Trust, Justice and Ethics

1. Trust, Justice and Ethics 7

2. Learning Goals • What is trust, and how does it relate to justice and ethics? • In what three sources can trust be rooted? • What dimensions can be used to describe the trustworthiness of an authority? • What dimensions can be used to describe the fairness of an authority’s decision making?

3. Learning Goals, Cont’d • What is the four-component model of ethical decision making? • How does trust affect job performance and organizational commitment? • What steps can organizations take to become more trustworthy?

4. Trust, Justice, and Ethics • Reputation – prominence of the company’s brand in the public mind and the perceived quality of its goods and services • Trust – willingness to be vulnerable based on expectations about the other’s actions and intentions • Justice – perceived fairness of an authority’s decision making • Ethics – degree to which behaviors are in accordance with generally accepted moral norms

5. Trust • Disposition-based trust – a general propensity to trust others (or not) • Cognition-based trust - rooted in a rational assessment of the authority’s trustworthiness • Affect-based trust – depends on feelings toward the authority that go beyond any rational assessment

6. Disposition-Based Trust • Has less to do with the authority and more to do with the trustor • General expectation that the words, promises, and statements of individuals and groups can be relied upon • Shaped from both genetics and environment • Trust propensity levels in the United States are relatively high, compared to those in Europe and South America

7. Figure 7-2 Trust Propensities by Nation

8. Cognition-Based Trust • With experience or observation, trust begins to be based on cognitions we‘ve developed about the authority • Trustworthinessisdefined as the characteristics of a trustee that inspire trust • Ability • Benevolence • Integrity

9. Track Record • Ability – the skills, competencies, and areas of expertise that enable an authority to be successful in a particular area • Benevolence – the belief that the authority wants to do good for the trustor, apart from any selfish or profit-centered motives • Integrity – the perception that the authority adheres to a set of values and principles that the trustor finds acceptable • “Walk the talk”

10. Affect-based Trust • More emotional than rational • We trust because we have feelings for the person in question • Sometimes acts as a supplement to the other types of trust • An emotional bond develops, and feelings for the trustee increase our willingness to accept vulnerability

11. Figure 7-1 Factors that Influence Trust Levels

12. Justice • Distributive justice – the perceived fairness of decision outcomes • Procedural justice – theperceived fairness of decision-making processes

13. Procedural Justice Rules • Voice • Correctability • Consistency • Bias suppression • Representativeness • Accuracy

14. Procedural Justice Don’t people just care about the outcomes that they receive? Distributive and procedural justice combine to influence employee reactions. • When outcomes are bad, procedural justice becomes enormously important. • Procedural justice tends to be a stronger driver of reactions to authorities than distributive justice.

15. Interpersonal Justice Reflects the perceived fairness of the treatment received by employees from authorities • Fostered when authorities adhere to: • Respect rule – treat employees in a dignified and sincere manner • Propriety rule – refrain from making improper or offensive remarks • Taken to extremes, interpersonally unjust actions create abusive supervision

16. Informational Justice Reflects the perceived fairness of the communications to employees from authorities • Fostered when authorities adhere to: • Justification rule – explain decision-making procedures and outcomes in a comprehensive and reasonable manner • Truthfulness rule – communications are honest and candid

17. Ethics Research on ethics seeks to explain… • Why people behave in a manner consistent with generally accepted norms of morality • Why they sometimes violate those norms

18. Figure 7-6 The Four-Component Model of Ethical Decision Making INSERT ONCE REVISED

19. The Four-Component Model of Ethical Decision Making Moral awarenessoccurs when an authority recognizes: • A moral issue exists, or • An ethical code is relevant to the situation • Moral intensity – the degree to which the issue has ethical urgency • Potential for harm • Social pressure • Moral attentiveness – the degree to which people chronically perceive and consider issues of morality in their experiences

20. The Four Component Model of Ethical Decision Making Moral judgment– the process people use to determine whether a course of action is ethical or unethical • Cognitive moral development theory • As people age and mature, they move through several stages of moral development • Each is more mature and sophisticated than the prior one

21. The Four Component Model of Ethical Decision Making Moral judgment, cont’d • Preconventional stage – Viewed in terms of the consequences of actions for the individual • Conventional stage – Referenced to expectations of one’s family and society • Principled (or postconventional) stage – Referenced to a set of defined, established moral principles

22. The Four Component Model of Ethical Decision Making Philosophers have identified a number of moral principles that serve as prescriptive guides for making moral judgments. • Consequentialist • Utilitarianism • Egoism • Non-consequentialist • Ethics of duties • Ethics of rights • Virtue ethics

23. The Four Component Model of Ethical Decision Making Moral intentreflects the degree of commitment to the moral course of action. • The distinction between awareness or judgment and intent is important • Many unethical people know and understand that what they’re doing is wrong—they just choose to do it anyway. • Moral identity—the degree to which a person self-identifies as a moral person • Moderates the effects of moral judgment on ethical behavior.

24. Importance of Trust • Positive relationship with performance • Increases an employee’s ability to focus • Influences citizenship behavior and counterproductive behavior • Allows employees to develop social exchange relationships, instead of economic exchange relationships, with their employers • Economic exchangerelationships • Narrowly defined, quid pro quo obligations • Specified in advance • Explicit repayment schedule. • Social exchangerelationships • Vaguely defined obligations • Open-ended and long-term in repayment

25. Application: Social Responsibility • Corporate social responsibility – acknowledges that the responsibility of a business encompasses the economic, legal, ethical, and citizenship expectations of society • A company’s obligations do not end with profit maximization. • Organizations have an obligation to do what is right, just, and fair and to avoid harm.