Personal and Organizational Ethics
Download
Report
Transcript Personal and Organizational Ethics
Personal and
Organizational
Ethics
Search the Web
Nortel has posted its ethics policies on the
Internet. To read it, navigate your web browser
to: http://www.nortelnetworks.com
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
1
Chapter Seven Objectives
• To understand the different levels at which
business ethics may be addressed
• To appreciate principles of personal
ethical decision-making
• To identify factors affecting the business
moral climate
• To understand the strategies to improve
the ethical climate
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
2
Chapter Seven Outline
• Levels at which Ethical Issues May Be
Addressed
• Personal and Managerial Ethics
• Managing Organizational Ethics
• From Moral Decisions to Moral
Organizations
• Summary
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
3
Introduction to Chapter Seven
• This chapter focuses on the day-today ethical issues that managers face
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
4
Levels at Which Ethical Issues
May Be Addressed
• Personal level—situations faced in
personal life (income tax and speeding).
• Organizational level—workplace
situations faced as managers and
employees (illegal dumping and creative
accounting).
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
5
Levels at Which Ethical Issues
May Be Addressed
• Industrial level—ethical situations
confronted as professionals
• Societal and international levels—
local-to-global situations confronted
indirectly or directly by management
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
6
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Resolving Ethical Conflicts
Three Approaches
• Conventional (covered in Chapter 6)
• Principles
• Ethical tests
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
7
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Principles Approach
The anchors decision making
• Utilitarianism
• Rights
• Justice
•
•
•
•
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
Caring
Virtue
Servant Leadership
Golden Rule
8
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Principle of Utilitarianism focuses on
producing the greatest ratio of good to
evil for everyone
– Consequentialist theory
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
9
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Principle of Rights focuses on
examining, and possibly protecting,
individual moral or legal rights
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
10
Personal and Managerial Ethics
• A principle of justice that involves
considering what alternatives promote
fair treatment of people
• Types of justice
– Distributive
– Compensatory
– Procedural
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
11
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Rawls’ Justice
• Each person has an equal right to basic
liberties as compared to others
• Social and economic inequalities are
arranged so that they are:
reasonably expected to be to everyone’s advantage and
attached to positions and offices open to all people
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
12
Personal and Managerial Ethics
• Principle of caring focuses on a person
as a relational (cooperative) and not as an
individual
– Feminist theory
• Virtue ethics focuses on individuals
becoming imbued with virtues
– Aristotle and Plato
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
13
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Servant leadership focuses on
serving others first such as
employees, customers, community,
and so on
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
14
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Characteristics of Servant Leaders
•
•
•
•
•
Listening
Empathy
Healing
Persuasion
Awareness
• Foresight
• Conceptualization
• Commitment to the
growth of people
• Stewardship
• Building a
community
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
15
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Golden rule focuses –do unto others
as you would have them do unto you
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
16
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Concerns to be Addressed in
Ethical Conflicts
• Obligations
• Ideals
• Effects
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
17
Personal and Managerial Ethics
When Obligations Ideals and Effects
Conflict
• When two or more moral obligations conflict,
use the stronger one
• When two or more ideals conflict, or conflict
with obligations, honour the more important
one
• When effects are mixed, choose the action that
produces the greatest good and the least harm
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
18
Personal and Managerial Ethics
Ethics Test Approach
•
•
•
•
•
Test of common sense
Test of one’s self
Test of making something public
Test of ventilation
Gag test
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
19
Managing Organizational Ethics
Factors Affecting the Morality of Managers
Society’s Moral Climate
Business’s Moral Climate
Industry’s Moral Climate
Superiors
Policies
Individual
(One’s
personal
situation)
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
Peers
20
Managing Organizational Ethics
Factors Influencing Unethical
Behaviour
• Behaviour of superiors
• Ethical practices of one’s industry or
profession
• Behaviour of one’s peers in the organization
• Formal organizational policy (or lack of one)
• Personal financial need
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
21
Managing Organizational Ethics
Questionable Behaviour of
Superiors or Peers
• Amoral decision making
• Unethical acts, behaviours or practices
• Acceptance or legality as the standard
behaviour
• Absence of ethical leadership
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
22
Managing Organizational Ethics
Questionable Behaviour of
Superiors or Peers
• Use of a system that over estimates profits
• Insensitivity towards how subordinates
perceive pressure to meet goals
• Inadequate formal ethical policies
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
23
Improving Ethical Climate
Ethics Programs
& Officers
Realistic
Objectives
Effective
Communication
Top
Management
Leadership
Ethics Audit
Ethics Training
Ethical Decisionmaking Processes
Codes of
Conduct
Discipline of
Violators
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
Whistle-blowing
Mechanisms
(“Hotlines”)
24
Ethical Decision-Making
Identify decision you
are about to make
Articulate all dimensions
of proposed decision
Conventional Approach
Standards/Norms
-Personal
-Organizational
-Societal
-International
Principles Approach
Ethical Principles
-Justice
-Rights
-Utilitarianism
-Golden Rule
Course of action passes
ethics screen
Engage in course of
action
Ethical Tests Approach
Ethical Tests
-Common sense
-One’s best self
-Public disclosure
-Gag test . . .
Course of action fails
ethics screen
Do not engage in course
of action
Identify new course of
action
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
25
From Moral Decisions to Moral
Organizations
Moral Decisions
Moral Managers
Moral Organizations
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
26
Selected Key Terms
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Codes of conduct
Codes of ethics
Compensatory justice
Distributive justice
Ethical tests
Ethical audits
Golden rule
Legal rights
Moral rights
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
© 2005 by Nelson, a division of Thomson Canada Limited.
Principle of caring
Principle of justice
Principle of rights
Principle of
utilitarianism
Procedural justice
Rights
Servant leadership
Utilitarianism
Virtue ethics
27