Managerial Ethics Essay, Research Paper

MANAGERIAL ETHICS

Introduction

The word ethics is derived from the Greek work ethos, which refers to

the character and sentiment of the community, and standards of behavior.

Ethical means conforming to the standards of a given profession or group. Any

group can set its own ethical standards and then live by them or not. Ethical

standards, whether they are established by an individual, a corporation, a

profession, or a nation, help to guide a person s decisions and actions. The

commonly accepted definition of ethics is rules or standards that govern

behavior. Managerial decision making is the type of behavior that managers

are paid to do. They must make choices among alternatives and these may

vary in terms of their perceived ethicality.

The argument might be that ethics and morality ought to be kept as an

exclusive part of religious and educational organizations. When morality

intrudes on the business organization, it has a potential of diverting from the

organization s main objective, to make money, and as a result lead to deprive

stockholders returns. But there is an increased realization that managers

needs to be more responsible, not just to their stockholders but also to their

other stakeholders – consumers, employees, suppliers, the government, and

local communities. There is a need for ethics to be a part of management. We

see business leaders taking bribes, being dishonest, biased toward age,

gender, race, and ethnicity, and committing sexual harassment. There is a

lack of moral integrity among business leaders and professionals.

Many unethical acts also overlap with the law. One of those unethical

act by American executives is bribery. Bribery is used to turn power to the

advantage of the person offering. Before the passage of the Foreign Corrupt

Practices Act of 1977, it was estimated that approximately 400 American

companies paid millions of dollars in bribes for business favors. This act

makes it illegal for companies to exchanging money or material goods for

something in return. It is also affects ordinary citizens, because it raises the

cost of goods sold. Despite the regulations against bribery, many parts of the

business world consider it to be a normal practice. Exxon the well known oil

corporation engaged in a bribe when the corporation paid $59 million to Italian

politicians to further achieve business goals in Italy.

Honesty, is anyone trully honest any more? Honesty is being truthful,

regardless, but to some it can vary with the individual and the situation. It can

have a great impact on business, customers, and staff. It is an important part

of the product and service. Honesty can set good leaders apart from others.

President Clinton can be used as an example. He was dishonest with America

when telling us about the Lewinsky fiasco; lying under oath. What does this do

to his character? How is he now perceived by others. His dishonesty could

lead people to believe he as not been honest with other statements. A survey

by U.S. News and World Report on honesty, reported that eithty eight percent

of secretaries have told lies on behalf of their supervisors. In another survey of

2000, nearly one quarter watched bosses fake expense reports, one fifth seen

information destroyed, and one third seen doctored time sheets. These people

said they would not reveal their supervisor, to a higher authority, after all they

have a part in determining their success in the company. No, not everyone is

honest, but in the long run, honesty is the best policy. Dishonesty can come

back to haunt you. Managers with honest reputations can reap the benefits

with staff, and customers. Whether a president or a supervisor, honesty is

best, and you can face yourself each morning knowing you did what was right.

A nationwide survey of business ethics was conducted in 1997. It

included 218 public administrators. Seventy percent of them believed that their

organization was highly ethical, and sixty one percent said that ethics was a

part of their day-to-day decision making. Public administration has more ethics

resources than any other industry; fifty two percent of them had ethics training.

Yet they had the highest incidents of ethical problems. Fifty two percent knew

of ethical violations. Fewer than thirty one said they feel comfortable reporting

misconduct. One third said the organization may sometime breach the laws.

Some of the most common incidents were sexual harassment, lying on reports

and lying to supervisors, and discrimination.

In the United States, there are laws protecting against discrimination.

The U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 protects citizens from employment

discrimination regarding gender, age, race, nationality, and religion, and

disabilities. Despite this, women are segregated in the workplace from top

management positions. This invisible barrier is called the Glass Ceiling and

is created by organization prejudices. Women are better educated and hold

more jobs then ever before, but fail to reach leading positions in major

corporations. Women represent more than 40% of the workforce, but hold less

than 5% of the top jobs in corporations. And when they rise to the top, it is

nearly certain that they will earn less than a man. When women have achieved

high managerial positions, they are usually restricted to a less vital part of the

company, like administration and human resource. With the increase of

qualification and work performance by women, it may have been expected that

more women move up more quickly. One reason may be gender stereotypes.

That females can not generate as much competence in the managing role as

men and that women should not be exercising power over men. Some feel

women can not handle family responsibility and the long, hard hours of work in

high management. Well, men have families too, and with many child care

facilities, it makes it possible for men and women to handle building a career

and raising a family. Managers already at the top are likely to have gender

based stereotypes, especially older managers who went to business school

when there were few female students. Perhaps at the times change, so will the

percentage of women in top positions.

Sexual harassment which is directed by a staff member by another, has

become increasing in the news. This behavior is not only unethical but illegal.

There are two types of sexual harassment: quid pro quo and hostile

environment. Quid pro quo is when there is a request for sexual behaviors,

with a promise of rewards or threat of punishment if they adhere to them or

they do not. Hostile environment refers to the creation of an unpleasant and

unwelcome atmosphere related to sex and interferes with job performance.

Most harassment is directed at women by men; almost 90%. About 10%

involve the harassment of men. The harassers of women tend to be older

married men, and those of men are younger single women. The number of

sexual harassment cases has gone up; as more women were entering the

workplace, so were the number of cases. Many do not confront their

harassers, for fear of the reprocotions. In many cases its her word against his.

President Clinton can also be used as an example in this case a well. Paula

Jones had accused Mr. Clinton of sexual harassment when he was governor of

Arkansas. He was the leader of a state, in a powerful position, what could

Miss Jones do? She finally spoke up years later to press charges, but it was

her word against the presidents.

The management profession is a people business. How they relate to

people is very important. An effective manager must have the ability to

understand people s needs and to see their point of view. Management must

uphold moral values, keep a good attitude, keep learning, keep changing, keep

refining and defining, and keep communicating. Many managers take what

ever course of action will best achieve their goals, regardless of the effects on

organizational members, on the future of the company, or the society where

they live. Also in managerial behavior, there seems to be a strong desire for

power, wealth and the need to display material well being. This can be

considered a factor of the ethical problems.

Bibliography

1. Stephen J. Carrol, and Martin J. Gannon, Ethical Dimension of

Management, Sage Publications, 1997.

2. Is There Anyone Who Believes in Honesty? , Denver Business Journal,

volume 50, October 16, 1997, page 37.

3. Integrity and Ethics in Public Administration , Public Management, volume

80, October 1998, page 3.

4. Women in Management: It s Still Lonely at the Top , Women s International

Network, volume 24, September 1998, page 78.

5. Constructing an Ethic for Business Practice , Business & Society,

September 1998, page 27.