Importance Of Ehtical Management In Orginisations

Introduction

This report aims to provide a critical evaluation of the importance of using an ethical approach to managing the behaviour in organisations. By the behaviour in organisations, the report logically assumes that this is the behaviour of the organisation as a whole and the individuals involved in the organisation. This report will define ethics from a number of sources and draws on a logical definition from all the sources. This concept of ethics will then be examined from an individual and a corporate perspective and the impact of each perspective has on the managing behaviour in contemporary organisations. From this analysis, a conclusion will be drawn, and an evaluation of the necessity of ethics in organisational behaviour will be deduced.

Definition of Ethics

Ethics is possibly one of the hardest words to define because of the how diverse it is. Every person and corporation in the industry will have a different ethical code. Some ethics are taught during our child days and some are dictated to us where we work. Ethics can also be described as a personÐŽ¦s morals, what they believe to be right or wrong. ÐŽ§Ethics involves the study of moral issues and choices.ЎЁ (Kreitner &Kinicki, 2004, p.34). A second definition is further gathered from Dubrin, Dalglish and Miller (2006, P. 128) where Velasquez (1998) stated that there are five characteristics that distinguish between ethical standards and other standards:

„« Moral standards deal with issues that we think can seriously injure or benefit human beings

„« Moral standards are not established or changed by decisions of a particular authoritative body

„« We feel moral standards should be preferred to other values. Including self interest

„« Moral standards are based on impartial considerations

„« Moral standards are associated with special emotions and a special vocabulary (e.g. guilt, shame, remorse).

Within the scope of this report, it will be considered that ethics is a personal attribute, learnt in up bringing or company training that dictates how an individual reacts to moral dilemmas. The Characteristics of the ethical standards that the individual and corporation will have are considered to reflect the five above.

The Concept of Ethics ÐŽV Individual

In the world of today, the pace of life has got a lot faster and more complicated. It is not surprising that the stress has had a dramatic effect on quality and customer service with employees cutting corners both ethical and not to meet demands. The concept of ethics and ethical behaviour has become a more important issue. On the basis of an individual employee there are many moral dilemmas that can be faced and depending on the organisation there are many outcomes and decisions an employee can make. How an individual reacts to these dilemmas can depend on several factors. (Fang M, 2006, P. 105), with reference to (Kreitner & Kinicki, 2001), showed very effectively that there are five factors that are attributed to an individual faced with a moral dilemma. He describes the five individual factors attributed to the ethical agent as cognitive development stage, work ethics, personality, self-efficacy and emotion.

Cognitive Development Stage

The cognitive development stage is defined as the amount of training or understanding the individual has about the ethical situation they are in. It is the first of the ethical decision process. As is pointed out by Gaudine and Thorne (2001, P. 175). the development can also have an emotional context and be driven by emotional experience in ethical decision making. This would probably be during childhood. It is in my opinion that an organisation can strive to produce a training program to better compliment this first stage and make the process easier.

Work Ethics

This is the ethics usually conducted around the work place. In the case of an individual it is clear that this is most often the code of ethics that have been taught to the individual by the organisation.

Personality

On an individual basis, the individualÐŽ¦s personality is one of the most important inputs in an ethical response to a moral problem. As Fang (2006) pointed out through the mentioning of (Pfeffer, 1997). Schncider, Goldstein, & Smith (1995), ÐŽ§organisation doses not gain a personality from its external environment, nor dose it from its technology, but from the total of all its individualsÐŽ¦ personalitiesЎЁ. Personality plays a large part in the ethical behaviour management of an organisation. What is so important is that a personality is one of the hardest things to change in a person. In most circumstances, if the personality does not fit the ethical job description, a replacement has to be found. Fang (2006), identifies two areas major areas of personality that influence organisational behaviour are individuals. These are ЎҐInternalÐŽ¦ and ЎҐexternalÐŽ¦. There is further evidence of this written by Robbins, Millet, and Waters-Marsh (2004, P. 105) which agrees. The two individuals differ in what is called a ЎҐlocus of controlÐŽ¦. The locus of control is simply the individuals belief as to whether the source of their ЎҐfateÐŽ¦ is internal (make their own fate), or external (fate determined by external forces). An internal person tends to be more confident of them because they believe they control their own destiny. They also tend to prepare and analyse problems more before coming to a decision. Robbins et alÐŽ¦, makes an interesting comment in the sense of absenteeism. Internal people tend to believe they control there health through good habits. Is this a sign that an internal person is more reliable and responsible? Responsibleness is a good sign for ethical practise, an ability to ЎҐdo the right thingÐŽ¦.

Self-Efficacy

Self-efficacy is the fourth factor to consider for an individual perspective of ethics according to Fang (2006). Self-efficacy was defined by Cinamon (2006, P. 202) as ÐŽ§a belief in one's ability to perform specific tasks.ЎЁ it is reasonable to assume that this description is similar to self esteem. Robbins et al (2004) describe self esteem as the amount that a person likes or indeed dislikes themselves. This is another very important factor when it is considered from an individual point of view. Belief in yourself and