In the first part of my assignment I will explain the traditional rational model of a business organisation. Also I will give an example of the code of professional employee responsibility to their employers.
CONTENTS
* INTRODUCTION........................................................................1
* RATIONAL MODEL.................................................................2
* EMPLOYEE RELATIONS.........................................................5
* AN EXAMPLE OF THE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY....................................................................7
* AN EXAMPLE OF INDIVIDUAL'S PROBLEM IN ORGANISATION..9
* CONCLUSION.........................................................................13
* BIBLIOGRAPHY........................................................................14
INTRODUCTION
When Peter Drucker, a famous management guru, was 13 a teacher asked him what he wanted to be remembered for. Drucker, now over 80 and still a prolific writer, is still trying to answer that question, "Because it pushes you to see as a different person - the person you can become". So it is with ethics and organisational cultures. Developing an organisational ethical culture is a continuous process, not something that reaches competition.
In the first part of my assignment I will explain the traditional rational model of a business organisation. Also I will give an example of the code of professional employee responsibility to their employers. In the second part of my assignment I will analyse the ethical problems of individuals within organisations.
Balancing employee rights and responsibilities with employer rights and responsibilities is complex. While usually there is not simply one "right answer", by the end of my research on this topics I will try to evaluate which answer are better than others.
Ethical behaviour isn't an act but a habit. Just as good health requires cultivating the habits of getting enough sleep and eating wholesome food, Aristotle believed that right action was the result of developing good moral habits. In a business context, this means training and at the deepest level, something we call "corporate culture".
Jim Kelly, chairman and CEO of United Parcel Post Service
RATIONAL MODEL
It is probably fair to say that there is a general obligation for employees to be respectful of the needs and goals of the organisation that employs them, as interpreted by management.
A central feature of employee relations is managing through people and regulating the employment relationship. Whether as individuals or members of a group, the actions and decisions of people are governed by a set of underlying rules. In the work organisation these rules are implemented within a structured hierarchy of an authority and responsibility. However, regulating behaviour between people at work is a complex process. Effective employee relations are found on a combination of legal and behavioural dimensions. The legal dimension embodies observance of employment legislation, the formal contract of employment and codes of practice. The behavioural dimensions embodies recognition of the individual, the social responsibilities of management and the psychological contract. Social responsibilities extend beyond terms and conditions of the formal contract of employment and give recognition to the social and human needs of people at work. The recognition of social responsibilities should form an integral part of corporate strategy and regulating the employment relationship. 1
Effective employee relations: the combination of legal and behavioural dimensions
Source: Laurie, J, Mullins, (1999), "Management and Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition.
Legal dimensions
Every work organisation has to operate within a system of legal rules and regulation. Legal dimensions regulate the relationship between employers and employees, provide individual rights for employees and strengthen the position of trade unions. Legislation and codes of practice lay down rules which govern patterns of behaviour to ensure that managers act reasonably in the circumstances. Some managers view these rules with trepidation and avoid taking necessary action to discipline employees. Other are unaware of the rules of choose to disregard them, terminating contract without due case. Either strategy is likely to result in behavioural problems among employees who will perceive avoidance or over-reaction as dysfunctional. A proper knowledge and understanding of the law, coupled with appropriate managerial action, can turn a potentially difficult situation into an opportunity to motivate staff and improve organisational effectiveness.
Employee relations in Britain has been characterised by the concept of free collective bargaining between employees and employers. However, in recent years the philosophy has been underpinned by increasing amounts of employment law. the substance of British laws is also increasingly being influenced by the impact of EU legislation. Until the 1960s the law governing terms and conditions was based almost entirely on the concept of the contract of employment and attracted little statutory intervention.2 However, this area of law has been significantly extended, introducing new statutory rights for both those in employment and those seeking employment. Employees can seek redress through a tribunal system, and have rights concerning a range of issues from relatively minor matters such as time off for public duties, to the more important employment protection rights such as the right not to be unfairly dismissed.
Behavioural dimensions
Whilst the observance of legal rules and regulations is clearly a necessary part of effective employee relations this does not, by itself, make for a harmonious environment at work. Legal dimensions help to regulate the working relationship of people within the organisation. But rules and regulations do not by themselves ensure that disputes will be settled amicably. Human behaviour can not be made to conform to prescribed rules and regulations just because such rules and regulations exist. Employee relations can only be effective if sustained within a generally good relationship between management and staff, with a willing commitment from both sides. Effective managers need to take note of both legal and behavioural perspectives and to adopt a balance view when making decisions that affect the employment relationship. The employer-employee relationship demands that attention be given to those factors which influence the behaviour of people at work, the psychological contract and the style of managerial behaviour.
For example, there is a general duty placed on an employer to disclose, on request, to authorised representatives of independent trade unions information for the purposes o f collective bargaining and which it would be good industrial relations practice to disclose.3 However, many organisations now consider the broader behavioural considerations and choose as a matter of policy to report fully and in non-technical terms, wider details of their financial results and performance direct to all employees. Another important example is the issue of discipline at work and in particular the process relating to termination of employment contract. Managers ...
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For example, there is a general duty placed on an employer to disclose, on request, to authorised representatives of independent trade unions information for the purposes o f collective bargaining and which it would be good industrial relations practice to disclose.3 However, many organisations now consider the broader behavioural considerations and choose as a matter of policy to report fully and in non-technical terms, wider details of their financial results and performance direct to all employees. Another important example is the issue of discipline at work and in particular the process relating to termination of employment contract. Managers need to be fully aware of the legal dimensions, including the criteria necessary before an employee can claim that they have been unfairly treated, the claims and procedures, the reasons that can constitute grounds for unfair dismissal proceedings and the remedies for unfair dismissal. But, in addition and equally important, managers also need to be aware of the possible behavioural consequences, including adverse effect on the motivation and morale of staff and their future commitment and level of performance.
Employee relations
In many organisations the responsibility for employee relations still lies with the line managers who are often sceptical or even hostile towards personnel ideas and techniques and who frequently reject the concept of an employee relations policy because it hampers their work and limits their flexibility. For example, Clegg argues that:
If line managers are left to handle industrial relations issues for themselves, the pressures of production are likely to lead to ad hoc and contradictory decisions...if a personal policy is introduced to promote consistent decisions on industrial relations issues, its effectiveness may depend on granting authority to the personnel department to override the natural priorities of line managers.4
According to Cuming, however, the increase in employee relations legislation has result in a trend for personnel matters, particularly wage negotiations, to be transferred from line management to personnel departments. At the same time there has been a deteriorating in management-worker relations in many places and a failure to introduce changes in work methods necessary for effective competition and organisational effectiveness.
Personnel departments as such are clearly not to blame for these developments, much more guilty are those line managers as the highest level who have opted out of their most important function, that of managing people. They are especially blameworthy for allowing communication channels to become the province of personnel departments and trade union organisations, so that complaints are now frequently heard from first-line managers that they hear news of changes likely to affect them from their departmental shop stewards.
Involvement of line managers
As with other aspects of the personnel function it is important that line managers are involved at least to some extent with employee relations. But there must be good communications and close consultation with the HR department. There must be teamwork and a concerted organisational approach to the management of employee relations. This is made easier when top management who retain ultimate responsibility for the personnel function take an active part in fostering goodwill and co-operation between departments and with official union representatives. Top management should agree clear terms of reference for both the HR manager and line managers within the framework of sound personnel policies.
The shop steward
The shop steward, as an elective union representative of the employees, acts as spokesperson on behalf of the work group, initiates negotiations with management and may also be involved in grievance and disciplinary procedures. The shop steward will be responsible for communications with both full-time union officials and members about union matters and developments in working practices. Shop stewards require knowledge of the trade union movement and its services, an awareness of the law relating to employment and the role of ACAS and its tribunals. 5They also need an understanding of the policies and practices of the organisation, its structure, the role of managers, supervisors and personnel specialists, group situations, and how best to handle the problems affecting individual union members. Shop stewards are therefore an important part of the effective operation of the organisation. They undertake a range of activities broadly similar to those of managers and they require similar skills.
AN EXAMPLE OF THE CODE OF PROFESSIONAL RESPONSIBILITY
The professional principles
Because of their responsibilities to their employers or clients as well as to their profession, information and records managers:
* Pursue appropriate educational requirements for professional practice
* Accurately represent their education, competencies, certifications and experience to superiors, clients, co-workers and colleagues in the profession
* Serve the client or employer at the highest level of professional competence
* Recognize illegal or unethical situations and inform the client or employer of possible adverse implications
* Avoid personal interest or improper gain at the expense of clients, employers or co-workers
* Maintain the confidentiality of privileged information
* Enrich the profession by sharing knowledge and experience, encourage public discussion of the profession's values, services and skills
* Are actively committed to recruiting individuals to the profession on the basis of competence and educational qualifications without discrimination
Because of their responsibilities to their employers or clients as well as to their profession information and records managers:
* Pursue appropriate educational requirements for professional practice, including a program of ongoing education and certification. Appropriate formal and continuing education is critical to enlarging one's knowledge and maintaining one's competence in any field. Because information and records management continues to be transformed legally and technologically, all information and records managers have a responsibility to attain a level of education necessary to maintain and improve their positions within their organisation and the profession. Education in information and records management must continue throughout an individual's career, whether through degree programs, formal academic coursework, certification, workshops, seminars.
* Represent accurately their education, competencies, certifications and experience to superiors, clients, co-workers and colleagues in the profession. Misrepresentation of one's credentials is usually grounds for dismissal. Exaggeration of one's accomplishment or abilities is equally odious, is unethical and is not to be tolerated.
* Service the client or employer at the highest level of professional competence. Using effective information and records management principles and practices, die professional provides service at the highest level of competence. One factor differentiating a professional from other employees of organisations is that a professional is able to separate professional responsibility and judgment from professional feelings and loyalty. This serves the employees or clients best long-term interests. Anything few demeans die practitioner and by extension the profession.
* Recognize illegal or unethical situations and inform the client or employer of possible adverse implications. The knowledge and values of information professionals uniquely them to recognize the ingredients of ethically complex issues related to information and records management. The information and records manager pursues a reflective morality, not one limited by custom, tradition or the moral terrain of a specific work environment. The professional has a responsibility to inform the employer that a given decision, action, policy or procedure may have negative implications. The information and records manager may decide to disassociate from a client or employer who continues to pursue such a course.
* Avoid personal interest or improper gain at the expense of clients, employers, colleagues or co-workers. Improper or illegal interest or improper gain can take many forms. Information and record managers routinely access information during the course of their work. The information and records manager must be careful never to use or to disclose such information in a manner which will knowingly bring or have the appearance of bringing, gain at the expense of one's employer. Also, conflicts of interest may arise which influence the decision making process. In such cases, the information and records manager must be aware of such conflicts when recommending appropriate solutions to information and records management problems.
* Maintain the confidentiality of privileged information. Every organisation has privileged information. This may include information classified for national defence purposes or information restricted for proprietary or privacy reasons. The information and records manager has the expertise and experience to evaluate recommend and oversee systems, procedures and equipment that maintain the integrity of this information-regardless of media-unauthorized access.
* Enrich the profession by sharing knowledge and experience; encourage public discussion of the profession's values, services and skills. The degree of professional status of any field is directly related to society's knowledge and appreciation of that field's work. Along with published research, the exchange of ideas and knowledge enriches the profession. Not every individual has the ability to stand before a crowed and speak effectively on information and records management. Every individual does, however, have the ability to communicate experience, lessons learned, knowledge and values. Practitioners should take whatever public education opportunities present them to portray the achievements and benefits of information and records management in an accurate, engaging and informative manner.
* Commit to actively recruit individuals to the profession on the basis of competence and educational qualifications without discrimination. In some organisations, nepotism or patronage may affect hiring decisions. In others, discrimination on the basis of sex, race, age, physical limitation, national origin or cultural heritage, appearance, sexual orientation, or religion may take place. Information and records managers, however, should distance themselves from such practices and ad to hire and promote individuals solely on the bases of education, competence and performance.
AN EXAMPLE OF INDIVIDUAL'S PROBLEM IN ORGANISATION
As chief legal officer, Alistair was asked by his board of directors to look into rumours of price-fixing in the company's continental operations. Alistair's firm specialized in producing low-cost medical kits for use in developing countries and refugee areas. His firm had a long-standing commitment to ethical business practice. His directors especially opposed price-fixing, bribery and kickbacks. The price-fixing rumours proved groundless, but Alistair kept hearing whispers about "the Bosnia contract". A global relief organisation had underwritten the distribution of a million kits in some of the most conflicted regions of Bosnia. Like most such contracts with charitable organizations, it contained hardly any profit for his firm. What's more the contract looked ordinary except for a large commission to a Romanian distributor. Seeking out the person in his own firm who had negotiated the contract, Alistair had one question in mind: was this a bribe? Yes and no, was the replay. The Romanian distributor had said that local militia units regularly set up roadblocks throughout Bosnia and demanded money from the drivers distributing the kits. Drivers without cash had been taken from their trucks and shot. If the kits were to be delivered, it was argued this was a cost of doing business. Alistair felt sure that none of the money had flowed back to the person who negotiated the contract, whose only motive was to get the kits delivered. By this time the contract was completed. Yet Alistair still faced a dilemma. Should he let the matter rest or should he inform the board? Everything in his backgrounds told him this was not the way to do business.6 Bribery was unacceptable to the directors, who felt strongly that once this barrier was breached there would be no stopping future shakedowns. Alistair agreed in principle. In everything he did, at work and with his family, he tried to hold to principles that he felt ought to be universal, generally applied and fair. "Do not give bribes". Was certainly one of them. Bosnia was a war zone, where the normal ethic commerce could not be so easily applied. The medicine could have been delivered using other methods, but these would almost certainly have caused delays that might have meant the difference between life and death for innocent sufferers. The Bosnia contract had not been ideal but it had accomplished much good for many people.
As a compassionate individual, Alistair also felt that it was vital to provide medicine for the wounded. He could stick to his principles and people would die because the trucks would never get through.
These questions force us to come to terms with one of the toughest challenges facing manager's today ethical dilemmas in which both sides are "right". The usual definition of ethics that is a matter of right versus wrong is not much help. Alistair had done no wrong, yet he still faced an ethical dilemma. The colloquial description of "grey areas" does not help. Alistair was not facing a woolly, fuzzy issue. There were powerful moral arguments on each side, clearly identified in black-and-white terms. The issue permitted no greyness: you bribed or you did not, people either died or lived and you reported or kept quiet.
Alistair knew that he faced a difficult dilemma. But he also had a quality not universally found in today's business culture, something we call "ethical fitness". He saw in shape to spot and respond to moral issues and prepared to flex his thinking when encountering new challenges. Ethical conundrums did not frighten him any more than a hard workout scares an athlete. Alistair's ethical fitness had been built up over time, through steady mental exercise. He had stayed in shape by running to meet moral issues rather than fleeing from the encounter. According to this case ethical fitness can be develop through a four-step process:
Moral awareness: sensitivity to emerging ethical issues and a willingness to see their board implications. This awareness helps create conditions of trust enabling people to deal with issues and to read the moral barometer astutely and accurately.
Values definition: discovering and articulating the core, cross-cultural, shared moral values underlying and ethical activity, regardless of culture or geographical location.
Ethical analysis: identifying and categorising various paradigms for right-versus-right dilemmas facing individuals and institutions in business.
Dilemma resolution: applying a set of principles to arrive at a reasoned, acceptable, defensible choice between the two right courses of action posed by an ethical dilemma.7
Moral
Moral occur when individuals fail to grasp the ethical implications of a situation. The moral concerns go right past them. They never even see there might be a problem. Nothing is more important for fostering an ethical business climate than this: to improve the moral awareness of individual managers, so that they see ethical dilemmas as they approach not after they have stuck. Moral awareness involves three things: significance, trust and reading the moral barometer.
Significance
This is the recognition that ethics matter to our common global future. The collapse of Barings Bank is an example how an individual made unethical decision. As technological leveraging increases, the ability to make sound ethical decisions becomes very important. A century ago, a Ukrainian power-plant operator, an American engineer designing O-rings, a ship's captain, or a 29-year-old English trader could not have produced global disasters at such speed.8 The fact that such catastrophes can happen today, triggered not by the managing director or the chairman but by managers and staff working deep within an organisation, suggest the importance of ethics throughout an entire business. The individuals involved in this situations were all very smart. They were not lacking rational acumen, but rather the conscience and character to apply it for ethical ends. It may not be enough for us to be as ethical as our ancestors were. The demand of survival may require us to be far more ethical simply because, with today's technologies the stakes are far higher. As technology spreads access to information in more democratic ways, allowing children, hackers and criminals equal entry to World Wide Web - it will no longer be enough to require sound ethics only at the top, among the gatekeepers.
Trust
The Oxford English Dictionary defines trust as "confidence in or reliance on some quality or attribute of a person or thing or the truth of a statement". It involves both trustfulness, which is a sense of confidence in others, and trustworthiness, whereby an individual acts so as to engender trust and be worthy of the confidence of others. Robert Levering identifies trust as one of the three key elements in his "best company" formula. He writes:
A great place to work is one where you trust the people you work for, have pride in what you do, and enjoy the people you work with.
In a global corporate arena where individuals are working together in virtual relationships, lack of trust is fatal. As organizations grow more multinational, no manager can constantly oversee every relationship. Management is becoming a virtual process. "How do you manage people whom you do not see?" asks Handy. His simple answer is: "By trusting them".
Right-versus-right
These issues are far tougher. When both sides have a strong claim to the moral high ground, how are managers to choose? These are the really tough decisions. In Alistair's case, two powerful core values come into conflict: his high standard of fairness versus his deep feeling of compassion. The decision can be argued nobly on either side, but it cannot be resolved by doing both things. A choice must be made. These sorts of dilemmas are usually more wrenching and subtler than right-versus-wrong moral temptations. In today's society they are also more commonplace.
CONCLUSION
The new economy is changing the world of work and the people who work in it fundamentally. Although some people think that the new economy has been and gone, others think that it never happened at all. Technology, globalisation, intangibles and the war for talent are all driving the new economy, business models can be seen as groupings of assets and business will need to be accountable to each asset owner in some kind of mutually agreed way. Wither accountability involves a wider ethical dimension that business must grapple with and with this comes a greater risk of ethical conflicts that the can damage an organisation. Avoiding them presents a new management challenge. However, there is evidence that business is facing up to ethical issues. Clearly unethical conduct can damage a firm's reputation and hit its bottom line and the share price. In some cases it can even force a company out of business. Just one legal transgression can cost a company millions of dollars and firms that do not have ethics programmes run the risk of more stringent penalties than those that do. Furthermore, bad publicity can have a profound impact on brand value and business's ability to attract and retain the best people, thus eroding its competitive edge.
As a conclusion I can say about ethics that it is not a matter of conformity to a set of abstract, elaborate rules and practices. Instead, it is about the intuitions good people have as they try to find the best answer to the question of what they ought to do. The word "ought" is the centrepiece in the language of ethics. History is all about what was. Journalism is about what is. Futurism is about what will be. Law is about what must be. Ethics is about what ought to be.
The future is not known, it is not what older people think about but what younger people do.
Nicholas Negroponte
BIBLIOGRAPHY
. C.Moon and C. Bonny, (2001), "Business Ethics", Published by Profile Books Ltd, London, First Edition.
2. J.Greenberg and R. Baron, (1997), "Behaviour in Organisationas", Published by Prentice-Hall International (UK) Limited, London, Sixth Edition.
3. Laurie, J, Mullins, (1999), "Management and Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition.
4. Moorhead, Griffin, (1998), "Organizational Behaviour", Published by Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston, Fifth Edition.
5. Stephen, P, Robbins, (1998), "Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice-Hall International, Inc., Eight Edition.
6. http://www.businesssteps.co.uk/gnvq/Unit4/criteria/htm. "Investigate Human Resourcing"
7. http://www.msb.georgetown.edu/prog/gbei/course_syllabi/mgmt_541_syllab.htm "Ethics in Employment Relationship".
Laurie, J, Mullins, (1999), "Management and Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition, p.706.
2 Laurie, J, Mullins, (1999), "Management and Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition, p. 707.
3 Laurie, J, Mullins, (1999), "Management and Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition, p. 707.
4 Stephen, P, Robbins, (1998), "Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice-Hall International, Inc., Eight Edition, p.62.
5 Laurie, J, Mullins, (1999), "Management and Organisational Behaviour", Published by Prentice Hall, Fifth Edition, p. 709.
6 C.Moon and C. Bonny, (2001), "Business Ethics", Published by Profile Books Ltd, London, First Edition, p.57.
7C.Moon and C. Bonny, (2001), "Business Ethics", Published by Profile Books Ltd, London, First Edition, p.59.
8 C.Moon and C. Bonny, (2001), "Business Ethics", Published by Profile Books Ltd, London, First Edition, p.57.
