Module-1: Introduction to Ethics: Unethical Behavior
The sources of ethical behavior at work place is derived the religious, cultural and legal systems within which the individual come from and as also the business is operated. Therefore MNCs find a custom is acceptable in western countries as normal business practice is not acceptable in oriental cultures eg: gifts exchanged between business executives.
Whether it’s a common infraction like misusing
company time, mistreating others, lying, stealing or violating company internet
policies, unethical behavior in the workplace is widespread.
Unethical issues
• Bribery
• Accepting bribe create a conflict of
interest between the person receiving bribe and his organization. And this
conflict would result in unethical practices.
• Coercion
• It is forcing a person to do things which
are against his personal believes. E.g. blocking a promotion, loss of job or
blackmailing.
• Insider Trading (Insider trading is misuse
of official position.)
• Here the employee leaks out certain
confidential data to outsiders or other insiders which effect the reputation
and performance of company.
• Conflicts of Interest
• Conflict of interest when Private interests
are important for employees which are against the desire of employer.
• Unfair Discrimination Unfair treatment or
given privileges to persons on the base of race, age, sex, nationality or
religion. It is failures to treat all persons equally.
• Political Donations and Gifts Gifts,
donations or contribution to political leaders or parties to get any
unconditional act done e.g. sanctioning of any special contract, issue of
licenses etc.
• Presentation of false returns of income and
statements It is to prepare false income returns and statements of accounts for
evasion of tax and getting various govt. benefits and incentives.
• Accumulation of profits by illegal Sometimes
business undertakes various unethical and unconstitutional activities to
maximize its profits e.g. hoarding of goods, black marketing, speculation etc.
Causes
of unethical conduct in an organization
The
researchers describe the different factors as “bad apples” (individualfactors), “bad cases” (issue-specific factors) and “bad barrels” (environmentalfactors). Here’s how they play out.
2. Increase in acute competition: Competition is
increasing at national and international level. Every business aims to be the
highest profit maker. To achieve this goal, organization/individuals are urged
to act dishonestly and unethically.
3. Economic Greed: People have a desire to live a
life full of comforts and luxuries. Some people follow unethical means to earn
more money. Personal financial worries become a cause for unethical practices
such as accepting a bribe.
4. Lack of Management Support or Poor Leadership: -
Leader is responsible for motivating his staff. - If the leader does not
encourage his subordinates to be ethical then there are higher chances of
unethical conduct - If the leader himself is involved in unethical activities,
his employees may do the same.
5. Pressure to earn profit:
- Shareholders expect
larger returns.
-
Employees hope for higher salary and benefits
-
Directors expect higher remuneration
-
Thus there is an increasing pressure to maximize
profit to cope with enlarged requirements.
6. Information of unethical acts through media: The
information given by media provides ideas to inexperienced businessman for doing
unethical activities.
7. Going Down a Slippery Slope
Misconduct starts small, such as the exaggeration of a
mileage report. But the longer it goes unchecked, the worse the offenses
become. The few extra dollars that came from the mileage report may eventually
be dwarfed by larger falsified expenses or perhaps even outright embezzlement.
People who are faced with growing opportunities to behave unethically are more
likely to rationalize their misconduct because unethical behavior becomes
habit.
8. No Code of Ethics
Employees are more likely to do wrong if they don’t know
what’s right. Without a code of ethics, they may be unscrupulous. A code of
ethics is a proactive approach to addressing unethical behavior. It establishes
an organization’s values and sets boundaries for adhering to those values.
Everyone is accountable.
9.Fear of Reprisal
When explaining why they don’t report ethical misconduct
that they witness, people often say it is because they worry about the
ramifications. They don’t want to damage their career or incur the wrath of the
offender. Or, sometimes, they let the infraction go because they don’t know how
to report it or they feel that their report may be ignored.
10.Impact of Peer Influence
If everyone is doing it, it must be right. Or is it?
What’s to stop someone from padding their expense report when their co-workers
do it but don’t get caught? Too often people lapse into the bad behavior of
others. People behave unethically because they tend to perceive questionable
behaviors exhibited by people who are similar to them — like their co-workers —
to be more acceptable than those exhibited by people who they perceive as
dissimilar, researchers say.
Roots of Unethical Behavior
• Personal
Ethics
• Decision-Making
Processes
• Organizational
Culture
• Leadership
• Unrealistic
Performance expectations
• Primary
Psychological Traps
• Personality
Traps
• Defensive
Psychological Traps
• Greed
• Corruption
Contemporary research has established that specifictypes of social influences, greed, egocentrism, self-justifications, exposure
to incremental dishonesty, loss aversion, challenging performance goals, and
time pressure, increase unethical behavior. On the opposite, monitoring of
employees, providing moral reminders, and individuals’ willingness to maintain
a positive self-view decrease unethical conduct.
What prompts the individual or organization to begin to move in an ill-fated direction? People experience impulses that motivate them toact, employee reactions to internal or external stimuli. Sometimes, a stimulus is so powerful or triggers such automatic behavior that the individual acts without recognizing that other options exist. At other times, he or she is aware of other choices, but the stimulus’ impact overrides these potential actions.
Primary Traps
Primary
traps are predominantly comprised of external stimuli. They are the main traps
that impel people to move in a certain direction without regard for ethical
principles. “Obedience to Authority” is a clear example of a primary trap.
Children are primed to obey their parents their survival depends upon it and in
school, this conditioning continues. Students automatically know that they must
show deference to their teachers. Consequently, later in life, when the boss
orders an employee to do something, many people quickly obey without thinking.
Personality Traps
Personality
traps consist exclusively of internal stimuli in the form of various
personality traits that can make people more vulnerable to wrongdoing. An
example of a personality trap is the “Need for Closure,” that is, “the desire
for a definite answer on some topic, any answer, as opposed
to confusion and ambiguity.” It is the tendency to jump
on the first opinion that comes to mind, rather than tolerating a state of
uncertainty and taking the time to consider a problem or judgment from many
different angles. The need for closure is
augmented under work conditions that make processing information more
difficult, namely time pressure, fatigue, and excessive background noise. When
such conditions exist, it is more difficult to tolerate a state of confusion
and ambiguity.
Defensive Traps
Defensive
traps are a very different category. Although some of them can, at times, be
counted as primary traps, defensive traps are basically attempts to find easy
ways to reverse course after a transgression has been committed. For the most
part, defensive traps are maneuvers that are reactions to two internal stimuli:
guilt and shame. Guilt and especially shame are very painful emotions because
they call into question the positive view that people have of themselves.
Therefore it is better to
have a psychology specialist assistance to make use of these traps to nudge
employees for exhibition of good corporate behavior and best is to lead with
example from top leadership
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