Organizational Behavior Trends

Organizational Behavior Trends

As the world changes and organizations respond to that change, so does the behavior of employees. Technology and ethics are two areas whose impacts on organizations have risen in recent times. In the wake of some highly-publicized accounting scandals, ethical decision making is becoming an established trend. There is no doubt that technology has and continues to change how we do business. It can be debated whether its impact in the long-term is beneficial or detrimental.

Ethics and Decision Making

As Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn say "choosing to be ethical often involves considerable personal sacrifice" (2005, p. 384) and there are many ways that employees at all levels find to justify unethical behavior. According to Cavanagh, Moberg, and Velasquez, in order to make an ethical decision, an employee's behavior should satisfy certain criteria (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2005, p. 384). It should ensure the greatest good for the greatest number of people both inside and outside the organization. The rights of all concerned parties should be respected and people should be treated equitably and fairly. Adhering to these criteria will have an impact on how a company does business. Some unethical managers intentionally look for the outcome that provides them with the most personal gain. Others may begin with a desire to make decisions that are ethical towards all concerned but find that the parties involved have conflicting interests. A manager may be faced with a choice between increasing profits to satisfy shareholders or increasing employee satisfaction which would result in lower profits. In reality, decisions are often complex and not clear cut. Those managers who fail to adequately analyze the data involved in a situation may act unethically unintentionally. They can be described as amoral managers (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2005, p.55).

In recent times, when companies have failed exercise their own controls over ethical decision making, public outrage has prompted the government to step in. With the introduction of legislation such as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, government has introduced measures aimed at improving managerial controls in order to protect both shareholders and workers. These measures improve the standards of financial reporting and disclosure, and help to prevent fraud. With fines amounting to millions of dollars and the possibility of imprisonment, the motivation for corporate officers to comply with this legislation is high. However, imposing rules from without is limited. As Alan Greenspan is quoted as saying, "rules are no substitute for an ethical approach" (www.usatoday.com, 2005).

Technology and Stress

Among the list of common stressors is being asked to do too much or too little at work (Schermerhorn, Hunt & Osborn, 2005, p. 499). Technology can play a part in both scenarios. Technological advances have enabled the automation of many tedious and unchallenging jobs. The employees who previously performed these jobs were often bored and unmotivated,