Seminar Report on Ethics and Values

Submitted to:- Submitted by:-Dr. R.K. Gautam Angad SinghAssistant Professor Roll no. 2202 MBA 2 (SEM 4)

Acknowledgement

Table of contents

Abstract

VALUES AND ETHICS1. INTRODUCTION

Values and ethics are central to any organization; those operating in the national security arena are no exception. What exactly do we mean by values and ethics? Both are extremely broad terms, and we need to focus in on the aspects most relevant for strategic leaders and decision makers. What we will first discuss is the distinctive nature of ethics for public officials; second, the forces which influence the ethical behaviour of individuals in organizations; and third, explore the actions strategic leaders can take to build ethical climates in their organizations.

Values and ethics in simple words mean principle or code of conduct that govern transactions; in this case business transaction. These ethics are meant to analyse problems that come up in day to day course of business operations. Apart from this it also applies to individuals who work in organisations, their conduct and to the organisations as a whole.We live in an era of cut throat competition and competition breeds enmity. This enmity reflects in business operations, code of conduct. Business houses with deeper pockets crush small operators and markets are monopolised. In such a scenario certain standards are required to govern how organizations go about their business operations, these standards are called ethics.

2. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN VALUES AND ETHICS

Man is a social animal and his actions and behaviours are governed by the society he lives in. Every person has values and ethics he believes in and his behaviour is guided to a great extent by these values and ethics. Those who do not understand the difference between values and ethics use these words almost interchangeably. Though there is no denying the fact that there are similarities in the two concepts but there are differences also that cannot be overlooked and this article intends to highlight these differences.

2.1 ValuesValues are beliefs that a person holds about things and aspects of life. These are guiding principles that mould a personsbehaviour all his life. Mostly the values a person holds are developed by the company he keeps and the first values he learns are from his parents. Later on he is taught more about values in school. Societies have different value systems and people living in these societies are guided by these values. For example in the US, the values of liberty and freedom hold great significance and the behaviour and actions of people in the society are guided by these values. Values are guiding principles and when a person is in a dilemma as to what direction he should take at any particular moment in his life, it is these values that guide his action and behaviour.People also have their own value systems which act as the lens through which they view the world around them and make judgments based upon this value system. This makes the situation complex as when there is contradiction between what are values fo the society and personal values held by a person.

Values can be defined as those things that are important to or valued by someone. That someone can be an individual or, collectively, an organization. One place where values are important is in relation to vision. One of the imperatives for organizational vision is that it must be based on and consistent with the organization's core values. In one example of a vision statement we'll look at later, the organization's core values - in this case, integrity, professionalism, caring, teamwork, and stewardship- were deemed important enough to be included with the statement of the organization's vision. Dr. John Johns, in an article entitled "The Ethical Dimensions of National Security," mentions honesty and loyalty as values that are the ingredients of integrity. When values are shared by all members of an organization, they are extraordinarily important tools for making judgments, assessing probable outcomes of contemplated actions, and choosing among alternatives. Perhaps more important, they put all members "on the same sheet of music" with regard to what all members as a body consider important.

The Army, in 1986, had as the theme for the year "values," and listed four organizational values-loyalty, duty, selfless service, and integrity-and four individual values- commitment, competence, candor, and courage. A Department of the Army pamphlet entitled Values: The Bedrock of Our Profession spent some time talking about the importance of values, and included this definition:Values are what we, as a profession, judge to be right. They are more than words-they are the moral, ethical, and professional attributes of character . . . there are certain core values that must be instilled in members of the U.S. Army-civilian and uniformed soldier alike. These are not the only values that should determine our character, but they are ones that are central to our profession and should guide our lives as we serve our Nation.

Values are the embodiment of what an organization stands for, and should be the basis for the behavior of its members. However, what if members of the organization do not share and have not internalized the organization's values? Obviously, a disconnect between individual and organizational values will be dysfunctional. Additionally, an organization may publish one set of values, perhaps in an effort to push forward a positive image, while the values that really guide organizational behavior are very different. When there is a disconnect between stated and operating values, it may be difficult to determine what is "acceptable." One might infer that officers are encouraged to "have the courage of their convictions" and speak their disagreements openly. In some cases, this does work; in others it does not.The same thing works at the level of the society. The principles by which the society functions do not necessarily conform to the principles stated. Those in power may covertly allow the use of force to suppress debate in order to remain in power. ("death squads" are an example.) In some organizations, dissent may be rewarded by termination-the organizational equivalent of "death squad" action. In others, a group member may be ostracized or expelled.

Group members quickly learn the operating values, or they don't survive for long. To the extent they differ from stated values, the organization will not only suffer from doing things less effectively, but also from the cynicism of its members, who have yet another reason for mistrusting the leadership, or doubting its wisdom.

2.2 EthicsEthics are codes of conduct that decide what is wrong and what is right in a particular circumstance. These are also known as morals and are a result of evolution of mankind. When these ethics were not in place, no human behaviour could be categorized as good or bad which is what led to the development of these standards to guide human behaviour in a society. In early phases of their development, these ethics were known as taboos that were designed to save men from dangers. Slowly and gradually these were formalized and became accepted forms of behaviour. In different societies, there are different sets of ethics though there are some morals that are considered to be universal and are accepted as such in all societies. Ethics are unwritten rules that people of a nation or employees of an organization abide by.

2.3 Difference between Values and Ethics Values are guiding principles in life and every person has his own value system thathelps him in his behaviour and action throughout his life. On the other hand, ethics are moral codes of conduct that decide what is wrong and what is right about the behaviour of an individual or a group in a society. Values can be universal as well as personal and are actually beliefs a person has that help him behave in a particular manner all his life. Ethics are unwritten code of conduct that are to be followed by an individual or employees in an organization.

2.4 DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ILLEGAL AND UNETHICALIn order to understand the difference between illegal and unethical, we will first have to consider legal and ethical. Legal means recognized or made effective by a court of law as distinguished from a court of equity. Ethics has much to do with the inner self. Ethics may be defined as moral principles as of an individual.

In an illegal act, the decision-making factor is the law agency. For an unethical act, the deciding agent is the mans own conscience. An unethical deed may be against morality but not against the law. For example, a minister could refuse to speak to any public gathering unless he or she has been paid a large sum as a speakers fee. It is quite legal but unethical.At an organizational scale it is essential to elucidate the difference between law and ethics. In an organization, laws are the set of rules that are put forward and enforced by the ruling governments to discipline the society. Here, ethics are the moral codes set by the organization on the basis of the culture of the society.For instance, in the world of computers, a person can write or design a system which has negative consequences on the social system in the future. This can be unethical but not illegal till the program is designed and implemented and had caused the ill effect.

Unethical is what one or ones culture and environment thinks to be wrong. An illegal deed is always unethical while an unethical action may or may not be illegal. The perception of ethics may differ in different conditions .Each and every organization has a social responsibility to bear. It has to have some positive impact on society; it has to give back to society what it has taken in the form of welfare of the community. An unethical behaviour would not consider this and would look for its own personal gains. Such an institution will not consider what their system is posing on the society be it good or bad or even worse. One such example would be of the mining companies. They do not attempt to address the inconvenience of the people that are displaced by their operations. Such an attitude is considered unethical. This may certainly not be labelled as illegal as the law has not made it mandatory for the company to relocate the people and ease their discomfort that has been caused by the mining operations.

An illegal behaviour is detected easily as it deviates from specified and set rules and regulations by the governing bodies. Unethical behaviour is a bit intricate to detect as there are no set rules for ethical behaviour. Also, unethical behaviour depends on the perception. A single act may be unethical for one and be totally honest for the other.Summary:1. Illegal is an act against the law while unethical is against morality. 2. Illegal behaviour is easy to detect; however, unethical behaviour is tough to detect. 3. International laws are similar for all, but international ethics may differ for different regions and cultures.

3. INDIVIDUAL ETHICS & VALUES

Ethics and values are possessed by individuals and by virtue of that the ethics and values are reflected in business settings as well.

3.1 Individual Ethics

There are three qualities individuals must possess to make ethical decisions. The first is the ability to recognize ethical issues and to reason through the ethical consequences of decisions. The ability to see second and third order effects, one of the elements of strategic thinking, is very important. The second is the ability to look at alternative points of view, deciding what is right in a particular set of circumstances. This is similar to the ability to reframe. And the third is the ability to deal with ambiguity and uncertainty; making a decision on the best information available.

The influence of the organizational context is underscored in "Why Be Honest If Honesty Doesn't Pay?" There often are no economic or other incentives to encourage ethical behaviour and discourage unethical behaviour. They contend that it most often is the dishonest individual who gets ahead, and that cases where unethical behaviour was punished are far outweighed by those in which there either were no consequences or unethical behaviour was rewarded.

There is room for optimism despite the lack of financial gain for ethical behaviour, or the absence of negative consequences for unethical behaviour. Their reasoning is based in the fact that so many people do behave ethically, in spite of the apparent lack of gain. Ethical behaviour must be intrinsically rewarding; and most people behave ethically because it's the right thing to do. People are guided by their personal value systems. They often "choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong" specifically because of their intrinsic values of what is right.

4. BUSINESS ETHICS & VALUES

Business ethics is a wider term that includes many other sub ethics that are relevant to the respective field. For example there is marketing ethics for marketing, ethics in HR for Human resource department and the like. Business ethics in itself is a part of applied ethics; the latter takes care of ethical questions in the technical, social, legal and business ethics.

Origin of Business EthicsWhen we trace the origin of business ethics we start with a period where profit maximisation was seen as the only purpose of existence for a business. There was no consideration whatsoever for non-economic values, be it the people who worked with organisations or the society that allowed the business to flourish. It was only in late 1980s and 1990s that both intelligentsia and the academics as well as the corporate began to show interest in the same.

Nowadays almost all organisations lay due emphasis on their responsibilities towards the society and the nature and they call it by different names like corporate social responsibility, corporate governance or social responsibility charter. In India Maruti Suzuki, for example, owned the responsibility of maintain a large number of parks and ensuring greenery. Hindustan unilever, similarly started the e-shakti initiative for women in rural villages.

Globally also many corporations have bred philanthropists who have contributed compassion, love for poor and unprivileged. Bill gates of Microsoft and Warren Buffet of Berkshire Hathaway are known for their philanthropic contributions across globe.

Many organisations, for example, IBM as part of their corporate social responsibility have taken up the initiative of going green, towards contributing to environmental protection. It is not that business did not function before the advent of business ethics; but there is a regulation of kinds now that ensures business and organisations contribute to the society and its well being.

Nowadays business ethics determines the fundamental purpose of existence of a company in many organisations. There is an ensuing battle between various groups, for example between those who consider profit or share holder wealth maximisation as the main aim of the company and those who consider value creation as main purpose of the organisation.

The former argue that if an organisations main objective is to increase the shareholders wealth, then considering the rights or interests of any other group is unethical. The latter, similarly argue that profit maximisation cannot be at the expense of the environment and other groups in the society that contribute to the well being of the business.

Nevertheless business ethics continues to a debatable topic. Many argue that lots of organisations use it to seek competitive advantage and creating a fair image in the eyes of consumers and other stakeholders. There are advantages also like transparency and accountability.

Ethics in general refers to a system of good and bad, moral and immoral, fair and unfair. It is a code of conduct that is supposed to align behaviours within an organization and the social framework. But the question that remains is, where and when did business ethics come into being?

Primarily ethics in business is affected by three sources - culture, religion and laws of the state. It is for this reason we do not have uniform or completely similar standards across the globe. These three factors exert influences to varying degrees on humans which ultimately get reflected in the ethics of the organization. For example, ethics followed by Infosys are different than those followed by Reliance Industries or by Tata group for that matter. Again ethical procedures vary across geographic boundaries.ReligionIt is one of the oldest foundations of ethical standards. Religion wields varying influences across various sects of people. It is believed that ethics is a manifestation of the divine and so it draws a line between the good and the bad in the society. Depending upon the degree of religious influence we have different sects of people; we have sects, those who are referred to as orthodox or fundamentalists and those who are called as moderates. Needless to mention, religion exerts itself to a greater degree among the orthodox and to lesser extent in case of moderates. Fundamentally however all the religions operate on the principle of reciprocity towards ones fellow beings!

CultureCulture is a pattern of behaviours and values that are transferred from one generation to another, those that are considered as ideal or within the acceptable limits. No wonder therefore that it is the culture that predominantly determines what is wrong and what is right. It is the culture that defines certain behaviour as acceptable and others as unacceptable.Human civilization in fact has passed through various cultures, wherein the moral code was redrafted depending upon the epoch that was. What was immoral or unacceptable in certain culture became acceptable later on and vice versa.

During the early years of human development where ones who were the strongest were the ones who survived! Violence, hostility and ferocity were thus the acceptable. Approximately 10,000 year ago when human civilization entered the settlement phase, hard work, patience and peace were seen as virtues and the earlier ones were considered otherwise. These values are still pt in practice by the managers of today!Still further, when human civilization witnessed the industrial revolution, the ethics of agrarian economy was replaced by the law pertaining to technology, property rights etc. Ever since a tussle has ensued between the values of the agrarian and the industrial economy!

LawLaws are procedures and code of conduct that are laid down by the legal system of the state. They are meant to guide human behaviour within the social fabric. The major problem with the law is that all the ethical expectations cannot be covered by the law and specially with ever changing outer environment the law keeps on changing but often fails to keep pace. In business, complying with the rule of law is taken as ethical behaviour, but organizations often break laws by evading taxes, compromising on quality, service norms etc.

Values provide the basis for judgments about what is important for the organization to succeed in its core business.

So, there are some disconnects, and these disconnects create problems. However, the central purpose of values remains. They state either an actual or an idealized set of criteria for evaluating options and deciding what is appropriate, based on long experience. The relevance of the Army's values, for example, is apparent. When soldiers may be called upon to expose themselves to mortal danger in the performance of their duty, they must be absolutely able to trust their fellow soldiers (to do their fair share and to help in the event of need) and their leaders (to guard them from unnecessary risk). So the Experience often has led societies to develop beliefs about what is of value for the common good. (Note that societies differ from one another in the specifics, but not in the general principles.) One example is the notion of reciprocity. ("One good deed deserves another.") Another is the notion of good intent. ("A gentleman's word is his bond.") Yet, a third is the notion of appreciation of merit in others regardless of personal feelings. ("Give the Devil his due.")

Most of an individual's ethical development occurs before entering an organization. The influence of family, church, community, and school will determine individual values. The organization, to a large extent, is dealing with individuals whose value base has been established. This might imply that ethical organizations are those fortunate enough to bring in ethical individuals, while unethical organizations brought in unethical people. But it is not that simple. While the internalized values of individuals are important, the organization has a major impact on the behaviour of its members, and can have a positive or negative influence on their values. One example of the development of ethical individuals is the service academies. In their admissions processes, the academies attempt to get individuals of good character with the values integral to the military profession. However, the academies also recognize that their core values may be different than those prevalent in society, and they devote considerable effort to the development and internalization of their core values. As is evident from periodic breaches of integrity at the academies, e.g., cheating scandals, these attempts to instil core values do not always succeed.

5. WORKPLACE VALUES & ETHICSEmployees should conduct themselves in a professional manner.Values and ethics are important in the workplace to help keep order, ensuring that a company runs smoothly and remains profitable. Each individual company makes its values and ethics known almost immediately after hiring an employee, or many times, during the interview process. And in many businesses, no matter how well an employee performs, if he doesnt follow workplace values and ethics, it can result in termination.

DedicationHow hard an employee works, or how much effort she puts forth, can go a long way. Obviously, companies want results, but most employers prefer a worker who gives an honest effort to one who might be considered a natural at the job, but is otherwise disruptive. Either way, when an employee signs on with a business, she is agreeing to perform her best to help the company flourish.

IntegrityAn important aspect of workplace values and ethics is integrity, or displaying honest behavior at all times. For instance, an employee who works at a cash register is expected to balance the drawer and deposit the correct amount of money at the end of the night. Integrity in the business world also might mean being honest when turning in an expense report or not attempting to steal a sales account from a co-worker.

AccountabilityEmployees in all industries are expected to act accountable for their actions. That means showing up when they are scheduled and on time, and not taking advantage of time allotted for breaks. It also means accepting responsibility for when things go wrong, gathering yourself and willingly working toward a resolution. And sometimes it might mean working longer than planned to see a project through to completion.

CollaborationIn almost every industry, workplace values and ethics consist of teamwork. Thats because most companies believe that when morale is high and everyone is working together, success will follow. So it is important for employees to be team players--whether assisting co-workers on a project, teaching new hires new tasks, or following the instructions of a supervisor.

ConductEmployee conduct is an integral aspect of workplace values and ethics. Employees must not only treat others with respect, but exhibit appropriate behaviour in all facets of the job. That includes wearing proper attire, using language thats considered suitable around the office and conducting themselves with professionalism. Every company enforces its own specific rules on conduct, and typically makes them extremely clear in employee handbooks and training manuals.

9. ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR BUSINESS EXECUTIVES

If recent history teaches us anything is that ethics and character count, especially in business. In todays ultra competitive, high tech, interdependent business world, charisma without conscience and cleverness without character are a recipe for economic and personal failure of epic proportions. As President Theodore Roosevelt said, To educate the mind without the morals is to educate a menace to society.

Competitiveness, ambition and innovation will always be important to success but they must be regulated by core ethical principles like the ones described below.Lets start with a basic definition: ethical principles are universal standards of right and wrong prescribing the kind of behaviour an ethical company or person should and should not engage in. These principles provide a guide to making decisions but they also establish the criteria by which your decisions will be judged by others.In business, how people judge your character is critical to sustainable success because it is the basis of trust and credibility. Both of these essential assets can be destroyed by actions which are, or are perceived to be unethical. Thus, successful executives must be concerned with both their character and their reputation.

Abraham Lincoln described character as the tree and reputation as the shadow. Your character is what you really are; your reputation is what people think of you. Thus, your reputation is purely a function of perceptions (i.e., do people think your intentions and actions are honourable and ethical) .while your character is determined and defined by your actions (i.e., whether your actions are honourable and ethical according to the 12 ethical principles:

1. HONESTY. Be honest in all communications and actions.Ethical executives are, above all, worthy of trust and honesty is the cornerstone of trust. They are not only truthful, they are candid and forthright. Ethical executives do not deliberately mislead or deceive others by misrepresentations, overstatements, partial truths, selective omissions, or any other means and when trust requires it they supply relevant information andcorrect misapprehensions of fact.2. INTEGRITY. Maintain personal integrity.Ethical executives earn the trust of others through personal integrity. Integrity refers to a wholeness of character demonstrated by consistency between thoughts, words and actions. Maintaining integrity often requires moral courage, the inner strength to do the right thing even when it may cost more than they want to pay. The live by ethical principles despite great pressure to do otherwise. Ethical executives are principled, honourable, upright and scrupulous. They fight for their beliefs and do not sacrifice principle for expediency.3. PROMISE-KEEPING. Keep promises and fulfill commitments.Ethical executives can be trusted because they make every reasonable effort to fulfill the letter and spirit of their promises and commitments. They do not interpret agreements in an unreasonably technical or legalistic manner in order to rationalize non-compliance or create justifications for escaping their commitments.4. LOYALTY. Be loyal within the framework of other ethical principles.Ethical executives justify trust by being loyal to their organization and the people they work with. Ethical executives place a high value on protecting and advancing the lawful and legitimate interests of their companies and their colleagues. They do not, however, put their loyalty above other ethical principles or use loyalty to others as an excuse for unprincipled conduct. Ethical executives demonstrate loyalty by safeguarding their ability to make independent professional judgments. They avoid conflicts of interest and they do not use or disclose information learned in confidence for personal advantage. If they decide to accept other employment, ethical executives provide reasonable notice, respect the proprietary information of their former employer, and refuse to engage in any activities that take undue advantage of their previous positions.5. FAIRNESS. Strive to be fair and just in all dealings.Ethical executives are fundamentally committed to fairness. They do not exercise power arbitrarily nor do they use overreaching or indecent means to gain or maintain any advantage nor take undue advantage of anothers mistakes or difficulties. Ethical executives manifest a commitment to justice, the equal treatment of individuals, tolerance for and acceptance of diversity. They are open-minded; willing to admit they are wrong and, where appropriate, they change their positions and beliefs.6. CARING. Demonstrate compassion and a genuine concern for the well-being of others.Ethical executives are caring, compassionate, benevolent and kind. They understand the concept of stakeholders (those who have a stake in a decision because they are affected by it) and they always consider the business, financial and emotional consequences of their actions on all stakeholders. Ethical executives seek to accomplish their business objectives in a manner that causes the least harm and the greatest positive good.7. RESPECT FOR OTHERS. Treat everyone with respect.Ethical executives demonstrate respect for the human dignity, autonomy, privacy, rights, and interests of all those who have a stake in their decisions; they are courteous and treat all people with equal respect and dignity regardless of sex, race or national origin.Ethical executivesadhere to the Golden Rule, striving to treat others the way they would like to be treated.8. LAW ABIDING. Obey the law.Ethical executives abide by laws, rules and regulations relating to their business activities.9. COMMITMENT TO EXCELLENCE. Pursue excellence all the time in all things.Ethical executives pursue excellence in performing their duties, are well-informed and prepared, and constantly endeavour to increase their proficiency in all areas of responsibility.10. LEADERSHIP. Exemplify honour and ethics.Ethical executives are conscious of the responsibilities and opportunities of their position of leadership and seek to be positive ethical role models by their own conduct and by helping to create an environment in which principled reasoning and ethical decision making are highly prized.11. REPUTATION AND MORALE. Build andprotect and build the companys good reputation and the morale of its employees. Ethical executives understand the importance of their own and their companys reputation as well as the importance of the pride and good morale of employees. Thus, they avoid words or actions that that might undermine respect and they take affirmative stepsto correct or prevent inappropriate conduct of others.12. ACCOUNTABILITY. Be accountable.Ethical executives acknowledge and accept personal accountability for the ethical quality of their decisions and omissions to themselves, their colleagues, their companies, and their communities

10. BASIC WORKPLACE ETHICS FOR AN ORGANIZATION

Rules and regulations ought to be same for everyone. Everyone needs to attend office on time irrespective of their designation, distance of their home from the workplace, salary or status. An individual cannot come to office late just because he is the team leader and his team is already present and working on his behalf. If a days salary of a clerk is deducted for coming late to work, it should be the same for the marketing manager as well.

Companys policies need to be communicated clearly to each and every one. There should be transparency at all levels of hierarchy. Employees are the backbone of any organization and thus they must have a say in companys goals and objectives.

An organization ought to respect its employees to expect the same in return. Rules and regulations should not be too rigid. Dont expect an employee to attend office two days before his marriage date. If an employee is not keeping well, please do not ask him/her to attend office unless and until there is an emergency.

Management must not forget that money is a strong motivator for employees. Everything is important, be it career, growth, job satisfaction but what is most important is employees salaries. Do not unnecessary hold their salaries for a long time unless and until there is really shortage of funds. In case of marketing and sales employees, conveyance and mobile bills must be cleared at the earliest. Do not ask for unnecessary bills and documents.

Organization should not expect employees to attend office 365 days a year. It is the responsibility of human resource professionals to prepare the holiday calendar at the beginning of the year and circulate the same among all employees. Let employees enjoy their respective festivals and come back to work with positive energy and smile. In fact allow them to go in the festive mood two days prior to the D day. Ask them to organize pre festival bashes at the workplace. Let them dress in colourful attires and have fun. Trust me, work never suffers this way. Rather, employees feel attached to the organization and strive hard to deliver their level best every time.

Give employees the space they require. Key responsibility areas need to be communicated to the employees on the very first day of their joining. Roles and responsibilities need to be assigned as per an individuals expertise and experience. Do not expect an employee with one year experience to head the marketing team. Employees need to be trained well. Organizations need to give at least six months time to the new employees to adjust in the new environment.

It has been observed that most of the times employees crib when they are underpaid. Make sure employees get what they deserve. Salaries should be decided in the presence of the employee and also keeping in mind an individuals role in the organization, his/her gross salary in the previous organization, responsibilities within the current system and of course his/her years of experience. One of the major reasons as to why employees quit their jobs after a year or so is poor appraisal system. Increments ought to be directly proportional to the amount of hard work an employee puts in through out the year and also his/her performance. Unnecessary favours are against the workplace ethics.

Do not be too strict with your employees. Do not block all social networking sites. Blocking face book and is not the ideal way to ensure employees are working and not wasting their time. Even a 24 * 7 check would not prevent employees from wasting their time unless and until they realize it themselves. The moment, you are strict with something, people would tend to do the same more.

Most of us would agree that it is ethics in practice that makes sense; just having it carefully drafted and redrafted in books may not serve the purpose. Of course all of us want businesses to be fair, clean and beneficial to the society. For that to happen, organizations need to abide by ethics or rule of law, engage themselves in fair practices and competition; all of which will benefit the consumer, the society and organization.

Primarily it is the individual, the consumer, the employee or the human social unit of the society who benefits from ethics. In addition ethics is important because of the following:1. Satisfying Basic Human Needs: Being fair, honest and ethical is one the basic human needs. Every employee desires to be such himself and to work for an organization that is fair and ethical in its practices.2. Creating Credibility: An organization that is believed to be driven by moral values is respected in the society even by those who may have no information about the working and the businesses or an organization. Infosys, for example is perceived as an organization for good corporate governance and social responsibility initiatives. This perception is held far and wide even by those who do not even know what business the organization is into.3. Uniting People and Leadership: An organization driven by values is revered by its employees also. They are the common thread that brings the employees and the decision makers on a common platform. This goes a long way in aligning behaviors within the organization towards achievement of one common goal or mission.4. Improving Decision Making: A mans destiny is the sum total of all the decisions that he/she takes in course of his life. The same holds true for organizations. Decisions are driven by values. For example an organization that does not value competition will be fierce in its operations aiming to wipe out its competitors and establish a monopoly in the market.5. Long Term Gains: Organizations guided by ethics and values are profitable in the long run, though in the short run they may seem to lose money. Tata group, one of the largest business conglomerates in India was seen on the verge of decline at the beginning of 1990s, which soon turned out to be otherwise. The same companys Tata NANO car was predicted as a failure, and failed to do well but the same is picking up fast now.6. Securing the Society: Often ethics succeeds law in safeguarding the society. The law machinery is often found acting as a mute spectator, unable to save the society and the environment. Technology, for example is growing at such a fast pace that the by the time law comes up with a regulation we have a newer technology with new threats replacing the older one. Lawyers and public interest litigations may not help a great deal but ethics can.

THE MANAGER'S ROLE IN ETHICAL CONDUCT

Personal values provide an internal reference for what is good, beneficial, important, useful, beautiful, desirable, and constructive. Over time, the public expression of personal values has laid the foundations of law, custom, and tradition. Personal values in this way exist in relation to cultural values, either in agreement with or divergent from prevailing norms.

Personal values are developed in many different ways: The most important influence on our values comes from the families we grow up with. The family is responsible for teaching children what is right and wrong long before there are other influences. It is thus said that a child is a reflection of his or her parents. Teachers and classmates help shape the values of children during the school years. Religion (or a lack thereof) also plays a role in teaching children values.

Personal values take on greater meaning in adulthood as they are meant to influence how we carry out our responsibilities to others. This is true in the workplace, especially for managers and leaders, who are charged with overseeing resources for the benefit of others. Because of their authority structures, social norms, and cultures, organizations can have a powerful influence on their employees. Employers do their best to hire individuals who match match well with the organization's norms and values. In this way they seek to promote their standards of ethical behaviour.

Conversely, conflicts can occur between an individual's moral values and what she perceives to be those of others in their organization. Since moral judgments are based on the analysis of the consequences of behaviour, they involve interpretations and assessments. One might be asked to do something that violates a personal belief but is considered appropriate by others. To make ethical and moral choices, one needs to have a clear understanding of one's personal values. Without that awareness, it can be difficult to justify a decision on ethical or moral grounds in a way that others would find persuasive.

13. ROLE OF MANAGEMENT IN INCULCATING WORKPLACE ETHICSManagement plays an essential role in inculcating workplace ethics in employees. Bosses need to set an example for their subordinates. You need to come on time if you expect your team members to reach office on time.

Management needs to act as a source of inspiration for the employees. It is generally observed that team managers, leaders influence their team members to a large extent. Superiors strictly need to adhere to the rules and regulations of the organization for their employees to follow the same. Remember, you have no rights to scold your subordinates if you yourself are at fault. Moreover no one would bother to listen to you as well. Dont expect your team members to sit till late if you yourself leave early.

It is the role of the management to motivate the employees and guide them as to what is right and wrong. Remember a boss is like the captain of the ship. It is your responsibility to take your team members along and provide constant mentoring. Rebuking is not the only solution. If you know one of your team members is meeting his girlfriend during office hours, do you feel insulting or criticizing in front of others would help? NO. Call him to your cabin or speak to him in private and make him realize that it is not morally correct to bunk office. You need to counsel him and make him understand his mistake politely. Trust me, being rude would make the situation more worse. Do not discuss the matter in front of others. The other person might not like it. Your job is to make the other person feel guilty and realize that indeed he has done something wrong. Believe me; he would never repeat his mistake.

Constant communication between the management and employees is of utmost importance in inculcating workplace ethics. Management ought to be transparent with its employees. Let them have a say in companys decisions. Let them decide what is right and what is wrong for them. Sit with them, discuss, brainstorm ideas and listen to what they have to say. Never ignore their opinions. Let them come out with their grievances.

Lend a sympathetic ear to their problems as well. Try to provide them a solution. If you feel most of your employees have a problem coming to office early as they in any case have to stay back till late in the evening as per the clients availability, please adjust the office timings accordingly. How can you expect your employees to reach office sharp at 8 AM when they are leaving for the day at 10 PM. Remember, rules and regulations should not act as a hindrance in their performance. Be realistic and logical. If the problem is genuine and faced by a major chunk of employees, there is no harm in changing the policies. Think from the employees perspective as well. Policies should not be too rigid.

Dont be too strict with the employees. If someone is not present in the office, please do not call his family members to enquire about him. No one would like it. We all are mature professionals to understand that if there is work, we need to finish it first rather than waste our time in gossiping and surfing social networking sites. Management cant force employees to respect the organization. Respect must be commanded and not demanded. Respect your employees if you expect the same in return.

Some organizations do not easily release their employees. Remember, you cannot stop an individual from changing his job if he/she has already decided to move on. Try to convince him once and if he/she is still not willing to continue, let him go.

11. IMPORTANCE OF EMPLOYEE CODE OF CONDUCTEmployee code of conduct guides individuals as to how they should behave at the workplace. Employees need to be aware as to what is expected out of them in the office. You just cant behave the same way at office as you behave at home. Your Boss can be your best friend outside office but at work you have to respect him and also treat him like your superior. Employee ethics is essential for maintaining discipline at the workplace. Management needs to be liberal with the employees but there has to be some element of fear also in the minds of employees. If the superiors are too friendly with their subordinates, there are chances they might start taking undue advantage of the friendship. There has to be a balance always. Yes, organizations policies ought to be employee friendly but that does not mean employees come to office at 11 AM just because they cannot get up early in the morning. There has to be a genuine reason for everything.

There has to be a proper dress code for employees. Individuals just cant enter into the office wearing anything. Employee code of conduct decides what individuals ought to wear to office. Some organizations are very particular of what their employees wear to work. Let us go through an example:

Organization A did not instruct employees about their dress code. There was really no strictness as far as dress code was concerned. One fine day; Paul came to office wearing T shirt and Capri. The same day, one of Organization As esteemed clients came for site visit. Trust me, the moment the client met Paul, he was rather surprised. Understand, coming in jeans and T shirt to work does not stop us from working but it just reflects the non serious and casual attitude of employees. It is always better if employees come to work in formals. Casual dressing is okay on Saturdays but that does not mean you can come to work wearing shorts. Dress sensibly even if it is a weekend and you have already gone in the holiday mood. Employee dress code also ensures uniformity among employees.

Employee code of conduct ensures career growth and also benefits the organization in the long run. If employees understand the difference between what to do and what not to do at the workplace, problems would never arise. We bunk offices because we do not realize that such a practice is wrong and unethical. Employee ethics ensures employees adhere to the rules and regulations and also work for the organization. Employee ethics motivates employees not to indulge in gossiping, nasty politics, criticizing fellow workers, bunking office and so on. They seldom think of sharing confidential information or data with competitors and all their energies are utilized in productive activities which would benefit the organization.

Employee ethics ensures employees attend office on time and genuinely respect their superiors. Most of the times it has been observed that employees have a hate relationship with their Bosses. Are bosses wrong always? Ask yourself. How would you feel if someone reporting to you is absconding from the office and you have a deadline to follow? Yes, sometimes it does become essential to show your powers and be a little authoritative. Understand that employee ethics is not meant to downgrade employees but make them aware of their duties and responsibilities in the organization.

Most essentially, employee ethics is important as it goes a long way in making the value system of employees strong. This way, employees on their own develop a feeling of attachment and loyalty towards the organization. Remember, employee ethics is not meant to bind you but make you an indispensable employee.

13. THE BENEFITS & IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS IN THE WORKPLACE

The Ethics Resource Center reports that non-unionized employees perceive stronger ethical cultures within their organizations than their unionized counterparts. The non-profit organization also reports that young workers are more likely to perceive weak ethical cultures within their companies than older ones. Managers also tend to value stronger ethical cultures than employees in non-management positions. It is your duty as a manager to incorporate and manage a strong ethical culture within your business. Workplace ethics are significant to your business and provide numerous benefits.

Asset ProtectionA strong ethical culture within your business is important in safeguarding your assets. Employees who abide by your workplace ethics would be able to protect and respect your businesss assets. For example, they would avoid making personal long distance calls using the businesss lines. Workers can only respect company property when you treat them with respect and dignity, which makes them feel proud to be working for your business. Ensure that your workers perform in an environment with integrity and strong ethics. It increases employee pride and discourages them from stealing supplies or equipment.

Productivity and TeamworkWorkplace ethics is integral in fostering increased productivity and teamwork among your employees. It helps in aligning the values of your business with those of your workers. Achieving this alignment requires that you encourage consistent dialogue regarding the values of your business, which enhances community, integrity and openness among employees. Ethics enable your workers to feel a strong alignment between their values and those of your business. They show such feelings through increased productivity and motivation.

Public ImageYou earn a lot of respect and cultivate a strong image in the public domain when you make ethical choices. For instance, you can fulfill your corporate social responsibility by reducing waste discharge from your business. The public would consider your business to be operating with honor and integrity while valuing people over profits. Building a strong public image through ethical conduct also earns you more clients. Customers would develop trust in you and do business with your organization.

Decision-MakingEthical conduct in the workplace encourages a culture of making decisions based on ethics. It also enhances accountability and transparency when undertaking any business decisions. During turbulent times, a strong ethical culture guides you in managing such conflicts by making the right moves. It can help you to introduce change successfully in your organization, which can be a challenge. Ethical conduct within the business sensitizes you and your staff on how to act consistently even in difficult times.

14. BUILDING AN ETHICAL CLIMATE

How can the strategic leaders of an organization build an ethical climate? First are the actions of the strategic leadership and the way they deal with ethical issues. The pattern of top leaders' behaviour determines organizational values. A second step is to make explicit ethics policies. Ethical codes are one common example. The next step is to increase awareness of how to apply those ethical codes. Training on how to deal with situations with an ethical dimension, and how to anticipate situations that involve ethical choices, can go a long way toward ethical institutional practices.

Another step to increase the salience of ethics is to expand the information system to focus on areas where ethics may come into play. Knowing what actually is going on in the organization is essential to understanding the ethical principles which govern behaviour. The information system should also support ethical behaviour, and allow the strategic leader to know when or where there are potential ethical breaches so that corrective action can be taken. The real danger is that when unethical behaviour is unnoticed, or not punished, members will assume it is condoned by the organization's leadership.

15. ETHICS TRAINING FOR THE WORKPLACE

Teaching proper workplace ethics is critical in today's business environment.Workplace ethics training is highly recommended for fostering a trustworthy working environment. Many employees have a general sense of right and wrong, but may not understand the legal intricacies of their business enough to identify and not engage in unethical activities. Additionally, there is sometimes confusion about the often-subtle differences between illegal and unethical behaviour. Proper training helps keep each employee informed, while hopefully preventing errors in judgement that cast a negative light on the company.Code of ConductEach employee in the workplace must have a tangible reference to general ethical behaviour such as a Code of Conduct. Respect for co-workers and display of personal concern for client needs should be prominent and high on the list. Honesty in the communications process from and to management should be clearly documented, showing employees that their voice is heard and the expression of legitimate concerns will not be used against them. Once these basics are understood and signed off on, each staff member holds accountability for their actions. These may be included in new hire packets or introduced individually, depending on the environment.

Practice Makes PerfectEthical behaviour must be reflexive and unthinking. One effective method of getting employees into the proper mindset of making solid decisions all the time is to engage in role playing. Training videos on ethics routinely show dramatizations to ingrain these basics by watching examples of good and bad behaviour. Similar situations can be acted out in the real world. Different scenarios of varying complexity should be introduced, ranging from basics like overcharging a client, client and employee confidentiality, hiring practices, and race and gender issues. Proper ethics is not exclusive to business, but when people exercise it routinely in the workplace, morale increases from a mutual sense of respect and trust.

Empowering EmployeesEach workplace should have a anonymous whistle-blower feature set in place. This allows conscientious workers to report overt and suspected unethical activity without repercussion. Training in this arena should emphasize the importance of recognizing actual unethical or illegal acts, preventing false reporting and placing honest employees under the spotlight.

Gains from Ethical BehaviourThe expense of comprehensive ethics training carries the potential to more than pay for itself over the long term. Aside from potentially costly lawsuits, there are key ways to leverage ethical behaviour to improve a company's bottom line. Proper ethics with consumers fosters positive word-of-mouth, improving the chances of repeat business and new clients. Additionally, new marketing dollars are not required to pull in these new clients. Negative publicity in general is always bad for business, resulting in poor Better Business Bureau scores and negative feedback on various Internet forums. Employees that trust their employers and can work with a clear conscience tend to be more productive, helping their career chances as well as potentially improving the company's profitability.

16. ETHICAL VALUES FOR BUSINESS SUCCESS

The real test of these values comes from the resulting action. It takes a concerted, company-wide effort, beyond inserting these words in an employee manual, to make it happen.

First, management must lead by example. Good ethics should be most noticeable at the top. Every employee must be accountable to the same rules.Second, a corporate values or ethics initiative must be "sold" and "marketed" aggressively throughout a company. Every forum and medium should be used to spread the good message. Of course, it will only be credible if the company is practicing what it preaches.Third, training must be provided to get everyone on the same page. It's easy to ignore a motivational speech or pass by a poster, but spending time learning about the issues will have a lasting impact. Fourth, both you and the company must be in it for the long haul. The ethics fervor should extend to the next generation of employees. The longer it lasts, the more ingrained the principles will become.

17. REASONS TO INSTILL VALUES IN AN ORGANIZATION

We all know that a good company culture makes for happier employees. But when the culture goes beyond thatto core values everyone works bythe results are revolutionary.It is an old truism: employees do not turn to written statements on the company intranet for clues about how to behavethey look to each other. If your goal is to intentionally shape the actions and interactions of employees, you know the importance of creating a "values-based" culture. However, you also know how difficult it is to implement one.

In fact, a recent study conducted by Boston Research Group, based on a survey of thousands of Americans from every rung of the corporate ladder, found that only 3% of those surveyed described their companys values as a form of "self-governance." In this category, employees are guided by a set of values that inspire everyone to align their actions around a common set of principles. Management scientists explain this low percentage as a classic case of leadership rhetoric versus behaviour; however, the field of human psychology holds surprising insight into more pervasive factors at play.For companies to truly close the chasm between their stated and lived values, they must enter the human psyche to extract excellence from the inside-out, not dictate it from outside-in. This requires organizations to pivot their approach: rather than get people to live the values, they should focus on the values that live in the people. This taps into the innate qualities that exist across mankind: human virtues.While virtues have been around since Aristotle, two seminal psychologists from the University of Pennsylvania, Martin Seligman and the late Chris Peterson, undertook research to identify the universal traits that are best about human beings. They combed through nearly 2,500 years of history to identify six core "virtues" found across religions, cultures, nations, and belief systems.

The virtues that made the cut were wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance, and transcendence. Each virtue contains three to five character strengths, with a total of 24 topping the list. You, just like every other person you work with, have five "signature" strengthslike a unique strain of DNAthat make up the "real you."

Below are five reasons why a focus on values will accelerate a path forward:

Values Are a Workplace Game ChangerGareth Jones spent three years investigating what it would look like to create the best workplace on earth. One of the key findings was a deceptively simple notion: people will not follow a leader they feel is inauthentic. In fact, even those who have no one to followthat is, executives at the topclaim they want the very same thing as their followers: an authentic organization. As research out of London Business School found, employees who feel welcome to express their authentic selves at work exhibit higher levels of organizational commitment, individual performance, and propensity to help others.

Values Lead To Growth of the Whole PersonThe ideal company makes its best employees even betterand the least of them better than they ever thought they could be. Employees are not just looking for the best places to work. They want to join the best places to grow. Harvard Business Review's recent blog post "Does Your Company Make You a Better Person?" demonstrates the value of belonging to a workplace where you know that in addition to working on projects, problems, and products, you are constantly working on yourself. Values Lead to Greater Onboarding SuccessA recent study conducted by Dan Cable, Francesca Gino, and Bradley Staats found that when companies emphasize newcomers authentic best selves, versus an organizational identity, it contributes to greater customer satisfaction and employee retention after six months.Values Improve Engagement According to Gallup, two of the most important predictors of employee retention and satisfaction are reporting to use your top strengths at work and reporting that your manager recognizes your top strengths. And yet, studies show that only about one-third of people can identify their own strengths. Even more disheartening, only 17% of people reportedly use their strengths most of the time each day.Values Increase Self-AwarenessMost organizations have mechanisms to help increase their employees level of self-awareness and uncover their blind spots. But the focus is typically on weaknesses. Research suggests blind spots around your strengths are equally plausible..Organizations that realize this potent potential for human excellence will transcend their current cultures and create a greenhouse effect: shining brightness on what is best about their people while cultivating the conditions for any organizational value system to live, breathe, and flourish.

2. VALUES AND ETHICS IN A CHANGING WORLDWhile the concept of ethics has been around for centuries, the changing conditions of the world today are creating problems never seen before. There has never been a greater level of human mobility in the world. While the majority of the top 500 corporations still come from the United States and the West, companies from emerging nations such as India, China, and Russia are being added (Fortune, July 24, 2007). The practice of outsourcing key activities, such as manufacturing or call centre operations, from large developed economies to those where labour costs are significantly lower results in situations where corporate headquarters are based in one society while other portions of the company operate in different countries where values, expectations, and behavioural norms may be vastly different. Added to these changes is the ease of glob- al communications, which enables daily conversations as well as voice, data, and video trans- missions from one side of the world to the other.Mobility has also allowed the massive movement of people from one culture to another. In the U.S., the flow of immigrants from a vast array of countries continues to create a broad range of differing cultural, ethnic, and religious back- grounds. When groups share the same cultural background, they tend to share the same values as well. Consequently, the basis for decision making and actions, including alignment with a code of ethical conduct, will be similar. When immigration combines groups from dissimilar countries or backgrounds, the impact can be significant, and the values and decision making processes may not be the same. It has nothing to do with a person being good or bad, but rather is a matter of differing norms of behaviour based on the society in which that person grew up. This situation is also observable when individuals go abroad to receive an education.

Some interesting work has been done in this area by the World Values Survey Association, which found various blocks of cultural values that tend to cluster together. (See the website of the World Values Survey Association, www.worldvaluessurvey.org.) The challenge ofconflicting values becomes greatest in cases where a society has, for example, a limited separation of state and religion. While most of the Western world professes to maintain a barrier between church and state, a number of countries in other parts of the world have a far greater integration of the two. In many cases, this creates national conflict when the two find themselves in disagreement on various issues.

All of these changes lead to a melting pot of personal values within societies and organizations, creating profound challenges for leaders and resulting in a new aspect of risk management for organizations. If organizations fail to make the effort to clearly define their expectations of ethical behaviour and provide support and encouragement for complying with them, then the vacuum that is left will lead to unpredictable results.

Bibliography

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