Happiness and Ethics in Business

By Destiny Shaw
Civic Engagement Humanities 1100-013-Sp16
Happiness is often noted as the most important thing in life. All I want is for her to be
happy., or, Its okay, as long as hes happy. are frequently used phrases in our culture today,
yet many of us are perpetually unhappy. We are always in pursuit of happiness, but when it
comes to defining what really makes a person happy, we often fall short of a definite list.
Happiness by nature is difficult to define, but when we divide the areas in life where we wish to
be happy, we can then begin to narrow down how we view our happiness in particular areas, and
what dictates how happy we are in said areas
One area where we all wish to be happy is in our work. About one third of our life is
spent working, meaning that
being happy with what we do
is essential to our happiness.
As shown in the chart
(Statistics), the information
details how we spend the time
in our days. It appears from
the data that the majority of
our day is spent working.
What if anything can and does
make us happy at work?
Business is often of a cut throat nature, where our morals and ethics can be
constantly challenged. The ethics of business are habitually cloudy, and the uncertainty of what

is morally right and morally wrong can lead to unhappiness. When we feel that our morals are
compromised it often leads to unhappiness. But what if our goal of happiness includes gaining
management positions, raises, commission, etc., or to just get down to the brass tacks of it all, the
money gained from one of the objects listed above will make us happy, but in order to achieve
this ultimate goal of more money we have to concede on the breaking of our values. It is fair to
say that as individuals we all have different views on what is ethically right or wrong, and
because we all have differing views, the thresholds of how far we are truly willing to go changes.
Some may be morally okay with breaking laws, or taking money from people who do not fully
understand the nature of the business deal they are embarking upon.
The person that first comes to mind when I think about this topic is Bernie Madoff, a
former American investor and financer. Over his forty year career, he was able to defraud many
of the most needy and defenseless members of our society through his elaborate Ponzi schemes
(Pressler). It is believed that he defrauded mainly the elderly, charitable organizations, and
people within the Jewish community of nearly eighteen billion dollars. He lived a life of
unimaginable wealth and privilege on the backs of those who could barely support themselves.
Although he will be in prison for the rest of his life, and then some, he probably did not fully
regret or feel unhappy about his unethical behaviors until he was ousted as a fraudster. However;
it was one of his sons that ultimately brought Madoffs actions to the attention of the FBI. It
seems apparent that his son had difficulty ethically and morally with the entire matter. He was
the whistle blower on his own father. One of the most widely accepted moral guidelines we have
is the Ten Commandments, with one of the commandments being to honor thy mother and father,
and another being thou shalt not steal. Unfortunately these ethical dilemmas lead to the

unhappiness as sub sequential suicide of his son two years after Madoffs arrest. This is a clear
cut example of the moral and ethical extremes that are present in business.
At the current level of business that I am at, a Ponzi scheme and ethical dilemma of that
magnitude is not a reality. The ethical questions that my peers and I are more likely to encounter
would be theft, inappropriate sexual behavior, or keeping quiet about something that seems
ethically unsound. In fact the most current issue that has arisen for me is that of sexual conquests
for promotions. As a human resource generalist for a local grocery store, I was constantly
bombarded with information about my boss, the store director, and his relationships with other
women in the store. When I had first accepted the position I worked with another director and
was completely content and happy with my job. I never had complaints of this nature, and he and
I would often look for people that we could uplift and make happy. When he was replaced, I did
my best to understand the new director, but long gone were the days of achieving bliss through
the acts of kindness I had performed before. Instead when I came into work, I would sit in the
managers office with several other managers, and listen to him discuss his dates, and how much
money he made, and how much money the women made that he was dating. I was always
uncomfortable about the situation, but feared what would happen if I spoke out. When it got to
be too much to bear ethically, I left my dream position with a company where I had worked for
nearly thirteen years, in the hopes of finding another job I could be happy in. When I left, he
hired the woman that he was rumored to be dating from the store which had no experience in the
position or anything pertaining to the position. It was given to her due to the elicit nature of their
relationship. At this point it was not enough just to walk away, I felt obligated to speak up about
it to his superiors. The moral of the story being that even if you are in a position that is your
dream job, and that made you happy initially, when your morals or ethics become challenged

in this manner, the dream job can turn into a nightmare, and all happiness turned to discomfort,
anger, and disgust.
When looking at morals, ethics, and happiness in a larger picture we begin to see how
they relate. In the writing from the text entitled We Are Our Values, by Susan L. Anderson, it is
proposed that having values is fundamental to human beings, but that we all have differing
values that are subject to change due to different pressures that are present in our lives. Ones
moral and judgments are never fixed. They can be influenced by others, our desires and our
needs. Especially in economic matters, and those which relate to money we tend to have the
ability to set aside morals or make adjustments based on the capitol gain that is possible
(Anderson). When we look at the factor of happiness in regards to morals it is stated in the text
Judaism, Happiness, and the Good Life, by Rabbi Mark L. Shook, that there is no equivalent
word for happiness in the Jewish language, rather staying on a God-loving path is equivalent to
happiness. When looking at happiness in this context it is easy to understand that when we are
doing what we feel is right, or Godly, we find happiness. It is also asserted that we must see the
potential for happiness in a given situation. It is through misery that one finally understands the
concept of happiness (Shook).
When deciding what topic I wanted to cover for this Civic Engagement assignment, I was
unsure where I wanted to go. I have volunteered at the food bank in the past. Had worked with
homeless teens at the VOA years ago, and have recently become more engaged in my local
government attending planning and zoning meetings, and City Council events. All of this has
been instrumental in who I am today, and how I view and interact with members within my
community, but it seemed likely that in choosing one the these topics to explore, I would be
beating a dead horse, as these seem to be likely of the most obvious choices for a Civic

Engagement project. As I intend to move forward with a Bachelors in Business, and I have been
working in the administrative and human resource field for the last few years now, I have been
confounded by what really makes others happy at work and ethical or unethical behavior in
business. In the adjoining Pre-flection assignment I expressed that I wanted to find the relation
between the two, and the role I could play within my current positions. How could I assist others
to become happier more productive associates, and how could I better restrict the amount of
unethical behavior that potentially undermines associates happiness and well being while at
work.
In review of the data and information collected, I will be able to move forward in my
chosen field of study, which is Human Recourses. As I am already working in the field, I have a
renewed outlook for the processes we all go through to remain happy at work, and just what
compromises we all make in our ethics that can lead to unhappiness and dissatisfaction at work.
I will move forward with an arsenal of information to provide to employees, and innovative ideas
to share with management about how to best harvest the happiness within their employees.
Additionally, I will be able to more critically analyze information provided to me about
employee welfare, and all information will greatly pertain to Ethics courses as I begin my
Bachelors Degree in the fall.

Bibliography
Anderson, Susan L. "We Are Our Values." Questioning Matters. n.d.
Pressler, Jessica. NYMag.com. 02 04 2016.
Shook, Rabbi Mark L. "Judaism, Happiness, and the Good Life." n.d.
Statistics, U.S. Bureau of Labor. www.bls.gov/TUS. 26 October 2015. 2014.