Organizational Behavior Trends

Organizational Behavior Trends

Value motivated ethical leadership is needed today. The world has such a diverse work force today, and managers must develop and empower workers to achieve organizational goals. One develops his or her ethics from his or her culture, ethnic background, and religious beliefs. This paper discusses the importance of ethics and technology in the managerial decision making process and work related stress.

The influence of ethics on decision making

Ethics is about making choices with integrity. The future will be different after a choice is made, sometimes dramatically different, and that is why ethical decision making is so important. The more difficult the ethical choice one faces, the more discussion and communication with others is needed in relation to the dilemma. Making ethical decisions is imperative to good business.

Ethics can have a big influence on decision-making in the workplace. Ethical behavior in the workplace is behavior that is accepted as morally right, rather than wrong. Unethical behavior can be considered illegal, or merely against the norms of society. Employees encounter ethical decisions every day in the workplace, whether they realize it or not. A cashier must make a decision on whether or not it is ethically or morally right to steal money from the cash register, or even merchandise. A retail store owner must make a decision on what is a reasonable price to charge a trusting customer. A CEO must decide how to use all the power he or she possesses.

According to Berenbeim (2006), ethics programs are designed and implemented by lawyers and auditors. These lawyers and auditors seek to minimize the risk of harmful conduct through the institutionalization of systems that provide employees with decision-making processes that utilize whistle-blowing systems (sometimes euphemistically called help lines) to seek advice and to report potentially harmful conduct.

People sense same ethical dilemmas differently, and even those with ethical sensitivity may feel or understand the dilemma in different ways. For example, some may think reporting misconduct to supervisors outside the chain of command is an unethical act because it is disrespectful to the immediate superior. Some, however, believe that such an individual act, as long as benefiting the general welfare of the group, is not in violation of a code of ethics (Fang, M., 2006). It is important to understand an ethical dilemma before the actual decision-making process begins.

Once the dilemma has been identified, individuals will start engaging in moral reasoning. However, a morally right judgment will not necessarily lead to moral behavior. The decision-making process involves many other concerns, including self-interests. For example, a person understands that giving out company secrets to competitors is morally wrong but may still decide to do it out of self-interest. The reason is that he of she fails to establish a moral intent which shows his or her resolution to act on a moral judgment. One may decide not to act on a decision that is perfectly ethical but on the decision that may bring about an outcome that he or she prefers (Fang, M., 2006).

One difference between an average decision and an ethical one is that traditional rules may not apply and the decision maker must weigh values in a situation that he or she may not have faced before. Another difference is the amount of importance placed on a person's values when making an ethical decision. Whether a specific behavior is judged right or wrong, ethical or unethical, is often determined by the mass media, interest groups, the legal system, and individuals' personal morals (Ferrell, O., Peterson, R., 2004). While these groups are not necessarily right, their judgments influence society's approval or denial of an organization and its activities. As a result, values and judgments play a critical role in ethical decision making, and society may institutionalize them through legislation and social sanctions or approval (Ferrell, et al., 2006).

One of the first factors to influence the decision-making process is how important or relevant a decision maker perceives an issue to be. The intensity of a particular issue is likely to vary over time and among individuals and is influenced by the values, beliefs, needs, and perceptions of the decision maker; the special characteristics of the situation; and the personal pressures weighing on the decision (Ferrell, et al., 2006). Unless individuals in an organization share some common concerns about specific ethical issues, conflict will occur.

Together, organizational culture and the influence of co-workers may encourage conditions that limit or permit misconduct. When these conditions provide rewards for financial gain, recognition, promotion, or merely the good feeling from a job well done, the opportunity for unethical conduct may be encouraged or discouraged. For example, a company policy that does not provide for punishment of employees who violate a rule (e.g., not to accept large gifts from clients) provides an opportunity for unethical behavior (Ferrell, et al., 2006).

The impact of technology on work-related stress

Technology eases people's lives in many ways, however, it also is demanding and time consuming. It generally requires knowledge and understanding to realize its benefits. When one depends on a device to do something for them, can they still do it when the device is inoperable? One of the biggest stress producers of technology is knowing that a tool is right at the fingertips that will do the task needed done right now, but not knowing how to make it do so. This can be very frustrating. But investing hours and hours in training and learning how to use this technology can be just as frustrating, especially when there is "real work" that still needs to be done (Calloway, J., 2004).

An increase in technology in the financial industry has led to enormous sums of money being transferred instantly through a computer. In this type of work environment, it can be difficult for employees to be ethical because they are detached from the people their behavior affects. Additionally, brutal competition and high levels of stress can also affect employees by distorting their perception of reality (Ettorre, B., 1996). Managers need to make sure that employees understand the ethical standards of a firm, and to reinforce these standards constantly.

Job-related stress and its impact on job satisfaction is another important issue to consider. It is common knowledge that as job stress increases, job satisfaction declines. Researchers have offered many recommendations for coping with or reducing the level of job-related stress: acceptance