Chapter
2
Ethics at Work - Leadership and Integrity
By Lizabeth England
In the workplace, we are faced daily with the responsibility of making decisions. How do we respond when someone speaks to us? How do we decide what to do first when the boss gives us an assignment? Companies and institutions hire leaders with integrity and expertise. Those leaders have a responsibility to the people who work for them and to society, in general, to provide employees with guidelines for making ethical decisions.
Ethics at work – Leadership and Integrity is the theme of the second chapter of the Business Ethics volume. Ethics and ways in which leaders apply ethical standards in work settings is of concern and important to all. Lessons are presented and suggestions for ways of expanding on the lessons will guide teachers and students and may encourage teachers to pursue longer, more in-depth lessons. Appendix III contains a list of Important Terms that will be useful when discussing, reading and writing about the topic.
If you watch television and movies and read newspapers, you may believe that all business leaders lie and cheat, want to destroy the environment, make any compromise for financial gain, and risk the lives and health of their employees and the public to make money. Front page news reports of airplane crashes, injury and illness, illegal stock market trading, and sweatshops make business professionals appear to be greedy, selfish, money-hungry villains.
According to E. Marie Bothe, president of Wetherill, even small lies and infractions of ethics are unacceptable. "Operating from honesty, truth, fairness and integrity is the only way to truly succeed."
How do corporate and institutional leaders decide what is the best decision? How do employees learn to behave and work in an ethical way? The best way to make a decision, then, is to think of results: What is the best way to achieve several goals? Once that question is answered, the ethical decision is made.
How Ethical Decisions Are MadeEthical decisions are made by business leaders based on these considerations:
- How can employees feel fulfilled professionally?
- How can customers be satisfied?
- How can profit be assured for stakeholders or shareholders?
- How can the community be served?
Many pressures affect business leaders. Ethical considerations are sometimes difficult for business leaders when they must choose among different priorities. Making decisions based on the needs of employees, customers, stakeholders and the community requires a good leader. What do good leaders do in order to achieve ethical standards?
Laws
First, there are laws that guide business leaders. Breaking laws can lead to arrest and imprisonment. For example, one company’s sales manager decided to discount prices of outdated fruit. In the end, some children who ate the fruit got very sick with hepatitis A. The disease was traced to the company’s outdated fruit. Several of the company’s leaders were indicted on criminal charges. Today, the company no longer exists.
Individual Ethics
Laws are not always enough to assure ethical behaviors. Individual leaders and their decision-making behaviors (ethical or unethical) set examples for employees. In the United States, anonymous manager surveys show that 30% of managers admit that they have sent in inaccurate reports. Clearly, there is a need to think about and work on developing ethical decision making skills for managers.
Four ethical conflicts confront leaders in business:
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