationship
A fiduciary relationship is a position of trust, this means that the manager of an organization undertakes to use assets and powers entrusted to him to work for the benefit of his organization and as such a manager is in position of trust. Hence, we must work professionally, by making objective decisions based on merit and working hard and well for the organization.
Sometimes, we might find ourselves in a situation of demand such as our taking care of our family just to mention a few. Different situations might also arise in our work life but remember acceptance of gift by managers is generally unethical expect for few instances where we can tell the rationality behind the gift.
In addition, acceptance of gift as a manager put you in a position of conflict of interest and also you would not be able to make an objective decision, even when the supplier state that the gift has been budgeted for, that it means they are indirectly telling you that they are going to give you something.
Reasons suppliers/clients offer gift
I will be discussing some reasons suppliers give managers gift:
They give gift to influence the decision of the manager, in other words the suppliers give you gift as a manager to influence your decision and we have said that ethics is about making rational and objective decisions. When our decisions are biased, we do not give an objective decision.
They give gift to curry favor or sustain the interest of the receiver, the suppliers will not give you gift when you are not in a position to influence any decision.
Suppliers do not just carry gift and give anybody in the organization, which means that there is really no free lunch anywhere it is important to note this.
They also give gift for fear of survival, sometimes when you do business with people if you do not go back and give money then there is a problem and this makes some suppliers worried for the fear of continuing business with the company.
To imitate competition, because other people are doing it in the industry does not make it right. For instance, Company A is giving gift and as such if I do not offer gift I might not get the job. Remember ethics is about doing the right thing.
To show appreciation, you need to be careful when accepting gift as appreciation.
Implications in acceptance of gift
The manager is placed in a position of conflict of interest between showing gratitude for the gift and being objective.
It can bias your decision making.
It makes one to overlook substandard work.
It destroys creativity and professionalism.
It makes subordinates unwilling to make sacrifices, people working under you will not want to make sacrifices which means that you are showing a bad example as a manger.
Company policy: There should be a policy and guide for managers in an organization on whether to accept or not, accept and declare.
#MBA 21
