Ethics at Work

Ethics at work

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What Would You Do?

What would you do?

Viktor, an operations manager at Principle Tools, sits brooding at his desk. He has learned over the weekend that Barbara, one of his most talented recent hires, lied about her education credentials when applying for the job in his department six months ago.

At a professional event on Saturday, Viktor had met Mike, a manager at Principle Tools' biggest competitor, A1Corp. When Viktor learned that Mike had worked with Barbara at A1Corp, he commented on her strong skills, adding, "I'm so impressed she earned an advanced business degree at City University while working full time." Startled, Mike replied, "That's strange. I remember when Barbara enrolled in her first MBA class two years ago. She loved the class, but couldn't complete it because it was too much work for her. She couldn't possibly have finished the degree already."

Back at his desk, Viktor wonders what to do. He's called City University, and verified that Barbara only completed three classes toward her MBA. Should he fire Barbara for misrepresenting her qualifications? This would send a message that Principle Tools values education and honesty. But Principle Tools would lose Barbara's talents at a time when it desperately needs them. Should he do nothing so Principle Tools can continue benefiting from Barbara's skills? If other employees discover that Barbara has kept her job despite lying, they might conclude that Principle Tools doesn't live its stated values. Cynicism and resentment could erode team productivity and morale. He checks Principle Tools' code of conduct, but it doesn't address this situation.

What would you do?

Viktor is facing a tough ethical dilemma. Principle Tools' formal code of conduct offers no guidance about how to handle this type of situation. And there are no clear laws or industry codes he can turn to for help.

He'll need to work through the dilemma himself—systematically assessing the facts relevant to the situation, considering the consequences of possible courses of action he might take, and testing his decision for ethical soundness. All this takes time. So, if possible, he should avoid making a swift decision. There's a risk in delay: Other employees may finding out about Barbara's lie. However, resolving ethical dilemmas requires careful thought. If he makes a decision now without weighing its implications, he may regret it later.

In this topic, you'll learn why mastering a disciplined framework for resolving ethical dilemmas in business is so important. And you'll discover how to take a structured, three-phase approach to resolving such dilemmas.

employees lied about her credentials. How would you handle this dilemma?

Topic Objectives

This topic helps you:

• Understand the importance of conducting business ethically
• Apply a structured framework to resolve "right-versus-right" ethical dilemmas
• Build a culture of integrity among employees, customers, and other stakeholders

Recognize the complexity of making ethical decisions across borders

Completion Criteria

Your organization has established baseline criteria that must be met in order for you to formally complete this topic.

To receive completion credit, you must:

• View 70% of the topic pages

Score 70% or higher on the Post-Assessment

Defining workplace ethics

Two ethical dilemmas

Dilemma #1: Your boss has told you your company's planning a layoff, and has named the members of your team who'll lose their jobs. Dean, one of the targeted employees, tells you he's considering buying a new home, and asks your advice. Do you tell him about the impending layoff, and risk panicking everyone? Or do you keep quiet, possibly jeopardizing Dean's financial future?

Dilemma #2: Monica, a single parent on your staff, is falling behind in her work during a time when your department is facing a huge deadline with an important customer. Your boss wants you to fire Monica and replace her with someone else who has an excellent track record. Do you take this step so your team can meet the deadline? Or do you refuse, citing your company's core values, which include "family friendliness"?

These dilemmas—while different on the surface—have one thing in common: They both have several possible "right" solutions. These "right-versus-right" ethical dilemmas are tough to resolve, because you can't simply point to a law or a published code of conduct for guidance. This topic focuses on these difficult dilemmas.

Contrast right-versus-right situations with "right-versus-wrong" questions, such as "Should I embezzle from my company?" or "Should I accept this lavish gift from a supplier, even though it far exceeds the dollar value spelled out in our company handbook?" In these situations, the correct behavior is clear—stipulated by the legal system or your company's code of conduct.

Workplace ethics: a definition

 (where there’s no one "correct" solution) illustrate a field of practice known as workplace ethics. But what is ethics, exactly?

Ethics is based on morals: personal values that help individuals determine right and wrong. Workplace ethics is how a person applies his or her morals to professional situations and decisions.

Workplace ethics thus, is an example of applied ethics—as opposed to general philosophical inquiry into "what is good." As such, workplace ethics can be learned.

That's what you’ll be doing in this topic: discovering a decision-making process for resolving the tough right-versus-right dilemmas that can plague any manager. The process you’ll learn here will, of course, help reinforce the right-versus-wrong decisions you make on the job. But it will prove even more helpful in making right-versus-right decisions. Those dilemmas aren’t as clear-cut, and many managers incorrectly assume they can rely on their gut instinct to resolve them.

Why bother with ethics at work?

ZOOMRESTART

When everyone in an organization manages right-versus-wrong situations correctly—obeying the law and the company's published code of conduct—all stakeholders benefit. For example:

• The company builds a good reputation for fair employment practices, social and environmental responsibility, and fiscal integrity. Customers (whether individual consumers or other businesses) want to buy more from companies with good reputations. And suppliers want to do business with them.
• The company avoids the high costs—lengthy government investigations, staggering financial liabilities, loss of morale—that come with getting caught in serious wrongdoing.
• Investors benefit because the more customers buy from the company, the better its financial performance—thus the greater the return on the investment.
• Employees take pride in working for a reputable company. They also trust one another to "do the right thing," so they share more information and ideas—which drives innovation.
• Society is better off, because economies thrive on trust. They sputter when trust evaporates, as has happened during recessions triggered in part by unethical practices by business or government leaders.

When managers master a process for effectively resolving right-versus-right ethical dilemmas, these benefits are compounded. Trust among colleagues grows, the company gains an even stronger reputation for integrity, employees have even more pride in the organization, and so forth. Everyone wins.