Practical Advice for Managers: Multiple Ethical Selves

So what should managers do? First, it’s important to evaluate the organizational environment. As a lower- or middle-level manager, you can do little to influence that environment. If senior executives are creating a cutthroat, Darwinian culture where only bottom-line results count, it’s probably time to look elsewhere for a job. It is then up to you to contribute to the larger organizational culture by creating a work environment that supports...

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MANAGING FOR ETHICAL CONDUCT

We talked about how most employees look outside them for guidance about how to behave. We have also discussed ethical culture and how organizations, especially large ones, manage ethics and legal compliance. Within this broad organizational context, managers oversee employee behavior every day, and they can have enormous influence on employee behavior. Therefore managers need simple and practical tools for managing the ethical conduct of their...

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NEWSLETTERS AND MAGAZINES

These materials can be print based or web based. They may include the mission statement, stories about corporate ‘‘heroes’’— employees who illustrate the corporate values—and features that describe ethical dilemmas and include comments from employees and managers about how they would deal with the problems. Some companies regularly publish lists of the types of ethical or legal violations they have addressed and how they addressed them. For...

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ETHICS TRAINING PROGRAMS

Values statements, policy manuals, and conduct codes aren’t enough. Organizations that are serious about ethics distribute these materials widely and then provide training in their meaning and application. Effective training programs are ongoing efforts to teach everyone from new recruits to high-level managers. We discussed whether ethics can be taught; we hope that by now, you’re quite convinced that it can. Ethics in organizations is about...

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Multiple Communication Channels for Formal Ethics Communication

The company’s ethics message can and should be communicated in a variety of ways. The most obvious ethics communication channels include a mission or values statement, a code of conduct, policy statements, a formal process for reporting concerns or observed misconduct, and communications from leaders. In addition to these channels, the ethics message needs to be reinforced in all formal communication materials, including recruiting and orientation...

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WHAT KINDS OF ETHICAL DILEMMAS ARE EMPLOYEES LIKELY TO ENCOUNTER?

In addition to common ethical dilemmas faced by employees everywhere, organizations need to identify the kinds of issues and dilemmas that might be unique to their particular industry. For example, a chemical company needs to pay special attention to environmental and safety dilemmas. A financial firm should pay extremely close attention to fiduciary, confidentiality, and conflict-of-interest issues. A manufacturing company may have to look...

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The Corporate Ethics Committee

In some organizations, ethics is managed by a corporate committee staffed by seniorlevel managers from a variety of functional areas. This committee is set up to provide ethical oversight and policy guidance for CEO and management decisions. It also represents an affirmation that top management really cares about ethics. At Lockheed Martin, the Ethics and Business Conduct Steering Committee meets once every quarter and has done so since 1995....

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ETHICS OFFICER BACKGROUND

The job of ethics officer has been called ‘‘the newest profession in American business.’ Individuals holding this position come from many backgrounds. With insiders, the job is often assigned to someone in a staff function. According to past ethics officer surveys, law was the most common background. That is true of most of our interviewees as well. Interestingly, some people believe that lawyers shouldn’t be considered for the job, because...

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INSIDERS VERSUS OUTSIDERS

An ethics or compliance officer may be an insider or someone brought in from the outside. We talked to past and present ethics officers who represent both categories. It can sometimes be more difficult for an outsider to achieve credibility in the ethics or compliance role. But someone brought in from outside the company has the advantage of being able to evaluate the situation with a fresh eye. If change is needed, that person may be better...

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The Corporate Ethics Office

Some organizations delegate ethics management responsibilities widely, finding that a strong statement of values and a strong ethical culture can keep the ethics management effort together. This approach may be particularly effective in smaller firms. However, most large firms find that ethics initiatives need to be coordinated from a single office to ensure that all of the program’s pieces fit together and that all of the U.S. Sentencing Guideline...

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Whatever your organizational level

Whatever your organizational level, you should find the information in this chapter helpful. If you’re at a high organization level, it should give you ideas about how to manage ethics and legal compliance in your firm. If you’re at a lower or middle management level, it should help you understand your own organization’s approach to ethics management and how it compares to what other organizations are currently doing. If you’re a student, it...

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Assumptions about People

Mainstream economics rests on the assumption that human beings are driven by self-interest and opportunism and are likely to shirk responsibility. Acceptance of this assumption logically leads to change efforts focused almost exclusively on behavioral control. We believe, however, that human beings are essentially good and open to growth and change. Most employees prefer being associated with a fair organization that supports ethical behavior and...

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Audit of the Ethical Culture

The only way to determine if the culture is aligned to support ethical behavior is to conduct regular, comprehensive audits of all relevant cultural systems, both formal and informal. If the ethical culture audit determines that aspects of the current culture are not aligned to support ethical behavior, and the goal is to produce consistent ethical conduct, then the culture must change. Any attempt to develop or change organizational ethics...

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How an Ethical Culture Can Become an Unethical Culture

The story of Arthur Andersen, the now defunct auditing company, provides a sad example. It demonstrates how a solidly ethical culture can be transformed into an unethical culture and lead to the demise of an 88-year-old firm. Founder Arthur Andersen created the company when he was in his twenties. As chief executive, the messages he conveyed about ethical conduct were strong, consistent, and clear. Andersen’s mantra, ‘‘Think straight—talk...

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Rituals of an ethical culture.

They tell people symbolically what the organization wants them to do and how it expects them to do it. Rituals are a way of affirming and communicating culture in a very tangible way. Organizations have meetings, parties, banquets, barbecues, and awards ceremonies that all convey messages about what’s valued in the organization, Years ago, General Motors of Canada introduced a new vision and values by asking each manufacturing unit to create...

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INFORMAL CULTURAL SYSTEMS

In addition to the formal systems described previously, ethical culture is kept alive informally and symbolically through informal norms, heroes, rituals, myths, and stories. Employees experience the ‘‘real’’ organization through these informal systems, and information about them is carried through informal communication systems such as the grapevine and water cooler gatherings. In this way, people come to know what behaviors are ‘‘really’’...

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OVERRELIANCE ON QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS

Decision-making processes can contribute to unethical behavior by relying exclusively on quantitative analysis and focusing only on financial outcomes. For example, in Chapter 3 we discussed the decision-making process that kept the Ford Pinto from being recalled. In that situation, exclusive reliance on a quantitative cost-benefit analysis to the exclusion of ethical considerations had disastrous consequences. In another example, Johns Manville, the...

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NEW ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES Organizations

Today are developing structures designed to remove bureaucratic layers, push responsibility down, and empower individuals to make decisions at every organizational level. Take the example of office furniture manufacturer Herman Miller, Inc.  which is committed to the values of ‘‘open communication,’’ ‘‘the dignity of each individual,’’ and ‘‘quality relationships based on mutual trust and integrity.’’ Kevin Knowles, a crew leader for six...

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