Overcoming Ethical Dilemmas.

Ethically Yours! - Organizational Behaviour

How ethical is it to accept personal gifts for performing professional duties?

Reporters who write reviews on the automobile models based on their visits to trade fairs are often given 'expensive personal gifts'.

Gifts to evaluate automobile models?

Well, an auto magazine raised similar questions suspecting the objectivity of evaluation in such instances. It issued a policy statement forbidding its reporters from accepting personal gifts. Were the reporters unethical?

Ethics are contagious

Certain choices are often difficult. Ethics demand the differentiation between competing choices. Following ethics is very important but not always easy! Since everything we say and do represents a choice, and how we decide determines the shape of our lives, practising ethics is highly essential both in personal and professional lives.

Ethics are contagious, both in the society and the corporate world. Leaders are responsible for creating ethical organisations that benefit society at large. Morals are the 'accepted right' in doing certain things. Practising morals even in adverse situations is being ethical.

Are you being ethical?

The three essential requisites of a good leader are, ethics, character and integrity. Self-confidence is the measure of an ethical leader and not self-centredness. Only an ethical leader can elicit outstanding performance from other employees.

Towards ethical leadership

Ethics can be spread through precept and example practically anywhere and organisations are no exception. There are four critical elements to being an ethical leader.

Lay moral foundation: 

A leader must maintain a personal philosophy of right and wrong. He must encourage his employees to always pursue the right and never ignore the wrong by thinking, "it's not what I would have done".

Model moral behaviour: 

Leaders must model moral behaviour, if they want their employees to be moral and ethical. Preaching is better enhanced by practice, than by mere words.

A store manager for instance, always maintained his integrity by speaking the truth, even if it affected his store performance unfavourably. His honesty was infectious and made his sales associates look up to him. He gained favourable impression from his associates and thereby won their confidence.

Expect moral behaviour: 

Communicating the desired moral behaviour makes employees realise the value of being moral. Such morality will definitely seep into their personal lives and eventually promote a moral society.

For example, during the orientation session of new recruits, a manager communicated his view of avoiding pirated versions of the expensive software programmes. A simple communication of expected moral behaviour demanded the recruits to discard any of their pirated software. They were motivated to lead their organisation towards an ethical one.

Develop moral policies: Leaders need to develop moral policies to inhibit members from resorting to immoral practices. Policies should incorporate reward systems as motivators.

The ethical environment

To operate in an ethical manner, an ethical environment is essential. It is here that the leader plays a pivotal role. Recruiting from business schools that provide business ethics as part of their curriculum is another essential criterion.

The quagmire

Morals that stand the test of time become ethics. Certain situations pose ethical dilemmas for leaders. They are required to show their grit and determination in adhering to their values. Their character and integrity become questionable in such circumstances. Some of them could be:

• Maintaining data security controls even if the security software is expensive.
  
• An independent vendor relationship by withstanding pressures of bias.
  
• Projecting accurate data of project budget and profits even when challenging problems arise.
  
• Adhering to an unpopular decision firmly provided it is beneficial.
  
• Reporting cases of unethical behaviour irrespective of the consequences.
  
• Rationalising ethics

Individual contributions gain importance when ethics are all pervasive in the organisation. Every employee in the organisation can make a difference to the ethical landscape. However, moral leadership can be exhibited through personal behaviour and the environment they create for their staff.

In being ethical, certain rationalisations create hurdles. The most common of them is the 'ends-justify-the-means' reasoning, which treats the non-ethical tasks as moral ones.

Compartmentalising ethics into private and professional is another rationalisation, which needs to be avoided. What holds good for personal lives must do so in professional life too. The third is the assumption that one can violate ethical principles provided they are harmless to others. Treating ethical norms merely as norms is a common trap in disrespecting organisational culture.

Too tempting?

An easy way out, often makes one resort to unethical means. An inner voice might say, " This will be the first and the last time". However, the first time invariably becomes the second time and multiplies arithmetically. Ethical values should help in driving away those inner voices. Personal behaviour must match the values espoused.

Pillars of ethics

Six pillars support ethics, as enunciated in the famous book, "Making Ethical Decisions"- trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and good citizenship. These pillars are the foundations for ethical existence and well-lived lives.

Ethics ought to be practised, not merely taught or read. For organisations aiming to become successful, they are mandatory. It is a proven fact that, whether for good or bad, change is always a decision away. The decision to become an ethical individual is the need in today's workplaces.

The last word

Leaders cannot be morally neutral. They must understand the gravity of their role in the formation of an ethical organisation, which exudes moral or immoral conduct.

Undeniably, ethical behaviour is tough. It sure takes guts to stand up to the truth with courage. In times when bravery needs to be 'the' behaviour to be exhibited, Thomas Jefferson's words of wisdom act as potion of courage.

" In matters of style, swim with the current; in matters of principle, stand like a rock".

Reference:

The ManageMentor