Hello again, readers! Welcome to week five of our class on communications. This week we’ll be looking at developing and aligning ethical values in an organization.
The examples of organizations that have struggled with operating ethically are in the news on a regular basis. The idea that merely espousing ethics will lead to a company that is ethical has proven incorrect. “Take the example of Enron, a company that won prizes for its ethics programme (sic), albeit that it was a programme (sic) designed more for impression management than ethical thoughtfulness (Clegg, 2006, p. 113). In order to ensure an organization abides by ethical standards, there are three pillars that need to be addressed.
Denning (2011) referred to the three pillars as the pieces of an ethical community. The first pillar is that of trust. There needs to be an expectation by all the members of the group that their colleagues will act ethically toward them. Conversely, if the members of a group do not trust each other, the chances of endowing the organization with an ethical orientation is zero. The second pillar is loyalty. Denning defines loyalty as, “acceptance of the obligation to refrain from breaching one another’s trust and to fulfill the duties entailed by accepting that trust” (2011, p. 132-133). Loyalty is trust reciprocated. The remaining pillar is solidarity. Denning characterizes solidarity as, “caring for other people’s interests and being ready to take action on behalf of others, even if it conflicts with personal interests” (2011, p. 133). Solidarity is loyalty enacted.
In my company, these topics are the focus of many conversations and very serious. Trust has been damaged across the organization. As we can see from the way description of how the three pillars interact, trust is the linchpin. Without that pillar, the other two will not stand. Changes have been made by senior management in an attempt to open up new lines of communication. Meeting minutes are being distributed, town hall meetings are being held, and managers are making more efforts to mingle with the workers in their areas, not just in the manager’s offices. However, the change has perceived to be extremely slow and inconsistent by the workforce. Rebuilding the trust will continue to take time and a very dedicated effort by all involved. With the lack of trust, a corresponding lack of loyalty is evident. I would add that the level of trust and loyalty is not zero. However, while there are plenty of areas that trust has gained a footing and loyalty is there, there are definite pockets of distrust.
As a side note, I want to point out that a lack of trust is far easier to mend than the feeling of distrust. We definitely have distrust in our organization. Both management and workers have been guilty of actions that have built the distrust and now we are paying the price. Distrust comes from the perception that lies and misdeeds were intentionally perpetrated. Lack of trust stems more from an inability to follow through on promises, usually with the intent to have been trustworthy. One just failed. They didn’t make an intentional misrepresentation.
Back to the pillars in my organization. The pillar of loyalty is strained to the breaking point. The distrust of a vocal few is making it difficult for the group to unite. The organization is designed in a way that enables silos, which impedes the efforts made to build trust that pervades all groups. There are legal issues that force some of the groups to be organized in this linear manner. That part, however, is part of doing business in a world with organized labor. So, with trust and loyalty severely damaged, solidarity is only present in small pockets. Those groups have found trust and loyalty within their small area, and their solidarity encompasses their unit, only. For the overarching organization, the situation is not healthy.
If we go back and look at the values my company espouses, they are well-developed and aligned with the company’s vision and mission statements. The company, after all, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this summer. The corporation has made multiple revisions to the values they wish to model. The difficulty lies in the implementation, as I see it. Communication lies at the heart of the majority of distrust and could be improved. However, there are legal and competitive reasons that some information is not shared. When the information comes to light, it is sometimes contrary to general expectations and trust is further weakened.
A company of this size faces ethical dilemmas many times per day. “The ethical discourses that circulate in and around organizations can be expected to be multiple, often contradictory, and likely to change with the viewpoint of whatever reflective glance enacts their occasioned use” (Clegg, 2006, p. 114). A situation faced by one manager and handled correctly can be dissected by others with a different perspective and then judged to be handled incorrectly. The moment defines the use of the value, at times.
As managers, we will deal with ethical and value driven issues almost every day. We are called upon to model the behavior and uphold the values of our companies and societies. I am often reminded of the words my dad used to say to me when I complained something was difficult to do, “Hey, if it was easy, anybody could do it.” Managing people is not getting easier. It is a difficult task and will remain so.
Business schools face the difficult prospect of arming their alumni with the tools to face the issues of ethics and values. Floyd, Feng, and Atkins noted, “Fostering dialogue about ethics and ethical values and their importance to the business school environment is vital to increasing understanding about ethical dilemmas, potential conflicts in values, and the importance of understanding the long-term implications of business decisions” (2013, p. 759). Almost in complete opposition to that proposition, it is interesting to note that a stand-alone business ethics class is not required by the most highly regarded business school academic rating body in the world, AACSB, International (Floyd, et al., 2013). The history of continued ethical breakdowns of unimaginable scale would seem to indicate this practice is in need of revision.
Ethical situations like those at Enron or the banking industry meltdown serve as stark reminders that the three pillars of and ethical community are vital to good business and to society’s health and well-being. Trust must be built, nurtured, and reinforced. Loyalty can spring from that foundation and solidarity from there. That sentiment is far easier written than actually accomplished. As educated leaders, it is up to us to model the behavior we expect and we should always strive to maintain an ethical path for others to follow.
Clegg, S., et al. (2007). "Business Ethics as Practice." British Journal of Management 18(2): 107-122.
Denning, S. (2011). The Leader's Guide to Story Telling - Mastering the Art and Discipline of Business Narrative. San Francisco, CA, Josey-Bass.
Floyd, L. A., Xu, F., Atkins, R., & Caldwell, C. (2013). Ethical outcomes and business ethics: Toward improving business ethics education. Journal of Business Ethics,117(4), 753-776. doi:http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.libproxy.db.erau.edu/10.1007/s10551-013-1717-z
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