Ethical values are a construct that determines the behavior and thinking of each individual. It is true that while some universal principles of ethics, in general, values are individual to each person: what is suitable for one is unacceptable for another. Recently, there has been a marked increase in academic discourse, especially that related to organizational culture, which explores aspects of ethical behavior. This naturally leads to paying more attention to this issue, including through ethnographic analysis. This paper discusses my ethical vision, followed by applying my ethical principles to two organizational scenarios. The work proves beneficial not only in terms of reflective analysis but also as an exploratory opinion on challenges in organizational settings.
Personal Ethical Statement
For me, the basic tenets of ethics are unconditional kindness and the principle of the highest good for all. I believe that everyone deserves to be happy in life and have their needs met. In addition, to succeed in life, I believe the environment must be built on the principles of rationality, strong will, and courage — this enhances competitiveness and creates a foundation for personal development. The five ethical principles described above guide my life, motivate my decisions, and help me build strong and sustainable connections with family, friends, and partners.
Applying Ethical Statement
Scenario 1
This scenario explores a case study of a work group of five colleagues, including me as a supervisor, who must provide a marketing concept for new product development at the organization at the end of the quarter. The critical problem in this scenario is the low efficiency of one of the workgroup members, say, colleague A, who misses organizational meetings and cannot fully engage in the work process. Naturally, this situation raises legitimate concerns that the group will not be able to achieve results within 90 days because one of the employees in the small team shows little involvement. One of the most apparent solutions in such cases is to replace the ineffective team member with a more involved one; however, the ethical tenets of the greater good make it necessary to pay much more attention to the individual’s problems.
In the scenario, colleague A is a low-performing team member because of the additional problems she is experiencing at work and in her personal life. It is pointed out that colleague A is the head of an outside department in the company, performing challenging tasks. This colleague works twelve hours a day and has a heavier workload, resulting in the consequences of low engagement in team processes. In addition, it is also reported that colleague A is experiencing family problems because her child requires medical care for two surgeries during this year, which also poses threats to the colleague’s engagement in teamwork tasks. In other words, Colleague A’s low involvement is determined by both her high workload and her personal problems with her child. This is what should be taken into account when making the final decision about increasing the team’s efficiency.
It is also worth taking into account that the company is currently pursuing a policy of increasing tolerance and minimizing threats of discrimination against vulnerable groups. In this sense, the company values its reputation, as it has previously been the subject of public discussions about cases of harassment and racism at work. Because of the above, the initial decision to replace Colleague A with another employee seems complicated, as it would cause a number of reputational risk issues and would likely prove to be an unfavorable outcome for this team member. Depriving her of her job could affect her mental and physical well-being because, as mentioned, her child has two surgeries to perform, which means colleague A needs money to cover them. For this reason, the most effective strategy in this situation is to reorganize the existing agenda, take all interests into account, and find the best solution that suits everyone.
The first step is to have a face-to-face meeting with Colleague A to clarify her desires and interests. After listening to her story, I should ask her the direct question, “Do you think you are willing to continue to participate in the workgroup, and can you perform well in the time allotted?” There is no discriminatory or infringing language in the structure of the question itself, but the unambiguousness of the question helps clarify any uncertainties. If a woman says she cannot perform her job functions and would like to stop working on the team, I should have discussed her exit options with her in a way that would not be painful for her. On the contrary, if the woman states that she is willing to participate and produce results, that is, she demonstrates a strong will, this becomes a field for further strategy development based on an ethical statement.
The second step, if colleague A agrees, is to thoroughly review her work tasks and determine which ones can be delegated to other team members or contractors. Consideration should be given to expanding the work team by 1-3 members to offload Colleague A. This decision is expected to not only help the woman feel more comfortable in the workplace and prevent the development of professional stress but also to perform team tasks promptly and correctly (Rasool et al., 2020). In the case of expanding the team, I must discuss this option with the COO to get his approval. As a result, when this approach is chosen, the basis for the decision becomes the desire of colleague A, combined with operational tasks. There is no outweighing in this balance, as both aspects appear to be equal; at the same time, ignoring the sides leads to risks. Thus, the solution is built on the principles of rationality, strong will, and the highest good for all, and thus fully satisfies my ethical statement.
Scenario 2
The second scenario explores a case where, as a production manager, I am confronted with the discovery of severe environmental errors in the operation of the organization for which I was hired. The central conflict in this scenario is finding a balance between the company’s desire to be environmentally friendly and the admonition of the CEO, who insists on ignoring this “nonsense.” As before, one of the first solutions that came to mind was the need to quit the company and forget all the problems I have to deal with daily. However, my role as a manager imposes additional demands on me, including concern for the well-being of my subordinates; if I leave this workplace for my gain, I will not fulfill the ethical principles of kindness and the highest good, and I will ignore the dangers that subordinates face. For this reason, I must try to identify a complementary strategy for dealing with this problem.
The basis for deploying environmental management in this company is the principle of rationality and the highest good for people. I recognize that every employee has an unconditional right to respect for their work and personal safety. My objectives as a manager include developing a clear agenda within the organization. Meanwhile, the principle of rationality makes me think that the organizational changes being prepared will have positive consequences for the company, affecting the growth of profits, reputation, and motivation of employees to perform their work. To begin with, I must have a third meeting with the CEO and inform him that I am ready to assume functional responsibility for developing the environmental management plan.
It is expected that the CEO will object to me again, so I will prepare informational materials for the meeting about how similar projects have helped companies significantly increase profits. The focus on profits is necessary because, as it turns out from the scenario, this is practically the only thing the CEO cares about in this company. Specifically, the CEO states, “We are in business to make furniture and because when we do that, we make money” — an appropriate response to this phrase might be to say that developing a new plan will significantly increase the company’s money makes. Evidence reports that environmental management and ISO140001 increase an organization’s profits and reputation (BP, 2021; Song et al., 2017). In other words, in this meeting, my job is to convince the CEO of the need for radical change with minimal involvement of the CEO. If approval is again not obtained, I must either try to continue to convince him or report that company’s problems to the regulatory agencies. On the contrary, if approval has been obtained, it creates opportunities for further strategy development.
An employee opinion survey should be conducted to determine their fundamental interests and the environmental issues they continue to face. Opinion polling is a crucial step to uncover hidden problems and identify opportunities to address them further; in addition, it creates a sense of ownership of the coming changes among employees, which can increase motivation to work (Phungula et al., 2022). Once all opinions have been collected, strategies should be developed to address the identified problems. For example, if employees encounter unsafe environments in the workplace, these problems should be addressed: a leaky roof and poorly functioning machines should be repaired, and poor lighting should be replaced with energy-efficient bulbs. Solving the problem of low wages is also a problem but not a priority, so after implementing environmental monitoring, I should think about developing a progressive compensation plan.
The solution developed seems to be universal while taking into account the interests of all parties involved. Obtaining the CEO’s initial approval is necessary because any organizational changes would be sabotaged and meaningless to implement. At the same time, taking into account the opinions of all employees will make it possible to gather valuable information about work processes and to work on even those threats that do not seem evident at first glance. It is not difficult to see that, in this case, the principle of the greater good is the foundation: the pursuit of well-being is realized for both employees and the company. The main organizational problem for the plan is funding reorganization practices, but if the CEO agrees to allocate money for this, it ceases to be a problem. If there is a budget shortfall, one might consider finding outside investment, which would also be wise for the company’s capital, given the expectation of increased sales in the future. Thus, the problem-solving strategy developed is based on ethical principles and solves the company’s existing threats.
References
BP. (2021). How can ISO 14001 increase profits? Best Practice. Web.
Phungula, N., Dhanpat, N., & Braine, R. D. (2022). The effect of employee value proposition on normative commitment. EUREKA: Social and Humanities, 2, 46-57.
Rasool, S. F., Wang, M., Zhang, Y., & Samma, M. (2020). Sustainable work performance: the roles of workplace violence and occupational stress. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(3), 1-8.
Song, H., Zhao, C., & Zeng, J. (2017). Can environmental management improve financial performance: An empirical study of A-shares listed companies in China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 141, 1051-1056.