- Ethics : is about doing the right thing within a moral framework.

- In other words, it is the practical application of morality.

Human Factors That Contribute to Unethical Behavior

- The most common impediment to ethical conduct is simply human nature .

- Human beings tend to behave according to the principle of perceived personal interest .

Organizational Factors That Contribute to Unethical Behavior

Organizational factors that can contribute to unethical behavior include the following:

1- Failing to make ethics part of the organizations core values.

2- Failing to set a consistent positive example.

3- Putting personnel in ethical corners.

- I dont care how you do it, but I want you to meet the deadline.

4- Failing to adopt, deploy, and enforce a corporate code of ethics

5- Applying unrealistic pressure.

6- Failing to reward ethical behavior.

Cost-Benefit Analysis and Ethics

- Some argue that it costs too much to take the ethical high road in todays hyper competitive global
business environment.

Tests of Ethical Behavior

1- Morning-After Test : How will you feel about this behavior tomorrow morning?

2-Front-Page Test : How would you like to see this behavior written up on the front page of your
hometown newspaper?

3- Mirror Test : How will you feel about this behavior when you look in the mirror?

4- Role Reversal Test : How would you feel about being on the receiving end of this behavior?

5- Common Sense Test : What does everyday common sense say about this behavior?
- we must distinguish between the concepts of legal and ethical: They are not the same thing. Just because
a choice made is legal does not necessarily mean it is ethical.

Trust in total quality management

- The total quality approach cannot be successfully implemented in an organization that fails to subscribe
to high standards of ethical behavior. This is because ethical behavior builds trust, and trust is an essential
ingredient in total quality.

- Consider the various elements of total quality that depend on trust:

communication, interpersonal relations, conflict management, problem solving, teamwork, employee

involvement and empowerment, and customer focus

- One of the best ways managers can help build trust is to protect the interests of those who are not
present at the moment as if they are .

values and total quality :

-Values are those deeply held beliefs that form the very core of who we are.

- A persons conscience or internal barometer is based on his or her values.

- Our values guide our behavior.

- An organization will not produce a quality product or provide a quality service unless the organization
values quality.

- Knowledge and skills are important, but by themselves, they do not guarantee results.

- This is because individual employees and organizations as a whole will most willingly apply their
knowledge and skills to what they value, what they believe in, and what they feel is important.

- Ethical behavior begins with values. Values that lead to ethical behavior include fairness, dependability,
integrity, honesty, and truthfulness.

- These values tend to encourage a work environment that involves, empowers, values, and nurtures
people
integrity and total quality
- Integrity , as a personal and organizational characteristic, combines honesty and dependability.
- When an individual or an organization has integrity, ethical behavior automatically follows.
- It is important for managers in a total quality setting to understand that although honesty is
fundamental to it, integrity is more than just honesty.
- People with integrity can be counted on to do the right thing, do things correctly, accomplish tasks
thoroughly and completely, finish work on time, and keep promises. The same is true of
organizations.

responsibility and total quality

- This is critical in the modern workplace because employees are drawn from a society

- shuns responsibility which is why ours has become such a litigious society.

- In a total quality setting, people are responsible for their actions and accountable for their performance

- Employees often refer to their employer as they rather than we.

- Accepting responsibility helps build trust, integrity, and all the other elements of ethics that are so
important in a total quality environment.

Manager role in ethics

- Managers and professionals in organizations are responsible for following through and actually
exemplifying ethical behavior.

- They are responsible for establishing high ethical standards, setting a consistently positive example of
exceeding those standards, and acting immediately when they observe unethical behavior.

- three approaches managers and professionals can use in carrying out these responsibilities :

1- Best-Ratio Approach :

- is a pragmatic approach based on the belief that people are basically good, that in the right circumstances
they will behave ethically, and that under certain conditions they can be driven to unethical behavior.

- managers should do everything possible to create conditions that promote ethical behavior and try to
maintain the best possible ratio of good choices to bad choices and ethical behavior to unethical behavior.

- situational ethics : When hard decisions must be made, managers should make the choice that will do the
most good for the most people.
2- Black-and-White Approach :

- right is right, wrong is wrong, and conditions are irrelevant.

- The managers job is to make ethical decisions and carry them out.

- It is also to help employees behave ethically regardless of circumstances.

- When difficult decisions must be made, managers should make fair and impartial choices regardless of
the outcome and do the right thing without concern for short-term circumstances

3- Full-Potential Approach :

- decisions made are based on how they will affect the ability of those involved to achieve their full
potential.

- is that people are responsible for realizing their full potential within the confines of morality.

- Choices that can achieve this goal without infringing on the rights of others are considered ethical.

Organizations role in ethics

- Organizations have a corporate responsibility for promoting and encouraging ethical behavior among
their personnel. The organizations responsibilities are to:

1- create an ethical environment in which stakeholders know that they will be supported when making
ethical choices

2- ensure that all people in positions of authority in the organization set an example of living up to the
highest ethical standards.

Creating an Ethical Environment

- An organization creates an ethical environment by establishing policies and practices that ensure that all
employees are treated ethically and then by enforcing those policies.

- One effective way to create an ethical environment is to develop an ethics philosophy with specific
guidelines for putting the philosophy into operation, to put it in writing, and to share it with all employees.

- Managers can play a key role in promoting ethical behavior on the job by encouraging upper management
to develop written ethics philosophies , credos , or guidelines and then by modeling the behavior they
encourage.
Setting an Example
- Organizations that take the Do as I say, not as I do approach to ethics will not succeed.

- Employees must be able to trust their employers to conduct all external and internal dealings in an ethical
manner.

Codes of Business Conduct

- organizations should develop codes of business conduct written from a positive perspective that
encourage employees to do the right thing.

- Ethics training is becoming increasingly important as the pressures of succeeding in an intensely

competitive global marketplace grow.

when providing ethics training, it is so important to observe the following rules of thumb:

1- Encourage two-way communication :

Broadcasting to people about rules, regulations, and policies is ineffective as a training strategy.

- Rather, it is important to encourage open, frank, informed discussion and give participants ample
opportunities to state their views ,ask questions, and propose solutions.

2- Make the training practical.

- People need to see how the training applies specifically to them.

- An effective approach for ensuring that training is practical is to present real-life scenarios and ask
participants to explain how they would handle each situation and why.

- It is also important to ask how the organization could help them do the right thing in each case.

3- Avoid dogmatic statements

- People are typically turned off by dogma. Rather, it is better to present and discuss ethical principles and
then allow participants to decide how they apply.

- The trainers role is to tactfully guide participants toward an ethical solution by helping them take their
opinions to their logical conclusion.