Ethics and legality are common concepts used in the society. By definition, legality refers to a consistent set of rules and regulations that are universally accepted and enforced. These rules usually defined the ways in which individuals are required to act especially when relating to others in a societal setting. People are compelled to follow the universal laws if they cannot do so voluntarily. At the national level, the government is concern with establishment of legal frameworks hence can employ police powers to ensure that they are observed. In contrast, ethics can be defined as rules of conduct.
They defined how people choose to relate with another in the social setting. Ethics define what is good for people in the society. Some scholars have asserted that ethics establish the nature of duties and responsibilities that individuals in a particular social setting owe toward others. Whereas most legal frameworks are written and approved, ethics are not written.
They are unspoken rules that individuals ought to observe. Legality are universal set of rules that govern all people, ethics entail studying and ascertaining the suitable behavior for a specific situation of concern. Ethics have far-reaching effects on the success of an organization. Organizational leaders should build trust at all levels of organization. According to Lorigable (2007), managers can achieve ethics in the working environment by serving as examples.
However, serving as role models is not enough. They should actively participate in setting the ethical standards by being overt in agitating for ethical environment in an organization. They should commit themselves to moral correctness in their organizations. Lorigable (2007) asserts that managers must inspire the entire stakeholders to meet standards of quality by adopting and unconditionally supporting appropriate code of conduct.
