1 / 77

Chapter 3 Ethics and Behavior in Organizations

Chapter 3 Ethics and Behavior in Organizations. Learning Goals. Define ethical and unethical behavior Discuss why some scholars believe "It's Good Business" to do business ethically Know the functions of ethical values and standards for individuals and societies. Learning Goals (Cont.).

jana
Download Presentation

Chapter 3 Ethics and Behavior in Organizations

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Chapter 3Ethics and Behaviorin Organizations

  2. Learning Goals • Define ethical and unethical behavior • Discuss why some scholars believe "It's Good Business" to do business ethically • Know the functions of ethical values and standards for individuals and societies

  3. Learning Goals (Cont.) • Describe the various theories of ethics and the guidelines each offers • Explain how to manage for ethical behavior in an organization • Identify some international aspects of ethical behavior in organizations

  4. Chapter Overview • Ethical and Unethical Behavior • "It's Good Business" • Ethical Issues in Organizational Behavior • Ethics: The Study of Moral Philosophy

  5. Chapter Overview (Cont.) • Ethical Values of Societies and Individuals • Theories of Ethics • Managing for Ethical Behavior • International Aspects of Ethics

  6. Introduction • Modern managers feel growing pressure from the public and government to behave ethically in business transactions • Affects employees of all types of organizations: public and private • Ethical behavior: right and honorable • Unethical behavior: wrong and reprehensible

  7. Introduction (Cont.) • Standards for judging behavior as ethical or unethical • Right and wrong have different meanings to different people • Ethical standards vary from one country to another • Growing opportunities for global business increases the complexity of ethical questions • Ethical issues: product safety; affect human behavior

  8. Introduction (Cont.) • Few in-depth studies of managers and ethical behavior • Ethics often are not specific decision criteria • Managers find their decisions are bound by context, leading to a situational form of ethics • Veteran managers navigate “moral mazes” to survive and succeed in their organizations

  9. Introduction (Cont.) • Few in-depth studies (cont.) • Ethical dilemmas are common in management decision making • Choices between right and wrong are not always clear • Managers rarely use explicit ethical criteria in their decision processes

  10. Introduction (Cont.) • Gallup opinion polls about ethical behavior • Pharmacists ranked highest • Car salespeople ranked lowest • Business executives ranked near the middle • People in the United States do not have a positive view of ethics and behavior in organizations

  11. Ethical andUnethical Behavior • Ethical behavior is good, right, just, honorable, and praiseworthy • Unethical behavior is wrong, reprehensible, or fails to meet an obligation • Judgment of behavior is based on a specific moral philosophy or ethical theory

  12. Ethical andUnethical Behavior (Cont.) • Nagging issues • Finding a standard of judgment with which all reasonable people can agree • Defining the meaning of “good,” “bad,” “right”, and “wrong” • Add the nasty issue of cross-cultural ethical behavior

  13. Ethical andUnethical Behavior (Cont.) • Subjectively ethical (or unethical): person believes he or she acted ethically according to his or her ethical philosophy (or not) • Objectively ethical (or unethical): person acted according to a rule or law (or not) • Example: a manager pays bribes because he believes it is ethical in a particular country (subjectively ethical) violates his employer's policies (objectively unethical)

  14. Ethical and Unethical Behavior (Cont.) Ethical dilemmas Find 1 cent Find $1 Find wallet with $1,000 and no identification. Find wallet with $1,000 and identification.

  15. Legal Versus Ethical Behavior:The Issue of Lying Legal behavior Ethical behavior Lying to a customerabout the safety ofa product. Testifying underoath in court. “How does myhair look?” Lying: deliberate misrepresentation of the truth.

  16. “It’s Good Business” • Ethical behavior is the keystone for smooth, effective, and efficient operation of business organizations • The basis of trust in business transactions • Long-term positive effects of ethical behavior: trust, reputation, repeat business

  17. “It’s Good Business” (Cont.) • Behaving ethical can be more costly in the short term • Example: adding safety equipment not required by law • Bears higher cost to do what the firm believes is right

  18. Ethical Issues inOrganizational Behavior • Affect people’s behavior without their consent and free will • Create situations with dysfunctional high stress for employees • Many areas: each chapter discusses the ethical issues

  19. Ethics: The Study ofMoral Philosophy • Ethics, or moral philosophy, seeks logical, systematic principles that define ethical behavior • Describes the behavior a person ought to choose as the right course of action • Ethicists distinguish between ethical absolutism and ethical relativism

  20. Ethics: The Study ofMoral Philosophy (Cont.) • Ethical absolutism: ethical system applies to everyone, everywhere • Ethical relativism: ethical system is based on local values

  21. Ethics: The Study ofMoral Philosophy (Cont.) • Intermediate position: ethics and moral judgments change over time • What is right (or wrong) at one point in the development of a social system may be wrong (or right) at another point • Ethical systems evolve with the requirements of a social system so people in that system can behave in ways they judge acceptable • Only you can decide which position best defines your beliefs

  22. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals • Ethical values of societies • Exist in all societies • Unwritten or written • Act as “recipes of action” to reduce conflict when people’s interests differ • Change over time as the society’s needs change • Cross-cultural effects, especially now. Another source of change

  23. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethical values of individuals • Develop from societal level values • Learn from family, religious training, peers, education, and life experiences • Develop more complex thinking patterns with maturity. Includes ethical values • Individual differences within a society

  24. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethical values of individuals (cont.) • Ethic of justice: applies moral rules to decide the fairness of an act • Believed primarily characteristic of men • Stages of moral development • From a self focus to • a societal focus to • a universal moral view

  25. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of justice: three stages • Preconventional (individual view) • Conventional (societal view) • Principled (universal view) See text book Figure 3.1

  26. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of justice (cont.) • Preconventional stage • Under age nine, some adolescents, and many criminals • Self centered • Responds only to sanctions • Late in stage: becomes aware of other’s interests

  27. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of justice (cont.) • Conventional stage • Characterizes most adolescents and adults • Growing awareness of others’ expectations • Accepts the view that mutual agreements take precedence over self-interest • Internalized the norms of a group or a society • Late in stage: believes moral behavior strengthens the surrounding social system

  28. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of justice (cont.) • Principled stage • Not reached until after age 20 to 25; many adults never reach it • Features the development of moral principles as behavioral guides • Person has critically assessed the norms accepted at the conventional stage

  29. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of justice (cont.) • Principled stage (cont.) • Concludes there are universal moral principles such as the right to liberty • Late in stage: two beliefs • A person's actions are always guided by freely chosen moral principles • Treat each person as a free, autonomous individual Principles may conflict with law, and when they do, the person must follow the moral principle

  30. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethical values of individuals (cont.) • Ethic of care • Moral judgments based on empathy for others and the person’s relationship with them • Primarily characteristic of women See text book Figure 3.2

  31. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of care: three stages • Focus on self (Concerned with survival) • Focus on others (Self-sacrificing) • Reflective understanding of caring for others

  32. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of care (cont.) • Focused on self • Own survival • Similar to the preconventional stage for men • Self-criticism for having selfish motives

  33. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of care (cont.) • Focused on others • Move away from self-focus • Account for other people in situation • Feelings, emotion, empathy • Focus on unique qualities of situation

  34. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Ethic of care (cont.) • Reflective understanding of caring for others • Balanced view of self in moral decisions • Strong focus on caring for others • Consider the context, people, and feelings when judging a moral course of action

  35. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Summary • Ethic of justice: use abstract rules with little focus on feelings and relationships • Ethic of care: integrates feelings, emotions, and personal relationships Turning in your mother for having committed an illegal act or foreclosing on her defaulted mortgage.

  36. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Heated debate about gender differences in moral development between moral philosophers and moral psychologists • Research found slight differences between the ethical perceptions of men and women • Women tended to have a slightly higher ethic than men

  37. Ethical Values of Societiesand Individuals (Cont.) • Conservative interpretation • Both men and women use a justice or care view, although they can prefer one to the other • Choice of moral view may vary with the specific moral dilemma Both men and women may apply a justice view torights and justice problems and a care view tomoral dilemmas involving social relationships.

  38. Theories of Ethics • Four major theories of ethics in the Western world • Utilitarianism: net benefits • Rights: entitlement • Justice: fairness • Egoism: self-interest

  39. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Utilitarianism • examine an action’s effects to decide whether it is morally correct • Action is morally right if the total net benefit of the action exceeds the total net benefit of any other action • Assumes a person can assess all costs and benefits of an action

  40. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Utilitarianism (cont.) • Assessment of net benefits includes any important indirect effects • Example: assessing the effects of pollutant discharge from a factory on the immediate surrounding environment and those down stream or down wind from the factory • Two forms: act and rule

  41. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Utilitarianism (cont.) • Act utilitarianism asks a person to assess the effects of all actions • Rejects the view that actions can be classified as right or wrong in themselves • Example: lying is ethical if it produces more good than bad

  42. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Utilitarianism (cont.) • Rule utilitarianism asks a person to assess actions according to a set of rules designed to yield the greatest net benefit to all affected • Compares act to rules • Does not accept an action as right if it maximizes net benefits only once • Example: lying is always wrong or “thou shalt not lie”

  43. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Utilitarianism (cont.) • Two main limitations • Hard to use in difficult to quantify situations • Does not include rights and justice • Other ethical theories meet these objections

  44. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Rights • Right: a person’s just claim or entitlement • Focuses on the person’s actions or the actions of others toward the person • Legal rights: defined by a system of laws • Moral rights: based on ethical standards • Purpose: let a person freely pursue certain actions without interference from others

  45. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Rights (cont.) • Features • Respect the rights of others • Lets people act as equals • Moral justification of a person’s action • Examples • Legal right: right to a fair trial in the United States • Moral right: right to due process within an organization

  46. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Rights (cont.) • Rejects view of assessing the results of actions • Expresses moral rights from individual's view, not society's. Does not look to the number of people who benefit from limiting another person's rights • Example: right to free speech in the United States stands even if a person expresses a dissenting view

  47. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Rights (cont.) • Types of rights • Negative rights: do not interfere with another person’s rights • Positive rights: A person has a duty to help others pursue their rights Negative: do not stop a person from whistleblowing Positive: coworker helps another person blowthe whistle on unethical actions

  48. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Justice • Looks at the balance of benefits and burdens distributed among members of a group • Can result from the application of rules, policies, or laws that apply to a society or a group • Just results of actions override utilitarian results • Rejects view that an injustice is acceptable if others benefit the action

  49. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Justice (cont.) • Theory of distributive justice: three principles • The Principle of Equal Liberty • Basic liberties must be the same for all people • Must protect liberties from attack by others • Includes basic liberties of many Western Societies. Example: freedom of speech • Organization should not use deception to win contracts: restricts the basic liberty of free choice

  50. Theories of Ethics (Cont.) • Theory of distributive justice (cont.) • The Difference Principle • Societies or groups will have inequalities but must help the disadvantaged (sick, poor, disabled) • Managers should use organizational resources efficiently • Helps productivity of society; society can then help the disadvantaged

More Related