Men cease to interest us when we find their limitations. The sin is limitations. As soon as you once come up to a mans limitations, it is all over with him.
Emerson
In todays society, personal and group ethics shape the value formation in organizations. Ethics and organizational culture can impact the success of an organization in the following ways: (a) group cultures influence ethical behavior more than the sum of their individual ethics, (b) ethic reasoning is a logical sequence where policies come last, making policies the result of ethical reasoning, not a substitute for it, and (c) ethics and culture gaps can only be reduced by preventing their root causes at the beginning of the process. Ethics in organizations are influenced more by the group ethics system (culture) than by the sum of the individual personal ethics systems.
Ethic plays a critical role in leadership. Ethics is defined as the code of moral principles that governs the behavior of a person/group to what is right. People will not respect a leader low in integrity. A leader cant trick them with promotions or bribe them with money. In the long run, character does count in an effective organization. Draft, an organization management expert, explains that leaders at the highest management levels develop internal moral standards that can often allow them to break laws if necessary.
A leaders unethical conduct brings about his own demise and shame of his organization. Therefore, it can be shown that effective leaders must have accountability mechanisms in place so that they wont hit any ethical mine fields. Can you imagine what happens in an organization without accountability?
Each individual brings their own personal beliefs into the workplace. Leaders are not the exception. An individuals family background, traditions, spiritual values, and experiences impact how the make moral decisions. At the medium development point, individuals learn to conform to the expectations of moral behavior defined by their peers and society. Most leaders at this junction are willing to following laws and society expectations.
However, the highest levels of value formation are individuals who develop their own internal set of standards. Therefore, these individuals develop their own ethical principles that become more important in their decision-making than any external expectations. This high arching principle allows them to make unethical decisions, such as break laws or compromise organizational values, because it allows them to sustain their moral principles internally. Obviously, values will continue to play a critical role in organizational development in the future.
References:
CNN (2005). Reid: White House owes an explanation. Received on October 31, 2005 from http://www.cnn.com/2005/POLITICS/10/30/leak.probe/index.html.
Ciulla, J.B. (1998). Ethics: The Heart of Leadership. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Draft, R. (1995). Organization Theory & Design. Congress gets low ratings on ethics, honesty.
Harris, J. (April 12, 2005). In recent scandals, a rethinking of capitals conventional wisdom. Washington Post.
Heuser, B. (2005). The Ethics of Social Cohesion. Peabody Journal of Education. 80(4), pp.8-15.
Kern, C. (2003). Creating and Sustaining an Ethical Workplace Culture, Pepperdine University.
King, S. (2006). The Moral Manager. Public Integrity. 8(2), pp.113-133.
Lester, W. (2005). Associated Press. Congress gets low ratings on ethics, honesty.
Nelson, M. (1994). Why Americans hate Politics and Politicians. Virginia Quarterly Review. 70(4), p.636, 18p.
Yukl, G. (2002). Leadership in Organizations. Delhi, India: Pearson Education, Inc.
2006 by Daryl D. Green
Daryl D. Green has published over 100 articles in the field of decision-making (personal and organizational), leadership, and organizational behavior. Mr. Green is also the author of four books, including More than a Conqueror: Achieving Personal Fulfillment in Government Service. Do you want to improve your life? Do you want to make better decisions? If you answer “yes,” then go to the ‘master decision-making’ website at http://www.darylgreen.org
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on December 26th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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How many remember the old saying Slick as a Snake Oil Salesman?
It refers to the con artist of the 1800s who sold an oil that was suppose to protect a person and/or their animals from snake bites.
Many times the product was made from items, which were poisonous or narcotics, the majority of which today are illegal.
Ever wonder why so many women in the books of the 1800s were swooning or listless?
Books at that time were the Radio, TV, Movies and DVD of their day. Many of the heroines were probably either alcoholics or drug addicts from taking legal, over the counter patent medicines or the preparations made by the Snake Oil salesman. Cocaine, Morphine, Heroin and Opium, which are illegal today, were legal until the early part of the 1900s.
Today, we still have these Snake Oil salesmen still prying their trade.
They are on radio ads, TV and the Internet, anywhere they can get you to give up your hard earned money.
How many Info-commercials are on late at night, or QVC or the Jewelry Channel? All trying to convince you that you must have the current product they are selling.
The Internet is a rich and fertile ground for the modern day salesman.
Buy this product and you will be a millionaire in no time. Become an overnight real estate mogul, Sell this product and make $1400.00 a week. Im sure anyone who has been on the net for more than a month have seen or been sent this type of ad.
So, youre tired of working for someone elseyou want to be rich!
Real Estate without putting out my money, just bidding on un-claimed or abandoned property, then reselling and I get all the profits!
Six months time, Ill be in the same league as The Donald, my own luxury yacht, personal plane, fabulous vacation home, furs, jewelry, European travel, etc., any and everything Ive ever dream of.all for a onetime payment of $100.00!
Sounds great to me, where do I send the money!
You send in your $100 for the course, resale rights, etc., which gives you a website and promises you a million hits a week.
And what do you have to do, nothing.just rake in the money. Dont forget the products you are selling is something that everyone, every household needs and wants.
Ok, a million hits sounds great, and they show you deposit slips with all the money they have made.
Easy money dont have to work hard, except opening checks received by the hundreds on a daily basis, just selling information that people think they want.
About a week or two later, you receive a letter saying there is a great new up-date to your program $97.00 one time fee, a new website, only $29.95 a month.
Again, great deal, you plop down your $97.00 and sign up for that $29.95 website.
Three months later, you havent made one single cent. So far, youve paid out $197.00 for the program and the update, plus $90.00 for your new website, you are locked into a 1 year contract and, youve received at least 100 emails selling the very same product you are trying to sell.
And those million hits you were promised? You got them, and learned that a million hits are great, but if no one has bought or even looked at the product, what good are they?
Hits are good, but cold hard cash sales are better.
Hopefully you have not quit your job, thinking youre going to be an instant millionaire. As P.T. Barnum said in the 1800s Theres one born everyday! Hopefully this saying does not apply to you.
Modern day Snake Oil salespeople aim their pitch at those who can least afford to lose what little money they have.
Today they are selling dreams, get rich quick schemes…..and they are just that, dreams and schemes. The only ones making money are the Snake Oilers as they steal your hard earned dollars.
If you really want this product, can you afford to spend this money? Is there a bill that has to be paid?
Are you going to be another one of those who spent the rent on lottery tickets when the lottery jackpot was in the millions, then had to scramble the following month to make up what you lost?
Think.if you can afford to lose this money, go for it. You might luck out and get a diamond in the rough. But think long and hard first, for diamonds in the rough, are extremely rare and very difficult to find!
Remember the old saying, If it sounds to good to be trueit usually is!
Copyrighted 2006
Michele Winslow
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on December 26th, 2007 with comments disabled.
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Something happened to me this week that really took me by surprise but made me stop and think. An online acquaintenance of mine borrowed an article I had written and posted it on her blog as her own. Needless to say, I was shocked to see my article on her site with no credit given to me, and I felt violated, not unlike how I felt when my home was robbed many years ago. Not only that, her business is in direct competition with mine, so I saw that as a double slap in the face. Im certain that I was not meant to see that blog, but alas, the online community is really not as vast as it appears to be!
I feel compelled to write about this because I have a feeling my situation is all too common. Articles are a dime-a-dozen on the net, and whats stopping anyone from taking something they did not write and posting it on their site or blog as their own? Nothing! Nothing but INTEGRIY, I guess.
Those of us who own our own businesses work so hard to promote them and the competition is fierce. Writing does not come easily to everyone, and those of us to do write do so with effort and time invested. So please, if you see something that you love and you want to use it, please, please ask for permission. Very often, writers are willing to allow their work to be used if proper credit is given. Just ask. Or better yet, write your own article and allow others to use it.its a great feeling!
About the author:
Ellen Gaver lives on the Central Coast of California with her husband and son. Owner of Slo County Moms, she works from home educating families about healthy life choices and family balance. http://www.SloCountyMoms.com
To Blame or Not To BlameA man can fall many times, but he isnt a failure until he begins to blame somebody else. (John Burroughs)Fire her, she set me up! John yelled quite loudly. He was incredibly angry and for good reason. However, he was really angry at the wrong person. What he was really saying was […]
Written by info on December 26th, 2007 with comments disabled.
Read more articles on ethics.