Organizational Behavior

Organizational Ethics Issue Resolution

Organizations are always being faced with ethical dilemmas and situations that affect their decision-making. For businesses to be successful, they need to be able to resolve ethical issues that may arise in the workplace. Resolving ethical issues within an organization takes time, communication, and implementation. Managers have to communicate to other employees what is expected of them of how they should react in an ethical situation. When managers make decisions regarding ethical behavior they cannot simply make a decision and leave it alone. Managers need to be the leading force behind implementing such decisions. Ethical issues can destroy an organization if they are not attacked with a strong approach. One ethical issue that can be very harmful to an organization is the hiring of friends or acquaintances and discriminating against others based on race.

When an ethical dilemma arises, employees need to be patient as they attempt to resolve the problem. Ethical issue resolution is not easy and can take some time. Managers need to be aware of the necessary steps that are to be taken in resolving an issue that could be detrimental to the culture or ethics of an organization. Issue clarification, stakeholder analysis, values identification, issue resolution, addressing objections, and resolution implementation are the six steps that should be taken when attempting to resolve an ethical issue.

Before managers attempt to resolve an ethical issue, they need to first ask themselves six simple questions: is it right, is it fair, who gets hurt, would you be comfortable if the decisions were reported on the front page of a local newspaper, what would you tell your child to do, and how does it smell (feel)? As individuals, managers need to be aware of their own ethical perspective before they can effectively resolve an issue. These questions enable a manager to look inside themselves and find a way to attack/resolve the issue.

If a situation is right, morally or ethically, a manager can feel comfortable making a decision because the decision would coincide with their beliefs. Making ethical decisions comes from the inner feelings and beliefs of a person. If the situation seems fair, the manager can feel at ease when making a decision regarding an ethical issue. “It is unlawful to discriminate against any individual in regard to recruiting, hiring and promotion, transfer, work assignments, performance measurement, the work environment, job training, discipline and discharge, wages and benefits, or any other term, condition, or privilege of employment” (Race/Color Discrimination 2008). This makes the decision to hire based on race tougher for managers to make. Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects individuals against employment discrimination on the basis of race and color (Race/Color Discrimination 2008). This decision is obviously wrong.

After personal beliefs are put aside, employees need to think about others. Is the decision going to hurt anyone and if so, who? This question is very important in ethical decision making. Employees need to take into account other people’s feelings and well-being. If someone is going to be hurt by the decision, a manager may want to reconsider their decision. Hiring employees based on color/race hurts more people than it helps. The candidate not being hired is hurt by this decision. They do not have a job and may not be able to provide for their family. The organization may not see the harm they are doing but they are unintentionally hurting themselves. Diversity within a workplace is very beneficial to an organization. When organizations hire based on race, they are forfeiting their ability to be diverse. When organization values diversity, they can find new ways to overcome unconventional problems because they have many different resources and perspectives being involved in the decision making.

Public scrutiny and social recognition can affect how a person makes a decision. Would a manager be comfortable if their decision was broadcast on the news or published in the newspaper? When people are faced with public scrutiny or criticism, they become very observant of their actions. This question is also the motivating factor for all professional athletes. When managers want to make the right decision that is best for everyone, they can ask themselves this question. The answer they give themselves will allow them to either reconstruct or implement their decision. People today are very concerned with not offending others because of racial, ethnic, or religious differences. For this reason, the thought of being exposed to the public for a decision that discriminates against race will affect how a manager makes a decision.

Managers should make decisions as if they were trying to resolve a problem in regards to their family. If they are making a decision that they would not make for their own child, they should reconsider why they are making such a decision. Hiring employees based on race is very prejudice. Do managers want their children to be prejudice of other races? This question will give a manager additional insight about whether or not their decision is the right one.

Lastly, managers need to make decisions based on their instincts. A manager with racist feelings might feel that hiring based on race is right. This question will vary from individual to individual. If a situation feels right, the manager should consider that decision as a likely possibility. Although a manager may be racist/prejudice they need to always use their instincts as they make ethical decisions.

Clearly understanding the issue at hand is the most important step of organizational ethics issue resolution. Issue clarification entails fully knowing every aspect about a specific ethics issue. The issue at hand is organizations discriminating against people of different races as they become involved in the hiring process. The issue is very clear and it does not take much effort to see the ethical problem with this practice. Knowing exactly what the issue is and the effects it might have on the organization are known as issue clarification. Managers need to make all employees aware of the situation so that the organization can work together as a team to resolve the problem.

Organizations need to take into consideration the opinions and feelings of stakeholders. Organizations have a responsibility to stakeholders. All decisions made by an organization affect stakeholders. For this reason, managers need to be careful in the decisions they make. “Stakeholder analysis is analysis that aims to identify the stakeholders that are affected by the results of a project simultaneously with the result’s